Weekend Update 1/7/24

[up1950s]

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/670051250781604899/

https://www.cnwhs.org/imggallery/displayimage.php?album=6&pid=1465

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/what-is-your-favorite-flatcar-and-load

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Engine_2024_Calgary._%2814175514598%29.jpg

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https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/early-piggyback-project?postsPerPage=100&page=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piggyback_%28transportation%29#/media/File:South_Australian_Railways_narrow_gauge_locomotive_T232_on_broad_gauge_crocodile_car.jpg

[bbussey]

I posted this on the Greenville gondola thread, but this is my contribution for the week. The Bachmann model is well-tooled but the deco schemes, while well-applied, are prototypically questionable. I stripped a New York Central model and shaved off the extra retainer valve and pipe. The trucks were upgraded to Atlas 70-ton with ESM wheels, and the couplers were upgraded to MTL 1015s. Extra weight was added. I primed and airbrushed the body in black, and applied custom decals to prototypically represent the Erie prototype. Weathering consists of airbrushed dust along the lower regions followed by chalks.

[mu26aeh]

Propane and propane accessories coming soon to the CSX Hanover Subdivision

[mandealco]

Hi
As some of you will know, I'm a big Alco fan, but when your favourite railroad sells it's Alcos and gets some Geeps, you just have to go to the dark side.  The Morristown & Erie has purchased a couple of former Mopac GP-15-1s, so I just have to do the same.  I can't do any more than what you see at the moment, as they are potentially lettering them differently from previous engines.  It's now a waiting game.
Cheers from Downunder.
Steve


Prototype photo, thanks to a Facebook friend.

[BCR 570]

OK we have to get things back on track with some ALCO/MLW love here . . . . . I have started on a second CN MLW C-424 as I need one in the older paint scheme for my diorama.

I started by disassembling the Hobbycraft Canada/Life-Like C-424 and adding the battery boxes underneath the left walkway:




I removed the side blisters from the fuel tank, added new segmented ones with fuel filler pipes, and scratchbuilt new air tanks:




Atlas was able to provide me with a spare ALCO C-420 shell which will be used to replace the rear end on the Life-Like model:




Next up is removing the battery boxes ahead of/behind the cab and the headlight above the cab windows:




I have also got back to work on the Pine River bridge.  In September I got the track sections painted and weathered, and feeder wires attached.  Next came the challenge of gluing six and a half feet of track onto the bridge so it would be level and straight.  The process was undertaken in my friend John W's new layout room where there was plenty of light and space.

The tops of the girders on which the track will sit were not perfectly level, so to correct that John glued sandpaper to his eight foot level, and we slid it back and forth against the top of the bridge while it was resting on its side in a large jig:




Here I am threading the feeder wires at each end through the holes drilled in the ends of the plate girder spans:




After applying contact cement along the tops of the girders, the track was positioned in place and pressed down.  We used steel rulers to verify that the track was straight, as well as sighting along the track from each end:




The contact cement ensured good adhesion fairly quickly while providing us with sufficient working time to nudge the track into alignment where needed:






The bridge was then left overnight for the cement to set up permanently:




Tomorrow I will bring it home and add the remaining guard rails and ties at the track joints, do some paint touch-ups after handling, and I can then install it on the layout.


Tim

[mandealco]

OK we have to get things back on track with some ALCO/MLW love here . . . . .

Well said Tim.

[mrhedley]

Propane and propane accessories coming soon to the CSX Hanover Subdivision

Hank Hill would be thrilled. 

[daniel_leavitt2000]

No real modeling, but I'm starting to assemble SD40-2 models for an upcoming article on the history of the engine in N scale.

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Left to right: Original Bachmann, Spectrum, BLI, Intermountain, Kato

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I'M and BLI cabs up close.

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The Bachmanns are not pretty!


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The decks are pretty similar in height between the Kato, I'M and BLI


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The Bachmanns stand about 2 scale feet too high. In fact, this spectrum unit sits even higher than the original! The engine was not propped up in any way.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Been building up to this this week.

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[Scottl]

Experimenting with photo backdrops and refining 3D terrain to better match.  Always interesting what unanticipated photo shots emerge.

[Bendtracker1]

(Attachment Link)
The Bachmanns stand about 2 scale feet too high. In fact, this spectrum unit sits even higher than the original! The engine was not propped up in any way.

The shell on the left doesn't look like it's snapped down all the way?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

No real modeling, but I'm starting to assemble SD40-2 models for an upcoming article on the history of the engine in N scale.

(Attachment Link)
Left to right: Original Bachmann, Spectrum, BLI, Intermountain, Kato

(Attachment Link)
I'M and BLI cabs up close.

(Attachment Link)
The Bachmanns are not pretty!


(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)
The decks are pretty similar in height between the Kato, I'M and BLI


(Attachment Link)
The Bachmanns stand about 2 scale feet too high. In fact, this spectrum unit sits even higher than the original! The engine was not propped up in any way.

So you see the way Kato has been gaslighting us with the depth of the sill? It still blows my mind.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

The shell on the left doesn't look like it's snapped down all the way?

Nope, it is actually seated all the way down. Crazy right? I could probably get it to sit further down if I removed the light board and milled the frame, but my intention here is to show them as close to original as possible.

[kiwi_al]

Daniel you are missing one in your history: the Con-Cor SD40-2

https://www.trovestar.com/generic/zoom.php?id=211237

[draskouasshat]

Doing some work on the UP Early Challengers.

Drasko [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]