Weekend Update 12/18/22

[brill27mcb]

That single-truck streetcar in several of the photos looks like a fairly rare metal Birney Safety Car body made by Adina Corp. The too-tall letterboard above the windows is distinctive.

Rich K.

[TiogaTracks]

That single-truck streetcar in several of the photos looks like a fairly rare metal Birney Safety Car body made by Adina Corp. The too-tall letterboard above the windows is distinctive.

Rich K.

Thanks for the reply and the info, Rich, I think you’re exactly right.  I found the description of the Adina shell in the link in your signature, and that’s got to be it.  Especially after posing it with the G-scale / 1:24 Birney car, the tall letterboard and the more sharply curved front end stand out.

But still, I love how this little model came out.  I couldn’t find another Bachmann trolley pole in all my parts boxes, so I scratched the front pole out of old building kit parts, and I can’t believe how good it looks for how little time I spent.  This little thing runs like a champ, too!

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And I’d guess it feels right at home with its big cousin, among all sorts of Philadelphia Transportation Co artifacts.

-Steven

[MK]

That picture looks like one of those "suitable for framing" pictures!

[brill27mcb]

Some people I know would classify that as a Christmas card photo! But then, their thoughts at Christmas turn to trolleys...

Rich K.

[Jim Starbuck]

I’m a bit late to the party this week.
Here’s the latest switcher project I just finished. It’s an early Electro Motive 1936 Model SC. There were only 43 built with few survivors but there is one at the  Illinois Railway Museum which I saw last summer. I believe the CGW rostered 3 of them purchased new.
It doesn’t look like it but it’s a pretty involved bash. It’s a LifeLike sill and hood with an Arnold SW1 cab with the early arched windshield, the rear sand box was trimmed off and the one from the LifeLike sill was grafted on allowing the use of the stock latch to the sill. The radiator was shortened and the front sand box scratch built from styrene, the top hood screen was sanded smooth and four vent hatches added, mesh grilles were added to both sides above the long rail. It has wire grabs and turned brass exhaust stacks. The headlight is a modified Shapeways piece on a styrene bracket. It also has a Kato NW2 fuel tank with the correct square end air reservoirs.
The chassis is a stock LifeLike which was remotored with a 7x16 coreless turning Tomix worms to make room for the LokSound Nano decoder. There’s an Iowa Scaled Engineering powerkeeper in the nose and an 8x12 Soberton speaker in a homemade enclosure in the cab. It also has canvas sunshades, brass trainline hoses and Z scale couplers. I turned down the flanges on the LifeLike wheelsets and the trucks are hardwired to the decoder.
The prototype was powered with a 600 hp 8 cylinder Winton engine which there is no ESU sound file for so after watching a YouTube video of a stationary Winton I loaded an Alco 6-251B and slowed it down as the Winton only turned 750 rpm. The sound is somewhat close.
Paint is Modelflex, Tamiya and MR Hobby clear flat. Decals are Microscale.
So far so good.

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Thanks for looking,
Jim

[lock4244]

I’m a bit late to the party this week.
Here’s the latest switcher project I just finished. It’s an early Electro Motive 1936 Model SC. There were only 43 built with few survivors but there is one at the  Illinois Railway Museum which I saw last summer.
It doesn’t look like it but it’s a pretty involved bash. It’s a LifeLike sill and hood with an Arnold SW1 cab with the early arched windshield, the rear sand box was trimmed off and the one from the LifeLike sill was grafted on allowing the use of the stock latch to the sill. The radiator was shortened and the front sand box scratch built from styrene, the top hood screen was sanded smooth and four vent hatches added, mesh grilles were added to both sides above the long rail. It has wire grabs and turned brass exhaust stacks. The headlight is a modified Shapeways piece on a styrene bracket. It also has a Kato NW2 fuel tank with the correct square end air reservoirs.
The chassis is a stock LifeLike which was remotored with a 7x16 coreless turning Tomix worms to make room for the LokSound Nano decoder. There’s an Iowa Scaled Engineering powerkeeper in the nose and an 8x12 Soberton speaker in a homemade enclosure in the cab. It also has canvas sunshades, brass trainline hoses and Z scale couplers. I turned down the flanges on the LifeLike wheelsets and the trucks are hardwired to the decoder.
The prototype was powered with a 600 hp 8 cylinder Winton engine which there is no ESU sound file for so after watching a YouTube video of a stationary Winton I loaded an Alco 6-251B and slowed it down as the Winton only turned 750 rpm. The sound is somewhat close.
Paint is Modelflex, Tamiya and MR Hobby clear flat. Decals are Microscale.
So far so good.

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Thanks for looking,
Jim

That SC looks really good, Jim.

[oakcreekco]

Beautiful paint job on a very nice loco.

[ncbqguy]

Jim-

Your SC reminds me of CB&Q 9200/9201.  These were EMC model NW-1 units and had about the same architecture as the SCs but had welded frames.

Coincidentally I called the Wednesday Night Railroad group tonight to wish all the guys gathered at Marshall Skibbe's house a Merry Christmas.  This group started meeting at my house back c.1990s as an offshoot of North West NTRAK work sessions and it gives me great satisfaction it is still growing strong after we moved to Middle Tennessee. 
During the call I mentioned the time c. 1964 that I was waiting to catch the 10:30 Dinky from Chicago Union Station to Brookfield...I was working full time and going to college full time so had a crazy schedule.   The 9200 or 9201 was spotting some head end equipment and the hogged asked if I wanted a ride....hell yes!!  We went out to 14th Street, switched to another track and shoved back into the Depot.  These units had an early headlight that had number panels parallel in front of the headlight lens and looked funky compared to the later NW-2 and SW-7 units.

Your model is a great build and certainly up to your high standards!

Charlie Vlk

[tehachapifan]

SC looks great, Jim! Quite the kitbash!

[Jim Starbuck]

Jim-

Your SC reminds me of CB&Q 9200/9201.  These were EMC model NW-1 units and had about the same architecture as the SCs but had welded frames.

Coincidentally I called the Wednesday Night Railroad group tonight to wish all the guys gathered at Marshall Skibbe's house a Merry Christmas.  This group started meeting at my house back c.1990s as an offshoot of North West NTRAK work sessions and it gives me great satisfaction it is still growing strong after we moved to Middle Tennessee. 
During the call I mentioned the time c. 1964 that I was waiting to catch the 10:30 Dinky from Chicago Union Station to Brookfield...I was working full time and going to college full time so had a crazy schedule.   The 9200 or 9201 was spotting some head end equipment and the hogged asked if I wanted a ride....hell yes!!  We went out to 14th Street, switched to another track and shoved back into the Depot.  These units had an early headlight that had number panels parallel in front of the headlight lens and looked funky compared to the later NW-2 and SW-7 units.

Your model is a great build and certainly up to your high standards!

Charlie Vlk

Thank you Charliie!
Someday I hope to see the SC and my TR2 set running at Marshall’s. It’s hard to see in my photo but I filled in the hole on the front of the hood and the headlight housing is separately mounted out on the bracket.
That was a great experience on the CB&Q NW-1. Thanks for sharing it!
Jim

[Jim Starbuck]

SC looks great, Jim! Quite the kitbash!

Thanks @tehachapifan!
It helps when you happen to have all the right pieces on hand.

[tehachapifan]

Thanks @tehachapifan!
It helps when you happen to have all the right pieces on hand.

Yes it does!

Until your kitbash, I never knew these even existed. Hard to believe there was an EMD (EMC?) switcher I wasn't aware of and now I wonder if there are others.

Will we get to see and hear it in a video?

[Jim Starbuck]

Yes it does!

Until your kitbash, I never knew these even existed. Hard to believe there was an EMD switcher I wasn't aware of and now I wonder if there are others.

Will we get to see and hear it in a video?

I’ll try to get a video up later this week. I’m still experimenting with the sound file.
I wasn’t aware of this either until I saw the one at Illinois Railway Museum.

[Dwight in Toronto]

Big kudos on pulling off such an impeccable result in such meticulous detail.

I’m particularly intrigued with the companion rolling stock behind the loco … looks like a caboose, with some genetic traces from a British brake van!   More details please & thanks. 

[Jim Starbuck]

Big kudos on pulling off such an impeccable result in such meticulous detail.

I’m particularly intrigued with the companion rolling stock behind the loco … looks like a caboose, with some genetic traces from a British brake van!   More details please & thanks.

Thanks Dwight,

The transfer caboose is a Fox Valley models that I repainted and replaced some of the roof railings with .008” phosphor bronze wire to more accurately depict the CGW caboose.

Jim