Locos and rolling stock
Union Pacific Alco C-855 double diesel drawings
Does anyone know if scale drawings have been produced for the Union Pacific ALCO C-855 diesel locomotive and where they could be found. I've had no luck looking in the usual places.
I'm trying to collect/build each of the Union Pacific's double diesel engines and still have the C-855 to collect/build.
Finding a brass version is very difficult and go for stupid prices so may have to resort to scratch building/kitbashing.
Any help would be appreciated.
Larry B
Rebuilt 40' Boxcar width
Hi all,
I am looking into some 40' rebuilt boxcars for a few projects. In particular a glacier green GN car (#27011). I notice that the old boxcar ends, roofs and floor appear to be narrower than the car itself, giving the impression that the new steel sides are laminated onto the old car sides (like a modeler would do, i am not meaning that the actual cars were rebuilt like that...).
Signs on gondolas rarely modeled
I saw this photo from an NKP train and noted the signs on wooden poles on a corner of each gondola. We can't tell what they say but it's not something you see modeled very often.
Motor wiring
I was always under the impression that the top wire on the motor was + and should be red.
A recent project had me replacing old decoders with Loksound Select Direct decoders. Every one that I did had the wiring the way I expected it to be.
The last batch I had to do were some Atlas C30-7s. When I went to remove the old light board I was surprised to see the wiring appear to be opposite of that. It isn't just my models; I found this at the TCS site which shows the same configuration.
Can you help me identify....
I need your help identifying an HO scale switcher cow and calf unit that i had just purchased on Ebay. What is unique about this set is that the calf unit is unpowered, but has a sound decoder installed that operates with the lead cow unit. Also, there are no wires that connect the units together as you would see on a steam and tender configuration. When I purchased these units, the vendor didn't have any additional information about either the manufacturer of the engines (athearn bb, I think) or the dcc sound decoder manufacturer. I have operated this unit, but
Kato ATSF SD40-2 color variations
I picked up a couple of these and can't decide if I want to keep them. They run and sound good but I can't get past the shade of yellow that Kato used on them. They stick out like a sore thumb on my layout with the rest of the Santa Fe fleet.
Does anyone else have these and did you eventually get over the color? Are there any weathering techniques that would make them blend in better?
Rick
Weighting pilot wheels
I have a Bachmann 2-8-4 steam loco. It was a terrible puller. I added weight to it to equalize the weight on the drivers as most of the weight on this loco was on the rear driver. It now pulls quite well.
The problem I have is that the front pilot wheels weigh practically nothing and need only the tiniest excuse to derail. They will derail where nothing else will (usually on turnouts), and the NMRA gauge does not show any issues. I'm thinking more weight on the pilot would be my friend.
Repowering Athearn Old style blue box diesels
I have a bleepton of Athearn blue box diesels. GP 35s 40s and 50s that are average of 20 years old. I’d like to repower them as they are getting worn out. What is the simplest way to do so please? They are DC.
Abstract coal company loco ideas
I have to say, I am a little saddened to see how coal has died and left so much railfanning gone.
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