Freelance 2017-3
#46
Had a relaxed Sunday afternoon and made some progress.

I used the window glass that came with the Atlas kit and sprayed a bug load of cheep dull coat from inside. That is my standard procedure for frosted windows. To my surprise did the Atlas window glass react with the dull coat. It became soft and warped at the edges. I had never a noticeable reaction between dull coat and the different kind if window glass / opaque plastic. No problem but interesting to know.

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Reinhard
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#47
Some more details and weathering. It was great fun to do the ducting.

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Reinhard
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#48
Your new building is great looking Reinhard! What kind of industry is it going to be?
Andy Jackson
Santa Fe Springs CA
ATSF/LAJ Ry Fan & Modeler
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#49
Hi Andy, as usual do I prefer undefined industries. The kind of cars at the ramps and my imagination are the flexible definition.
Reinhard
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#50
I quick chance in time from Conrail to CSX by an exchange of the rail and road population. I like it to change the time casually and keep the layout intentionally not to specific.

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Reinhard
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#51
Got a new toy. This NS GP60 is my very first Fox Valley product. A commercial eBay seller had an offer I could not ignore. Got the DC version with the intention to install a Tsunami2. The engine comes with a Bowser mainboard and a 21 pin socket. I had a ESU sound decoder from the GP10 at hand and gave it a try. The OEM sound files are available at the ESU site.

It was a test only and I expected the humming sound but to my surprise form the ESU motor control and the Fox Valley motor a peaceful couple. The humming is not down to zero but I can accept that level and save one Tsunami2 for more urgent cases.

The engine runs very smooth and looks great. The handrails and MU cables are somewhat brittle. I broke two of them (my eyes, my fingers, my fault :-). The front coupler must be changed to a long version not to interfere with the snow plow. The LEDs are all buried deep in the basement and the light travels a long way until it gets it's to the lights.

ps. I scanned lots of NS GP60 photos to find enough evidence to use a GP60 with very short trains for locals.

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Reinhard
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#52
The Fox Valley GP60 makes some trouble.

1. The plastic is very brittle. Removing the truck bottom to readjust a wheel set is not recommended if not absolutely necessary. I lost some of the noses and the bottom ist still not back in place but the handrail broke again while handling the engine.

2. The trucks have very limited room to swing in all directions. That causes a constant derail at a bad spot (30° transition on to the hatch). The truck side frames are extreme close to the main frame. I am not sure at this time if I cut the top of the side frame down, cut the main frame or add a washer. In any case must the engine be completely disassembled.

Some time later ....

1. The truck bottom is in place again. It lost 2 out of 4 noses.

2. Raised to outer rail somewhat brutal with a screw driver to get the GP passing. It' s better to fix bad tracks than to screw a brand new engine. Anyhow
- the GP60 is sensitive to poor track work
- I need to have hatch transition at 90° angle only in the future. The rails must be cut at 90°. The woodwork is another story.

We got the white line and AC on the roof. That matches the current status. This http://www.nsdash9.com is a great source of information. Especially white line, horse head and white front painting details are perfect covered for each unit.

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Reinhard
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#53
I am in my ditch light phase now. May be the weather oder the age or ..... Big Grin

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There are two more NS GP38-2 high hood to receive the tiny LEDs in the ditch lights. I figured out that it is much easier to install the LEDs correct positioned in the housing at the work place than in the engine shell. The Genesis LED housings are very easy to remove and plugged back.

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Reinhard
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#54
NS 5057 became NS 5172 with AC on the cab roof.
.....
Full stop. 5172 does not match the paint scheme of my model (horse head). All decals removed. My fault.

This list (http://www.nsdash9.com/horsehead.html) of GP38-2 high hood as former SOU and with horse head paint scheme and still in active duty is quite short. None of those engines has or had an AC (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoLis...d=NS&mid=3).
Project stopped.
Reinhard
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#55
The #5057 became #5094 is a second shot.
#5094 has horse head and white line paint scheme and the AC on the cab roof (the AC is the reason why the engine is renumbered). I have photos and video clips of the 5094 taken in 2016. She is retired in the mean time. That is good enough for a contemporary model. The other advantage is technical. I had to do only the last two digits and the "94" is adjacent on the decal sheet. That made it much easier to get them better aligned than last time (I toke photos ;-)). The down side is the miss-match of the font size.

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Reinhard
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#56
Thumbsup Applause
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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#57
A pair of Athearn RTR CSX GP40-2 got ditch lights. The 4408 shell rides on a Trainman GP3x drive with a Tsunami 2 sound decoder. 4412 is a dummy with a Zimo DCC decoder for light effects only. I am still tweaking the CV to teach an Zimo (an Austrian decoder with perfect motor control) to handle ditch lights similar to the Tsunami.

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Reinhard
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#58
An old backdrop based on "Clever Models" got a 90° corner and became a simple and plain background building. It's helping to move the theme from the 1980s into this century.

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Reinhard
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#59
I am working on a second low profile industry. A third one is planned and all details are still missing. The intend is to convert the old residential/commercial area at the west end into a low profile industrial area.

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Reinhard
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