Inspired by the April Layout party thread elsewhere on Big Blue, I thought it would be fun to do the same for those of us that may have a locomotive project on the go, be it scratch build, a kit bash, adding of details, or a bit of weathering.
Here's what I've been up to, I'll have to owe you the pictures for now, they'll be posted in a few days, just in time for May :-)

Yesterday I had time to move two of my current loco projects a step further towards completion.
My CF7 finally received a new coat of paint, after the first two didn't work out well , and it's taken me some time to gather enough courage to try again. :-)
I've now used a different brand of paint (Testors' Polly Scale ) , and have 'shot' the base coat of what is close to CSX blue. This seems to have covered much, much better than the previously used Tamiya paints, and today I'll be able to see if it has set as well as I hope it has, so I can put a second coat on for a smooth coverage.
I've resisted the urge to put too much paint on at once, which at one previous attempt I had done...(trying to mask a 'splat' of paint that the airbrush had created, you live and learn :-) )

The other project is the CFNR SD9E, this one had sun shades installed, and has received a primer coat of light grey paint all over. Once this is dry, I will attempt a coat of 'cream white' for the background area on which the 'California Northern' lettering and logos are placed. They will then be masked off, and then the (reading) green will be added.
I will try to post pictures of both locos in the next few days, once the second coat of paint has been added.

I've also opened up my C44-9W, and replaced it's lights with an LED. I now need to have a look on how I'm going to do it's ditch lights, I've got SMT LED's on leads for it, but I'm still looking into how to mount them in the actual ditch light castings...

So, what is everyone else up to? :-)

Koos

Koos, I don't have any loco projects in the works, but I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is up to.

I have a Bachmann 2-8-0 that is getting a sound decoder. Not many pictures, and nearly done, but I could share if it fits the category...? Not sure it counts as a "build"...

Andrew

Don't know if this counts either but I've got long awaited parts coming for a first generation Bachmann N scale DD40x and Brill Trolley...good thing too as they are not making the parts anymore, once sold out, they're gone.

As promised here's a few pictures of the shells of my two locomotive projects that I have underway currently.
The SD9E is showing a primer grey base coat, and the CF7 is showing CSX blue.
Obviously these two are still far from ready, but they're a small step closer to that goal. :-)
Again apologies for the picture quality, they were made with my blackberry, under relatively poor lighting conditions. I moved them near the layout to have a better light, but it's not great. The blackberry camera is the biggest culprit though, as it's of very poor quality indeed.

[attachment=7379][attachment=7378]

typical of my round-robbin never-get-things-done style, i've yanked out my half completed AEM7-AC

Amtrak rebuilt its replacements for the the GG1 in the early 2000s, and tacked on another ten years of service (which will be up sometime in the next two to three years, when Amtrak's new Eurosprinter arrives).

The main difference between the AEM7 and the AEM7AC is the switch to AC propulsion. this caused there to be large air filters to be placed on the roof, dispersersing the dynamic braking grids on the roof.

I have already completed two of the three difficult parts, 1.) recontouring the roof to match prototype, and 2.) building the air-filter boxes. The last hard part will be installing ditchlights as there are NO ditchlights on the Atlas model.

Another tricky part will be making the dynamic brake resistor grids, which are now spread across the roof of the prototype, since they were displaced by the air filter box.

here is a photo.



prototype

Hi

to increase our rooster fleet for our city limits street running, i have to re-biult/re-work several locos, my "private" company is the morristown&erie in the first years.
That means, a RS-1, RS-36 Nalco, C424 to rebuilt (Atlas did a good paint job, aber most details are wrong, all locos will get sound, "open", see through cabs with interior, the missin details....lost of work, those 3 engines are built paralell....amongst an walthers sperry rail car, fittet with wireless camera, built in accumulator, connectors to load from outside, without removing shell or roof.
This engine got new pick up`s , the original are rubbish (spring wire arround the axles).
It will get led`s for ligthing, rotary beacons......as all locos will get cab ligthing, led for the other lights (the problem in former times was, that an AEM-7 with original bulbs after 9 hour melt dorn the bulb housings, other old proto engines had problems on the roof, so all our locos in our running fleet will have or get led`s)

To see the city limits beside the NEC click the links
enoy
http://www.youtube.com/user/julienvideo9..._U3N_fzlQ8

http://www.youtube.com/user/julienvideo9...OW-1vxB2Fw

Amtrak X995 Wrote:Hi

to increase our rooster fleet for our city limits street running, i have to re-biult/re-work several locos, my "private" company is the morristown&erie in the first years.
That means, a RS-1, RS-36 Nalco, C424 to rebuilt (Atlas did a good paint job, aber most details are wrong, all locos will get sound, "open", see through cabs with interior, the missin details....lost of work, those 3 engines are built paralell....amongst an walthers sperry rail car, fittet with wireless camera, built in accumulator, connectors to load from outside, without removing shell or roof.
This engine got new pick up`s , the original are rubbish (spring wire arround the axles).
It will get led`s for ligthing, rotary beacons......as all locos will get cab ligthing, led for the other lights (the problem in former times was, that an AEM-7 with original bulbs after 9 hour melt dorn the bulb housings, other old proto engines had problems on the roof, so all our locos in our running fleet will have or get led`s)

To see the city limits beside the NEC click the links
enoy
http://www.youtube.com/user/julienvideo9..._U3N_fzlQ8

http://www.youtube.com/user/julienvideo9...OW-1vxB2Fw

I LOVE that layout. I wish i were over there right now, You guy shave exactly the sort of thing i model. Love the former Reading GP40-2 and former L&HR C420! I think i saw a Patched EL SW in there to!

If i had to do another patch, i'd probably go for a Lehigh Valley unit either a GP18 or a GP38AC, and a CNJ GP7 with the red paint. Also thinking about a patched Penn Central GP for SD40. there is to many to do!

as for your AEM7 problem, i've never had that issue, and i've had most of my AEM7 fleet sit for hours at a time for shows.

Great responses here so far. I like seeing those AEM7's too. Being from Europe, I've been to Sweden and seen the locos in action that the AEM7 's were based on, the RC series of locomotives, the RC4 and RC5 being the most recent ones.
Roco used to make great models of these, and I'm guessing that the Atlas model was based on these, at least mechanically.

Koos

torikoos Wrote:Great responses here so far. I like seeing those AEM7's too. Being from Europe, I've been to Sweden and seen the locos in action that the AEM7 's were based on, the RC series of locomotives, the RC4 and RC5 being the most recent ones.
Roco used to make great models of these, and I'm guessing that the Atlas model was based on these, at least mechanically.

Koos

I think the Atlas AEM7s are home-grown on the mechanisms, as by the time of the AEM7 Atlas and Roco did not appear to be working together anymore.

Talking about adapting though, the Rc4 that visited (x995) was actually 4 inches too wide for the Northeast Corridor and had to be shaved down! however, being half the size and white of the E60C while nearly matching the E60's horsepower (though it would not quite surpass the E60 until modified to the AEM7-AC, and by then HHP-8s had run the E60s Off the Corridor)

Also, the Budd company (which was subcontracted to make the parts for EMD which licensed the designs from ASEA to build the AEM7) made further modifications, including a collision post between the windshields that is meant to withstand a quarter million pounds of shear, as US railroads have stricter end-loading and safety requirements (this extra weight being one major factor in hold US high speed trains back). Indeed, it appears only the sill, sides (minus portholes), trucks wheels and electrical gear are derived from the Rc4, while nearly everything else on it was built here, only so to meet US requirements.

I will be interested to see what sort of changes the Eurosprinter will get to work here. The ALP46 built for NJ transit differ from their German counterparts by three feet and have a totally different sound to them, let alone aesthetic differences.

Here are two locos I have been working on. The first one, the center cab, has been a work in progress for a number of years. I got the idea from an early 70's Railroad Modeler magazine splicing two Athearn Hustlers together. I work on it once in awhile. Some day I may actually finish it.



The second loco is from a more recent article on making a "critter" -- it is close to the article, but of course I had to modify it a little and make it my own.


Chuck

Chuck, those are awesome! I look forward to seeing more.

Dave

Hi

torikoos Wrote:.......Being from Europe, I've been to Sweden and seen the locos in action that the AEM7 's were based on, the RC series of locomotives, the RC4 and RC5 being the most recent ones.
Roco used to make great models of these, and I'm guessing that the Atlas model was based on these, at least mechanically.

Koos

tecnical are the identical in this poin´ts, thta both have middle motor, 2 flywheels, all whell drive.....thats all.
Better choice of an Amtrak x995 is the Märklin model, simply convert them in DC© with orginal Märklin DC Parts, only you have to trim the wheels in RP25 shape instead of NEM shape.
Then adding sanding pipes, the interiour of an other Märklin loco, some details parts, thats it....
sorry that are some older pics, made with an small camera

Thanks for the comments! It may be awhile before anything gets done with the locomotives -- between work, family and other commitments, finding time to work on all my projects has been limited (I think just about everyone can relate to this....).
Chuck