GEC's Layout Progress

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Couple of questions...
What is that black monster #4457..??
Is the catenary going to be energized..??

Great job..!!

1.) # 4457 is one of Conrail's former Pennsylvania RR E44A electrics by General Electric. They are 5,000 HP solid-state rectifier units (standard E44s are only 4400 HP with Ignitron Rectifiers). they were bought as a replacement for PRR's boxcab electrics, replacing literally every Pennsy electric except for the GG1.

2.) I'm leaving the option open. I plan to make a switch so i can run all electric in the future. Since the catenary structures are metal, they can conduct, so if i felt like it, i could raise the pans as soon as i hang the wire.

It is simply not fair that there's no great looking electric engines like those in Nscale...not fair at all. Nice work on the catenary btw!

Even in HO scale, there isn't much. I do have a nice collection, but hardly enough to really cover the electric operations where i model. For example, i have about 5 Amtrak AEM7s, an Acela Set, and an HHP-8. I have Amtrak's NEC stuff pretty well covered. At the same time, however, whole fleets of Electric multiple units share the Right of Way with Amtrak, and none of those models are easy to obtain (or cheap). Without the brass E44A models i picked up, modeling the conrail era with electrics would be near impossible. the only other electric freighters were the E33s (only ten of them on conrail), a pair of short lived EP5s (called E40s by Conrail) and GG1s (retired in 1979). the GE E44s were the bulk.

Kato is pretty good, offering that GG1. I think there is an E60CP and Acela in N-scale to (did they ever produce HHP-8s?), though i don't know how well they work. hopefully, manufacturers might be convinced to offer an AEM7 in N. I've seen SPECTACULAR N-scale PRR catenary done before, so i know its not out of the question.