11-02-2011, 12:00 PM
OK, I've had the body off, replaced the couplers with Kadee 158s, lubed it, and started some weathering.
I started weathering by putting a light spray of thinned Floquil Rail Brown on the trucks:
However, there's more weathering to do, as in-service photos show diesel slopped on the fuel tank and lube oil coming out of the hood doors, exhaust soot, etc etc.
Then I got to thinking about my ancient Alco Models U50C:
I got this second hand maybe 30 years ago, with a so-so paint job. I tried stripping it, but as some people know, Floquil paint that's been on any length of time is almost impossible to remove. At least the stripper got rid of the bad decals. The yellow and gray paint was intact, so I re-decaled it with Micro Scale. I also remotored and regeared it with an NWSL regear kit. It's fairly quiet and smooth, though it's been in the display case for many years and will need some tuning if I want to run it. I also never got around to adding window glass or number boards:
I also got to thinking about other locos to run with the U50 and the turbine, since the UP at that time was in its Unlimited Power -- UnPredictable phase. I have a number of pre-Walthers P2K UP units, which are pretty awful as runners, so I will need to decide whether to repower them with A Line kits (now pretty expensive, and speed curve doesn't match U50 or turbine), or turn them into dummies.
I started weathering by putting a light spray of thinned Floquil Rail Brown on the trucks:
However, there's more weathering to do, as in-service photos show diesel slopped on the fuel tank and lube oil coming out of the hood doors, exhaust soot, etc etc.
Then I got to thinking about my ancient Alco Models U50C:
I got this second hand maybe 30 years ago, with a so-so paint job. I tried stripping it, but as some people know, Floquil paint that's been on any length of time is almost impossible to remove. At least the stripper got rid of the bad decals. The yellow and gray paint was intact, so I re-decaled it with Micro Scale. I also remotored and regeared it with an NWSL regear kit. It's fairly quiet and smooth, though it's been in the display case for many years and will need some tuning if I want to run it. I also never got around to adding window glass or number boards:
I also got to thinking about other locos to run with the U50 and the turbine, since the UP at that time was in its Unlimited Power -- UnPredictable phase. I have a number of pre-Walthers P2K UP units, which are pretty awful as runners, so I will need to decide whether to repower them with A Line kits (now pretty expensive, and speed curve doesn't match U50 or turbine), or turn them into dummies.