Rolling Stock For The Southwest

[Schraddel]

Here in this thread i will describe how i have modified rolling stock for taking part on activities on FREMO conventions. These locos and cars are separated from my other US modelrailroad activities which are settled in the East.

I got some more stock second hand:

This older Kato GP35 in Santa Fe's 1980ies coulors


The pre owner has done a lot of detailing work on this loco to bring it closer to prototype appereance.
A problem is durable couloring of the handrails out of elastic plastic. Nearly unbreakable but also nearly unpaintable, as you see the paint is flaking off when the handrails are bended, unavoidable when running the loco on conventions. :cry:
Any idea to solve that problem :?:

Also i get a couple of older Spectrum heavyweights in ATSF livery.
But there is this big bugbear of ATSF Heavyweights with their special Santa Fe sills.


Here i made an attempt to correct this.
Right side the original sills as Bachmann delivered them. Correct for many roads.
Left side i have milled away a part of the sill. The lower row of nits, they have the seize of those nits which bridge builders used for their constructions.


A U-channel 3 x 1 x 0.5mm out of ABS was laid loose onto. Here is still some work to do for plaining the area.


Here ths same is done with the Rivarossi combine. The new sill is glued in place.

The Spectrum Heavyweights are lacking the centersills:

Here i made the attempt to complete this. Pieces of 0.5mm styrene sheet will give the vertikal members of the fishbelly shaped center sill. And stripes of 0.3mm styrene will made the horizontal portion.


The new center sill. If battery boxes, air reservoirs and water tanks (?) are in their right locations i do not know now.



The car with new sills. As the photos uncover there is a lot more to do to smoothen the surface on the border of sidewall and outer sills.
But undoubtful the Spectrum heavyweights are even in this modified stage still stand-ins.
This was an first try how to modify those cars to bring them nearer prototype apperance.
Here i have to do more researching of the prototypes.

Lutz