07-02-2012, 05:22 PM
Rather than continue to clog the camp fire with my updates, I figured I'd post them here. There isn't much to the project but detailing and painting an old friend. This is my progress on an old Mantua Pacific from my childhood.
This loco is one of the original given to me and my brother from my Uncle who was getting out of the hobby in the mid 80's. He gave us an Athearn gp35, F7 and this Mantua Pacific along with boxes of track, buildings, and everything else you'd need. It was mine and my brother's favorite as kids. When I pulled out the old trains five years ago after fifteen years to resume the hobby, it was kind of beat up and ran like crap. I bought the stuff to rebuild it four years ago with the intention of doing the work I'm doing right now. Building the layout has been a bigger priority until recently. Now that the layout is over 90% finished I have time to work on this project. I also have acquired an airbrush, some more tools, and a few more skills since then as well! I know I could buy another plastic loco for around the same money I've spent, but this is more fun. Besides, the first thing my brother asked when viewing the layout was whether that old steamer still ran! Pretty soon I can tell him yes!
Here is a picture of what it looked like right after it's inaugural run out of storage.
![[Image: railroad04-05-07057.jpg]](http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/secondhandmodeler/railroad04-05-07057.jpg)
I ran it in circles on my then 4x8 hoping it would smooth out. It proceeded to destroy itself like Forest Gump shedding his "magic shoes". I know the damage seen in the picture is just a loose bolt but it got worse. I took it apart and didn't know how to put it back together. Without the know how or skills to fix it, I put it away for safe keeping.
This loco is one of the original given to me and my brother from my Uncle who was getting out of the hobby in the mid 80's. He gave us an Athearn gp35, F7 and this Mantua Pacific along with boxes of track, buildings, and everything else you'd need. It was mine and my brother's favorite as kids. When I pulled out the old trains five years ago after fifteen years to resume the hobby, it was kind of beat up and ran like crap. I bought the stuff to rebuild it four years ago with the intention of doing the work I'm doing right now. Building the layout has been a bigger priority until recently. Now that the layout is over 90% finished I have time to work on this project. I also have acquired an airbrush, some more tools, and a few more skills since then as well! I know I could buy another plastic loco for around the same money I've spent, but this is more fun. Besides, the first thing my brother asked when viewing the layout was whether that old steamer still ran! Pretty soon I can tell him yes!
Here is a picture of what it looked like right after it's inaugural run out of storage.
I ran it in circles on my then 4x8 hoping it would smooth out. It proceeded to destroy itself like Forest Gump shedding his "magic shoes". I know the damage seen in the picture is just a loose bolt but it got worse. I took it apart and didn't know how to put it back together. Without the know how or skills to fix it, I put it away for safe keeping.
Corey