Well The Shop forces are at it again, dipping deep into he used loco market. Here we have the rebuilt QA&P SD40T-3 #748 and company, bringing the drag freight, M JUNKER1 28A into Quanah. This was/is an HO scale, Athearn Blue Box (BB) SP "snoot" tunnel motor, built out of the parts box again. QA&P stuck with a 3000 gal fuel tank, and sports etched brass, see thru tunnel air intakes. No idea who made the screens, I have had them for years. Those long nose things remind me of those baseball caps that have bills that are twice as long as regular ones, ya know. Put a few extra bulbs in the light package on this one, it has running, (ground) lights on the steps at front and rear, Strato beacon, HL's and DL's. The biggest pain was to use 2 front trucks so the gear tower dos not fill the whole see thru part of the shell. That was done by completely dis-assembling the truck to be used on the rear, drill out the rivets, turn the metal plates around, and soldier the rivets back in place, clearance the plastic part of the trucks so the center axle offset does not interfere, cut the fake Traction motor off the end of the truck, pin and glue that to the side frames, install the side frames backwards, do some mill work to the frame for clearance issues, and Walla, you have a front truck on the rear looking and running right for the most part, but the gear tower on the wrong end. Kind of a head scratcher, till you see it. Had pictures of it till I formatted the camera and lost them all. Management decided to stay with the Classic Black and Yellow paint. Used a bunch of detail parts, painted and decals were put on, it is shiny but not for long. Regards|-||-| Tom Holley
Great modeling, Tom! Question - what type (specifically, size) are the running lights? I've never seen those in HO before! - Bruce
Sure like the running lights on ho model.Do you know why they (RR) had them? A=WERE THE ENGR COULD SEE THE GROUND LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW AND LOOK DOWN AT GROUND.
Thanks Jim, I so much enjoy seeing your work too, I have been doing the running lights thing for 10-15 years or more. It just became an issue when the beacon was desired too. Thanks Bruce, The running lights are 15 ma, 1.5v, 1.2mm, HL/DL's are 30ma (grain of sand) bulbs. You can get them at many places including Miniatronics, the light circuit is a home made thing that is pretty tuff, but cheap and easy to build. But it might send an electrical engineer into orbit. Thanks Bob I would like to see that SD35, interesting stuff. Got pictures? What model did you use? Thank you John for lookiing Great question. I am sure there is someone here to answer that question. I really dont know how far back it goes, and I cannot say for sure if it is, or was, FRA reguired, to have ground or running lights for the Engineer or Fireman to see the ground and ascertain if the engine is actually moving, in relation to the speed recorder, or throttle position. I really dont know if it is FRA required to have illumination on walkways. All I really know is there is a switch on the back panel to turn some of them on and off. As with most other appliances on RR equipment, if is so equipped, then it must work, or be functional. I have a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) but Brother, if you have ever seen one, man, what a cluster to even open, much less read and understand The RR's have started using LED's now, for running lights, they all have the Bluish tint to them. But they seem to light stuff up good Thanks guys! Tom Holley
I always thought of the snoots as ugly duckings, but your model makes me want one. Great job, Tom! I also like the three digit caboose. I assume, judging by your electrical skills and the awesome detail that you put into all of your models, that the red light in the center of the roof is functional. Who manufactures those and are they difficult to install? Pat Moreland, Union Mo.
Jim, great job on that engine. I too have always though of Snoot Nooses as ugly ducks, but then again I thought the same about SD40T-2's (But I REALLY love the look of the SD45T-2, almost got a Southern Pacific one a while back) But with the snoot nose on the SD40T it makes it look a lot better. Ethan
Thanks Pat, Ethan and Ken. Yep those things were so homely, the face only a mother could love. Nowadays all you see is GE's, so they are slightly less homely. I can still smell the nasty toilet on those SP things. I mean you couldn't even stretch your train out leaving the yard, and not have bells going off with these things dieing all the time. They really beat these old critters to death. Ethan I like those 45T's too. They are all business man, sound good too Yes Sir Pat, that Caboose Marker is functional, did it with just a few $ of stuff a 1.5v battery holder an LED a resister Micro slide switch. The next time I do one I will try and explain how it was done and give you some part #'s, it was real easy to do and adds that final touch. Thanks Guys for looking.|-||-| Tom Holley
Maybe you should get a SD45T-2 and have the full lighting package on it that Southern Pacific liked. Only maybe run the red gyro light all the time instead of only in emergency brake. Ethan
Thanks Terry Wish I had done a little more thinking before all the FRA stuff, but. Ditch lights were Mandatory like you say after 1997. You can still run w/o ditch lights (like long hood FWD) but you can not go more than 20mph over xings at grade. HL/DL ground walkway lights, like you say have to operational but only at the initial terminal. Failures enroute can operate, (as long as at least 1 DL and HL is operational) until the next terminal where mechanical forces are available. I never think about that as we are just an intermediate terminal here and we just "make a set and release and go". Which is where we fall here in GJ as its over 250 mi each way to a shop for us anyway. I like you say, I have seen some guys B/O a unit for some pretty picky stuff. Myself I would rather have the power if at all possible instead of another 150-200 tons to drag around Thanks Terry you got me to thinking a bit there, I needed that. Tom Holley
I almost want to call those ground lights "step lights," since cabooses hand them, too - any place a crew member would regularly have to walk or step on/off the car. Cabooses had them on the porches and the steps ... well, at least the modern cabooses I've snooped around.
The Frisco was always conservative in their selection of diesel types for their roster. I remember talking about that with Mr. Oscar Summers (Frisco's CMO - Motive Power in the late 1970's). Other than the early diesel switchers, where they tried almost everything, they quickly settled on one preferred design and one backup. I often wished they had been a bit more wild and crazy, but it was best for them that they were not. At least in the first gen era we had the Alcos, and in the second gen era we had the U-boats for some variety. They not only had a different look, but sounded differently, in particular the U-boats (chugga chug chug chug ...., love 'em!). What Tom is doing is really neat. His addition of other types of diesel power to his roster here and there, and then decorating them expertly to look like the Frisco likely would have done them, eases my long-held desire to have seen other types in Frisco colors. Well done Tom! How about an Alco Century Series type in o/w? Tom's work makes me want to get back to two I have - oft talked about by me in postings but seldom worked on in recent years - a Frisco E8B in the Racehorse scheme, but with no horse name, and a FM Trainmaster in b/y for hump duty in Tulsa. I have the models, just gotta finish them! Both have been started, but are in the early stages. Ken
Wow Ken, That is quite a compliment from such an accomplished modeler as yourself. I appreciate it. Thank You. I seem to runnung amok with the proverbial "license". I am not familiar with any locomotive really except the newer GE dash7's and up, or EMD's. Alco's, FM's, Baldwin's and all the rest I know nothing about. I remember when I was working in Alliance we had a Alco come in painted in the Grey GE lease paint, DIC. The engine was cold it had been dead so long. Only 1 guy working swing on the pit, knew what is really was or how to reset everything, and start it, turned out the engine over speed tripped and it died. Anyway it left Alliance making Black smoke. Never saw another one. I think a big Alco would look pretty good in O/W But the E8B will have to be in the classic paint, perhaps it can be named after the sire of one of the original's? Thanks again Ken I agree Bruce they should be step lights. The ground lights to me, would be the ones directly under the cab, where you could see the "ground" from the cab. They got little lights all over these things on all the steps, on the front bottom hood, rear bottom hood, or anything over like a 1" step on the walkways. I have noticed on some older NS units they had the walkway lights that lit up the whole side of the engine. I was looking at the old cumbox we have here and can see where there were lights on the steps there too, like you say. Things that make you go, HHHMMM. Thanks Tom Holley|-||-|
Tom G - Yep, the artwork on the Frisco PTT's got me started on the idea of having an E8B to go along with my P2K's.. I picked one up from an on-line vendor for next to nothing (Frisco colors no less!), so I figured I had nothing to lose. Keith - Great idea!, but I don't know where to put the horse name. It could be named "Sham" (sp?), after the horse that finished second to Secretariat in all three triple crown races in 1973 in the movie. Not a good name for a locomotive, though! Tom H - How about an o/w Alco Century C-430 to run with those GP40-2's, and possible future U30b's? Number it in the 880's or 890's. Ken
This is without a doubt the most precise model I have ever seen. Not a flaw visible under all types of light and all angles. And I have known some skilled modellers in my time. Maybe one of Bill Clousers models would have compared favorably, but Bill worked mostly in O scale. Great work and congratulations.
