Did any of you receive any neat railroad related items for Christmas? Let's hear about them. I got a model I have long wanted - an Atlas HO Alco HH-600 switcher. It's in Wabash colors - the Frisco didn't have any. As usual these days, Atlas did a terrific job on this model. It runs very smoothly and looks great - excellent detail. This was a pioneer diesel switcher - one of the first that was successful, and the first that saw mass production. It had an unusual layout - the front of the 600HP engine faced the cab, the generator was at the back of the engine up at the front of the chassis, the radiator and fans were back between the engine and the cab - all this is the reverse of what became standard on a diesel switcher. The hood is very tall, as the Alco engine sat on the frame rails, not between them - the hood is as tall as on a F-M. And, the exhaust stack is up front on the top of the hood, like on a steam locomotive. You steam guys might like this one. It is rather ungainly looking - short, stubby, unusually tall, all of which of course makes it look really neat to my eye! Ken ps - Now we need Atlas to do the Lima end-cab switcher.
Santa could not come up with a RTR Frisco GP 40-2 for me this time. But he did promise he would keep looking for me. And if I am a good boy, might get it for my birthday He did give me DW 191 horns, and other detail parts and trees for scenery, which are always welcome around here. Tom H.
I got several neat RR things for Christmas: 1) A "To the Trains" porcelain sign to place on the door to the railroad rooms was under the tree. 2) Although my wife did not know it was not prototypical, she gave me one of the ExactRail Frisco Gunderson boxcars. 3) My daughter, with her limited budget, gave me a $30 gift cert to one of our local hobby shops. 4) My son, the penny-pincher, gave me a $100 gift cert to the same shop. But most of all, I got the blessing to continue with my on-going demolition, remodeling, and construction for my layout room.
I got a set of covered hoppers, plus money to blow on decoders and ez track #4 switches. I have pictures of the covered hoppers at: http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?t=4776
Santa left an Athearn Genesis sound equipped SD70ACe in the MoPac Heritage Scheme. I also got some cash that will probably go to the LHS.
Thanks to Gordon Mott I got the book "Frisco Diesel Power" by Louis A. Marre and John Baskin Harper. I also got some art supplies for my Railroad drawings, a Heisler locomotive Knife, and subsrictions to Classic Trains and Trains. Thank you Mr. Mott. Now my Frisco library is now complete(till something new comes out) Ship it on the Frisco!!! Murphy Jenkins
Saint Nick (wholesale trains) brought me some E-Z track so I can make a temporary layout on which I can run the few engines that aren't in boxes.
I got the "70 Years of Trains Magazine" DVD. However, I will say that although it claims to have a searchable data base, it does not work very well, as, for example, if you ask it to search for (say) Missouri Pacific, you will get every reference to the words "Missouri" and "Pacific." Also, and it may just be a glitch with our computers (we have several) it looks like it is a one-time upload. That said, there is a lot of material there and the scans are very legible. GS