Workshop Wednesday

John, thanks for the info. I will get one for sure.

 

HA,HA -- When I first read this - I thought it said that it cleaned the tunnels and a couple bridges - (I thought, well, it's big enough to do that)
Guess I had better start wearing my specs more?

 

It's great to see so much Frisco on club layouts.

 

My main power for operating sessions on the Knoxville HO club layout. 599 - 45-year-old blue box Athearn and 109 - recently repainted N&W Kato RS-1. The SoundTraxx in each is awesome. Those Durango folks do wonderful digital sound.

 

They look great Doug. Love seeing your 599 still at it. My dad still runs his 568 from the same early FMIG days too. You guys did great work on those conversions.

 

I'm posting AND its Wednesday! rare First a quickie filler car for me. I love patched equipment and fantasy routes. Here is an ex V&O car that will become a modern BKTY beater.

 

I am still plugging away on my Freightshaker yard spotter too. Motor is assembled and painted just needs some Detroit filth. The chassis is painted and just needs plumbed and wired, body has a coat of paint. So it is getting there.

 

Thanks Ken

I still have one F unit with the rubber band drive. I assume it would shatter under power now. I know it is older than me

 

Good stuff, guys.

Steve: Amazing work on your Shaker! You've got trucks down to an art, you do.

Rubber band drives: My first Athearn piece was a cigar band Santa Fe F7A w/Hi-Fi rubber band drive. This would have been in the mid-late 60s? Ran awful compared to the red box Tyco Santa Fe GP20 and cigar band F7 I had. I ended up gutting the Hi-Fi and making a dummy out of it.

Fun, innocent times!

Andre

 

Thanks Andre!

I had a couple rubber band Fs from a friend of my dads. NYC units I repainted to PC units. I was probably 7, that might have been my first locomotive paint and decal job. My first pieces that I was the original owner of, was the AHM bicentennial set with the Alco and SLSFish looking caboose plus about 3 freight cars. It was a 1976 promotional piece that came with cereal boxtops and cash. I was pretty proud of the fact I had a REAL Frisco autorack too, not knowing that the bright orange AHM car was not totally prototypical. haha

 

Merry Christmas (A.K.A. Workshop Wednesday),

Not much to offer this week, but did manage to work on a few details and decals for one of the older caboose models. This is an old MDC/Roundhouse kit that I think is based on a ASTF prototype. Was looking for a couple of models that fit in as ~1900-1910 plus or minus. I hope this is somewhat reasonable, as I cannot find pictures other than Jim's 777. Still needs some clean up and another brake wheel, marker lamps.....but is coming along. This is a loose fit assembly until I get windows in and weathering done. The body looks more glossy than the rest, because I gave it some clear coat for decaling.



This camera or the lights I am using really emphasize the reds. It is a bit more oxide than this picture makes it appear.

(EDIT: Need to remove the stirrups. I think they belong on the blind-end version of this kit).

Merry Christmas All! See you on New Year's Day (next Workshop Wednesday).

-Bob T.

 

HA, well I know which way the phone is oriented now. Damn it! I’ll try to fix them.

Until then here is some progress on The Freightliner. Motor is done. Starting weathering the interior. The tears in the seat etc..
The dipstick works as well. Since every Detroit leaks.

Thanks and Merry Christmas on workshop Wednesday!

 

Happy New Years Eve Eve,

Last one for the year and decade. Been working on a few variations of this old roundhouse wood caboose in order to have something resembling a TOC-like caboose. Will Frisco-ize these with a few decals, but mostly using to work on skills to modify two AMB wood kits into blind-end waycars that are prototypical for the Frisco.

I hope that you will forgive my non-prototypical-ness. Maybe I will pretend these were from predecessors of the Frisco, or purchases from the ATSF. Here is a picture of the variations I have been working so far:



Still need a few details like brake staffs and wheels, and braces for the cupolas and smoke jacks (one smoke jack is lost somehow).

These are loose, dry-fits of the major parts. You can see that some of the roofs are warped and need to be glued down in final assembly. While these are nice kits from the point that they contain a few optional details (blind end and platform ends, ladders, side steps, and a few others), the have a lot of flash to remove and sanded. Also, because there are optional mountings of stirrups and ladders, you end up with holes to putty over. The ladders seem a bit over-sized as well. I don't know of another blind-end caboose kit model. Anyone know of one? These are only about $5 - $10 on eBay, so worth the price to mess around with ideas.

On the cars above, I added the drop grabs, roof grabs, truss rods, curved side grabs and found assorted trucks in the spare parts bin.

Input would be appreciated on reasonable trucks and if you like any of the particular designs above and colors. The two brown ones are "NATO brown" from Tamiya. Also, if these resemble any Frisco predecessor, please let me know and shoot me a picture if you have one. If I can make these any sort of reasonable model in terms of prototype, I will do so. Thoughts on a plausible road number would also be useful.

Thanks all and have a very Happy New Year!

-Bob T.

 

Nice project Bob. The blind end caboose projects should be neat. Those are I tersting cars.

 

I've never understood the rational for blind end cabeese once the concept of end platforms became known.

Like you Steve, I find them I tersting. Very I tersting.

(Couldn't let that one pass! You can slap me when/if we meet up sometime!)