:tb-smileYes, I was born on Valentine's Day, BTW). I decided not to waste the mechanism from my failed TTn3 experiment. I have since learned (again) that TTn3 is not for me, and I will stick to N scale. For good this time. I guess it took another messed up mechanism to get that through my head. I cleaned out the chassis, replaced modified parts with stock parts, and finally got it running smoothly again. From there, this engine became fodder for one of my favorite SD&AE engines: Little C-30 Number 50. Built new in 1911 for the line, this 2-8-0 weighed less than 70 tons, yet it served faithfully until 1950 on construction trains, work trains, local trains, branchline trains, extras, yard service, and the "San Diego Roustabout" (a mix of all of the above in one day). I decided to start this project today and have much of the basics finished. The pilot wheels, injector pumps, air tank and cooling pipes, and bell were taken from a "scrapped" bachmann 2-8-0 shell. The twin air compressors (taken from a compound air compressor that was cut in half and filed to shape), sunbeam headlight, generator, auxilary dome, and modified cab came from a "scrapped" model power 2-6-0 shell. The hand rails, sand pipes, and plumbing are old light-gauge mandolin strings, and the cap of the capstack was filed down until only a prototypical lip remained, resulting in a shotgun stack. The smokebox was cut down to as short as it could reasonably go, and the engine was given a coat of flat black, with graphite smokebox, light green cab interior, silver smokebox front, and red saftey paint on the injector pumps, just like SP engines. There is still much more to add, including sunshades, crew figures, grabirons on the smokebox front, SP train indicator boards, marker lamps, tender fuel bunker, toolboxes, reverse gear, lettering, weathering, and more. I also think I need to extend the smokestack just a little bit. Here's some pictures of how far I got today, the last one shows my entire N scale SD&AE Steam Trio. (Unfortunately, my layout doesn't really support 3-train operation, so if I want all three on the layout, I have to doublehead the big iron.)
It may be because I'm still using CRTs instead of LCD monitors, but I can't really see much of the detail on your locomotive conversions as the images are too dark. Here's an example of what they look like after importing into Photoshop, and adjusting with "levels". In any case, beautiful work. Mark
Thanks, Mark and Grey One. Regarding the image brightness, that seems to be an interesting issue. The photos appear fine on my laptop, (but then again, my backlight is very bright). It also may be because the new kitbashed engine is a flat black color right now. After some weathering and finishing, the color will be a lighter gray, anyway. Also, does anyone think this engine has that kinda-sorta "Mexican Narrow Gauge" Look? (of course, from Tijuana, the SD&AE does run through Baja California before returning to the U.S. in Campo.)
Still sporting fresh paint, and even before it had a chance to be lettered, number 50 is called to haul a work train out to the desert.
Ahh, Yes, it was! It was fortunate that my birthday coincided with a schoolday with no homework (a rarity with two AP courses plus two other Honors classes). I spent the day parading Number 50 around the layout while I pocketed a "birthday subsidy" for the SD&AE. Performance has been on the rise since I've broken it in. The engine is smoothing out and can now pull ten freight cars with only a hint of a slip around one curve every once in a while. Of course, usual M.W. trainlength for this engine would be about half of that, so no worries. I will resume work on #50 this weekend, as homework time almost matched school time today and yesterday...Lettering will be difficult, since "San Diego & Arizona Eastern" is hard to fit in one line across a short tender side. I may abbreviate it to "S. D. & A. E. Ry." like in earlier practices to make my life easier and to save decal letters.
You might ought to consider using dry transfer lettering, applying it to decal paper and then giving it an overcoat of clear to seal the lettering in place. Clover House has some very small letters in some sets that could be appropriate for what you might be needing... it will be the way I will eventually go in once I am in a position to letter equipment.
I did some more work on her today... Added scratchbuilt train indicator boards (built to scale this time; I realized that they are HUGE on my larger engines), marker lamps, headlight conduit, the distinctive raised oil bunker, lowered the rest of the tender deck height, and added a backup light. i also numbered the engine. Everything is finished except for the sunshade, armrest, tender lettering, some more grabirons, and weathering, so it was complete enough to take some good quality photos. Here she is in my backyard on a little diorama I built. Other than smoke and color corrections, the images are unedited. And the real #50 again for a comparison. You can see the distinct raised fuel bunker just behind the cab.
