LL GP60

The 6 GP60's arrived on the property the day before Christmas and they are exceptional - in appearance and performance.

Better then KATO many respects and as good as ATLAS on all counts - from Notch1 through 8 in both directions.


Since I live in Reno a drive to the AZTEC plant to bring Claudino the 6 frames for machining happened today - just got back as a matter of fact. John promised the soonest turn around he can manage - which is A.O.K. with me for the kind of superior work he does for Chinese wages. The machining is worth more then the paltry $10 he charges - trust me.

In any event - if you plan to - get a LL GP60 soon - they'll be gone and if you do get an AZTEC frame so you can control your locomotive and not your track.

Happy New Year to all - and to all a Good Night.

Toots

 

I guess my kit-bashed ones are no longer unique. Actually I just finnished the Cotton Belt one last month, as I knew that I would probablly never finnish it once I saw the Life-Like ones. Theirs is not correct for an ATSF one, so it looks Like 3 or 4 SP ones some undecs, and some Atlas noses for me.

My kitbashes are made from KATO GP50's, with Atlas SD60 (SP), or GP40-2 noses(ATSF), and many Atlas SD60 shell parts to get the 60 series blower housing and scratchbuild the dynamic brake blister. SSW unit also has an SD60 front frame and steps grafted on to give it an anticlimber and fix the coupler hole without a Micro Trains pilot kit. The ATSF unit uses a BLMA SD40-2 anticlimber. Both have hand bent front handrails and GMM stantions due to the anticlimber as I had to remove the factory ones to get it to fit.





Brian

 

Brian -
Very cool GP60's, and nice locale also!

I concur w/ Toot's assessment - I picked up mine at the LHS today - very, very nice. Excellent detail, smooth runners, and good pullers - they have some 'heft' to them.

I'll post some pics when I can - Railimages isn't cooperating w/ picture uploads for me tonight. . .

 

Those are awesome, but I need to see more of your layout (if you could be so kind as to post a shot of a large area). What's the trick on making SP ballast like that? And the telephone poles, those are fitting. Have you had any success modeling the oak trees out in the hills? I'm dreading making them for my own little chunk of SoCal SP.

 

Here they are -





I haven't taken them apart yet, but the parts sheet shows removeable window glazing ala Atlas and Kato. Life Like did a great job on these.

One questionable release turns out positive - let's hope the Athearn SD70Ms are the same!!

 

Hey Dave, those look really good. I almost bought a DRGW unit but I had to save up for a certain Amtrak purchase in my future.

 

Those are awesome, but I need to see more of your layout (if you could be so kind as to post a shot of a large area). What's the trick on making SP ballast like that? And the telephone poles, those are fitting. Have you had any success modeling the oak trees out in the hills? I'm dreading making them for my own little chunk of SoCal SP. </font>[/QUOTE]You can see more of my layout here.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/brianchiara

Belive it or not my ballast is actually Woodland Scenics off the shelf Ballast. I took a two gallon bucket and mixed up a large quantity of my own blend. I used somthing to the tune of 6 bags LIGHT GREY, 6 bags GREY, 6 bags dark grey, 3 bags BUFF, 1/2 bag BLACK CINDERS, and 1/2 bag white (Arizona Rock & Mineral). I applied it with the 50/50 white glue & water method, and then weathered it with a light mist of flat black from a rattle can, making the Main Track darker than the Sidings.

Funny thing though, in the above picture of my GP60's, the track they are sitting on was just touched up last night with some ballast here and there to cover up a couple of bare spots. The glue and some stray pieces are still on the railhead, as with the layout room being so cold, it hasen't fully dried yet so I can't disturb it to clean the track.

On the trees, as you can see in the photo below, I have recently added some. I was inspired by Dave N's recent pictures and reliazed that my Loop was in serious need of some vegatation, and I put together about 50 Woodland Scenics trees from their ready made armatures. I'm still not convinced that they look 100% correct for oak trees, but I'ts a start at least. If you use the kits, I would reccomend 3M's Super 77 spray adhesive. I also added the telephone poles the same day, after modifying all of them to fit the paticular location, working from prototype photos.



Brian

 

Got my 2 BNSF Patch units today. Man they run and look nice. Only complaint is a minor one.
The headlights are very dim. Relatively easy fix when I put decoders in them. Think I need more.

 

Thank you Brian, I'm further inspired now.

 

Just received mine. Ohboyohboyohboyohboy!!!

Hope to run them next week. Looks like another TexMex coming up!

 

Wait a minute! If this is a Life Like GP60, then that means that LL is now has a mechanism tooled for GP50, GP40, GP38, GP35, others? The dash 2 series of all them, too.

 

My LL GP60s arrived from Wig Wag.
Black walkways and filter/exhaust areas; nice touch. No plow. Fine handrails. Very smooth for the few feet that I ran it tonight.



And finally, in case you are wondering about the other engine in the lashup...
KCS SD45 custom painted. It is one of the best custom paint jobs I have ever seen. Right up there with Ernie Giese. Don't remember where I got it; ebay, I think.

 

That Cotton Belt unit is SWEET! Can't wait to get mine. Here's my UP GP.

 

Flash & Scott -

Looking good gents!

Mine are already in revenue service. Here's SP9735 leading a lumber drag across the Tuolomne River in the CA Central Valley, on it's way back to Oregon & the lumber mills.

 

Is there anyone that is going to make a drop-in decoder for these? Seems like there may be a market for it. Kind of seems pointless for manufactures not to make this a industry standard these days. Lets hope!