OK, well I may have been able to tip you off on the GMM stirrups but you've got me really impressed by the cab window visors. That's REALLY noticeable and REALLY nice and I have to admit that it's probably worth tearing the shells off mine one more time and doing those. You just have to admit it when somebody else shows just how good a relatively minor change can make in the entire realism package. Did you have a shot from the inside showing the material and mounting of that? Edit: Yeah, how can you deny the existence of this? http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=352158&nseq=15 And that's the early Amtrak era too. My lead unit is the 310, similarly equipped with the 5-chime and all those details, all dirtied up. But LOOK at the visors.. yeah.
Randall...it's so easy that I'm loathe to take credit for it, yet, I've never seen anyone else do it since I did it for a friend of mine back in 1994... He wanted a Kato F7 in warbonnet...at the time Kato had released the F3 and F7 in their original configuration, that is only one headlight... i modified an undec shell with a brass center headlight...then painted the warbonnet... then...on a whim...I took some spare white numberboard decals, the GE kind that had more squared edges, then applied the decals to the INSIDE of the Kato glass window....while it was wet, I adjust it up, down, sideways to get the effect that I wanted... when it was dry..VOILA!...the effect, IMO, is great. I always remembered doing that, so when I started back into N scale this last year, and started acquiring my own E, F, and PA units...I knew I'd put these on mine... to that end, I just bought some Microscale white stripes...I think it's 1/8 inch...then just cut to the length I want...then apply to the inside upper part of the window glass....after using Microsol, and letting it all dry...i can run a sharp knife to cut through any decal film that adhered to the inside roof of the unit...then, if i ever have to disassemble the unit at all, and remove the window 'glass', i won't risk tearing the window shade decal.... again, the easiest thing in the world, works and looks great in N scale ( I imagine it would even work in HO). To get the 'random' effect of having the shades set at different angles, you just move the decal around relative to the other one... Hope this helps, Bruce
Hello all... a while ago I had posted pics of details added to the Kato PA units to bring them to the level of detail worthy of the brass units... that thread is part of this 'F' detail thread; I was satisfied with all the mods save one-using parts from the Kato undec ATSF-version, I had fashioned my own versions of the unique center cab mounted number board peculiar to the ATSF units... I had remembered seeing these in the 90's...produced by Sunrise Enterprises, but knew that they were no longer available. Call outs to folks on this and other forums bore wonderful fruit; reinforcing my opinion that most everyone frequenting these forums will go out of their way to assist a fellow modeller. I was able to acquire two packages of Sunrise Enterprises N-675-ATSF-style numberboards, consisting of 3 pieces each. I have 5 of the latest release of Kato's ATSF PAs...(I prefer the more 'faded' color of these units, plus they are DCC ready and have improved paint details...so far, I only have 2 of the PB units in the latest scheme...but this actually seems like a pretty good ratio, allowing a 'Fast Mail' lashup of A-A-B-A units (frequently seen during my 1957 modelled year), leaving any number of combinations between the remaining A-B-A units...Grand Canyon power perhaps? I cleaned up the pieces for the 5 units, test fit, then took a deep breath and used CA to fix them in place...color match was mixed with Floquil paints-ATSF Red and ATSF Yellow...3 parts red to 2 parts yellow. another deep breath with a well-shaped paint brush and voila... I'm satisfied with the fit and color match-I'll use an acrylic black for the front face (allowing me to wipe away any 'mistakes' on the cured ATSF red match) I'm MUCH more satisfied with the way these Sunrise parts look compared to my attempts before...much more accurately scaled to prototype size. Thanks for looking ~Bruce
Just an FYI - All Kato PA units were DCC ready, this did not include the ConCor units made by Kato. You did some wonderful work here..... I am so sad my skills do hold a candle to yours!
Thanks! I'm pretty sure 160-0502, although technically DCC ready, as anything can be made to be DCC ready...it was not the same mechanism as 160-0504, which is the newer mechanism-DCC freindly with the 'drop in' board. Also, 160-05054, these units are from that series, have the much nicer Kato paint treatment, similar to the newer F units-kick plates, tiny lettering on the nose, etc... Some don't like the difference in Kato paint shades over the years...my opinion runs completely opposite to those...I appreciate the slight differences in paint-they reflect REAL world scenarios...These locos seem to have the look of units in my era-1957...a little more shift to Orange than a brand new unit as it appeared when delivered. Thanks, ~Bruce
Now you have me thinking...were there three runs of actual KATO PAs?...(not Kato built for ConCor, etc)..I remember one run having Rapidos actually installed-these runs include Rapidos in a side pocket in the case...and the same run not being DCC friendly with the drop-in board (similar to the older E8/9 mechanisms and the older F mechanisms) ~Bruce
I bought the very first run of Kato PAs when they first came out to replace my Con Cor units. Both SP and ATSF. When I added DCC, they all took the same Digitrax board. Had to insulate the long wiper strips from the motor leads and all. Yeah, they came with first generation Kato coupler installed but with Rapidos in the pocket.
Or maybe they already had the second generation Kato coupler, the one that Kato goofed up and never was reliable. Anyway, when the PA came out it used basically the same mechanism as the E8 that they had released a decade earlier and used many of the same parts including the light boards that the drop in decoders replace.
Thanks, Randy... I saved one for making a mold for future casting...no I have to teach myself how to do this..... ~Bruce
I added the numberboard 'blanks' this evening...simply black decal film, cut to fit... by cutting them slightly smaller than the flat surface of the board, they leave an outline that represents the chrome trim, that was originally on these numberboards... In later years, after repaints, the chrome trim was painted over... next come the actual numberboards, but I had better pick numbers for the remaining 4 units! (I don't want any of these to have the actual Kato numbers of 52 or 54...one has already been re-numbered to 66. Thanks for looking, ~Bruce
There is two problems with the m.u. cable being placed on the pilot... First, m.u. cables of that time frame were not permanently attached to a locomotive but rather put or taken off as was needed. Second... the m.u. receptical was up on the face of F-units, being placed between the right numberboard and the headlight. The small hatch that covered the m.u. socket can be seen in the photos below... ATSF 17C ATSF 19C ATSF 19C ATSF 19C ATSF 27 SBD 116 - ex-CRR BN 676 BN 702 GM&O 800A SOU 4142 BN 9762 And here are some shots of F-units that had the hatch removed or replaced... KCS 30 Dakota Rail 81A - ex-MILW CNW 205 M&StL 400 M&StL 403 FEC 507 Microscale has a set of decals to create this detail on F- and E-units though I can't remember off hand what the set is called. It basically is a black outline of what is suppose to be the hatch and a black mark representing the finger hole. Something else to remember, many EMD cab units were built with m.u. only on the butt... ah... I mean the back end of the units since it was believed that the units would always be leading a train. Some even ended their career without ever having the m.u. receptacle.
Jerry, all of those shots of ATSF F units represent units after rebuilds in the 60's...the 'mu' connections on the pilot (the 4 receptacles on either side of the coupler-high up on the pilot-the original ATSF mods for train air hoses and 'some sort of other cable' (I assumed it was an mu cable) are in the small oval cut-outs either side of the coupler, and including a smaller circular cutout to the immediate side of the coupler on the fireman's side-these were early ATSF mods-the units were not delivered with them... also, the mu doors that appear high up on the nose, the ones on the microscale sheet, were also adds to the units during this same shop time, they were not extant during my modelled era-1957-roughly at the same time the doors were added to the F units (for the ATSF units), mu doors were added to the PA's, in the form of rectangular cutouts either side of the center headlight and slightly higher-units received these mods as they went through their regular shop upgrades... that's why you'll see ATSf F and PA units looking slightly different, depending on the years the pics were taken... I'm modelling these units-Fs and PAs during 1957-so I'm duplicating the features that the units had then-on the F units, in the oval cutouts, there are two hoses per cutout-one is, apparently, an airh ose in each, the other, I couldn't begin to say...I can only assume it was a form of mu hose as there are no other hoses visible anywhere on the pilot-I'm at work so I can't post any 1957-era pics from this computer. but i'll do that this evening when I have a chance. Thanks,
I am not really sure what went on behind those doors beside the headlights, but I don't think they were for MU. The MU hoses were all removable and plugged in at coupler level like Bruce noted. I always thought the two big hoses next to the coupler were air for the brakes and a signal line. The steam for the passenger cars must have been tucked in under the pilot somewhere.
I was my understanding that the steam line was usually not a rubber hose but a mechanically articulated pipe suspended under the coupler that would scissor/accordion in and out. I believe the coupling and valve handle can be seen in the first photo on the right of the opening where a small door would usually conceal it. The second photo is of a non-pilot end and shows it much better.
That second photo also shows where the MU connects on a B unit, above the door. As does this pic. The hatch on the front of the F units is for MU. This pic shows the connection between the two. Jason
