here are some shots of the Hallmark Freedom Train PA loco ornament i fit over an MTL GP chassis. i smoothed the sideframes of the MTL GP trucks (got them pretty thin!) and glued the PA sideframes to the outside. I fit N scale Concor metal wheels to the ends. the nose and tanks sides i glued directly to the metal shell, and used styrene sheet in the roof and sides to insulate the mechanism. no mod was required to the MTL chassis -- i can still pop it out and put it right into a GP35 or GP9 (replacing the stock side frames). haven't weighed it yet. can't find my scale. dave f.
It looks great Dave, how does it negotiate turns with the extra Con-Cor wheel installed? Does that axle slide left to right in it's slot? Excellent work!
Nice David, I always wanted a PA locomotive since I got to run one off AZL's on my layout some years ago. Perhaps now I will be able to afford get me a PA1 some time in the future also.
On a somewhat related note, the Oct/Nov/Dec issue of The Railroad Press (TRP) has an article on the 1947 Freedom Train, including a couple of color photos. Dan S.
here are two pics of the finished loco. a smooth and quiet locomotive, thanks to the MTL GP mechanism. dave f.
It really came out nice David! The detail is suprisingly good, you would never have thought it was a Hallmark Ornament!
Ditto that. It came out fantastic! Who needs to spend 600 bucks on an AZL PA-1, when Hallmark makes them! Looks great in Aspen Gold.... Did you attempt to add weight?
thanks bob. from 3' away it's even better (ha ha ha). no, hemi, no added weight, but one sure could -- there's GOBS of room front and rear for it. i may go back and drill or file a little to lower the shell just a bit. the nose apron rides a little high to begin with, and the coupler is currently lined up correctly, but in a close up it doesn't look right. i won't be using it to pull from the nose, so if that coupler gets lowered it won't matter. i was thinking about adding a mars light to the nose. is there a way to use the rear light (with DCC) and make it a mars light? it would be simple to aim the lights if the DCC corrections can be made to the optional Digitrax DCC replacement board. what say, bob? can you help me here? dave f.
First, the engine looks awesome. Like Hemi says, who needs to spend $600 when it looks better then a AZL. Yes, you can add mars lights to your engine using dcc. Clip the rear led. Rewire a smd to the front and program the cvs. I have the codes to change the cvs if you need them. Again awesome.
The DCC stuff is outta my league, but the weightwould always help. If you do lower it, just watch the trip pin height clearance. No matter if you plan on front-coupling it or not; you still don't wanna derail it when the trip pin hits something...
Howly Cow ! I can't believe thats a Hallmark ! I know the tender and boxcar of my Turbine are really rendered well, the overpaint on the loco certainly hides what might be lurking underneath. I gotta take a look at the PA ornament. This inspires me. '
