I'd also be in for a GBW unit. But then, I wouldn't mind trying to create the entire roster! With only 16 Alco's, it could be possible. Could even use the old Model Power RSD15's, since the GBW had that they never ran. Used for parts, to keep the rest of the fleet running, I think.
John...the original FA's LL put out were FA2s........the frame was plastic, no flywheels, a spring for a driveshaft, truck mounted couplers and the weight came from 2 big chunks of lead sitting over each truck. FA2's have a longer body than FA1's. The FB2's were also all dummies, but used the exact same chassis as the A's......which is why I mentioned my B was powered. You buy an extra A unit, remove the shell, trim a little off the front weight and the B shell drops right on. All the SP&S FA's LL did were FA2's. The FA2's still weren't bad runners......I use mine a lot on NTRAK setups, and the lack of flywheels isn't a problem nor is super slow creep. Although I have a GN FA2 that I use to push my video car around the track and it creeps as well or better than some of my newer locos.Starts and stops are just a little abrupt. But my FA2/FB2/FA2 set will pull 100 cars all day on our layouts. The newer runs of FAs.....the ones with the split frame chassis....are all FA1's and have most of the modern "conveniences" and are great runners, but are not DCC ready. I painted one of my sets for SP&S and the second set will end up SP&S as well, but LL never produced any FA1's for SP&S. I don't run DCC, nor does our club, so DCC readiness isn't a factor for me, but as an example, when spookshow tested the LL C424's, back in 2002, he commented that it was hard to believe a "modern" loco wasn't DCC ready, and that was 11 years ago........imagine the comments now. But in the end, I just don't think the FA's were a big seller for LL. When they were LL, that didn't seem to matter......they produced a lot of stuff that was destined to be under-sellers........the FA's, C-liners and BL2's, but they also seemed to under-produce them. They did a run of Erie-builts that was extremely small, sold them all and never went back. Now that Walthers is in charge, that's changed..........they want BIG sellers, and you can't really blame them from a business standpoint.
This is an incorrect statement. If you look at the link below and scroll to the bottom, you will see the split frame FA-2's (I own several, including one that is cuatom painted in SP&S broadstripe). http://www.spookshow.net/loco/llalcof.html
Oops....my bad.....there's the 3rd version. But we're still talking SP&S here and those were the early FA2's and if you have those (2 A/B sets) you have all the FA2's SP&S had. I personally love LL stuff. Everything I have, no matter what vintage runs well and is dead reliable. I think I have close to 50 LL locos and I run them harder and work on them less than any other brand. And you are correct about the DCC compatability.......I have a set of Milw.Rd. C-liners that not DCC ready, and 2 more sets that are drop in decoder ready....there's even a drop in sound decoder I believe. So walthers CAN do it, but after the last run of DCC ready C-liners, they sold them out.....in a lot of cases for give away prices (I paid $50 for each of my last ABA sets) and 4 years later, have never made another run......maybe they are doing like they do with the cornerstone kits. They discontinued a lot of those, and people were paying ridiculous prices for the kits on ebay (like $200 for a kit that retailed for $45) and then suddenly they put them back in production.
I'd love some more E-L C424's to pair with the one I got. Liked it so much, wanted to order another. Nope, gone, out, never to be seen again. Joe D
Thanks Mike. Yours aren't too shabby either. Here's some more. Got to get some of these finished when I get some spare time!!!!! Cheers Steve
Yes to the SP&S C636... I have the C424/425 that LL made already and don't need more. I only buy them to have a 'sample' of pre-1970's diesels.
How do you do the divided tanks? That's a major optical asset in my opinion. And I'd love to be able to convert my Atlas CP 630s.
How did you do the modified aftercooler air intakes? Figuring out how to do them has been holding up the progress on my CP Rail C630M. Miniatures by Eric offers a replacement fuel tank and there is an eBay seller that offers a less accurate but correctable modification kit. (It's the same one that offers the fuel tank and air intake parts for the CP rail C424)
Hi Robert Although there are after market tanks available, I prefer to modify the Atlas one. Firstly I remove the air tanks and attached them directly to the underside of the walkways. Then I cut the tanks in order to give the right lengths of bulges, the bulges aren't the same length. I attached the tanks to the ends of the rectangular tanks and flush with the bottom edge. There's a lot of filling and sanding to be done to the tank bulges and the air tanks, but the end result is quite pleasing. The fuel filler then goes between the tank bulges. DrMb, This is also a model of a CP Rail C-630M. The 4500, as she is now on the WNY&P as their 630. The air intakes were first cut right out. Then a backing plate was attached behind, it is very thin styrene so it doesn't cause the body to flare out when on the chassis. It is still a very tight fit. The dividers are just short pieces of styrene. For the actual filters, I used left over filters from a Briggs M-630 kit. It was the kit I used to make the M-636 in one of the other photos. I had to file them a little, and up close the finish is only average, but they are glued on place, on the angle, with Weld Bond. There are potentially other options for the filters, even decals or photos or some computer generated artwork. I even considered using the plastic radiator air intakes from a Bachman GP-40. Cheers Steve
Good that I guessed correctly with needing to remove the air intakes entirely. Otherwise, I would be very annoyed right now. What angle did you use for them? My plan was to use right angled pieces of styrene with the the angle bent and trimmed to fit. Afterwards, it's just a question of whether I should score the styrene before painting it somewhere between off white (yes, the filters are white when they are brand new) and black and using a silver pen and a crazy amount of masking to give it the diamond pattern.
The angle is determined by the depth available in the filter box. As it is very shallow, the angle is quite wide. I do have a better photo of the filters, but for some reason it won't upload. cheers Steve
Hi Steve, your last picture http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/attachment.php?attachmentid=58299&d=1381568170 , the cab : from Kaslo or Eric ? Thanks ............Rainer
Ah because I was considering modifying the chassis to get the correct angle. The potential problem such a modification would cause with the motor saddle is half t reason why I haven't gone ahead with it. The other half being a lack of proper tools and the lack of knowing the previously mentioned angle. Also, I just noticed in your M420W photo that you have done a post 1980 CP Rail C424. To get the correct long hood end, did you modify the Miniatures by Eric C630 end part and add detail parts and grab irons to it or did you do something else. Also, do the headlights and number board work or does your layout have a strict anti long hood forward operations rule?
