I was able to make rough prototype fans from a BLMA see-though fan kit and cutting my own risers, which was a pain. Then I discovered I could get them 3D printed. I went that route, and they will arrive mid February. More to come...
A couple of details from my last visit to the 7006. For some reason, the nut welded onto the control stand to prevent the dynamics from being selected amuses me. I don't know when in its career the unit acquired the radio antenna.
Where is the radio antenna? And I also get the new radiator fans today from Shapeways, so I am excited about putting them on!!
The cable is coming out of the short hood, the antenna appears to be welded to the back of the cab roof.
So I got the new 3D printed radiator fans, and, well, I guess they're OK. They were thinner than I liked, so, as a resourceful engineer, I improvised. I glue the "regular" radiator fan to one from a GP35 (the ones I got from Shapeways came with a variety). This made them stand up more. Other than not being see-through, I kind of like them. I tried to detail them as best as I could. Thoughts?
@Sepp_k, thank you so much.If it's not too much trouble, could you get a shot of the top of one of those radiator fans?
That's probably a climb too high to get a picture of the inside of the fans. 7006 is too far away from the overhead bridge to pull that off. Let me see what I can get to confirm the antenna location.
OK. Thanks. I just wanted to know if there was a grill on the top of each of the radiator fan cylinders, or if the grill was lower inside the cylinder.
No promises, but I'll see if there are any pictures of that area. I'll get that picture of that antenna location this weekend when I remember my telephoto lens.
I was posting on another forum on a completely different topic. When I came to Trainboard and looked at this topic, I realised that I have the locomotive that is the subject of this topic. Mine is strictly stock Kato, though, complete with incorrect wheelbase.. I had pulled it out to photograph it to post on that other forum. It has not run in at least one year, if not more. Out of curiosity, I put it onto the track and applied power. It ran as if it had been running all along. It ran a lap, without stalling, at thirty SMPH in both directions around the Short Creek and Nopedale portion of my pike. The main line is a four foot N-TRAK module in the middle (Atlas flex) with four by three end loops on either end that connect the Red and Yellow. That track is Kato UNITRAK.
It does look like ConRAIL did try to upgrade it by rebuilding it into a GP-18. I would guess that after years of deferred maintenance both with the Penn and especially Penn Central, it was a prime candidate for a major rebuild. but, as Original Poster points out, the fans on the GP-18 are not the correct size. You do get funny things with some of these rebuilds.
Here's a picture from the viewing bridge in the RR Museum of PA. You can see how the antenna is offset to the right of center. That's towards the engineer's side of the cab, as 7006 is set up to run long-hood forward. No help with the fans. It's neat how you can see the speed recorder in this zoomed-in shot.
THANK YOU!! I am kind of disappointed that the radiator fans have covers on them, but I understand, as they did not want birds, bugs, or bees get inside. I guess I am going to just make my own theories for the fans and proceed.
I won't argue with however you choose to do it. I do believe that I have done the best I can, unless there's a picture in the collection of the roof without the covers. Good luck with the rest of the project, I have enjoyed what you have shared.
