I've ordered with FR Harald Freudenreich a undecorated F40PH, he had not all parts ready to ship, I received the shell and will get the chassis later. I told him I want to make one of the F40PHR converted to freight service by Canadian American Railroad. He thought it would be quiet complicated, because these units have a shortend hood and a front walkway. He was so kind and send 2 shells, one "good" one and one "scrap" one for testing. I must say I can find no difference. So I started to do this kitbash. Becauce the delivery date for the chassis is still not known, I converted a MTL GP35 frame to fit on the F40PHR shell, just a minor extension of the frame "david f. like" to achieve the prototypical length. Decals to be designed tomorrow, painting sometimes next week .I hope so, house hunt is over (with success!). Comparisson between original FR F40PH and kitbashed shell:
Gerd, I am glad you didnt find your house yet. That means we get one more project. The F40PHR looks great. I also want to do a chassis extension, maybe seeing your work will encourage me to do it. Even tought I love to see more of your projects, I wish you luck in finding your house.
Pretty darn sweet looking! Amazing the way you converted that shell, not to mention the loco stretch. Nice!
Great Job Gerd. I had the F40PH on my list for the Rio Grande Ski Train but I've found nobody to make this Job for me.
This is what he's talking about... they grafted a F40PH rear pilot on the front, shortening the nose in order to do so.
Hey John, you may missunderstood, I wrote "house hunt is over (with success!)". I have now a bit of time because we will move in February. So I have time, but empty pockets.... Stretching the chasis is a piece of cake, thanks again david f. for this great and simple idea, so no fear, just do it!
Gerd, I am glad you found your house. You are going to have plenty of room for a layout. Rob, does it have a toilet? The toilet is usually under the short hood, right?
Todays update No decals today, my TFT stuffed up..grrrrrr! So I decided to paint the shell with a base code and do the tank. First I had to mill down the tank to the right shape and length + the box behind the tank (does somebody know it's purpose???). The loco lost some weight, but there is plenty of space under the shell to put extra in. After milling I blended the surface with thin styrene stripes to give the right size and look, I added also some stripes to the chassis to show the "frame" of the loco, otherwise the whole thing will look a bit wrong dimensioned.
It appears that it has a toilet (well.. its got a drain for one)... they would had to have moved it, and removed the collison post and the internal door (I presume Amtrak removed the ATC equipment before selling it).
Thanks Rob. My guess is that it doesnt need hep, so maybe they put it there. Gerd, can you take a picture of the extendend mechanism. Thanks
HEP an a F40PH is in the rear... under the radiator cores and right beside the air compressors... not an ideal spot for the toilet
what a great kit bash, gerd. i've never seen anything like that. it's such unique things that make modeling fun. good job on the stretch too. i can't take credit for this method, it was done in N scale and i merely adapted it to my projects. works good though, doesn't it? really great model. dave f. i knew FR made and FP40 (or whatever you call it) but i didn't know it was a plastic shell. neat. df
Multiple answers... Hi David, the method is really good, I think one of the best features is you can correct the length and align it as you like. The Freudenreich F40PH has a high detailed plastic shell with a brass chassis and some coreless motor, I'm glad I still have and Euro account... Hi Hohn, I will try to make some photos or even better a sketch to show the how to. Hi Juerg, the Ski Train paint scheme looks nice, maybe I'm going down that track ;-)
todays update Hi all, after decorating the christmas tree with the kids I found some time to work on the loco. Still work in progress, a lots of details are missing, like grab irons, horn, number plates, windows, windscreen wipers, cut leavers, hoses, lights, paint details, weathering/aging, some 0603 LEDs and.... decorating the right side ;-) Decals are still wet.... BTW: Juerg, already designing Ski Train decals or my other F40PH...... ;-)
Gerd, the F40 looks great. I receive a package from down and under yesterday, and the snow plows looks great, thanks.
