Adrian Wintle Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 (edited) I took this photo, partly to try and convince myself that I had enough motive power... Almost all of these are DCC equipped, mostly with Digitrax decoders for the DCC ready units. L-R, Front-back: NS GP38-2 - Walthers/Lifelike - DCC unfriendly, but hardwired DCC decoder CR GP38-2 (to be patched to NS) - old Kato - hardwired DCC decoder NS GP50 - Bachmann, but on an Atlas DCC-equipped mechanism NS GP60 - Walthers - DCC ready NS GP60 SOU B23-7 - Atlas - DCC ready NS B40-8 - Atlas - DCC ready NS B40-8 NS C40-8 - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD40-2 - Kato - DCC ready NS SD45-2 - Intermountain - DCC ready CP SD40M-2 (converted SD45) - old Kato - TCS CN-GP decoder NS SD50 - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD60 - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD60M (patched Conrail unit) - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD70M - Kato - DCC ready NS SD70M NS SD70M - Athearn - DCC ready, this unit has the wrong style nose for NS NS SD80MAC - Kato - DCC ready NS SD80MAC CR GP15-1 (to be patched to NS) - Atlas - DCC ready, currently no decoder NS ES40DC - Fox Valley - DCC ready, slightly inaccurate NS ES40DC CSX SD60 - Atlas - DCC ready CN SD40-2W - Intermountain - DCC ready CN SD70I - Athearn - DCC ready CN SD75I - Athearn - DCC ready (sort of) BNSF C44-9W - Kato - DCC ready BNSF C44-9W CNW AC4400CW - Kato - DCC ready, the mech from this is going under a NS C40-9W when I finish the conversion CSX SD40 - old Kato - no decoder, this is going to become a NS (ex N&W) SD40 SSW (Cotton Belt) B40-8 - Atlas - DCC ready, no decoder, I don't know what this is going to become missing from the photo: GO GP40u - Atlas - DCC ready Amtrak P42DC - Kato - DCC ready Amtrak P42DC Amtrak F40PH - Kato - DCC ready Amtrak F40PH Note: this doesn't include either the PRR fleet or the collection of junk purporting to be locomotives. Adrian Edited March 18, 2013 by Adrian Wintle 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted March 18, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 18, 2013 Some lovelies there! Have you been tempted by any of the heritage schemes on the Fox Valley GEVO units? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 (edited) Some lovelies there! Have you been tempted by any of the heritage schemes on the Fox Valley GEVO units? Not really. First of all I'm not a big fan of the heritage liveries, and secondly the Fox Valley GEVOs are wrong for NS since thy have nose mounted headlights instead of high mounted ones (I am studiously ignoring that for the two in the photo)*. I do have the two Kato NS-livery SD70ACes on order (and was tempted by the PC heritage one), and I find the upcoming Kato NS/Maersk SD40-2 quite tempting. I hope you appreciate that the GP50 and the B23-7 are the correct way around... I also forgot - there is also a Kato CNW GP50 hiding in the 'too nice to become parts' box. *actually, they claim to be fixing that for the Heritage release Adrian Edited March 18, 2013 by Adrian Wintle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I wouldn't dare take a photo like that - SWMBO might see it! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 You need to lose some of those NS units! (Let me know)........ Nice collection, I try to resist something similar. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted March 18, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 18, 2013 I took this photo, partly to try and convince myself that I had enough motive power... DSCN1445s.jpg Almost all of these are DCC equipped, mostly with Digitrax decoders for the DCC ready units. L-R, Front-back: NS GP38-2 - Walthers/Lifelike - DCC unfriendly, but hardwired DCC decoder CR GP38-2 (to be patched to NS) - old Kato - hardwired DCC decoder NS GP50 - Bachmann, but on an Atlas DCC-equipped mechanism NS GP60 - Walthers - DCC ready NS GP60 SOU B23-7 - Atlas - DCC ready NS B40-8 - Atlas - DCC ready NS B40-8 NS C40-8 - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD40-2 - Kato - DCC ready NS SD45-2 - Intermountain - DCC ready CP SD40M-2 (converted SD45) - old Kato - TCS CN-GP decoder NS SD50 - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD60 - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD60M (patched Conrail unit) - Atlas - DCC ready NS SD70M - Kato - DCC ready NS SD70M NS SD70M - Athearn - DCC ready, this unit has the wrong style nose for NS NS SD80MAC - Kato - DCC ready NS SD80MAC CR GP15-1 (to be patched to NS) - Atlas - DCC ready, currently no decoder NS ES40DC - Fox Valley - DCC ready, slightly inaccurate NS ES40DC CSX SD60 - Atlas - DCC ready CN SD40-2W - Intermountain - DCC ready CN SD70I - Athearn - DCC ready CN SD75I - Athearn - DCC ready (sort of) BNSF C44-9W - Kato - DCC ready BNSF C44-9W CNW AC4400CW - Kato - DCC ready, the mech from this is going under a NS C40-9W when I finish the conversion CSX SD40 - old Kato - no decoder, this is going to become a NS (ex N&W) SD40 SSW (Cotton Belt) B40-8 - Atlas - DCC ready, no decoder, I don't know what this is going to become missing from the photo: GO GP40u - Atlas - DCC ready Amtrak P42DC - Kato - DCC ready Amtrak P42DC Amtrak F40PH - Kato - DCC ready Amtrak F40PH Note: this doesn't include either the PRR fleet or the collection of junk purporting to be locomotives. Adrian Nope - you need a few more - theres always room for more!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 (edited) Nope - you need a few more - theres always room for more!! I know. I actually have the parts lying around to do a high short hood GP38-2, and a GP40-2, as well as the aforementioned C40-9W and SD40. Actually, I really need to build more than one of the C40-9Ws since NS uses so many of them. Adrian Edited March 18, 2013 by Adrian Wintle 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethashenden Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Can one really ever have enough motive power? Seems a strange concept. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodmayes Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I can't wait to see the layout that has all those each running with 100+ car trains at 25 scale mile spacing. Is there a spare race track at Newmarket? Ted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 I can't wait to see the layout that has all those each running with 100+ car trains at 25 scale mile spacing. Is there a spare race track at Newmarket? Ted No, but here are some spare industrial buildings - I'm not sure I could afford them, the track, or the stock. I have had consists running with 30+ well cars and with 40+ bathtub gondolas on my big test tailchaser (Kato Unitrack, so temporary) with the locos a car length behind the tail of the train, so they will pull respectable length train. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 (edited) I have added a few more,,, NS C9-40W, modified and repainted from a Kato undec. Still needs some detailing. I found an undec AC4400CW to steal the chassis from, so the CNW unit mentioned above is still on the roster (it apparently kept its CNW paint until ~2005) FVM NS Southern heritage ES44AC (yes, I got tempted...). FVM have retooled these to have the proper high headlights, but still have the incorrect narrow front and rear handrails. The photo came out a bit dark, the green actually is brighter and looks pretty close to the prototype. A pair of NS GP40-2s, modified and repainted from Atlas undecs in two slightly different variations. Again, they still need some detailing A pair of Atlas NS B23-7s. They need the mods I made to my Southern one. Also, Atlas (I presume) painted the handrails different colours (two different releases) Adrian Edited May 5, 2013 by Adrian Wintle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 Also, the NS (ex N&W) SD40 project has progressed slightly: The Athabasca brass cab Where it is going (older Kato SD40) Adrian 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted May 5, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 5, 2013 I didn't realise the FVM heritage ones were available in yet. I must get one for my other half Ian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 You know that feeling when you open up a thread and then really wish you hadnt done so? And I haven't laid out the Pennsy motive power yet... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 I didn't realise the FVM heritage ones were available in yet. I must get one for my other half Ian. I walked into George's Trains yesterday and they had four of them that had just arrived. Fortunately only the Southern one appealed to me. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted May 5, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 5, 2013 I'd love to see the Pensy power...I'm going through something of a Pennsy craze just now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 I'd love to see the Pensy power...I'm going through something of a Pennsy craze just now! As requested: Front row: Precision Craft Miniatures E7A-E7B-E7B-E7A - the A units have DCC sound, the B units are dummies - the only N-scale RTR locos I know of with trainphone antennas Kato F3B Second row: LifeLike C-Liner A + B - both powered, trainphone added E-R Models Baldwin Shark A + B - repainted from NYC units, trainphone added Kato F7B - painted from an undec. There are currently no F3As or F7As as I haven't got around tomodifying and painting them Third row: Kato E8As E-R Models Baldwin Shark A + B - RTR paint LifeLike FB2 - repaint, dummy (the A unit is in the paint shop) Back Row: Lifelike E8A with added trainphone Concor PA-1/PB-1 - repainted from undecs, trainphone added, B-unit is a dummy Concor PA-1s Front row: Bachmann 44T LifeLike Y3 2-8-8-2 (PRR bought 5 during the war) Minitrix K4s 4-6-2 Second row: Atlas GP9s - lead unit has trainphone added (must get around to doing the rest) Minitrix B6sb 0-6-0 Third row: Atlas GP7s Kato NW-2 Minitrix B6sb 0-6-0 Back Row: Atlas Trainmaster Atlas SD7 - repainted Atlas SD35 Model Power USRA Light Mikado 2-8-2 - in the process of becoming a L2s, one of 5 that the PRR inherited. And a view of the modern test track staging Adrian 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted May 6, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 6, 2013 I love that Pennsy fleet, marvelous!! Have you got the Kato GG1 and Broadway set at all? Even though I don't usually do US N that set is so nice I'm sorely tempted to get it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 I love that Pennsy fleet, marvelous!! Have you got the Kato GG1 and Broadway set at all? Even though I don't usually do US N that set is so nice I'm sorely tempted to get it. I have the full 14-coach Broadway Limited set plus the Santa Fe run-though sleeper, but not the GG1. I don't do OHLE (although the GG1 is a lovely loco). The E7 ABBA set is the usual motive power for my BL (or the E8s). The GG1s only ran as far as Harrisburg (where the wires ran out), so it was E-power west of that. The Broadway Limited set is very nice, with the correct variety of coaches for 1953 - 9 different types (10 if you count the SF sleeper), and incredibly low drag. I actually got a second set of the 4-coach add-on and renamed them to add to my passenger fleet. I also have a lot of the Centralia sleepers (which are also very nice). The lack is in standard day coaches where the only real Pennsy prototypes are the Centralia P85 (not one of their best efforts) and the Lima/Model Power heavyweights. Adrian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted May 6, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 6, 2013 The Kato coach sets seem extremely well done, the Broadway is the only one I really fancy enough to take the plunge for but some of the CB&Q ones are quite tempting. I'm not planning an electric N gauge layout but the GG1 is such an iconic design and the Kato model so well done I'd be happy to run it without wires. Although it'd be nice to get the E8's too....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 The Kato coach sets seem extremely well done, the Broadway is the only one I really fancy enough to take the plunge for but some of the CB&Q ones are quite tempting. I'm not planning an electric N gauge layout but the GG1 is such an iconic design and the Kato model so well done I'd be happy to run it without wires. Although it'd be nice to get the E8's too....... Even though they are one-piece bodyshells, the Kato coaches are nicely detailed, match the prototypes (except for the very early 6-sets, which all match the same UP? prototype), and run very well. They have pickups if you want to add lights - Kato makes light boards for them. If you are going for Pennsy E-units, see if you can't get the Precision Craft/Broadway Limited ones (even if just the DC ones, not the DCC sound ones). They are the only ones with trainphone antennas, which is another signature Pennsy feature of the period. If you have any ideas of doing freights, Bowser makes the Pennsy N5 and N5C cabins (cabooses) as well as add-on sets to put trainphones on them. Nobody else does RTR Pennsy cabins. For all that it called itself 'The Standard Railroad of the World', the PRR did a lot of things differently than anybody else. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted May 7, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 7, 2013 Not that long ago that most Pennsy HO locomotives missed out the antennae never mind N gauge, it is only in recent years that mainstream plastic has modelled road specific details. Which must have hammered the demand for brass as at one time companies like Overland thrived on offering highly detailed models that were on a different planet to plastic. Nowadays outfits like Atlas, Proto, BLI, Rapido etc are making models that are pretty much as detailed and well finished as brass. I've been reading Volume 1 of Albert Churella's history of the PRR, its a wonderful book and very highly recommended. If volume 2 matches volume 1 it will not just be the definitive history of the Pennsylvania but set a benchmark for railroad histories in general. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 I have now added a couple of Kato NS SD70ACes to the roster (the plain NS ones, not the heritage units) and have decided that I dislike Kato's new screwless frames. They are interesting and presumably cheaper to manufacture, but there is very little retaining the trucks, so they will fall out if you look at them wrong. Since the worm and the driveshaft are now attached to the truck, reinserting them is a little trickier than a standard truck, but the issue really is that you shouldn't be having to do it in the first place. See http://www.spookshow.net/katosd70.html for pics of this chassis. Photos to come, including a few more to tempt Barry Ten. Adrian 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted September 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 17, 2013 (edited) Adrian I agree with you re the newer Kato chassis on these locos. I have one that may have stripped a gear wheel so I now have two spare trucks when I can find out which one it is as I have forgotten which UP one and at the last show the problem didn't show itself. Could be that we didn't run that particular one all weekend. The decoders also do not seem to fit as well as before. One end often needs packing up to keep the decoder in proper contact with the chassis halves. The Fox Valley locos on the other hand run very well and the six pin decoder is that much simpler to install Ian Edited September 17, 2013 by roundhouse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 As promised, some of the recent acquisitions. I keep finding good deals... Kato SD70ACe NS x 2, Kato SD40 Conrail patched to NS (yes, there is supposed to be a gap in the number) Kato SD40-2 NS Maersk scheme (2002-2008), Bachmann C40-8W LMS patched to NS AC4400CW CSX x 2* Atlas GP38 Southern (unfortunately, the horn/bell layout is for an N&W one), Atlas/Kato SD9 Southern *today's deal - two locos for less than the price of one new one because there was a problem with the truck on one. I had a spare truck at home. Adrian 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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