enginear joe

I bought 2 different cans of silver metallic plastic paint for the Amtrak F40PH I was building. It is like they vanished? I looked all around for them. I know they are right in front of me. Usually my girl will help and say to me, "are you blind? here they are." This time she asked, "are you sure you actually bought them?" I will post results when my memory returns.... your choice looks very good.

I'm not sure how perfect you are going for? They look great from here!!! WOW. Nice work again.

I have another tender that I can swap out when I want. I should convert one of them to oil! It will be nice to have the first one painted now. Here's the Aristo Vandy tender with a Challenger:

Rattle can Rustoleum 2x. I have a brand new air brush that I have never used. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for? I'm just lazy! BTW the black is their semi-gloss. I used it on my Amtrak F40PH's roof and I like the look.

I spilled the black coloring into some resin one time by accident. The cap was frozen on the little bottle that I had to wrestle free. Anyways it came out very, very dark. I should go down and find the parts and try to break one. I believe they were still strong. After that I ignored measuring it precisely. Just get it close and I think you'll still be happy with the strength. That was with Alumilite resin.

I have never bought the big ticket engines. I look at them all the time. I even started buying 20' stainless curves incase I ever get one. I look at the USA Big Boy all the time. I figure someday I'd start with their Hudson. I can't help but see engines pop up for sale that I know nothing about. The new Accucraft Allegheny is one. They also had a Big Boy and other manufacturers made ones earlier I believe. Anyways all I care about is how they run. I can appreciate the value in museum quality level trains. For my RR, they have to run outside with real rock ballast and other things that might prove catastrophic in a crash or derail and tip over. So for anyone that has the experience with the older finer models, how well do they perform? or are they "shelf queens"? I'm not bashing anything. I'm looking for opinions on investing in one someday. PS. I bought the recent Accucraft pass cars and I really enjoy the quality of how well they roll.

another DCS app update today that fixed some issues and added the Max speed to lash-ups!

any good? maybe you could just try the mold rubber you have???

I used to think they all were the same. I didn't know half of the facts I see here.

The pictures are amazing. It really does put everything into it's proper time period for me. The pics next to the tanks are stunning. Also are the machine springing to life. The phrase you wrote Chuck about Pearl Harbor also stunned me. I did not connect the delivery of the Big Boys to the attack and bombing time frame until now.

I really like all the diesels. So you would think that I would like these more? I believe thru my lack of knowledge about them, I thought they were a passing fad or experiment. It is always fun to learn new things and try and keep an open mind. Amazing shot of them pouring out the smoke.

That is ridiculous. Probably why they went to selling all battery/plastic stuff in G? What other corners can you cut?

I finally decided to paint this Challenger body. One reason I original bought it was to practice weathering steamers. So hopefully it will come out OK. I just learned the hard way that the brass parts need to be primed. The self-priming paint doesn't cover it well. Also the end of the boiler ( and around the firebox) is a special color. I had it close and it looked good. It was too dark. I decided to try a lighter color and that may have been a mistake.

I waited to see if anyone answered and then I forgot about this. I haven't touched one of these yet. I would like to modify a couple different ones but I have a lot of stuff to do first.

That is beautiful work. I am trying to stay clear as I can't afford another hobby!

The MTH motor blocks for their C truck Dash 8s are roughly 2 1/2" centers. Their PA's look like 2 7/8" centers roughly. I would be tempted to use the MTH dash 8C truck and add another axle. It would be great to have at least that extra axle driven. Maybe a flex joint shaft driving the same gear ratio to worm box? What box that would be????? Not sure that's even possible to add to the end of a MTH gear box? All four axles driven would be fantastic! It would be cool in the future to see brushless motors attached to the scale axles the way the real traction motors are. It will make adding flywheels interesting!

It seems like Lionel went thru a progression of designs for their diesels trucks. I can't keep track of which ones have which trucks.

He used USA trucks with an extra floopy axle set attached to the rear. There was another set of them a long time ago. I don't remember who built, or what happened to them?

You saw the video on Dennis Sirrine's channel of them?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-8-Nickel-Plated-Brass-Metal-Wheels-30mm-by-Gary-Raymond-G-Scale/362190469755?hash=item54543bfa7b:g:HooAAOSwuq9ZYlIt https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-8-Nickel-Plated-Brass-Metal-Wheels-for-Cars-30mm-by-Gary-Raymond-G-Scale/362187096081?hash=item5454088011:g:hpgAAOSwDEtaMqC~

Anybody know the exact dimensions and details of the trucks under these? I have seen them scratch built in G and I know they are available in the smaller scales. It would be interesting to see exactly what G scale trucks that are available, could be used to replicate these. The way that MTH builds their C trucks, the middle axles are dummies. It would be cool to get power to all the axles.

I have several Aristo hoppers with GR wheels on them. Those have the spinning end caps I think???? maybe 1/29? They also may need glue as a few have lost the correct spacing. I'd have to check and see what diameter those are. They're outback right now. What trucks are you putting these on?

That was very interesting. He went thru all the work and shared it all. Well I spied a C&O I would have liked to see too. I think for the year he was building, he used what drives were available. I can't fault anyone for that. We all have our own favorites. He had more models than I would have imagined. So I admire him for making what ever he wanted to. I like the boiler being made out of thick wall PVC as they would never crack like a few of the models I have. I had thought of attempting my own version of an Allegheny. I had too many modern diesels that I want first. I built my SD70ACe out of better plastic and I should keep using only that. I got lazy and cheap and went to the small sheets at the model store. They mark easy and are too flexible for rigid use. Years ago some people were critical of my build and I did not like it. You put the stuff out there and everyone will comment, good or bad. It's our nature and the way things are turning. I should apologize for my comment above..... or start selling my stuff! If it sells or doesn't sell, that will prove something.

that is asking for a big price for what it is.