Nice day for Dec in Nebraska, hit the 60's. Ran the MTH Hudson and UP cars. Really enjoying the MTH trains. Good detail/sound/smoke make for a pleasant experience. SOmetimes the DCS system can be a pain, but usually works out okay.
Looks good, I need to get back to mine. I kept it simple, worked around the lettering. I could use a MTH caboose truck or two, if you have any for sale.
I got this MTH passenger shell off ebay. It had no roof/doors/truck. Been thinking about a baggage car, so cut the openings, filled in the windows and put a thin metal strip across them. Trying to retain the lettering, so it matches. Made the roof out of a 3/4" board I rand the router over, then cut it some at an angle on the table saw and sanded it, still needs some work. I had some Great Trains 1/32nd trucks that I will use. I'll run a 'riveted' strip of metal duct tape along the top and bottom of the metal strip. I had some paint mixed to match MTH's idea of UP color, lumber yard did a good job, adjusted the mix some from the scan.
That looks good Jim, I ordered a couple of them. Markoles the MTH units are pretty big. Maybe a O scale size would work? Seems to be hard to find any of them though, especcially Gauge 1 units. They are making some stuff again, not sure when it is due out, so may have some parts again.
Yeah, it sucks the power for sure. I have it hooked to the smoke unit wires in the Pacific, but stepped down the voltage some with a unit David Bodnar suggested. You can contact him at: davebodnar (at sign) verizon.net It has some wire round coil on it and some capacitors. Seems they were an ebay item, something he recommended anyway. You can adjust the voltage some, mine's at about 7 volts, as I recall, but uses up the smoke fluid pretty fast.
Ran my Pacific that I put a MTH smoke unit into. Did reduce the voltage some, but may still be too high. Sure goes through the fluid, but looks nice. I use coal scented Mega-Steam smoke fluid. www.megasteam.com Seems to work real good, they have lots of smells. No, I have no affiliation with them.
Re-issuing the Big Boy with #4014 would probably be a good seller. Since they have the molds/etc. Plus, with Aristo shutting down, they could fill that void some with increased advertising. Big ads in GR would be good.
You building your own cars from scratch? I made some 1/29th ones for my Aristo FA & B about 20 years ago, before anyone made streamliner cars. Made a wood form, heated the 1/8 plastic on it in the oven, pulled it out and held it down flat with gloves till it cooled. Used compuer labels for the windows, then sprayed the outside, peeled off the labels to expose the clear plastic for the windows. Had an article on it in GR about 18 years ago or so.
Well, it's a done deal. UP got the big Boy 4014. Will move it to a UP yard in Oct, work on the bearings, then move it to Cheyenne in Dec/Jan to rebuild it. Hope it does not affect the ongoing rebuild of the Challenger. I guess Accucraft's model of 4014 has increased in price!
Here's my UP snow blower I made a few years back. I used a Aristo FA chassis. Rest is scratched. It does work, has a 12v drill motor with 18v battery. One shot is of the real one in the UP roundhouse in Cheyenne.
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MTH Hudson smoking run.
in General Discussion
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Short video of the run.
http://youtu.be/qcscZlCUNbM