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Got some really good news today - the tumor on my forehead was benign - as was the last one they removed in the same area sometime back. That's a load off of my mind - pun intended. Re: the Spectrum gas electric's single powered truck - its appears to be basically the same power truck used under their older and out of production version of the GE 44 Tonner (which had two separate motors tied together thru a printed circuit board. (newer released Spectrum 44 tonners use a larger single motor and far different chassis) The Spectrum gas electric should be able to pull a couple of trailer coaches without difficulty - like the prototype did, and which were usually way underpowered with few exceptions. RRs used most anything as a trailer behind gas electrics - usually hand me down stuff like hw coaches, combines, baggage/RPOs, and even a box car or two on occasion. Some RRs did purchase new lightweight equipment as trailers, however. I've seen photos of taller hw coaches behind a gas electric, and it looks rather goofy, but it is prototypical, as most gas electric roofs like on EMC cars were slightly arched and much lower than typical pass. equipment. An exception would be some of the Brill cars which had an almost bulbous roof profile - similar in shape to MDC's and Model Power's (shorty) Harriman cars, but perhaps even more pronounced. What's interesting - at least to me - is that Brill made a sizeable number of shorty & lightweight trailers specific for the gas electric market, and they had almost flat to slightly arched roofs more like competitors' gas electric roofs. You could use a Spectrum hw coach as a trailer, as the sides and window construction is quite similar to Spectrum's gas electric in side view. I have shortened a Spectrum hw coach to use behind a kitbashed gas electric made from a Spectrum hw combine, and one of the 44 tonner power trucks. I fab'd a similar shaped roof out of Northeastern (I think) milled wood roof material for both cars. The coach and the combine were easily shortened to approx 60' . I sub'd different 4 wheel trucks under both, utilizing the side frames from MDC Talgo 4 wheel Pullman trucks which are the same wheelbase as the 44 Tonner, and an easy adaptation to the power truck. If power were a concern, just use both motors - either in the same gas elec. or put a second one in a trailer. The trailer looks very much like some of the Brill trailers ref'd to above. Re: cab controls at the 'rear' - a few gas electrics had this capability but I believe it was more to fasciliate switching in a yard, etc. and were not normally run axx backward, although they may have, as I've seen photos of some w/ headlites at each end of the car body. Almost all period photos only show the 'proper' end as the front. Maybe someone out there can add to this. . .(I don't want to guess and spread iffy facts) The definitive source of gas electric material are the three books (perhaps more) by Edmund Kielty - wonderful material that illustrates the wide diversity of equipment from 4 wheeled powered 20' cars, to powered rail trucks to all the various makers of gas electrics, lightweight trains, and even Budd RDCs, and the RRs that used them all over North America. The publisher was "Interurban Press" in Glendale, CA , and they were published 20 something years ago. I see them on eBay and at train shows occasionally, and I believe that they are not in print at this time. BILL
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