Hmmm. There's not that much difference between an SW9 and an SW900.
The cut-down cab roof was in consideration of the low overhead crane cabs in some of the plant's older mills. STELCO rostered one SW9, seven SW8s, and sixteen SW900s, all with the lowered roof, plus five GE 80 ton centre-cabs.
Of course, I posted those photos in response to your query about adding new handrails to a switcher of that body style - I didn't think about offering it as a complete loco project. Besides, none of these locos were road engines, as none had air hoses for train brakes.
Wayne
To replicate that locomotive would be what I call an HO project double-whammy: Waste a lot of time with painstaking attention to detail to, in the end, produce a really ugly locomotive.
Not that I haven't done that before.
- Douglas
DoughlessYuck! But thinking about it again, as long as the railroad kept the original handrails issued with the locomotive, I'd think adding any additional handrail, even ugly and marginally effective ones, would not cause objections from the FRA.
Yuck!
But thinking about it again, as long as the railroad kept the original handrails issued with the locomotive, I'd think adding any additional handrail, even ugly and marginally effective ones, would not cause objections from the FRA.
Yuck?
How about these - removeable for maintenance purposes:
Here's another option, although I'm not sure if the chain handrails would pass muster with the FRA:
The P2K below is a Reading Company prototype.
Note both car body rails and handrails are ok. Many were done using the standard EMD stanctions of the day. Some roads have used their own custom design.
One thing to remember is that you add a very very thin pad below the stanction, as done on the prototype, so that you can attach to the cab side wall. I did not do this on this one but will on future ones. It puts a little stress on the stnctions and yes they broke as you can see on this model.
My Reading Baldwin converted to EMD prime mover and car body hood use the old style GP-7 stanction. A freelancer has a great choice, most correct.
Nicely done all. The photos are inspirational. Thinking about this more, I'm thinking about freelancing a solution. Maybe adding new rails without removing the existing ones, like a short line might do, instead of rebuilding the entire handrail. Here are pictures of plant switchers with interesting ways of solving the problem.
Would rails like these be conforming to FRA government safety regulations for road service?
I'm thinking a private owner/plant has more leeway with how it could add handrails.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=294729&nseq=3
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=293308&nseq=6
Like Pathfinder, I used Athearn stamped handrail stanchions, with .015" music wire for the actual handrails, on my four free-lanced SW1200RS locos:
Similarly, for my Canadian-ised RS-3, I used the Atlas stanchions, drilled out to accept new wire handrails, as the battery box had been modified:
I did a CP SW1200RS many years ago and just used Athearn stamped hand rails. They look fine. But I also used them for the ends as they had to be re-done to accommodate the drop step platform. So if you are keeping the original end handrails, you should try to match the sides them.
On Atlas and Kato units, I use the original stanchions but drill them out for new wire as Canadian handrails can be very different, notably at the steps.
Some time ago I used a Athearn SW7 as the starting point for making a model of a SP SW1200. The side handrails and the end handrails were made from .015 stainless steel rod and Athearn stanchions.
The result was excellent. Just take time and be patient while bending the handrails. The holes for the stanchions were drilled through to the inside. After the rails and stanchions were in place CA glue was applied from inside the body to avoid glue showing
I use the "rubber" handrails as a pattern when bending wire replacement handrails. The "rubber" handrails then go in the trash.
After an exhausting search to find a decent solution to this problem, I decided to just fab some out of a stick of brass rod.
I'm considering adding side handrails to an existing P2K SW9. Sort of modernizing the loco for limited road service. Also, it would tend to replace the need for the existing wavy P2K handrails that exist now, that attached to the long hood. There are many pictures of the protoype with these handrails added, in various and unique shapes to boot.
I was wondering if anybody has tried this with the P2K, or even an Athearn SW7, and had pictures and ideas to share.
I suppose Athearn stanchions would work. Was thinking about using Alco type rails attached to the walkway as well.
A few links to protoype photos.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=455784
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=669416
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=899154
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1605763
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=189516
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=980052
Thanks.