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Kitbashed locomotives

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Posted by railandsail on Monday, December 18, 2017 10:23 AM

Rather than disrupt thise very good subject thread any more with this discussion of posting pics, I figured I would go to another subject thread on this matter. I went to "How to Post Photos to the Forum",....but it would NOT allow any more postings,...locked or something,....frustrated

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Posted by RR_Mel on Monday, December 18, 2017 10:10 AM

railandsail

How is it that the photos in my posting continue to appear correctly whenever i review my posting, but don't appear visable to others? I would have been more observent of the problem had that occured to me.

I now have to think back about a good size number of my recent postings and wonder what might have been a similar problem with them????

Since everytime I revisted them, all appeared OK,...at least to me???

 

After the Photo Bucket thing I tried Google Photos.  I could see the pictures as well as others that have Google Accounts but no Google Account no pictures.  I now post from a page in my Blog.  I set up a page for just posting to this Forum.
 
 
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
  
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
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Posted by railandsail on Monday, December 18, 2017 8:23 AM

How is it that the photos in my posting continue to appear correctly whenever i review my posting, but don't appear visable to others? I would have been more observent of the problem had that occured to me.

I now have to think back about a good size number of my recent postings and wonder what might have been a similar problem with them????

Since everytime I revisted them, all appeared OK,...at least to me???

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Posted by railandsail on Monday, December 18, 2017 8:15 AM

GraniteRailroader

It's because you linked to the photos from an outside website from where they are hosted. 

This is generally a frowned upon practice by the people who are hosting them - because you're using their bandwidth to post content from their site elsewhere.

The links to the photos aren't actually the photos themselves, but a reference to an ID number of the photo which is cross referenced in the forum database to the actual image file and location...

I guess I am just not a computer wiz to understand this technology. Somewhat recently I had discovered this "copy image location" button, and used that often to duplicate photos on different forum discussions.

My thoughts were that it was already posted on a website so it would not be adding more bandwidth to the original posting site to just make a reference to it?

This forum encourages such action as it does NOT allow direct posting of photos itself,....which complicates matters.

I've always tried to edit my photos down to a small size for posting, having learned that from some boating sites that limited the width of photos posted to their site to 600-800 pixels width.

So what you are saying for posting photos on this forum, is that one needs to utilize a photo hosting site rather than using a photo of one's own that is posted somewhere else on the internet,....Oh joy, now we can end up with another Photobucket fiasco,...and render a WHOLE LOT of older, good knowledge, forum discussions obsolete.

That should put another nail in the coffin of model railroad forums, many of which seem to be declining in participation already.
...just my 2 cents

 

BTW how much bandwidth does the hosting forum sacrifice by providing .... "The links to the photos aren't actually the photos themselves, but a reference to an ID number of the photo"

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Posted by mlehman on Monday, December 18, 2017 6:51 AM

mlehman
Here's my Rio Grande SDL-39. SNIP... Still waiting on buying the air horns, because they were kinda more than I wanted to pay at the time.

Walthers got me the K5LA horns I needed and I stuck a set on the 3901 last night.

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by NormS on Monday, December 18, 2017 6:13 AM

Some models of rather rare protoypes

PPU #200 (still missing some decals), a Davenport switcher from 1938 - started as a GE 44T

GM&O #1900, the Ingalls' single venture in locomotive construction - started an Alco FA and an oldtime passenger car's roof

CB&Q's #9908, power of the early 'General Pershing Zephyr' - started as a passenger car

UP's M-23 rebuilt - started as a wooden passenger car

If this has sparked your interest - I have a some more unique models to show

Regards

Norman

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Posted by GraniteRailroader on Monday, December 18, 2017 4:02 AM

It's because you linked to the photos from an outside website from where they are hosted. 

This is generally a frowned upon practice by the people who are hosting them - because you're using their bandwidth to post content from their site elsewhere.

The links to the photos aren't actually the photos themselves, but a reference to an ID number of the photo which is cross referenced in the forum database to the actual image file and location...

 

This space reserved for SpaceMouse's future presidential candidacy advertisements

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Posted by railandsail on Monday, December 18, 2017 12:19 AM

Hmmm, I did a copy/paste thing there from another forum,...so perhaps thats the problem. I will correct it in the morning.

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Posted by mbinsewi on Sunday, December 17, 2017 10:09 PM

Well, just for the record, I'm using Windows 7 Professional, and Fire Fox as a browser, and not seeing any pictures.

The only pictures in your post(s) is the picture from RRMel, with the dual motors, that you added as a quote.  Huh?

Mike.

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, December 17, 2017 10:02 PM

Brian,

.

I cannot see the pictures either.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

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Posted by railandsail on Sunday, December 17, 2017 9:37 PM

mbinsewi

Brian, (railandsail) is there supposed to be pictures in your last two post?  I'm seeing nothing.

Yes there are a number of photos that were included. I see them. Does anyone else not see them??

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Posted by mbinsewi on Sunday, December 17, 2017 8:18 AM

Brian, (railandsail) is there supposed to be pictures in your last two post?  I'm seeing nothing.

Sounds like an interesting project.

Mike

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Posted by railandsail on Sunday, December 17, 2017 7:25 AM

DL109/110 Project

Lets take this one up first since it is the easiest. Basically I had to get two DL109 shells so I could cut the front off of one and replace it with the tail of the other.

I did not desire to do horizontal cutting, nor individual roof segmenting, so I had to make a choice as to where to make the single cut and still preserve the closest possible spacing of the side windows. Here is my project so far.





Naturally this new 'b-unit' fits right onto the stock chassis. So both units will have power, and perhaps DCC and sound.

With the stock weight of these engines, the combination of the two should pull the walls down !!
Now I need to add a few more details including the door diaphragm, then paint and decal it. ...any good painting volunteers as I'm not well practiced


I took a LOT of care when I was cutting the shells to get them as 'square' as possible. And I cut them both just a wee bit long so I could then fine sand them down to as perfect a fit as I could get. It took time but I got a really good joint. It may be hard to tell that because of the two distinct colorings on the two shell pieces. I'm hoping a good painter can tell me how much 'filler' I need to add to the joint.

I was also being careful about the joints of the side body panels.


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Posted by railandsail on Sunday, December 17, 2017 7:21 AM

Kitbash Long Shark BP-20, and a B-unit for DL-109


Two Projects Utilizing
Proto 1K, DL-109 Locomotive frame/chassis




1) Creating a 'B-unit' or DL-110 for the SantaFe



There were several roads that had B-units for their DL-109 locomotives. I've chosen to model the Santa Fe one. I had to make a choice where I would cut the two shells such as to end up with a proper window placement, and a reasonable duplication in the roof details. I need to finish the diaphram on the one end and the coupler mount.

Then it needs to be painted and decals added.





2) Creating a 'plastic model' of the PRR, BP-20 Shark



I've always wanted one of these extra-long Sharks that PRR had...only ? of them as far as I know. So likely you will never see them modeled in plastic in a production manner.

The few attempts to provide a model for this BP20 never had a chassis of the proper wheel base. I've chosen the Proto DL 109 chassis. It has the proper trucks, and it has great weight and running qualities....even good speaker locations for a sound version. Had to do a bit of filing to get the shells to fit over the nose.
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Posted by railandsail on Saturday, December 16, 2017 12:22 PM

RR_Mel
My second AC-9 was my first attempt at using dual Canon EN22 motors.  I had purchased an old Cab Forward at a local train show that had a cracked frame.  I took that on as another project and built a new frame from K&S brass.
 
 



I did a dual motor installation/experiment on an articulated Rivarossi a long time ago, but I can't remember the details, and likely I have no pictures,....pre computer days for me.

if I recall it ran rather well as I used identical motors,...pre DCC days (for me) also.
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Posted by RR_Mel on Saturday, December 16, 2017 10:24 AM

railandsail

 

 

Marvelous work there Mel

Perhaps you would like to take shot at this.....:)


C&O H7

 

Sorry Brian, I’m a SP guy through and through.  Thanks for the good words on my AC-9.  I currently working on my fourth AC-9, taking more time on this one to improve the detail.
 
I kitbashed a couple of Y6Bs into AC-3s, they turned out pretty good but I don’t like them very much.  Just not my thing, they are way out of my era of the 50s.  The scratch built tenders did come out very nice.
 
 
As you can see from the dust it hasn’t been run in a long time.
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
  
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
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Posted by railandsail on Saturday, December 16, 2017 9:09 AM

RR_Mel

You ask for it.
 
This is my first of three kitbashed Southern Pacific Yellowstone 2-8-8-4 AC-9s.  They began life as Rivarossi Cab Forwards.
 
 
I went on to kitbash two more and I’m working on my fourth.
 
My second AC-9 was my first attempt at using dual Canon EN22 motors.  I had purchased an old Cab Forward at a local train show that had a cracked frame.  I took that on as another project and built a new frame from K&S brass.

Marvelous work there Mel

Perhaps you would like to take shot at this.....:)

C&O H7 loco, HO scale, in modern plastic

Have there ever been any manufacturers that have considered making the 'massive' C&O H7 in plastic rather than  just brass?...HO scale

I had a fellow who at one time was going to kit-bash one of my Proto 2-8-8-2 into an H7 lookalike, But it fell thru. And I wanted mine to utilize a vandy tender

Just found this Youtube video of an O scale one,....what a sound !, What a brute !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9DdHckE42I

C&O H7

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/30786

interesting discussion

 

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Posted by barrok on Friday, December 8, 2017 9:46 PM

Here is a center cab kitbash using two Athearn Hustlers and an Athearn SW9 shell and frame.  I saw this in an old Railroad Modeler from the 70's and thought it looked cool. 

I cut the Hustlers in the middle of the cabs and glued the two shortened shells together and braced them.  I cut the steps and part of the apron off the sw shell and attached them to the front of the Hustler shells.  I used squadron putty to hide the joints.  Krylon flat black paint and some custom decals finished the job.

I replaced the original motor with one from a proto 2000 switcher.  I had to custom make the drive shaft to get the proper length.  I installed a TCS decoder with BEMF and it will quietly and smoothly creep along.  The next step is to add a few more details like hoses and do some weathering which will help highlight some of the details.  Overall, I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Chuck

Modeling the Motor City

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Posted by NWP SWP on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 3:08 PM

I lay no claim to this one but I hope to someday...

Steve

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!

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Posted by mlehman on Monday, December 4, 2017 3:17 AM

Geared Steam
Beautiful Loco Danny!

Gotta agree, tbdanny is doing some very nice work after a few initial mechnical difficulties that frustrated him greatly. Steam is just more complicated than diesels, etc. Shows how if you stick to things and work through the issues that arise systematically, you will end up with both a great result and a good understanding on how to get there again. That's the basics of building your skill set to kitbash locos. Just do it, learn some, than come back and do an improved loco the next time. Seems to have worked for many of us, because most of us learned by doing.

#10 is a vaguely Whitcomb-looking loco and the only one of my kitbashes I didn't build myself. I bought it off the Jeep Capt. on the auction site. He used to produce different bashes of HOn3 locos from HO standard ones, so there may be a sister loco to this one out there. It's made from two Hustler shells and the chassis of the old style Athearn SW.

It has a lot of heft and works well on my logging branches. I added a decoder and LED lighting. Several tuneups made it run better than ever. It crawls with a nice growl, so like many of my HOn3 kitbashes, doesn't really need a sound decoder if you use a little imagination.

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by Geared Steam on Sunday, December 3, 2017 9:16 AM

tbdanny

Beautiful Loco Danny!

 In my signature is an HO Scale two truck Shay built from the Bachmann 3 truck Shay. 

 

 

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein

http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/

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Posted by mlehman on Saturday, December 2, 2017 2:59 AM

SeeYou190
I looked through my box of extra detail parts. I do not have the piece you are looking for.

Thanks, Kevin. No sweat, Walthers has them in stock at a nice proce now.

Here's something you don't even see the parts for everyday, my Lilliput Gemeinder diesel #82.

The drive is basically stock, the only drive that exceeds the Kato, except that it's now HOn3. This is much easier than t sounds. This model comes on HOe/HOn30/9mm trucks, but a kit to widen it to HOm/12mm is available for around $20. HOn3 is in the middle at 10.5 mm gauge, so it was merely a matter of reguaging the wheelsets and adjusting the wipers supplied in the kit to get to HOn3.

I did the paint and added a K5LA horn.

For around $200, you get a powerful diesel that will run on three different gauges if you grab a Lenz Silver decoder that plugs right in to take full advanatge of the lighting.

I have a luxury cruise train that it pulls when I'm feeling modern. Lately, 82 spends much of its time as a very effective helper at the start of the Cascade Branch.

https://vimeo.com/188094788

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by tankertoad70 on Friday, December 1, 2017 10:51 PM

Great work by all you guys.  I really like the work on that AC9.  Ambitious kitbash it was and is.

Here is one of mine completed in the days before Athearn made a GP60M:

She started life as a GP50 and I modified the shell with a Train Station Products Safety Cab, dynamic brakes and truck side frames. Additional parts came from Details Assoc, Details West and Canon.  It was not a difficult bash, but I just hadda have on of those GP60Ms and the GP50 looked like a great place to start.Cowboy

Don in 'Orygun' City
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Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, December 1, 2017 9:35 PM

mlehman
Kevin, It's the K5LA I like to use, although this wasn't the only air horn in use by the Rio Grande.

I looked through my box of extra detail parts. I do not have the piece you are looking for.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

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Posted by FRRYKid on Friday, December 1, 2017 8:58 PM

I presume these would count as kitbashed:

I consider these Tythearn GP20s. They are Tyco GP20 shells mounted on modified Athearn GP35 drives. The frame has been filed down in certain areas and the coupler mounts removed and the shell has also been modified to allow the shell to mate with the drive. The handrails are a combination of Tyco rails and modified Athearn stanchions. They also all have brass airhorns and antenna with rotary beacons. (Been too long to remember who made which detail part.) The couplers are body mounted Kadee 142s on the rear and 149s on the front (to clear the plows).

The passenger unit stripes are Microscale 2" silver stripes. The silver decals on the first two pictures (Nose on the first unit and lettering on both) and the green lettering on the pink engine are all custom lettering done by me. (Silver was done on an ALPS printer. The Green lettering was done on an inkjet. Ii's been too long ago remember which one.)

While the pink engine doesn't show it, all these engines and their other 5 stablemates are equipped with front snowplows. The first engine and one other are equipped with passenger plows (Details West 217s). The other two and four other stablemates carry a freight plow (Details West 206s).

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.
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Posted by mlehman on Friday, December 1, 2017 8:06 AM

Thanks for the kind comments everyone!

Kevin,

It's the K5LA I like to use, although this wasn't the only air horn in use by the Rio Grande. I see that Walthers now has some much lower priced Cal-Scale examples in stock, so may have to pick some up now that they're much more affordable.

mbinsewi
Some of the MILW SDL 39's had a crazy looking air hood across the top, gave it a unique look. Nice build!

Yeah, I went with the snow shields on mine, because seemed like an option to take up for working in the mountainous West. And they do look coolBig Smile

Now here's something that's a more radical bash, what I call a NW2M. It's a NW2 adapted to narrowgauge and with dynamic brakes and a steam generator added. I build them from the easy-to-narrow Kato model by hacking another hood to remove the taper and add space for the DB and SG. What this does is add a little room for the decoder , given the space in the original model is all atken up by the massive weight that helps these Katos run so smoothly and powerfully.

 

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by mbinsewi on Thursday, November 30, 2017 9:17 PM

mlehman
Here's my Rio Grande SDL-39. No such thing, I know, I know, but I wanted one.

Some of the MILW SDL 39's had a crazy looking air hood across the top, gave it a unique look.  Nice build!

Mike.

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Posted by jjdamnit on Thursday, November 30, 2017 6:55 PM

Hello all,

Amazing!

Hope this helps.

"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Thursday, November 30, 2017 6:39 PM

mlehman
$13 for a set of horns ain't cheap.

What kind of air horns are you looking for?

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

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Posted by ManOWar on Thursday, November 30, 2017 4:45 PM
Outstanding effort; you sir are a true craftsman in the strictest since of the word.  Well done and keep it up.  

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