Post by railfansd40t2 on Apr 6, 2014 10:36:00 GMT -5
Okay this is a bit of a long story so go to the fridge to get a cold one then sit your butt down, crack it open and give a listen.
This locomotive was purchased new and is the first run for it which came out over 30 years ago. God I am getting old
Anyway, this bad boy has been kicked around and beat up, moved several times and abused a little so now was in dire need of some help. I have wanted to tear it down for years but never really felt like I could pull it off but as I have gotten a bit better with modeling and scratch building I thought I would give it a shot. The other motivation for this project is the very heavy price this locomotive carries now since it's reissue with sound and DDC. Atherean which is what 99% of my roster consists of has also come out with a really nice version of this famous giant of the rails but I cant see spending $250 to $350 dollars for it since all it will do is sit on the shelf or in the train cabinet which is the next thing to get built. All of my locomotives are shelf models now and most are non powered units.
So on with the rebuild.
These first pictures you will see are the unit as it was before I started the tear down and it wont take long to see the issues but I will point out some along the way.
This one shows the cardboard pilot I made for it a hundred years ago to close up the original because it it designed to allow this unit to negotiate 18" radius curves which it would never be able to do in real life considering it it is 98 feet in length.
This one shows the out of scale handrails which are also the wrong color as is the yellowish orange color of the locomotive as well as the Union Pacific lettering is way too big.
Notice how the steps are also molded to the fuel tank as well as the rear of the trucks not being finished as they should be.
Broken handrails and the sand box has broken off
This is a good view of what the front pilot looked like before the crappy cardboard was put on.
More hand rail issues
Notice the molded on fuel tank.
Warning beacon fell into the cab many moons ago.
Another view of the molded on fuel tank.
Okay lets tear this basket case down.
This is the circuit board that operated the warning beacon when this unit ran long ago.
Removal of the board and the weights in the fuel tank.
Fuel tank area removed and new floor with pass through walkway installed.
Fuel tank removed from the shell and yes the ladder did break off on this side
Crappy cardboard removed from front pilot all glass removed as well as the number boards and head lights.
Rear lights removed
When I took the glass out I noticed that the cab doors were part of that glass painted to match the cab so now those will have to be replaced.
With all the plastic hand rails removed I now have to drill out all the holes for the new ones.
Most of these came out pretty good some not so great.
Notice how enormous the lettering is on each side of the unit.
Added the walls for the pass through.
Fresh from the Purple Bath
Made new front and rear pilots
New pilots installed
Template for drilling the holes in the pilots for new hand rails.
Test fitting new rails with new Athearn stanchions.
Same treatment for rear pilot. this little vice is a real handy tool.
Test fitting all the new hand rails which I bent from piano wire.
New rear cab doors made and installed as well as a repaired step guard.
Harbor Mist gray has been shot and now to test fit new fuel tank from Bachmann which is the one that is now on the reissue and is much more prototypical.
Also test fitting the new floor and pass through walkway.
Tapping off the Harbor Mist in preparation for light gray primer.
Light gray primer applied
Rear of trucks finished off which are not perfect but much better than nothing like it was before. I also drilled out all the holes in the side frames of the trucks as they should be.
Into the Paint booth. I used Polly Scale water based Railroad acrylics through the airbrush.
Fresh from the booth.
I drilled out the Class Lights above the cab and replaced them with clear jewels. The next step was to recreate the graphics and print them.
It is far from perfect and I could have done a few things a bit better in some areas such as the decals but I would like to think that this was worth
the time and effort spent on it.I took it outside for pictures on the shop floor I scratch built then put it all away in the display
case to keep it safe and clean.
Paulie
This locomotive was purchased new and is the first run for it which came out over 30 years ago. God I am getting old
Anyway, this bad boy has been kicked around and beat up, moved several times and abused a little so now was in dire need of some help. I have wanted to tear it down for years but never really felt like I could pull it off but as I have gotten a bit better with modeling and scratch building I thought I would give it a shot. The other motivation for this project is the very heavy price this locomotive carries now since it's reissue with sound and DDC. Atherean which is what 99% of my roster consists of has also come out with a really nice version of this famous giant of the rails but I cant see spending $250 to $350 dollars for it since all it will do is sit on the shelf or in the train cabinet which is the next thing to get built. All of my locomotives are shelf models now and most are non powered units.
So on with the rebuild.
These first pictures you will see are the unit as it was before I started the tear down and it wont take long to see the issues but I will point out some along the way.
This one shows the cardboard pilot I made for it a hundred years ago to close up the original because it it designed to allow this unit to negotiate 18" radius curves which it would never be able to do in real life considering it it is 98 feet in length.
This one shows the out of scale handrails which are also the wrong color as is the yellowish orange color of the locomotive as well as the Union Pacific lettering is way too big.
Notice how the steps are also molded to the fuel tank as well as the rear of the trucks not being finished as they should be.
Broken handrails and the sand box has broken off
This is a good view of what the front pilot looked like before the crappy cardboard was put on.
More hand rail issues
Notice the molded on fuel tank.
Warning beacon fell into the cab many moons ago.
Another view of the molded on fuel tank.
Okay lets tear this basket case down.
This is the circuit board that operated the warning beacon when this unit ran long ago.
Removal of the board and the weights in the fuel tank.
Fuel tank area removed and new floor with pass through walkway installed.
Fuel tank removed from the shell and yes the ladder did break off on this side
Crappy cardboard removed from front pilot all glass removed as well as the number boards and head lights.
Rear lights removed
When I took the glass out I noticed that the cab doors were part of that glass painted to match the cab so now those will have to be replaced.
With all the plastic hand rails removed I now have to drill out all the holes for the new ones.
Most of these came out pretty good some not so great.
Notice how enormous the lettering is on each side of the unit.
Added the walls for the pass through.
Fresh from the Purple Bath
Made new front and rear pilots
New pilots installed
Template for drilling the holes in the pilots for new hand rails.
Test fitting new rails with new Athearn stanchions.
Same treatment for rear pilot. this little vice is a real handy tool.
Test fitting all the new hand rails which I bent from piano wire.
New rear cab doors made and installed as well as a repaired step guard.
Harbor Mist gray has been shot and now to test fit new fuel tank from Bachmann which is the one that is now on the reissue and is much more prototypical.
Also test fitting the new floor and pass through walkway.
Tapping off the Harbor Mist in preparation for light gray primer.
Light gray primer applied
Rear of trucks finished off which are not perfect but much better than nothing like it was before. I also drilled out all the holes in the side frames of the trucks as they should be.
Into the Paint booth. I used Polly Scale water based Railroad acrylics through the airbrush.
Fresh from the booth.
I drilled out the Class Lights above the cab and replaced them with clear jewels. The next step was to recreate the graphics and print them.
It is far from perfect and I could have done a few things a bit better in some areas such as the decals but I would like to think that this was worth
the time and effort spent on it.I took it outside for pictures on the shop floor I scratch built then put it all away in the display
case to keep it safe and clean.
Paulie