I recently became a convert to Pennsylvania RR. Managed to pick up a couple of ER sharks and LL C liners. I would like to detail them a little further and need some help. Did the units operate as ABBA consists? Did the radiophone antennas appear only on the a-units? Does any one have the spacing for the antennas on the roofs? Is Gold Medal Models the only game in town for the antennas stanchions? What time frame did the sharks 9736 & 9732 operate in? What time frame did C liners 9493 and 9448 operate in? Can any direct me to any books or web sites that would have any good pictures of these units?? Thanks ksonta@comcast.net
Go to your local library and check out a copy of Pennsy Power II ... it'll answer all your questions !
cgwfan, ER sold the PRR Sharks as RF-16, which could be true, the 97## series was RF-16. But the RF-16 had only one 3 chime horn located over the right front window corner. The RF-15 had only only one 1 chime horn in same location. You will notice that the ER Sharks have a 1 chime horn on both sides (two horns?). The horn was the main way to tell them apart. Needs fix! Search for PRR BALDWIN SHARK on the internet to get sites and photos. PRR ran them in A-A, A-B,ABBA,ABB and I guess anyway they could. Even had RF-15's lashed to RF-16's. Have a set of ER sharks myself. ...Eddie
CGW Fan Here are some useful links: RF-16 Operators Manual http://gelwood.railfan.net/manual/rf16-om.html _______ PRR 2006 RF-16A http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/prr/prr2006.jpg _______ PRR 2027 RF-16A http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/prr/prr2027.jpg _______ PRR 9700 RF-16A in ABA consist http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/prr/prr9700s.jpg _______ PRR 9737 RF-16A http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/prr/prr9737.jpg _______ PRR 2010 RF-16A in color http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_prr2010.jpg ________ Links to 4 PRR Shark photos on this page http://ohiorr.railfan.net/prr.html _______ Gold Medal Models offers the PRR Train Phone antenna stanchions: http://goldmm.com/nscale/gmnprant.htm ________ ________ eNjoy [ 11. October 2003, 23:35: Message edited by: dbn160 ]
Thanks guys for the information. I have totally missed the point with the horns on the roof. guess I will be replacing the ones that came with the model. What paint color is the dark green ? any known suppliers of the paint that would match the shark shell? As far as the C liners go, did they have the three chime horn also?? Thanks again
cgwfan, I have 3 other Shark A units, two in PRR Brunswick green and one in Tuscan red. I use one of two brands of paint. "PollyS" (Polly Scale) or "Floquil" Railroad Colors. My 'PollyS' are either water based and petroleum based. Have no preference? What ever works best. The paint brands do label the color as PRR dark green or Brunswick green. **** Another add-on to make them look better are 'Operating Diaphragms' between the units. They are sold by "American Limited" N-scale #8810. ...Eddie [ 10 March 2002, 01:00: Message edited by: eddelozier ]
Eddie, Where did you get the proper horn? Also, (off topic) at what radius do you run your T-1; what do you figure would be the minumum radius? Thanks in advance. Paul PRR in Atlanta
Paul, The horn for the Shark was made by putting together various horns from old shells. Im sure there is a dealer who sells the part but it seems better to put the old junk drawer to some use. I've been known to buy discarded shells at hobby shops just to have parts on hand. I realy don't know the exact radius required for the T-1. I had already a existing layout running my 2-8-8-2's when I bought the T-1. The T-1 had problems on the curves... not the engine but the tender. The long haul tenders always come with the low skirts. The tender trucks would not handle the curves. I had to raise the tender body up a bit to allow room for the trucks to swing plus I retracked two curves giving them a longer easement. I'd have to do the math. Currently the best curve is four feet in length from start to finish. I can run this curve as wide as I want because it's at a inside room corner. The worst curve required a swing out two feet before my duck-under bridge, to get the lineup. Corner is at basement steps and bridge exits into wall tunnel. Could not rebuild without major construction. Not fun retracking on a 1 1/2 foot shelf! Got it all working some how. ..Eddie
Ok pensy fans, This is my first attempt of a pennsylvania shark unit since I am a diehard cgw and cnw modeler. This is a result of the links and info you guys supplied me. The only problem is that I cannot seem to come up with a good color match to the green of the ER shark. Polyscale Brunswick green appears to be too dark of a shade. Anyone out there have any good recommendations??? I still need to make the triangular front ladder for the nose, paint in the number boards and letter. Possibly another day Too bad its not like cnw green. cheers Kestutis Sonta mailto:ksonta@comcast,net
cgwfan, Hey the shark looks good! I know you worked hard getting those phone antenna straight in line. I had a time with those myself once. It seemed I was always bending them when I picked up the engine!? Try adding a little black to the green to get a darker color next time you try. Most people think it's black anyhow. Or go for the Tuscan red and make it a passenger unit. For now they look ready for a few dozen hoppers to pull. ...Eddie
Thanks for the compliment. I used 8 thou phosphorous bronze wire for the train phone wire. It tends to hold its shape beter than brass wire. The GMM stanchions were heat staked in place. I used a CyanoEpoxy adhesive from mike rose hobbies to attach the train phone wires to the stanchions. That stuff is stronger and better than CA adhesives. It will bond even delrin hadrails and your fingers if not carefull. So far the model has survived two drops on to the carpet by my eight year old son. and my own personal manhandling.
Did the Pennsy have RF16 or RF15 Freight Sharks in Tuscan paint or just the Brunswick Green ? I can only find color pictures that show the green. If these units did exist were they 5 stripe or single stripe? I have several of the Model Power Sharks in Tuscan and I was getting ready to renumber them. Then it dawned on me that the number and color scheme was correct for the larger BP20 Passenger Sharks. I may need to strip and repaint the models instead of just renumbering them.
Four additional things here. First, paint the silver grills on the sides and top of the engines DGLE [brunswick green] I know of no instances where these were silver color. Ceramcote makes a green black acrylic paint that is a perfect match. You can get it in the craft section of Walmart. Second, if you operate on broad curves you may want to close the distance between units. Use an Unimate coupler. They are now made by Red Caboose. Three, the striping should continue over the recessed doors on the sides of the locomotive. Use microscale decal for this. Four, the engines will run a lot quieter using a throttle with pure filtered DC output. Most MRC packs have a pulse or spike in their output. It is this spike that causes mose of the noise. It also does minute damage to the motor. No pulse is needed with these engines as they are equipped with 5 pole motors
