The Fairbanks Morse Erie Built, right? That would be a cool N scale build. If so, looking forward to following this one. What road would you do? I am partial to the Santa Fe of course but there are a lot of other great paint schemes for that model.
I'm confused. Life-Like offered these back in 2002. Wouldn't it be easier to patiently seek a set on eBay and modify the chassis for DCC if that's what you use? Perhaps they're nearly impossible to find these days. https://mrr.trains.com/news-reviews...rbanks-morse-erie-built-diesel-is-a-workhorse
Life-Like's Erie Builts are rare since they only made one run. You may find them cheap at train shows (whenever we start having them again) but they get pricey on eBay. IIRC Spookshow says Con-cor also released a Erie Built, or rather a E-B shell on a Con-cor/Kato Alco PA chassis. Hopefully Atlas is planning a rerelease now that they have the tooling, plus they make the Erie Built in O Scale already. I'm not sure where you're going with the hood unit thing. Do you mean you will be keeping the cab but splicing on a hood-unit body behind it like the MPI MP32PH-Q?
The early ConCor Erie Builts used V-Line shells on their own PA chassis. The V-Line shells can be found on eBay and would be much easier to acquire than the LifeLike versions.
They are difficult to find and get bid way up there. I sold my NYCs and Penns and was amazed at the sniping wars that they started. I even had one that had an A unit shell on a B-unit body that fetched a high price. My modelling directions changed, so I sold the NYCs and Penns. The undecorateds really did not fit the profile of my pike, as they were too large, so I sold them, as well. I am assuming that Original Poster wants to bash an RS configured unit that might have happened. I was amazed at what mine fetched. Conversely, the C-Liners do not bring that much. Part of it is, as you accurately state, that there was only one run of Eries, while there was on of the C-Liners from LL and one from WKW. The Penns were the same in both, but WKW did Cigar Band, while LL did lightning stripes. Despite that, neither my NYCs nor my Penns fetched that great bids. I had to list one A-B pair of NYCs twice. It was, as someone else here indicates (as does Spookshow) a V-Line shell on a C-C PA chassis. I still have an A-A pair custom painted in NYCS two tone grey. I did not sell those because they were a gift. Spookshow rates them an F, because they derail on curves and turnouts. This is due to the construction/bashing methods. The couplers are truck mounted (and, as he notes, there is inadequate means of retaining the front coupler) The pilot opening in the A is very small, which leaves no room for the front truck to pivot. As a result, these things tend to derail on curves and turnouts. Mine do not derail on fifteen inch radius curves or Number Six turnouts. They will climb/rock on Kato thirteen and three quarter curves and sometimes derail or do a Laugh-In. Any of the above often results in a clothesline derailment of the train. On anything sharper than a thirteen and three quarter, they will not run due to derailment, Laugh-In or leaping from the track. One solution is to go to a body mount. This does involve dremelling off the tongue of the front truck. While on the subject of FMs and hood units, does anyone out there have a top photograph or drawing of a passenger H-15-44/H-16-44? I am looking for the kind and placement of steam generator vents/stacks. I am aware of how they looked/were placed on SP's Trainmasters. They were more vents than stacks on SP's and they had screen coverings. There actually was a stack attachment, but, SP removed most of those early. I do not know if any of the other Trainmaster operators had any equipped for passenger service. Some US roads had H-15/16-44s so equipped, among them LIRR and CRI&P, (CNJ, as well?). I have found service photographs of those units, but, the roof view ain't none too good on none of them. Thank you.
I was thinking Erie nose + Loewy long hood. Hmm... now I want to cobble something together in MS Paint!
