recently got a bachmann climax with sound, liked it enough that i set for my profile photo ... very lightly weathered with pumpkin colour !
@rch Yup pressured tiny tiny puppies dude I though 0502 we're small this is small enough to make a switch man's lantern look scale Ain't no way I could solder these things only took a week thru custom from china
I use 0603 or 0402 warm white prewired LEDs, 1.5mm (0.06") diameter fiber optic rod and 1/32" 2:1 ratio heat shrink tubing to make headlights for my locomotives. The LED lead wires are bent so the LED faces outward away from the wires then a short length of shrink tubing is slipped over the LED. A short length of fiber optic rod is cut and inserted into the shrink tubing pressed against the LED face. When the assembly is held near a flame for a moment the tubing shrinks and secures the fiber optic rod to the LED. The outer face of the fiber optic rod is then polished. I have to wire resistors in line with them but some decoders have resistors already on the board for LEDs.
I haven't tried this yet, Vince, but I think you could glue the face of an LED to the end of a fiber optic rod and cut a short length to make a lens for those signal heads. Then use some black paint on the back of the LED and fiber optic rod where you don't want the light to leak out. I need to try it out myself. I designed some GRS Type G signals awhile back but I haven't lit them yet.
Like a lot of modelers, I have a lot of interest in the stuff that I see all the time. The photo below, which I've posted here before, shows HESR 3865, one of four GP38-2's that came from P&LE, in Marlette in June of 2019. Even though she's looking kind of rough here, is now rumored to have been sold and may return to her original Rock Island livery, this engine called here a few hundred times over a nearly 30 year career on the Huron and Eastern. Long story short, when Athearn announced their GP38-2 in HESR livery, I knew I had to have at least one. It just arrived a couple of days ago.
I didn't plan on two posts in a row here. It just happened. A few weeks ago, I posted a photo of ex-GTW GP9 4428 at the HESR enginehouse in Bad Axe. A discussion of the engine's recent history ensued and I decided I wanted to model it. Walthers offered a model of 4428 some time ago, but there are none of those to be found now, so I decided to take another direction. As a result, I found this old blue box Athearn geep for sale on line by a museum that takes donations, operates the ones they can use on their layout and sells the rest to raise funds. They noted that this engine was in good shape, had been serviced and was ready to go. I bought it (even though another project is all I need) and immediately found a GTW diesel set at K4 decals. It's going to be fairly involved. I'll need to remove the dynamic brakes and probably 3D print a cover plate, but it will wind up in GTW blue and orange. The leftover decals will be used on an Atlas RS1 I picked up a while ago to model GTW 1950, the 2nd to the last RS1 built for an American railroad. (The last was GTW 1951, but 1950 was used in local freight service on the former Pontiac, Oxford & Northern, which ran through Clifford, about 5 miles from Marlette. Gotta keep it local.)
Nice old BB, and that funky ATSF balloon lettering is so '70's. Dang, HATE to see that one go. I got a perfect condition Athearn BB in SP gray, very common of that same model there. You up for a trade? I'll pay the shipping. Seriously. Anyways, from Sam's Train Review, I saw this Lima electric unit from some bargain outfit call Ali Express, out of China. For $25 and $8 shipping, this piece resembles the old Triang format of pizza cutter flanges and a big, fat motor. In addition to North American, I also spin British OO in my free time. It's basically a generic looking Italian unit, in Italian State Railways colors, but when it comes to British stuff, nobody on this side of the pond can tell the difference, as anything with buffers is European and so it goes. I love this piece, and it runs like a dream. Had a lot of fun with it today.
In case you didn't see it, I replied to your post on my profile. I think we can work something out one way or another. I'll probably be able to get back to you sometime tomorrow.
That'd be fantastic. Let me know how it works out. All I really need is the ATSF shell, I got a perfectly good powered chassis for it. Heart of the old ATSF country here in El Paso.
Okay, it’s not as exciting as a new engine or a nice kit, but here is my track and smail motors. I only wish I had time to lay it. Spring/summer projects are my priority for now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not *exactly* an HO purchase, but that's primarily the intended destination. This is five pounds of 1/16" lead sheet. I should be able to bring a great many freight cars up to an adequate NMRA standard. The thin sheet should make it easier to add weight to small spaces like flat cars that can't fit the little squares you can buy at the hobby shop. Oh, and another roll of 1/32" should arrive next week. Not cheap, but I imagine this supply will last for a very long time. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk