My project this past week was to rebuild an Atlas SD24 into an SD26 variant I call the SD27J. It has the distinction of being the only one of it's kind. I started with an ordinary Atlas UP SD24. I stripped the shell and sprayed it lightly with gray primer. I then cut apart the roof mounted air tanks and discarded the two inner ones as they had no sides. I made four more air tanks from 1/8" dowel and drilled holes in each end of them so I could insert the piping for the air system then spaced them out along both sides of the top of the long hood similar to the SD26. I then added the two remaining plastic air tanks between the middle air tanks and the dynamic brake cooler fans. I then cut down a Kadee coupler box to serve as a maintenance box for the valve system between the middle tanks. The winterization hatch was slightly modified to serve as a cover for the air filters. I removed the turbocharger cover from the side of the body and added a blower cover I cut from a Bachann GP50 body. The shell was then disassembled (again) and painted the colors of the Midland Gulf Railway and lighted weathered with a black paint/alcohol wash. A DZ125 decoder was installed and programmed before the shell was reassembled.
Great picture, Russ! I've been out of bandwidth lately, trying to keep employed. So, I'll just pull one out of the archives. Back in April 2005, I was at the Timonium, MD train show. One of the shots I took was of Northern Virginia NTRAK member Matt Chibbaro's "Furlow Canyon" NTrak module: This is his tribute to the famous Malcolm Furlow's soaring desert model railroading. There are two loops in addition to the 3 track NTrak main line: both are figure-8's hidden by the mountains. Seems amazing it was 4 years ago now! While there, I had nice chat with Lance Mindheim at his booth; and even saw Jim FitzGerald, who was there with his wife Lee, at the TTRaK display. All, have a good week!
Nice work, fellas! Nice images, too. Here is my image for the week. A load of wheelsets is on its way to the foundry for scrapping.
Tad: Those structures are way too clean. Crandall: Great work on that scene. You outdid yourself. The next loco to enter my shop for a chop-cut-rebuild will be this Atlas GE U30C. I'm trying to come up with some way to make it visibly unique if not downright unusual.
Very cool, Jeff-W! I roughed-in Tunnel 15 last weekend, and also my Bicentennial SD45-2, and Vert-A-Pacs came! The real Tunnel 15: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/BNSF_T14.jpg
I said I was working on them, I didn't say I was finished. They'll look more like this before they are done. At least, I hope so. Where the heck is Sundown?
Tried to sleep in this morning until I heard a whistle! Jumped up threw on a hat and shoes and headed out the door. Turns out there was a two car high-wide train coming up the Front Range Sub. I was able to beat it to Louisville. Here are two shots of it coming under the Hwy 42 overpass.
Sundown is a very small community in Louisiana. It's located between Leesville and White Park. You can literally skid through it.
Thought so. My sister lives not far from there. I grew up in Jena, La., Hamburg, Ark. and Fountain Hill, Ark. My dad still lives in Jena and my mom lives in Hamburg.
Great start to the weekend. I've been experimenting with some aerial shots over the past few days. Here are a few examples ..................and the pilot....................... Jon
Jon, you are extremely fortunate to have been able to photograph one of the most clandestined members of the Lafayette Escadrille. He has been known to hound the rare photographer who obtained an image, only to have that immortal ace grab the plate or negative by his teeth and worry it beyond recognition. Well Done, Sir!
Here's my contribution. I don't usually post, but I've been playing with my camera and Helicon Focus this morning. Taken on my small 2'x4' layout. I just poured the magic water last weekend for the stream and inserted the sky.
Here's what I've dubbed the "Ultimate Railfan's Campsite". The scene is far from finished, but I wanted to post some photos today. Perched high on a cliff protruding from the forest, this campsite offers amazing views of both the nearby river crossing to the west, and the tunnel portal to the east. Just don't sleepwalk...
The new layout module construction has begun. This will soon be the Eagle River station and loco maint. facility on the new CMRRA HO modular club layout. I will try to post weekly update to both this set of modules, as well as the entire layout.