Considering my fave shortline is the Trona circa 1970, this Baldwin is certainly on my "want" list, as are the truck sideframes to build an AS-616 from Piperguy's AS-16. Microscale still stocks Trona decals, so this is in the realm of possibility. Main problem at the moment however is all these great developments have so backed-up the workbench queue that I have to wonder just when I'm going to get any of it done. I'm crazy busy. That said... C855's push everything aside. I'm already working on changing out the oversize wheels on Con-Cor U50's to get the look right.
I know the feeling, all this drawing and I am getting no actual modeling done. I've got a scratch built 5 foot long trestle bridge under construction and it hasn't seen any progress in two months! But, UPS say tomorrow is delivery day from Shapeways, wahooo. -James
What about a BALDWIN Diesel loco with trucks like this? Maybe that way we would have that option to use either BLW truck or the ATLAS truck that comes with their BALDWIN. Tom
I've been waiting FOREVER for one of these !!! Used to see them all day, every day on the EJ&E. Grandpa used to run them. Even rode one on to the East Joliet turntable and turned it around. We fit our entire Boy Scout troop in the cab of that thing !!! I want... no, I NEED 4 of them !!!
Hi Tom, Do you mean use evanly spaced trucks or use the actual trucks from your photo? I'm not quite getting what you mean, mind you it has gone midnight over here! -James
Right then peeps, the test print arrived today and..................... It looks fantastic. I haven't cleaned it properly yet so it is still covered in goo which, as some of you know, makes it relay hard to photograph! Plus a lot of the detail cant be seen properly until it turns opaque but I wanted show you what it looked like anyway. So right out of the Shapeways bag. The two engineers, lets go with Burt and Ernie, came out well. All the details I added to the roof appear to have come out well, horns, stacks, grills etc As did the diamond plate walkways. Once I had removed the handrails from the inside of the shell I could start test fitting it all. (I just couldn't wait till it was all cleaned up). The side frames clipped into place over the Atlas trucks perfectly. I tested the chassis at this point and it ran like a dream. Next I tried the actual shell and it fell into place with a satisfying click as all the lugs and mounts lined up. With that I had to test it on the track! As I said before it still needs cleaning so a lot of the detail can't be seen yet and it all look very fuzzy due to the waxy residue but I am very happy with the test print. Over the weekend I will check it out properly and clean it all up. I will get you some better pics and hopefully I can release it to you next week. -James
Wow! That's almost (but not quite enough to make me change everything. What a beaut! I can remember these from the EJ&E in Chicago Heights.
James, thank you, that's great news!! Looking awesome, I can't wait to get my hands on one of these, it was such a signature locomotive in San Bernardino during the era I model. As soon as you posted this, I snapped a C630 off feebay I've been following, for under 70 bucks....anyone need a nice Reading shell and a pair of Alco sideframes? Thanks again/regards, Otto K.
Hard to resist the temptation... but... I can centainly justify having at least one! I've been watching this thread for the past couple of weeks waiting to see the outcome of the print. It really looks good James... sort of have me hooked to get at least one of them. The model looks like an easy enough conversion onto the Atlas 628/630 that even I couldn't mess it up... lol... :funny: BTW... I second the development of an AS-616 or DRS 6-6-1500. When do you think this will actually be released to the N scale community... and what are you figuring to sell it for?
Hi Otto, good deal on the C630. But don't sell the shell too soon, I will shortly be bringing out a dummy chassis and trucks for the C628/630 so the shell wont be a waist and it can be used as a mid train helper! -James
Hi Joe, yep its a very easy conversion. The plan is to have them available next week, coincidentally in time with my Monday niight blog post!:teeth: So far a single one with all the trimmings is looking to be about $47. I will know on Monday for sure. -James
Being very please with my self I just had to share this, I just assembled the body mount couplers and fitted them into the shell, all part of the checking I am doing. They fitted perfectly first time and.... Hows that for level! -James
Well...Otto... looks like you're going to be using one for San Benandino service... and I'm going to be using one for Argentine transfers... ~Bruce
The Carbon County Railway in Utah used one of these to haul coal to steel mills for a while too. I believe it was a loaner or a demo model ultimately to become a Santa Fe unit.
Hi all, Well I am very happy with the test print. I made a few small improvement which I talked about in my most recent blog post which you can find here, http://jamestrainparts.wordpress.com if you are interested. As for the shells, they are now for sale and you can find them either through my blog or my Shapeways site. Happy modeling! -James
Order placed! Thank you James! Great news, order placed. It will be interesting to see how the FUD finish looks. The c630 arrived today, as did the decoder. Time to do some experimenting! Otto K.
