well, i wanted to do something different. one of my favorite locomotives is the Toledo, Peoria, and Western GP-35 with Alco trucks. i set about modeling it with my new undecorated MT geep, but then wondered how i would justify a TP&W loco on the Rio Grande. i decided to make it a lease unit of similar style, rusted and worn -- waiting for a turn in the shops to be rebuilt, renewed, and refreshed. for the time being 3612 will shuttle cars at the quarry (yet to be built) and live outside in the snow and rain for a while longer. i hope you like it. i tried to up load a view from the top which nicely shows the BLMA fans installed, but just couldn't get it to work. maybe later. the bell is from a Life Like (N scale) GP20. the proportions seemed just right for Z. the Alco trucks were simulated using N scale BX express trucks from Micro Trains. i filed and fiddled with them a bit and added the center spring which i took from an old atlas N scale 6 wheel passenger truck. the brake cylinders are the nub ends from MT Z scale coupler sprues. i used a dot of pliobond glue to attach t hem. i filed the MT trucks smooth and laid the BX/Alco sideframe on top (with pliobond). they're not perfect, but as close as i could figure out how to make them look. i also did some car kitbashing. the flat car is an MT 50' gon that i trimmed the sides off and laid thin wood-type siding for the deck. the standart MT gons are a bit short, and i wanted something i could put two trailers on (TOFC) and the 50' seemed right for it. the first photo shows the process. the next photo shows the finished result. i also found an old N scale plug door car (60+feet) whose the ladders and ribs just seemed to be right for Z. so i trimmed the sides/top/bottom and even narrowed the door a bit. the result is a 50' plug door that looks good enough to me. the ends are N scale doors from MT and the top is a regular Z scale 50 roof that was in my parts box. i don't even know how the roof got there; it must have been part of the Z scale pieces/parts that i purchased at a swap meet years ago. the stirrups on the ends are cut from 1/16" K&S brass mesh and CA glued on. i have one more box car to show, but haven't got it lettered, so i'll wait to show it to you when it's finished. i'm having fun. i hope you are too. dave f.
Dave, I am in awe! What a great unit. Good job! The weathering is outstanding. the addition of the bell on the side is a very nice touch. I am also most impressed by your rolling stock. WOW!! Great job. By the way, your TP&W loco is only the 2nd 'leased' unit I know of in Z scale. Jeffrey White has one custom painted for him. His is a SD45 painted for MPI. Question, if you would, could you contact me offline? My e-mail is ztrack@aol.com. I am putting together an article on GP35 repaints for Ztrack Magazine and I am dying to include your images. Keep up the great work! Rob Kluz
David, You set trail, and we will follow your lead. You have given us a wealth of ideas on how to increase the variety of rolling stock. Looking forward to more ideas from you. John
John, thanks for the compliments, i'm glad you like the loco -- but i'm a cheap skate! i'm making cars because 1) most are so expensive, 2) i don't have that much money to spend on the hobby, and 3) i can't find what i want to model. i do enjoy the relaxation of building things, but there are better craftsmen out there. i'm just trying to sovle the above mentioned problems. well, i got the other two shots uploaded. this one of the top:.. and this one of the left-rear. ok, that's all of 'em. i am still amazed at how smooth and sweet these engines run! these are a treasure! now ... if MicroTrains would make Alco truck sideframes, they would open up a whole new avenue of shells -- GE U-boats! just think of the roads that would add to an already superb and available drive unit. Z would have it all over the N scale modelers who've been crying for U-boats all along. another coup in the making? dave f. [ December 27, 2005, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: david f. ]
Dave, If you can figure out what N scale boxcar it was that you used, I would love to hear. I am a cheap skate too. One of my favorite tricks is using old N scale Gondolas as plate girder bridges in Z scale. Buy 'em at swap meets for 50 cents a pop or so. Can you take any close ups of the Alco trucks? Randy Smidt
Dave, Those Alco trucks would come in handy for the ex-Southern GP35's still active on the W&LE. http://www.wle.railfan.net/wlecur-rost.html Of the 25 active units they have, only 2 or 3 do not have the Alco trucks. Their newest paint scheme is reminiscent of the D&RGW. Actually, one of the Bloomberg trucked units is still wearing a D&RGW scheme with the original lettering retouched. I want to do some Southern high hood GP35's (and GP30's) so details and photos of the Alco trucks would be great to see when you get a chance. Thanks, Randy Smidt
randy, i tried to get a better close-up of the trucks, but without much luck. my camera is an olympus 3.1 Meg with zoom. adequate for most things, but not good at closeups. i'll try a higher resolution shot and then see if i can't crop it with better detail. what's missing on my "Alco" truck is the 2 sets of springs on either side of the center floating-spring-thing (sorry don't know what to call it). it just didn't seem worth it to try. also if i had had time to look i might have found a better part for the center "V" type floating spring (one that was a bit wider). i tried cutting the one off the MT truck, but it was just too small. the MT N scale BX express truck was the best thing i could find for the alco. i've looked at N and Z passenger trucks, but they were either too long or too short. the BX is about a foot off, but not bad overall (i don't think). i tried to make the long "U" shape of the Alco sideframe out of styrene, but it just wasn't working. if you see something else out there, let us know i'm happy with the result, overall, and would probably try it again, except i have a small Z layout and i really don't need more GPs. if i do buy another it would be to retro-fit my Nn3 scale shay conversion (which used the noisy F7 mechanism). other than that, i don't need more -- but i would build a hundred if i could get them or afford them. i love these geeps. Micro trains said they would now make the shell available for ... $63.50. that's the shell, complete (w/o mechanism, of course) and i believe undecorated, but i might be wrong about that. that's pretty steep, i think. if i did (or do) get an extra GP35, it will become a DD35, without question. that just HAS to be modeled! so i'll see what i can do about picture for you. but until college tuition get's paid (two more years to go) i won't be buying too many more GPs. thanks for giving your thoughts on this. it's great fun to talk and share about this stuff. later, dave f. p.s. i thought blombergs were the standard GP-35 trucks as they came from EMD --as modeled by MT? i get this stuff mixed up. p.p.s wouldn't if be fun, though, to try to make a G.E. loco???!!! oh well. df
Dave, Thanks for the details. Yes, the Blomberg truck is the standard EMD 2 axle truck. I guess I wasn't clear in that the W&LE unit that is still in D&RGW is one of their few units that actually has Blombergs instead of the rebuilt ALco trucks. I would love to see some GE's and ALco's done as well as the Geeps. If someone could do some side frames for the kitbashers, that would make things much easier. As for your Nn3 Shay, I would really love to see one in Zm. I think Zm could really take off if that ever happened. Take Care, Randy Smidt
