Beautifull work, looking forward to seeing the finished product. When the AFT was here, I went out to see it. The 4449 was the first live steam engine I ever saw as an adult, and it was love at first sight. It was scheduled to leave for its next destination at about 2AM on a Sat morning, (It had arrived here about 4PM on a week day and I was too stupid to take off from work), so I went down to see it. It put on a spectacular show. The power was mind bogling. The boiler was popping and snapping like a water heater, but you could feel the pops and snaps in ground. When it started up, the engine was very quiet, no spinning of the drivers like in the old western movies. One of the neat things about it, that probably not many people ever saw, was that they had mounted a string of lightbulbs under each side of the boiler, lighting up all the drivers. I followed it for about 4 miles until it got close to downtown, where I could no longer keep up with it. The last I saw of it, it was going through a lightly developed valley, and all you could see was the headlight and the lighted drivers. I have often wondered how one could light the drivers like that in N scale, but never figured out a solution. If you choose to do that, I will be interested in seeing how you do it.
Awesome moon buggy! I have no use for one on a layout. But you should make me one anyway just cause I'm a space fan.
Looking great Jerry! I'm sure this is going be a top notch, one-of-a-kind project when you finish, like everything else you've done. I bet this one is going to take awhile Anxiously looking forward to the progress shots!
Great work Jerry. I assume that is the CC version of the AFT 4449. Thinking about repainting my Kato to the AFT colors. I was looking to do this project as well (though not as detailed as what you are doing). I wasn't sure which passenger car would fit the bill. The decal sheets mentioned earlier gave me some seriuos motivation but again not sure what passenger cars will be good to kitbash. Will be watching your progress with great interest.
I also had the chance to see the American Freedom Train in person as a child. It made a HUGE impression on me, and it was the starting point for my interest in trains. I see that we are the same age, so I know the deep feelings that you have for this specific train. Good luck on your project and PLEASE post tons of photos!!!!!! Resp, John "delljohnb" Baugher Cincinnati, Ohio ps. When I saw the train it was at the local Amtrak station.
I got permission from Todd to post a link to his site. This is where I am getting my decals, and they are, without a doubt, the most accurate decals anywhere. Accuen Media | Freedom Train | American Freedom Train For the N Scale version, the Kato 72ft Baggage cars are almost perfect for most of the train, and what I will be using for the display cars. A Kato sleeper and Bachmann shorty passenger cars will bring up the rear.
FYI ... there is a company in Japan that makes brass models of non-standard passenger cars ... such as the Pacific Parlour car from today's Coast Starlight, etc ... they are called Lookmodel on eBay and they might be worth contacting to see about producing some of the harder-to-replicate models. They have an AT&SF full dome car for sale on eBay right now: eBay Seller: lookmodel: Model RR, Trains, Toys Hobbies items on eBay.com here is a link to stuff they have sold over the past 30 days or so http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&since=30&userid=lookmodel&include=0&rows=50&sort=3&completed=1
I contacted the seller and recommended they look at the design. We'll see what they say. Kinda spendy though
Yea, those are nice looking cars. For the AFT display cars, I still think the Katos will be a closer match. The real AFT used baggage cars too.
What Amtrak station was that John? I worked security at the Freedom Train (I'm a retired Cincinnati Police officer) when it was at Second Street, downtown, along the riverfront. As a side note, the general public was not aware of the security measures, or the intensity and seriousness of the on-board security staff (Marines) to protect the documents/displays on board. The lines of people were incredible in Cincinnati the day I was there. We were able to get an after hours tour from the Marines without the crowd crush, and I found it to be very interesting and informative. Dan
You know Dan, I can remember the Marines on the train at the end of each passenger car when I went through. It is a vivid memory because as we reached the end of the first car, my mom looked at the Marine, thinking it was part of the display and reach out and touched his uniform. The polite Marine said 'Ma'm can I help you?' And we all jumped! LOL
This is a very crude model of the B&O Arabian, but photos are very few of this early locomotive. It should pass OK once painted and installed in the display car.
And the other side. After this very, very, very fragile model sets up, I will add the wheels and paint.
This morning I started adding the Arabians wheels. I used brass N Scale brake wheels to get the spoked look of the real locomotive. They were cut near the top and then glued in place.
