Saw a thread with an AF "smoke in tender" question.
I had never heard of a "smoke in tender" AF steam engine before, so, being curious, I hit the thread to see what that was about. Smoke in tender? Weird. I hit eBay and sure 'nuf, they had some. The "smoke in tender" concept looks sort of funky. However, that's beside the point.
While I was at eBay looking at the results for "American Flyer steam engine", I looked at some of the listings for AF steam engines. I had to admit to myself that AF made some mighty handsome postwar steam engines.
Got me to wondering: Would it be possible/practical to take an AF PW-type approach and do a "hi-rail" layout with and portray a semi-sincere* "1940s" look? That is, AF PW-type steam engines, rolling stock comprising of boxcar red, mineral red, black, browns, etc. running on a better looking track system than the old AF system.
* "Semi-sincere": As in structures/scenic treatment/etc.
In other words, can a look similar to the pic below be practical in S scale with the bulk of the equipment being "traditional" equipment?
Lastly: How would it run? Do the AF steam engines perform decently for rudimentary switching/etc?
Again, just curious.
Comments most welcomed.
Andre
