I received my Denver Rocket yesterday.... and I couldn’t be happier with it... a few snaps below....
The colors match my Key E6 beautifully.... which one is better? I don’t know!
Rails doing the honors...
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Love the trains, love the inspector!
Dan Weinhold
Such a beautiful set. If it weren't for that small detail otherwise known as finances I was ready to ask Scott to ship me one when I was visiting with him last Saturday and seeing one on his test layout. The opening ventilation hatches are quite a nice feature.
Thanks for the pro pictures as always and enjoy!
Looks great, hope you enjoy it Santiago!
Very nice indeed- beautiful looking set.
Looks marvelous Santiago great job on the project! Excited to get my set.
GG1 4877 posted:Such a beautiful set. If it weren't for that small detail otherwise known as finances I was ready to ask Scott to ship me one when I was visiting with him last Saturday and seeing one on his test layout. The opening ventilation hatches are quite a nice feature.
Thanks for the pro pictures as always and enjoy!
I bet if the PRR had one, YOU would be all over it like me!
Hmmm Speaking of Special PRR trains HOW about the "Keystone Train"?
The Keystone has been suggested.
So a Pittsburgh Rocket ..... Hmmmm ..... 
Beautiful set. Thanks for posting.
That set is simply stunning! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, guys!
Erik C Lindgren posted:Looks marvelous Santiago great job on the project! Excited to get my set.
Thanks, buddy! It was a special project for sure!
Love the EMD Rock Island paint scheme and the articulated cars. I remember as a kid watching the articulated Burlington Nebraska Zephyr charge through my hometown of Hinsdale, IL in the late 1950's and having a vague feeling that that construction looked a bit frail. But seemed to work fine as the articulated set remained in high speed service for about 28 years, and a portion of the train survives in regular service at the Illinois RR Museum today.
SANTIAGOP23 posted:I received my Rocky Mountain Rocket yesterday.... and I couldn’t be happier with it... a few snaps below....
Tyger held a similar post as Superintendent of Motive Power on my system, too:
Plus on his "off" days, he did switch inspection:
P.S.: The Rocket is very nice.
mark s posted:Love the EMD Rock Island paint scheme and the articulated cars. I remember as a kid watching the articulated Burlington Nebraska Zephyr charge through my hometown of Hinsdale, IL in the late 1950's and having a vague feeling that that construction looked a bit frail. But seemed to work fine as the articulated set remained in high speed service for about 20 years, and a portion of the train survives in regular service at the Illinois RR Museum today.
You and me both!
Very, very nice! I see why you and your cat are happy. Thanks for posting.
Very sharp! It was quite nice looking when Scot Mann brought one to the meeting yesterday....
Peter
Needs incandescent bulbs.... but I’m in love
That is beautiful!
Santiago: Thinking about your Rocky Mountain Rocket mingling in Denver Union Station with your Exposition Flyer train pulled into town by either steam (S4a 4-6-4 or O5 4-8-4) or diesel (Burlington E5's) and pulled westbound by your anticipated L105 DRGW 4-6-6-4 (although the Denver portion would probably have been pulled by an M68 4-8-4, but who cares? It's your railroad!). And switched by your CBQ Baldwin VO-1000.
Railroading at it's finest!
We suffer from good taste, Mark!
This is almost too good for OGR!
Have no fear Santiago. Just wait for the Legacy version that rides too high, has a swinging pilot, but has smoke coming out the engineer's cigar and the steam lines between cars, a waving fireman and arrives broken in the box. It will fit right in.
Dying, Jonathan!
mark s posted:Santiago: Thinking about your Rocky Mountain Rocket mingling in Denver Union Station with your Exposition Flyer train .......
Well, yes, except:
The modeled trainset is the fifth of the six Rocket sets, and was placed in service on a triweekly basis between Kansas City and Denver on 10/18/37; however, on 2/13/38 it was transferred to KC - Oklahoma City service, later that year extended to Dallas. The sixth trainset was also apparently intended for the KC - Denver operation, but instead was first placed in Dallas - Houston service, and was later moved to join the fifth set in KC- Dallas service. The Colorado-based names on both sets were changed to names more suitable for their Texas routes in 1938-39, and those car names were recycled for the new Chicago - Denver Rocky Mountain Rocket which began in November 1939 with new, non-articulated cars ( and its signature AB6 ), which is why the car names in the photos looked 'right' for the RMR.
I only know the above because when Santiago made his original post referring to the RMR I thought "Whoa, for an RMR that train is too short -- and articulated...." so I looked up the history in Wayner's Car Names......
Hence this set and the Exposition Flyer, let alone E5's, could not coexist -- except on our layouts, that is, which is great.
Best regards,
SZ
Similar to me pairing PRR diesels with CNJ steam on my yet to be if ever realized NY&LB O layout. Never happened as CNJ steam was mostly gone by 1953 with 10 wheeler 774 surviving in many farewell to steam tours in 1954, while the PRR would't spare a diesel to test on the NY&LB until 1956. However in my mind they co-exist just fine. 
Don’t judge me...
Family portrait
Would absolutely truly LOVE to have one. If not more than one.
But for 3-rail? At that price? Sorry, I'll have to pass. Too rich for my blood. 
You have some (more) winners, there, Santiago.
Bill Davis is bringing in a special run of modernized TA's done by Sunset.
John
Other fine renditions of Rocket types by Lionel and MTH.... Wonderful stuff! So much to pick from in O!
Santiago,
Great modeling on your part. Have you considered modeling the Rock Island Golden State? Below is a photo of a baggage mail car that someone modeled in HO scale. That train set has a fantastic paint scheme.
Has anyone brought in the Rock Island Golden State passenger train set in O Scale?
Steve
GG1 4877 posted:Have no fear Santiago. Just wait for the Legacy version that rides too high, has a swinging pilot, but has smoke coming out the engineer's cigar and the steam lines between cars, a waving fireman and arrives broken in the box. It will fit right in.
Oh my, what a shot. The "kool aid" drinkers are gonna be all over you!
It was actually less of a shot at the manufacturer than one might think. The JLC GG1 is still the nicest non-brass GG1 I have. It was more directed to all the negative threads about manufacturer, x, y, or z. It's just nice to see a real positive thread on here on a fabulous product. Very refreshing!!
The wonderful people at Rockford O Scalers shared this outstanding capture of their Peoria set... I hope it’s ok to post it here!
Yeah it’s that good! Or at least it comes close!
GG1 4877 posted:It was actually less of a shot at the manufacturer than one might think. The JLC GG1 is still the nicest non-brass GG1 I have. It was more directed to all the negative threads about manufacturer, x, y, or z. It's just nice to see a real positive thread on here on a fabulous product. Very refreshing!!
isn't the JLC Lionel GG1 the one with the zinc rotting trucks that Lionel refuses to repair ?
K-Line did the Golden State as a part of their Collectors Club probably over 10 years ago. There were two renditions,one being an A-A E8 pulling 18" passenger cars. There were at least 8 passenger cars,all named correctly and possibly 10. The other set had shorter cars. They were extremely well received at that time. It remains a very good looking set.
Norm
The Rockford O Scalers are extremely pleased with this set. It’s fantastic! We also picked up one of the modernized TA versions offered by Bill Davis to be used in running other Rock Island trains. What a great time to be in 2 rail O Scale!
Rocket Video
SANTIAGOP23 posted:Yeah it’s that good! Or at least it comes close!
SURE DOES
Another video
You guys sure like speed! Thanks for sharing, Frank!
Everyone is invited to the "Rockford O Scalers" open house this Saturday (November 2 2019 12:00pm to 6:00pm). I'm sure the RI Rocket will be running . Please see the "Rockford O Scalers" Facebook page for additional information/pictures/videos.
SANTIAGOP23 posted:The wonderful people at Rockford O Scalers shared this outstanding capture of their Peoria set... I hope it’s ok to post it here!
Absolutely fabulous and a fabulous image also by the Rockford O Scale guys. Scott, and Santiago you knocked it out of the park! HOME RUN
Here is an image that includes a photoshopped sky that someone sent us. We think it looks good!
I think it looks good too 
Norm posted:K-Line did the Golden State as a part of their Collectors Club probably over 10 years ago. There were two renditions,one being an A-A E8 pulling 18" passenger cars. There were at least 8 passenger cars,all named correctly and possibly 10. The other set had shorter cars. They were extremely well received at that time. It remains a very good looking set.
Norm
And it was the 18" K-Line stuff that got me hooked on the Golden State and Rock Island Es! Forgivably, K-Line applied corrugated Rock Island car names to smooth sided Southern Pacific type cars. Who cares? Not I.
Having collected all of the K-Line cars, save for the domes which were an unforgivable mistake, I've started adding MTH Rock Island Golden Rocket cars. Hey, that's what The Rock did. 3RSing the cars is a slow and painful process; Kadeeing K-Line cars is an art form and I'm no Santiago. Trimmed down K-Line diaphragms make a good foundation for Scale City Design diaphragms, etc, etc, etc.
The Rock's early passenger diesel paint scheme is striking and irresistible. Piecing together my Poor Man's Rocket is fascinating, as is digging up photos and fun facts about the train and its equipment. I have also added a basket case MTH Rock Island E6 that will be my first attempt to "fix" a pilot since I can't do much more damage than has already been done. The frame is bent but at least the carbody is mint.
As an old neighbor once said, "Who has more fun than us?"
Erik C Lindgren posted:SANTIAGOP23 posted:Yeah it’s that good! Or at least it comes close!
😊😊😊 the TA is the star of the show! The cars are decent!
Erik C Lindgren posted:SANTIAGOP23 posted:The wonderful people at Rockford O Scalers shared this outstanding capture of their Peoria set... I hope it’s ok to post it here!
Absolutely fabulous and a fabulous image also by the Rockford O Scale guys. Scott, and Santiago you knocked it out of the park! HOME RUN
❤️❤️❤️
Some people may be wondering about the “missing” builders plate and Front mark in the engineers side. This is absolutely CORRECT for as delivered engines!
SANTIAGOP23 posted:You guys sure like speed! Thanks for sharing, Frank!
We were late and trying to make up time!
BTW, the train is running about 70 scale mph per our digital speedometer.
SANTIAGOP23 posted:Some people may be wondering about the “missing” builders plate and Front mark in the engineers side. This is absolutely CORRECT for as delivered engines!
Yes, everyone should be aware that the TAs were built by “Electromotive Corporation” before it was bought by General Motors.
Frank, that is a beautiful layout.
I don't like counting rivets but I very much appreciate those who do count them. A big thank you to Santiago and to all of the others who have helped 3rd Rail make some very good products. The TA's are great and so were the E6's. It is a great time to be in O scale.
Who knew Rockford had a fantastic club and layout? Not I. Last year at this time, en route to visit the Greater Chicagoland, I got off the Tollway and followed the IC (route of the incomparable Hawkeye) and CNW through town. Having grown up in the Elgin area, Rockford was accessible but I went railroading... Should I pass that way, again, I will schedule my trip to include a visit.
Seeing an exquisite O Scale train doing 70, on track built for it, is a joy to behold! Rock On!
It’s worth noting the original Full Rocket paint scheme is also known as “Announcement Scheme”
Here are two photos and two videos of our rendition of Train # 52, the “Choctaw Rocket”. Thanks to Bill Davis of American Scale Models for bringing in these modernized Rock Island TA locomotives. Although built in 1937, all six of the TA class locomotives (exclusively built for the Rock Island) lasted until 1958 and 1960. They really earned their keep for their owner and are cool looking too, not to mention very unique!
SouthernMike posted:Frank, that is a beautiful layout.
Thanks, Mike. We are lucky to have some very talented modelers in our group!
Frank, I love it! Thanks for sharing!!!
Great looking train and model railroad, Frank. I really enjoyed the photos and videos, thanks for sharing!
John
The inside is typical 3rd Rail...
SANTIAGOP23 posted:The inside is typical 3rd Rail...
Now that you have the shell off you can replace/improve the crewmen figures to eliminate their “zombie-like” appearance!😆
Beat you to it, Frank!
SANTIAGOP23 posted:Beat you to it, Frank!
If that train was mine,I would add 1/35 scale "guages" to those holes and place a smled inside to backlight it!
But of course those "cab controls" are spartain at best!
prrhorseshoecurve posted:SANTIAGOP23 posted:Beat you to it, Frank!
If that train was mine,I would add 1/35 scale "guages" to those holes and place a smled inside to backlight it!
But of course those "cab controls" are spartain at best!
Do you have an example?
SANTIAGOP23 posted:Beat you to it, Frank!
Much better! Now they look (almost) human! 😀
Almost is right! Lol... at least they are not MTH/LIONEL or 1/45!
Nothing, nothing like incandescent... I don’t care what you tell me... when it comes to looks and appearance, LEDs simply don’t cut it...
Agreed!
Agreed
While I totally agree on the incandescent look, I have so many power draw issues with them. I can only run about 12 K-line cars and a pair of locomotive before exceeding my power budget.
However, in the building industry, LED technology has come a long way. There are two ways to get incandescent color temperatures around 2800 K. One is to coat the LED with phosphorous and the other is to combine colored LEDs to get the color temperature you would want with the use of an LED driver.
For trains, the first method seems the most efficient as and LED driver takes away some of the power saving benefits.
Just a random thought. Train looks great!
I get the "incandescent look" by simply spray painting the entire array with off white Krylon. If one coat doesn't do it, try two. Its fast, cheap and effective plus it minimizes the industrial appearance though not as well as Santiago did by covering each LED with a lens on his CB&Q dining car. That was the sine qua non.
Another needed improvement is to turn the roof mounted center tail light on the Rocket Observation Car from white to red. The Rockford O Scalers use stick-on red automotive tail light repair tape or you can use red transparent paint. (In person, the red color is more consistent than shown in these photos). However, it should not be white!
Williams' reproduction of the Golden Rocket 15-inch aluminum cars, with striking vermillion red tops contrasting with the silver bottoms, were the first O scale passenger cars I ever bought, after decades out of the hobby entirely. This hobby has been a major drain on the budget ever since!
Congratulations to 3rd Rail for this stunning set.
I believe that K-Line put out its 18-inch Golden Rocket cars in two sets of four, K-4632A and K-4643B, such as in the carton pictured below.
The dome car was a rare 9th car, which was never a part of any other set, and was only available through the collectors' club:
While there may not have been a scale prototype for this dome car, it is an attractive car, and highly prized due to its scarcity among K-Line collectors.
DAB
Frank, it’s not apparent to me that this was the case... later photographs show the lens being red, but as delivered cars show no lens filter... was the bulb red coated?
The five clear inserts on the observation end show some optical aberration... I wonder if I should replace them with clear lexan sheets...
SANTIAGOP23 posted:Frank, it’s not apparent to me that this was the case... later photographs show the lens being red, but as delivered cars show no lens filter... was the bulb red coated?
Hi Santiago,
The pictures of the observation car in earlier days are interesting because, as you point out, it seems as if there is no red lens or bulb.
This raises a couple of possibilities. It could be that the intention was to use this as a white backup light but obviously only illuminated when the train was executing a backup move and not when going forward. Another possibility is that the light came on only with an emergency break application but, if so, it should be capable of red illumination and not white, which doesn’t appear to be the case.
Your last photo shows a rebuilt light fairing on the roof with a larger red lens/bulb arrangement and this could possibly be an oscillating “Mars” type light. In any case, stationary or moving, this light was quite likely illuminated red all the time or certainly with an emergency brake application.
In my opinion, I believe there should be no roof mounted white light visible on the end car while the train is in forward motion.
Regards,
Frank
Thanks for the input, Frank!
I got a third one today!
SANTIAGOP23 posted:I got a third one today!
Maybe for a ride at Kiddieland! 😆
Awesome
Fantastic. Only thing missing are the ashtrays!
Neat kit, I recall as a child visiting a neighbor in Charles City, Iowa must have been 1983 or so; anyway this older gentleman had one of these wood Strombecker kits on a shelf I was instantly mesmerized by it!
Neat to see you picked one up Santiago, back in those days money seemed harder to come by, electric trains were expense in comparison I suppose.
Erik C Lindgren posted:Neat kit, I recall as a child visiting a neighbor in Charles City, Iowa must have been 1983 or so; anyway this older gentleman had one of these wood Strombecker kits on a shelf I was instantly mesmerized by it!
Neat to see you picked one up Santiago, back in those days money seemed harder to come by, electric trains were expense in comparison I suppose.
Erik,
I have this Stromberg Kit. One of my TCA Division friends has a wall of nothing by Stromberg. Very interesting trains and maybe I'll get around to building mine someday!
Frank McCabe posted:SANTIAGOP23 posted:Some people may be wondering about the “missing” builders plate and Front mark in the engineers side. This is absolutely CORRECT for as delivered engines!
Yes, everyone should be aware that the TAs were built by “Electromotive Corporation” before it was bought by General Motors.
Hi All,
I misspoke with my comment above. The TAs were built in 1937 in the new Electro Motive Division plant in La Grange, IL which was after General Motors had purchased the Electro-Motive Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio. However, the TAs did use the Winton prime mover which was designed by EMC prior to the purchase by GM. Sorry for the misinformation.
Frank McCabe
I wonder if that #1 Rocket was the engine that they had chrome plated in the early 1900s (1905¿?/1910?¿) I guess that one had inspired this Lionel.
Either way, I never considered that "Rocket" name may have been an mid 19th century name.
I just never considered it would have been coined in the mid 1900s for flying fireworks type rockets 🎇🎆 vs 20th century metal rockets/bombs 🚀 which I assumed was the inspiration.
@Adriatic posted:
Either way, I never considered that "Rocket" name may have been an mid 19th century name.
Ask Robert Stevenson in 1829.
Rusty
......and "by the rockets red glare" (the Star Spangled Banner, written 1814) !
That Rock lsland livery would almost make a diesel convert...some really striking locomotives.
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