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1.Painted the coil springs to bring out the detail and same with brake hangers.

2. Mechanically lowered the loco a little bit.

3Added a fixed cab step, which I will modify to be more scale.

Fixed scratch built pilot as discussed in another thread.

 

You can see in a coupled picture with a B unit the lowering and the difference the paint detail makes on the trucks. 

alco low 1

alco low 2

alco low 3

alco low 4

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Images (4)
  • alco low 1
  • alco low 2
  • alco low 3
  • alco low 4
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Originally Posted by Ron H:

1.Painted the coil springs to bring out the detail and same with brake hangers.

2. Mechanically lowered the loco a little bit.

3Added a fixed cab step, which I will modify to be more scale.

Fixed scratch built pilot as discussed in another thread.

 

You can see in a coupled picture with a B unit the lowering and the difference the paint detail makes on the trucks. 

alco low 1

alco low 2

alco low 3

alco low 4

Great job Ron, it really looks great

Originally Posted by Laidoffsick:
Thanks Ron, thats what I did with an E7 B unit but had to modify the shell as well, to get it low enough to match the E6's. That PA looks great!

I assume it makes it through your curves without issue with the body mounted steps.

Doug,

 

I believe it will. 0/120 curve the sharpest. Will try tomorrow. Will post video.

 

Ron

Originally Posted by Ron H:
Originally Posted by leikec:

Which Lionel PA part # is this? It looks well proportioned.

 

Jeff C

 

 

Jeff and Jim the Alco steps are 61045720 84 and 94 left and right rear steps respectively.

Guys,

 

These parts are going FAST.  I just finished ordering mine.  I needed 6 of each, but had to settle for 8 of #84's and 4 of the #94's.  I will modify to fit as needed.  Once Lionel exhaust their inventory I have no idea how long it takes them to re-stock.  I suspect that the above two parts were slow movers until yesterday, now they are almost GONE.

 

Thanks again Ron for supplying the part numbers. 

Originally Posted by leikec:

Sorry, Ron, I didn't post clearly--I was talking about the engine itself. Some of the Lionel PA models have an odd nose profile, but yours looks very nice.

 

Jeff C

Jeff, it's the scale legacy model. Probably one of the most accurate shells in the industry.

 

Ron's correct but it should be noted that Lionel used that same shell starting with Alco PA's listed in their Classic Trains Vol. 2 2003.  Before that, the Alco PA shells were based on the shells Lionel created along with MTH in the 90's 

Interesting Bob.  I do know a couple of detail oriented scale (2R) modelers that prefer Lionel shells.  I haven't had a Key PA in my hands yet, but the Santa Fe specific details on the Lionel (after 2003) were better than the MTH PA(90's).  

 

I still have both a Lionel PA and an MTH PA.  Off the top, the number boards on the side have the correct width for 2 numbers.  The MTH number boards were more generic and were wide enough to accommodate the four numbers used on D&RGW PA's.

 

If I have time I will do a side by side and everybody can judge for themselves.  Regarding MTH, I haven't seen anything since their 90 PA, so I can't comment.  

Last edited by marker

No - I know nothing about Santa Fe specific.  My concerns as a scale modeler are size and contour - the nose and windshield are important to me, and I change the number boards to suit me before the plastic goes into the investment.

 

Quite a few of my train buddies do not care one whit about shape, dimension, etc., so long as the handrails go in the correct places and the headlight is the right shape.  That is up to them - not my plan.

Originally Posted by Laidoffsick:
Thanks Ron, thats what I did with an E7 B unit but had to modify the shell as well, to get it low enough to match the E6's. That PA looks great!

I assume it makes it through your curves without issue with the body mounted steps.

Doug, It goes through my curves and # six turnouts with no interference.

I tried to lower the powered B unit today mechanically and it essentially did nothing. So I made a marking tool to saw off 1/16th on the posts. It dropped to very scale ride height with a shadow over the center of the trucks just like the Santa Fe prototypes.

 

Tomorrow I'll reinstall the pieces I took off the A unit and saw off the posts.

 

If you look at this photo one can see the B unit on the left rides at a better height than the modified A unit

 

alco low B unit 1

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Images (1)
  • alco low B unit 1
Originally Posted by leavingtracks:

Well Ron....now you have me making these changes to mine too!!...thanks..

 

Alan

Alan, the lowering on a powered model is tricky. My first try with the powered B unit had the dual motors stalling against the roof and I had to shim the body up to clear. The body is now the same height as the first A unit I've been working on. It's lower, but not as much as I would've preferred.

 

Good luck with your efforts.

 

Ron

Something new. After adding spring and brake detail I decided to paint solid silver leaf springs so they look correct instead of a solid piece. Additionally the middle steps looked stupid having no depth. So... I painted them so as to add highlight. I did not want to build tanks from scratch or grind out the steps. When these are weathered I think it will turnout satisfactory.

 

Ron

alco b steps 1

alco b step 2

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  • alco b steps 1
  • alco b step 2

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