Do you have "FANTASY" & "WHAT IF" Engines?

Not yet,but I have seriously considered having a MTH UP Big Blow, a Williams scale GG1 and a Williams scale EP5 all custom painted in the MOPAC Eagle passenger scheme. 

What is a Fantasy and What If engine?  LOL. 

I have a couple of the old K-Line Club GG-1's that I intend to paint in Milwaukee Road color schemes. One in orange and maroon, and one in black with the early herald (like the 1933 color scheme on the Bi-polar). Still pending; it's a low-priority project for "when I get around to it." I have an undecorated Atlas AEM-7 kit that's planned for a Hiawatha paint job; once again "when I get around to it." I've also thought about lettering an oil-fired Challenger for Milwaukee Road, the fantasy being that the Milwaukee replaced its ancient 2-6-6-2's with Challengers in the gap between the two electrified sections. Of course that never happened, as the Milwaukee was always short of money. 

I do have a Lionel Rio Grande heritage diesel. Not sure I'm going to keep it as I'm moving more into steam era and away from anything newer than transition era diesels.

My layout is a fantasy railroad, the Chicago, Milwaukee and Southwestern. It's an alternate-universe joint venture between the SP and the Milwaukee Road to run freight and passenger trains between Chicago and Southern California (passing through Tucson, where I live). One of these days I'll get a custom decal maker to do a CM&StP style herald and reletter some equipment for it. I could also do a banner "Route of the Southwest Hiawatha" to put on boxcars, etc.

CJB Custom Painting & Designs painted RMT (formerly K-Line) streamliners to match my 2348 Minneapolis & St. Louis GP9. I ran this set on Loose Ties Model Railroad Club layout in Columbia Mall north of Bloomsburg, PA. The catenary and PRR position light signals work.

As the self-appointed Information Minister of the Isle of Denial, I had to have this Santa Fe (ATSF as there is no BNSF) SD70ACe. Definitely a "what if" engine, though given the direction Santa Fe was going, an AC4400 or ES44 would be more likely at this point.

I have a plan to get hold of a couple of SD80's and paint them for CNW. CNW had an order in for 15 units at the time of the UP takeover and the order was cancelled. They were supposed to get the "lightning bolt" scheme and as I recall were to be rostered 8101-8115.

Absolutely, makes the hobby more fun.

I am not a NYC fan, but I find this custom paint job very "lightning" striking.

Just posted this on another forum, but it is appropriate for this one too.  The MTH PRR Bicentennial paint scheme.

This Freedom Train ABA set is 1/3 correct.  The real 1947 FT was pulled by a single PA1, "1776".  The MTH set added a fantasy B-unit and a fantasy A-unit, "1947".

Yes in the case of PC and BNSF a line must be draw and honor must be given the Heritage Railroads such as Lionel and MTH did. I am all for that revenge!

LONG LIVE THE ATSF, PRR, B&O,  AND ALL THE OTHER HERITAGE MODELS.  

I Know I am all steamed up and I need to go out and whomp some worms with my trusty shovel.

I was hoping Lee Willis would finish some of his proposed 2-10-10-10-10-2 or whatever

wheel arrangement, monsters...  Every now and then you will run across an old

sepia tone photo of some wild and wonderful prototype creation.

Amazing how many shades of gray they use and make it all work for that engine. Ya Ya, get your mind off the movie.

I own an MTH GN SD24. GN never had an SD24 on its roster.

I think a nice fantasy engine would be a cab forward but powered by jet fuel. That would be awesome right there. 

How would you tell the difference? Jet fuel would burn just fine in an oil-fired steam locomotive, the only differences would be that you'd have different jets in the firebox and you wouldn't need to heat the fuel before pumping it out of the tender. It would be expensive, though. Bunker oil is a lot cheaper per BTU than JP-4. 

Here's my Marx 1666 2-4-2 pretending to be an N&W K class 4-8-4...

On the Fans of the Rock Island FB page, I learned a word that is new to me: "proto-lancing".

The definition being; taking modern equipment and painting it in the scheme of a Fallen Flag as if it never fell.

In the recent past, Mr. Swafford has supplied us with dozens of examples of proto-lanced locomotives and rolling stock...FUN STUFF.  I have posted a few photos of the extensive Quanah, Acme & Pacific fleet I am creating and running.

Reliving (or rewriting) history is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this hobby for me.

Great topic Paul !!

I don't do fantasy locomotives, but if I did, I'd love to see 4449 in Southern RR colors, from when the SRR program tried to lease the GS-4 for a season or two once the Freedom Train was over at the end of 1976

Also, I know of a guy who's building a HO layout where the Pacific Extension of the Milwaukee Road never folded up and is running today as a contender against the BNSF and UP. I love some of the engines he's already done...

Somebody needs to make Narrow Gauge 3-Rail. (Mth Railking chassis with premier size stuff)

My Fantasy Fleet includes several MTH Steelers trains, the first fantasy PRR/NS "Heritage" diesel Lionel did long before NS did theirs, and perhaps my favorite - a scale Polar Express.

Andy

Well, here's an old scratch built On30 rolling stock on some old O-gauge Marx 3/16" scale trucks. How about them apples? 

I have a MTH-Premier Southern (Tuxedo Scheme) SD-70ace diesel engine. The Southern never had any SD-70ace's..................rogerw.

The ones that stick out blatantly in my mind would be my k-line US Army MP-15 (and the accompanying cars for that matter), and my lionel Hogwarts Express (no, Hogwarts is real, right? it must be real!)

Also as I saw pointed out on a similar thread, the "Lionel Lines"

I am looking at getting a Williams "J", but can't decided if I should get the traditional N&W, or go with the "fantasy" PRR to match the major line of my collection.

Let's see, the Wienermobile, the Hogwarts locomotive, and of course the Lionel missile launcher engine and sound car.  Of course, there's also the Phantom set, I believe all of those qualify as true fantasy pieces.

Of course, the PRR S2 Turbine qualifies as a near fantasy locomotive, only one made, and thousands reproduced in every scale imaginable.

I have a lot of tinplate...Isn't that all fantasy?!

Jeff Davis

I have lots of fantasy and what if items...

Polar Express, Coors Silver Bullet, Lionel Lines, C&O F3...

...and I painted a N&W Class A as a what if the Army painted one green and black...

Keith, nobody does it better!!!!!!!!!!

I have two big fantasies...neither of which has seen the light of day, but have been given a lot of thought.  First up, The PRR Sandusky line stays steam until sold to the N&W in 1964.  This could happen for a number of reasons, all halfway plausible. Anyway, the Big Jay 2-10-4 lives on with a few H10 consollies.  The J1 get her trust plates pulled (they are now completely paid off)..  Sinclair radio antennas appear along with billboard cab numbers.  ACI labels and Elrama radio stickers go on. And double sealed beam headlight conversions are mounted.  Sound kool? It is !   Later on we move west and go after Uncle Pete...and specifically, the 8500GTEL Turbines!  How about doing one of the 15 units that GE proposed as a follow on to the original thirty locomotives.  Picture number #44 with a factory Dyna-Vane set up on the B unit roof and a Big-Boy 25C tender cut away in front to clear the exhaust and converted to full oil.  Maybe someday I do this work on an existing chooch.....we'll see !

If a project I am working on gets finished, it will be.

However, the question for Milwaukee Road aficionados:

Is my postwar MILW GP7 in black and orange paint a FANTASY item?

Dave

I have two fantasy engines, and about half to 3/4 of my rolling stock is fantasy paint stuff. My two engines are an MTH Steelers 2-8-0 (autographed by Dan Rooney) and an original Norfolk Southern SD70ACe. The ACe is technically a heritage unit, but it is also a "what if" unit. When Norfolk Southern originally released the heritage paint schemes, the original Norfolk Southern livery was supposed to be applied to an EMD. With the addition of two? more heritage units to the fold, the original Norfolk Southern paint was instead applied to a GEVO. Therefore, the ACe is a "what-if" engine.

Still searching for a Williams chassis to get the fantasy finished.  I can barely squeeze the plastic shell onto my MTH running gear for this shot.

Bruce

I don't but now looking at these pictures the Santa Fe is a very cool.

Do you have a photo reference of any black and orange MILW GP9 ?

Dave

The more I read this post the more I realize I wouldn't be in this hobby if it weren't for fantasy trains.  I like real trains fine and have several O gauge locomotives with a prototype, but I really love the fantasy and what if stuff.  I mean how cool is Brian's Daylight Cab-Forward and Bruce's Warbonnet GG1?  (John K. need not answer that question )

I have an Atlas U-23B awaiting repainting into the New Haven's second generation diesel scheme.

I don't plan to do one myself, but I think an E-33 or an E-44 would look cool in MILW freight colors.

custom painted by aj trains

i've often considered the idea of a ConRail locomotive coupled to a prisoner transport consist.  Snowpiercer provided some good inspiration recently, especially for the "dining" car.

cheers...gary

And I think you also have a lot of Lionel Lines trains; as do I...correct?

Jeff Davis

Absolutely 

No.

That is AWESOME and I don't care that it's a total fantasy scheme.

(I've tried to find the MTH DDA40X in Warbonnet livery but no luck.)

P.S. Did you do the paint yourself? Whoever did hat's off to them.

I am currently working on a fantasy train project. Something very unusual and should nicely compliment an upcoming new engine. This project is way "out of the box thinking".

I would like to take a couple of guesses.

1. A YELLOW GG1.

2. A YELLOW Cab Forward.

I've said that a Lionel or a Bachmann/Williams E-33 would look fantastic in Milwaukee Road colors and I'm not sorry that Bachmann-Williams has produced an Amtrak EP-5. I still wonder what an E-33 or an E-44 in Great Northern Big Sky Blue colors would look like. They'd all look better than real-life Penn Central black!

A chrome passenger set. Now I would like to see that.

Want a pure fantasy set?  Can you chrome plastic?  How about chrome Phantom II passenger cars pulled by a rebranded Coors Light engine.  Could be called the California Express or Colorado Limited

OK, I know I'm getting off track.

Here are some fantasy cars remembering 9-11 from MTH.  Some of you may not know that the words "Let's roll" on the side of the American Freedom Train's aux tender were the last words of Todd Beamer as they tried to retake AA Flight 93 after it was hijacked.

By the way, the actual AFT aux tender was not white but black with a red stripe to match the T-1. 

A chrome passenger set. Now I would like to see that.

Time will tell guys, it is an exciting project.

I love the 4449/610 matching paint job AFT tender, such a shame they never used anything like that. I'm a huge AFT fan, having saw it in 1976 in my hometown in Florida. I was lucky enough, many years later, to ride behind 4449 re-painted in her AFT colors, in Portland soon after 9/11.

BTW, the aux tender on 4449 (from a cab forward, obtained for use after the Freedom Train was over) did have 'Lets roll' painted on it in that timeframe, but overall was solid black.

I'd make the road name look more like an early color bi-polar, but other than that, this looks nice.

Thanks kindly,

Both the damaged GG1 shell and the orphaned decals were discounted items, bought without the mating idea in mind.  Nobody but myself to blame for the blasphemous endeavor. 

Bruce

the nh #8, I was super glad I could purchase from pete in Kansas,

I have Beeps and Beefs, Thomas and Hogwarts.

Although I don't care for GG1s in general, yours in the Santa Fe paint does look nice. And that Warbonnet scheme works well to split the colors between the two cab ends.

Could you post a picture of it turned around so we can see the other end?

Dave

Yes.  Lionel or MTH should make these two engines in the color schemes shown.

Glad to oblige, Dave.  Since the decal kit held those unique to the B unit I figured adding the flying head would busy up the vast expanse of silver in back.  I'm still debating whether it needs a set of large engine numbers ala PRR.  For now, it retains its tiny PRR's on the number boards.

Note evidence of two holes filled where an extra side window bar existed.  I still can't believe that nobody produces a GG1 with only one bar.  I don't recall seeing a real GG1 with 2.

Bruce

Here's one I stumbled across on eBay. I had no idea there were any wineries in Texas. Turns out there are two, actually two locations of the same winery. With the name "Red Caboose" I had to have one of their special-run Weaver box cars. I converted it to scale wheels and Kadees.

That's cool; I'd no idea Weaver had issued these. Fortunately there are plenty of them available on the flea**y so I've nabbed one too.

Here's my PRR & On-30

They look nice how powerful is your PRRR 2-8-8-2?