Meet The Kansas City & Gulf

Thanks Jim.

Your kind words are very much appreciated.

Ah, the RS-1. Never worked off one or ran one, but was around one. Plus, I ran Alco's almost exclusively for the last 11 years of my career as an Engineer. One thing about Alco's is they do have a propensity for leaking oil and developing oil leaks. Sort of the nature of the beast.

From what I've gathered, the RS-1 was one of the more durable and dependable of Alco's offerings. The McIntosh & Seymour series prime mover, the 539 in particular, was a tough engine (and later Alco's 251, also)... BUT... the 539 was prone to oil seepage as well as springing a leak at the drop of a hat.

I wanted to reflect that in my weathering approach with my KC&G RS-1 #110.

Likewise, the RS-1 in my paint shop (to be painted in the KC&G's later blue/gray scheme) will also reflect the RS-1's propensity to ooze oil.

All fer now!

Andre

@laming posted:

Thanks Jim.

Your kind words are very much appreciated.

Ah, the RS-1. Never worked off one or ran one, but was around one. Plus, I ran Alco's almost exclusively for the last 11 years of my career as an Engineer. One thing about Alco's is they do have a propensity for leaking oil and developing oil leaks. Sort of the nature of the beast.

From what I've gathered, the RS-1 was one of the more durable and dependable of Alco's offerings. The McIntosh & Seymour series prime mover, the 539 in particular, was a tough engine (and later Alco's 251, also)... BUT... the 539 was prone to oil seepage as well as springing a leak at the drop of a hat.

I wanted to reflect that in my weathering approach with my KC&G RS-1 #110.

Likewise, the RS-1 in my paint shop (to be painted in the KC&G's later blue/gray scheme) will also reflect the RS-1's propensity to ooze oil.

All fer now!

Andre

The RS-1 had a turbocharged 539, right. I ask because last year I bought a O-scale MTH Jersey Central RS-1, and I don't hear it. Sounds like the 539, but no turbo.

I have a HO Jersey Central RS-1 from Atlas with ESU Loksound, and I clearly hear the turbo winding up. Kinda cool sounding.

These are my only two engines that used that engine, so I'm not sure which is correct. Is that you only hear the turbo on these actual locomotives they are not running correctly?

Jim

Hi Jim:

Yes, an RS-1 is supposed to be turbo charged.

As I recall, the HH600 and HH660, along with the S-1 and S-3, have 539's but no turbo charger.

Hope this helps.

Andre

CORRECTION:

According to Wiki, the HH600/660 used the 538 prime mover.

Andre

Nice work on the RS1 Andre. I don't think your skills have suffered over the 15 years. The weathering looks spot on too.

@CNJ Jim- I have a couple MTH RS1's and I'm pretty sure the sound set has the turbo. I'll have to look through my videos and confirm.

Bob

Andre,

Very nice progress on the layout and the job on the RS-1 is gorgeous. Is your weathering all airbrush or a combination of airbrush and other materials?

Dave

Bob:

Thank you for your kind words, Bob.

Dave:

Airbrush some of it, powdered chalks and washes for the rest.

I'm currently just using my X-Axto to scrape powder off my pastel chalk sticks, but I'm contemplating trying Pan Pastels or AK Interactive powdered products. However, I'm comfortable with what I'm currently doing... so there is that.

Won't be much progress in model railroading over the next few days. It may be Tuesday before I have a chance to working on my current pair of engines entering the paint phase, then it will be later in the week.  Wild Child the wife and I are going to do a little road trip (including a concert by "Back To The Bee Gees" tribute band) in celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary.

Andre

Here's what's in the paint shop now:

The cabs/hoods are painted with my mix I call "Mountain Mist Gray", and the walkways/pilots are painted in my mix I call "Gulf Coast Blue". When I get my next block of time, the above hoods/cabs will get their pinstripes and end bow waves masked off and get their coat of Gulf Coast Blue.

The RS-1 will become Kansas City & Gulf #115 and the GP7 will become KC&G #402.

I very much enjoy my Kansas City & Gulf theme.

Andre

Still in the process of painting/lettering/weathering the next two in line

Got the engines taped off, then shot the Gulf Coast Blue, and then pulled the tape:

The above GP7 is to become Kansas City & Gulf #402, the RS-1 will be KC&G #115.

Long process still ahead: Decals, then several layers of weathering applications to reflect a bankrupt railroad trying to reorganize, circa 1964.

All fer now!

Andre

I'm not making rapid progress on account of the above mentioned items, and also, I'm learning a new decal film and its traits/etc. However, since the above "Image Not Found" (??) post, I've taped off then shot the louvers/screens on the engines, and have begun lettering them.

Your weathering is off the charts!

I never saw that D10 before. It's an interesting looking locomotive!

Hi Bill!

You've never seen a picture of that type of engine, or this is your first sighting of my "D-10"?

The prototype engine the model is based on was an Alco HH660 from the late 1930s.

My "D-10" is an Atlas "Silver" series model of an HH660 in which I had sound installed.

As of tonight, here's what "D-10" looks like:

I'm caught up on decals on the three engines that I'm working on. I can't go forward until my stripes arrive from K-4. So, I've shifted gears and moved over to the D-10 to begin prepping it for Dullcoat and weathering.

Tonight I got the cab off D-10, safely removed the windows, and found an offending part that (I hope) was preventing the cab from snuggling down like it should. (I think the part was fouling on the keep alive module.) I'm hoping I was able to remove enough material from the part to allow the cab to sit completely down onto the frame. We shall see.

While I was at it, I decided to do something about that backward leaning hoghead and see if I could get him to sit better in the seat and at the controls. Alas, corrective surgery was required. Both feet were snipped off, the front underside of the thighs were shaved to sit more level, and the lower left leg had to go. The result is that he sits up in a more natural positing and appears to be engaged with the controls as seen above.

Next I'm going to experiment with some 1000 grit sandpaper to see if I can create some fade/wear on the pinstripe boxes and on the hood.  We shall see how that works out for me.
Anyway, hope to start putting chalks on the D-10 by the weekend. It would be great if I could get it weathered, reassembled, and have put back into service by the end of the weekend? That'd be cool.

Thanks for your kind words about my weathering efforts.

I enjoy weathering effects tremendously, thus back in the 1990s when I created my "Kansas City & Gulf" freelance theme, I went with a "bankruptcy/reorganization" concept so I could model a struggling railroad with aging equipment trying to find new life in reorganization. This allows me to indulge in all sorts of weathering effects yet still have a plausible reason for doing so. Win-win.

Andre