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With the recent release of more Metra locos and cars I thought it would be fun to get a post going for everyone to show their Metra trains!!! 

I just got the call that the cars came in so I'll need to get them as soon as I can and then I'll post some pics. 

 

Last edited by bigtruckpete
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I have no METRA stuff, but I enjoy seeing it on others' layouts. I have ridden METRA and its predecessors for over 50 years, so I suppose I am suffering "familiarity breeds contempt" syndrome. Those METRA F40PH's are very attractive.

By the way, METRA has revamped its video site, and has included whole-route cab-view videos of some of the routes.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MetraCommuterRail/videos

 

rboatertoo posted:

Frank you must be a North sider, no White sox CTA cars.  I have the cubs, sox and the Bears.  Now with Cutler gone, the Bears may shine. 

Actually the White Sox train was behind the Cubs I'm hoping for a cross town series some day!  I'm definitely partial for the White Sox. No Bears though.

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Last edited by franktrain
BNSF-Matt posted:

Yes, you can run them in push-pull operation as the MTH control car has a switch to enable those specific lighting functions. Engine is always first outbound and control car is first inbound.

In 1975, I was riding what is now the SW CHIEF into Union Station.  We were passing in the same direction this bilevel BN commuter train going "BACKWARDS".  I thought at first it was out of control.  Then we passed the cab car, and my blood pressure dropped 200 points.  My first look at push-pull railroading.  BTW, BN E units and BN and Burlington on the cars!

MG Brown posted:

OK let me re-phrase that; when I see them, they are near the end of their line (UP-N Outbound). Unless they wash them just before they pull into the station, they aren't going to be pristine. See what I'm saying?

Does your car stay pristine when driving in winter?

A friend of mine recently retired from Metra and he told me they wash the trains daily, except when the weather is so bad the wash racks freeze up.

Rusty

Last edited by Rusty Traque
MG Brown posted:

OK let me re-phrase that; when I see them, they are near the end of their line (UP-N Outbound). Unless they wash them just before they pull into the station, they aren't going to be pristine. See what I'm saying?

I get what you're saying....overall tho compared to most, their equipment is rather clean the majority of the time.

bigtruckpete posted:

Great videos guys. I'll be picking up my cars this weekend if all goes as planned and then I'll post a video as well. It would be great if they would make the cars with fluted sides at some point. 

Did everyone get a snow plow with this latest run of locos?

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Yes, the snow plow is in the foam in one of the holes you need to install it. The hoses do have some play to them so you need to fit the hoses through the holes of the plow as you position it.

I finally got my set of metra cars. I have the older set with the proto 2 engine and the new City of Chicago engine with proto 3 and the blue striped cars.  The dealer got them last Friday and they didn't drop it off at the shopper till Tuesday, then Fedex was running late so I didn't get them till today.  

Now for the pictures old meets new!!!!FullSizeRenderFullSizeRender1FullSizeRender2IMG_2273IMG_2311IMG_2312IMG_2313IMG_2315IMG_2316IMG_2317IMG_2318

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Hi guys, I missed out on all the Metra F40PH premier releases, sadly. I have an E8 Metra that's really sharp. I painted my own bilevels into the RTA paint scheme. Then I got to thinking, why not just paint my own F40PH? So I was able to get a few older railking f40ph to practice my painting. 

My commuter railroad has slowly built up it's fleet. So far, it has secured a few F40PH's: 1 CSX, 3 McDonalds (1 functional PS2, 2 dead/dummies). This has provided me A LOT of practice. Also, Metra used to have a couple of F7A (305, 308) for work train purposes, so I was able to secure a railking F-unit with a bad 5V board, but thanks to GGG, I was able to install a used one. 

I'm still getting the hang of air brushing. My only successful airbrushing piece was METX 308 F-unit. The other's I tried, but the airbrush kept giving me fits.

Luckily, I found a shade of powder blue I liked for my RTA F40PH "city of evanston".

The other units are rattle can as well. Practice, practice, practice!

So below is what I've painted so far:

REPAINTED ROLLING STOCK:

RTA Pullman Bi-level coach and cab. (Formerly Amtrak Bilevels)

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#1: Donor F40PH - CSX 9993 - repainted to METX #100 40th Anniversary Heritage

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#2: METX #308 - work unit - F-unit (former Santa Fe #16)

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#3 F40PH - RTA #128 "City of Evanston" (Formerly McDonalds #414)

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645 posted:
Casey Jones2 posted:

Don't forget that Metra also has a few F40C's that are basically a SD40-2 with a cowl over it.

There were only (15) F40C's and only 611 and 614 remain on the Metra roster today but both have been stored out of service for a few years now. The other (13) F40C's were sold off and later scrapped. So it's not a "few" but a 'couple' F40C's still in existence today.

But Metra did have plans to rebuild them...that fell thru and now they're stored but still may be rebuilt. 

From the Metra website...

"While there is a possibility that the F40Cs may finally see their day in the shop at the tail end of the MP36 rehabilitation project, there are currently no active plans for their restoration. Until then, they will remain at the Western Avenue railyard."

My dictionary defines Few as 1, 2, 3 or a handful.  

 

645 posted:

There were only (15) F40C's and only 611 and 614 remain on the Metra roster today but both have been stored out of service for a few years now. The other (13) F40C's were sold off and later scrapped. So it's not a "few" but a 'couple' F40C's still in existence today. 

 

There’s one more still rusting away at NRE in Dixmore, IL. So that’s three. Check out the IHB NW2 next to it!

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jerrymouse25 posted:

So here is my latest F40PH repaint: Took a really beaten up McDonald's F40PH, repainted into Metra's rehab paint scheme. IMG_2681

Jerry, really nice work on the new Metra scheme.

Question, how did you do the fade (blue to silver/white on the bottom)? Airbrush or is this a decal set?

If decal can you post the source?

Thanks.

Charlie

Doug Murphy posted:

This engine looks great. Longtime commuter on the UP-NW line - I've travelled more than 650,000 miles on Metra.

Thanks Doug, JayJay, and Charlie for your feedback!

Charlie, my go-to for decals has been Matt from:

circuscitydecals.com

He has many Metra sets in HO that he can resize for O. He also did a custom set for my early gen "RTA" paint scheme.

Re: fade from blue to silver.. rattle can (I still can't figure out airbrush clogs) I used the testors French blue over rustoleum silver. Then back masked- went back over to feather the silver to my liking

trial and error -

What I've learned from this beat up McDonald unit I am applying for my next donor McDonalds f40ph (currently in paint).

Hopefully I can improve on this one in preparation for a F59PHI which I have read Metra has recently acquired from Amtrak.

Also might also try my hands at doing a F40C following the path of member tunnelmotor.

 

Last edited by jerrymouse25

Great job! I live near both the Metra Heritage Corridor and the BNSF Metra line, so I see a lot of Metra trains. Your repaints look spot on.

Nothing wrong with rattle cans. I used Krylon rattle cans to do up an entire Golden State consist. But I had a much simpler paint scheme. It takes practice but you can get a decent result with rattle cans if you're patient. 

 

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Charlie posted:
jerrymouse25 posted:

So here is my latest F40PH repaint: Took a really beaten up McDonald's F40PH, repainted into Metra's rehab paint scheme. IMG_2681

Jerry, really nice work on the new Metra scheme.

Question, how did you do the fade (blue to silver/white on the bottom)? Airbrush or is this a decal set?

If decal can you post the source?

Thanks.

Charlie

I go to Matt for my Metra decals.

circuscitydecals.com

 

Last edited by jerrymouse25

I have the MTH Metra bilevel silver passenger cars. The one thing i dont like is that it is smooth sided; when it should be fluted. So I was looking at my 3D laser printer and I said to it ( I talk to it all the time) why cant I print the flutes, paint them and apply them to the cars. 

I would need to remove the Metra Signs or remake one. This is just an idea at this point.

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VistaDomeScott posted:

I have a lonely Metra E8 awaiting a set of cars.  Hope MTH rolls out a few more of the passenger car sets

My first Metra was the E8 with no bilevels in site. Then took matters into my own hands and repainted some Amtrak bilevels into RTA pullmans. Next thing you know, local train show here, the occasional Bay find there... the Metra bilevels start appearing for the taking. 

Relevant to this thread - I learned on r/trains on Reddit that Metra is sending a number of their locos down here to Georgia for rebuilds at the Progress Rail shops down in Patterson: https://www.reddit.com/r/train...e_on_a_freight_line/

So for any Chicago transplants to Georgia (or along the RoW back up to Chicago), keep an eye out on CSX main for a potential glimpse of some F40PHM-2 on their way down or back up as F40PHM-3s:

(not my photo - original imgur link: https://imgur.com/2HOXdfN)

I don't have any Metra equipment yet, but after seeing @franktrains in action, it's on my short list!

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Just about finished my Metra Heritage-Rock Island "fantasy" paint scheme on my other F59PHI. I call it a fantasy scheme as Metra actually has a similar paint scheme on a MP36 unit but not on an actual F59PHI unit. Have one more Amtrak F59PHI unit to mess around with. I might just try doing a simple Metra "patch" on a former Amtrak Surfliner unit as this is what Metra is doing on the initial Amtrak units in order to expedite these into service. OR... might try another fantasy heritage paint scheme: CNW or BN... not sure yet.IMG_3305IMG_3292IMG_3295IMG_3307IMG_3299

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So here is my version of Metra's express paint job in "Metra Oceanside Blue".

I could not get the Amtrak lettering off with light sanding so I masked off everything except the old Amtrak blue swatch. Then hit with a rattle can of Testors deep dark blue.

Again using an already designed HO circuscitydecal set resized to O scale, was able to come up with Unit #77.

The unit is an old Amtrak Pacific Surfliner F59PHI MTH Railking 5V PS2 unit.

I basically went off what I saw on Metra's facebook page and a video on YouTube. Real life units have black painted trucks but I'm leaning towards keeping it silver for now.IMG_3360IMG_3361IMG_3363IMG_3367IMG_3371IMG_3376IMG_3380

Here is a screenshot of the video already on YouTube  of the real life units #73 & #77. Not sure how I feel about those black trucks.IMG_3365

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Last edited by jerrymouse25
jerrymouse25 posted:

So here is my version of Metra's express paint job in "Metra Oceanside Blue".

Real life units have black painted trucks but I'm leaning towards keeping it silver for now.

IMG_3376

Here is a screenshot of the video already on YouTube  of the real life units #73 & #77. Not sure how I feel about those black trucks.IMG_3365

Great work. Agree, with the matching silver trucks the units flow.

Jerry, 

I have been following this thread for a while, but have yet to comment. I feel the need to remark now on how incredible your custom painting is. I am so impressed by the professional level of repaints and decals, it actually blows me away. If you have any interest in writing for a small magazine, send me an email. Again, amazing work!

Maxrailroad posted:

Awesome! Great job Jerry

Hey Max, thanks for feedback. I feel like I'm getting better learning with every new paint job.  All these pieces are Railking (as it provides me a lower cost "test piece" for all these "heritage" fantasy schemes except for the F40PH.

The F40PH Metra #177 is my "new to me" premier PS2... formerly Amtrak. It's my first attempt at a more detailed premier model. A lot more little detailed parts to remove... but the end result is more rewarding then my previous Railking models #175 & #181.

All these are rattle can paint jobs but really want to give air brushing another try.

Not a professional painter (ER nurse and dad to a toddler is my main specialty)by any means and I'm still practicing... I'm more of a enthusiast/hobbyist.

if only I can get my real layout started. With all these Metra diesels I've accumulated- maybe a layout centered around a diesel maintenance/paint facility/yard would be sweet.

Dominic Mazoch posted:
BNSF-Matt posted:

Yes, you can run them in push-pull operation as the MTH control car has a switch to enable those specific lighting functions. Engine is always first outbound and control car is first inbound.

In 1975, I was riding what is now the SW CHIEF into Union Station.  We were passing in the same direction this bilevel BN commuter train going "BACKWARDS".  I thought at first it was out of control.  Then we passed the cab car, and my blood pressure dropped 200 points.  My first look at push-pull railroading.  BTW, BN E units and BN and Burlington on the cars!

Back in the early 60's we used to take the C&NW Green and yellow F-7s and bilevel cars.  I remember the 2 engineers would ncome up the stairs on each side and enter their control cab.  You could hear them talking back and forth.  A young boy who was a relative got to go in the cab.  Darn!  Wouldn't adopt me.

I also remember going from car to car to get to the FA unit which was in push mode.  I always wanted to get in the cab to check it out.  One time the door to the engine was left unlocked.  Nervously turning the handle and stepping inside.  I was met by what appeared to be a long row going down the side.  The drivetrain was definitely in the middle.  I kept walking and the noise was unreal loud. Evnogh to deafen you if you stayed too long.   At that point, I decided I did not want to get caught and in trouble.  I wasn't sure their would be engineers in the cab and was afraid they would heave me overboard.

Memories of a 8 year old boy.  Have been in love with C&NW ever since.  Thanks to Matt for selling me his F-7s.

The trains would come in to the C&NW train station in Chicago control cab 1st and would go to Geneva, Illinois.  Then reverse and go back to Chicago.

The nice thing about having a set on your layout is that you do not have to go through  a reverse loop.  There really is no proper forward or backward.  Just my thoughts for the day.  I never told my mother or my brother about my escapade.  You the readers, my friends are the 1st to hear this story.  I am cleansed, but not of trains.

Got an email that my railking scale Metra F40PH #104 is due to arrive tomorrow. Exciting stuff to add to my fleet.

speaking of: me and my 3 year old have been busy working on our fleet. Here’s a little update:

So my first go at modifying MTH bilevels for Metra:

I tried my hand at adding fluting to the sides and modeled based on a Budd Bi-level seen on BNSF Metra. I’m happy with the first go at using Alclad paints: my next 3 cars should be better. Shout out to Chris Williams over at switchlinedecals.com for decals and tips

Also did the re-acquired Pullman cars in the repaint scheme. And my favorite little switcher: METX SW-1834596FC-24F0-484F-B6FD-845DB3875D023A8B8183-03D1-4427-A0A9-BF9C5C9EAB1DBFB087BD-C1D0-4A80-9E7E-D80B94EB095B0C5E3B2A-81A9-4131-83C5-B19F7FB352AD4263C766-004A-4B27-936D-6245938A2829DA878CBA-27DB-42D0-87B0-F4626EC5BBD4

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I joined the club yesterday! Picked up my MTH Railking F40PH from Legacy Station yesterday which I preordered from the 2019 Vol 1 catalog:

It's interesting to see the new Railking version next to a PS2 Premier version - the shells are sized almost identically but there's definitely a number of add-on details on the premier version that the Railking version is lacking (as expected) - notably:

- See-through radiator screens and spinning fans
- Windshield wipers
- Marker Lights
- Add-on steps
- Nose ladder hand rails

Overall I'm very pleased with the locomotive - the sounds and lights are great, and the fake Chicago accent PFA announcements is pretty great!  Now I just need to decide what to do in the way of passenger cars!

Just picked up my railking scale Metra F40PH #104. Running it now and it’s just great!

its a great value: granted as stated by previous post, doesn’t have all the details of a premier but next to my premier f40ph units, it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.

The PFA and sounds are a new file (or new to me) and are for the “Rock island district”.

definitely happy with this purchase from Mr. Muffins trains. 

 

mattrain posted:

I joined the club yesterday! Picked up my MTH Railking F40PH from Legacy Station yesterday which I preordered from the 2019 Vol 1 catalog:

It's interesting to see the new Railking version next to a PS2 Premier version - the shells are sized almost identically but there's definitely a number of add-on details on the premier version that the Railking version is lacking (as expected) - notably:

- See-through radiator screens and spinning fans
- Windshield wipers
- Marker Lights
- Add-on steps
- Nose ladder hand rails

Overall I'm very pleased with the locomotive - the sounds and lights are great, and the fake Chicago accent PFA announcements is pretty great!  Now I just need to decide what to do in the way of passenger cars!

I just ordered that one also from Mr. Muffin. I don't have cars, but I'm not concerned. As a long-time METRA commuter, I needed an F40ph. I was interested to see that MTH has "Superliners" (AMTRAK style) available....shades of things to come?

C8A861A5-B8DF-416D-B7A6-2C2F478F5800And finally: METX #79... former Amtrak F59PHI #456. Based on pics seen on social media and a brief look while seeing it parked at the Western Shops. I know my Metra Decal was a bit larger than real life... but it’ll do. My little guy just loves it and that’s more than good enough for me!

This is on a former MTH railking imperial model.

Not sure how I feel about the paint scheme as it truly looks like Metra ran out of black paint... but it’s different, and kinda growing on me. C51D91E5-CF34-46F6-BFD9-1B9185AD9A0B

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4A3B2C3B-E93A-41DB-AB2F-1AEC8FA316EBB84684C3-A70A-4A9A-BBBB-6BC8BA841BC810926AE2-4028-463B-9A91-AB2F06FE26A0Latest project: a “Winnebago” Metra... F40PHM... this is a Switchline Decals Designed F40PHM. CAB designed and resin printed by Christopher Williams fused to a MTH F40ph premier model. 

Still needs windows and grabs C0296106-222C-4350-BD5F-79556E2BC16C

more pics and details to come after my 3yr old project manager and I come back from scouting some real Winnabego units at Chicago Union Station. 😉👍E8E58096-B1AF-4A12-9AF2-CED7970D9ABC...after further observations at the end of the BNSF Metra line... we decided to go back to the black window surrounds.

Still much left to do... waiting for our micro drill so we can install all our white grabs.A7374EAA-2C7F-444B-BDA0-8609B3519508

My little man tested the durability of my shell body work. He insisted to show our work to Metra conductors- very friendly ones I might add.97797F58-3DD3-4251-B4CF-1B3C7F3B1010

side note... he picked #210 when given a choice of numbers... as of last weekend, it still sits in its vintage Metra blue and orange at 47th Rocket pit awaiting rehab... 

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17244000-D0E3-4E5D-9ACE-4BF5E922D18AD98BD127-5D5D-4292-BCE3-AD5CE7AEA122METX 210 (F40PHM) is headed back into the shops for more work. 

-This “Winnebago” Metra project was by far my most favorite so far.

Another shout out to Christopher Williams of switchline decals for his custom cab design and printing this prototype out on his 3D resin printer. 

Even came out to the Illinois Railway Museum to hand deliver the cab to me and the little guy. 

I believe he does a lot of HO stuff but he has never turned his nose at O-scale... Hasn’t said no to the possibility of doing a MPI Mp36PH. Exciting and fun stuff.

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franktrain posted:

West bound Naperville, Il. Notice the dirt spray on the front side.

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I can’t bear to dirty up/weather my hard work... at least not yet. Metra, at least from what I’ve seen on the MD-N line, generally keeps their locomotives clean. 

Seeing fewer F40ph units and more F59PHI and Mp36s up by me lately. Haven’t seen #79 rotting away at the western yard lately - hoping that means we will see the F59phi in its non-patched Metra colors in revenue service soon.

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4513CF79-845C-4625-819D-9435BF3D5C92All grabs are installed. Still working on fabricating the front shelves under windshield 2915E43D-C993-4B1C-A601-49AEAF532FA7project manager moving his freshly painted #163756CA052-4AEC-4151-8E2D-CEFAB20C8F51ED34BB23-3045-404A-859B-343E1F089201AA045A77-38CD-49D1-A7D3-3A56A9AE32DF7613F82E-6182-48F8-A01A-FAA079BE52D3METX #174: 2019 Operation North Pole decal set by switchline decals. Amazing graphics...  first time doing an entire wrap scheme. Chris walked me thru it and I think it turned out pretty good. Underneath was a former dead 5V MTH railking McDonalds f40ph that I had on hand. I began to paint most of it in the Metra progress rail post rehab paint scheme. Then applied the decal wrap set.

And just for good measure: a fictional #163 CNW heritage F40ph unit. Rattle can paints with decals from same source as above.

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A few more units I’ve been working on.

METX #214 “Operation Lifesaver” F40phm-2 in pre rehab livery.

-still needing grab irons, windows, ac units, and nose stripes.

A663818D-32C3-4FB2-BEF9-5569A71D8AACNose and decals by Switchline Decals. The 214 nose I got printed on shapeways (1 wk production and shipping time) and glued to a MTH Premier F40ph body. Same process as previously done with METX 210.46D64789-3537-4914-8A33-4DE6C6D5D9797343AD31-D0CB-425A-ABF9-2477926A0E3E

METX #121 “Jimmy Johns Little John wrap” 7F9EC353-B5A3-42A0-93A9-31878DC4A8F1

METX #174 “Operation Northpole” Wrap6E55E3D3-9A41-4A88-B9D7-2C5A576D44A0

 

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Man I'm so jealous about all of this cool Metra stuff.

I scored a RK BN green hockey stick E9 AA and a single bi-level pullman car that's unpainted from one of the MTH auctions. I bid on a second pair of them but lost out by 20 bucks (ugh).

If anyone ever feels like they can part with two gallery cars (in any paint scheme, I can repaint to the silver Burlington scheme) please let me know! They are rarely on any of the big auction sites. Otherwise my Metra E9 is stuck pulling a single car consist!

I am relishing this thread and the models portrayed.  I'm an old steam man but am enjoying myself considerably watching Metra's variety on the BNSF,  the gallery cars with "Burlington", the one Metra nightly double-header (with 8 cars, vs. the regular 7 cars and 1 locomotive), spotting the BNSF 25 yr commemorative unit, Amtrak long distance trains (this past afternoon 2 private cars were tacked on the end of the SW Chief), BNSF 6 locomotive intermodal hotshots, the Siemans' Charger locomotive on the Illinois Zephyr, the occasional coal train.  All in all, not a bad time to be a railfan! And, as displayed, a modern era model railroader, too!

Some of you guys REALLY like Metra O gauge stuff.  I was trying to score a bare minimum of 2 of the silver CTA / Metra cars on an auction yesterday.  8 total cars were available (a 4 pack and two 2 packs).  In the end, prices were more than twice my max.  Cars going for more than $230 a piece?  **** I don't have a chance...

Whoever won those cars, enjoy!  Take photos so I can be more jealous.

Just in case you other Metra peeps didn't see this from MTH the other day. Metra SW-1 Switcher Diesels are being made as special run due out this summer.

Uncataloged Limited Edition RailKing SW-1 Diesel Locomotives Announced

January 19, 2021 - M.T.H. Electric Trains has announced special limited-edition releases of the RailKing SW-1 Diesel Locomotive in six different liveries. These unique releases are part of a series of products representing the last M.T.H. production runs as the company concludes its 40 year history this Spring.

https://mthtrains.com/news/676

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JerryMouse,

Thanks for posting about Switch Line Decals and your Metra projects! I never even knew those decals existed and now I’m ready to try transforming some old F40s. I had been lobbying MTH to make the new Metra paint scheme but it appears time has run out on that plan so it’s on to your method.

keep the Metra projects coming!!

@mark s posted:

spotting the BNSF 25 yr commemorative unit,

I’m hi-jacking my own thread for a minute...

Mark, I’ve been looking and looking to spot one of those and haven’t seen one yet. Hard to believe since I live right along the BNSF! With the shoo fly bridge work there is a huge section of open space to watch all things trains in Western Springs and Hinsdale right now in case you didn’t know. With all the trees cut down you can see for miles. The Oak Street bridge in Hinsdale gives a great view high above the quick curves they added around the construction area.

Big Truck Pete:  What is the "shoo fly" for?  Are they replacing the toll road bridges? I will have to take a drive over there to see the action!

Which brings to mind, in 1957 (I grew up in Hinsdale), when the Burlington constructed the toll road bridges originally and built a "shoo fly" for the displaced trains. They employed a steam pile driver and I enjoyed laying in bed listening for it's steam locomotive whistle, as it signaled for re-positioning.

Last edited by mark s

JerryMouse,

Thanks for posting about Switch Line Decals and your Metra projects! I never even knew those decals existed and now I’m ready to try transforming some old F40s. I had been lobbying MTH to make the new Metra paint scheme but it appears time has run out on that plan so it’s on to your method.

keep the Metra projects coming!!

Hi! Haven’t been doing too much with my o scale stuff after getting back into n-scale and DCC.

Just the offerings of MP36 units and just the offerings of shells on shapeways got me hooked into N. I’ve managed to do a METX 614 F40C, a fleet of MP36 units in various heritage schemes, F59phi, **** even a F59ph and a Gp23ECO METX 11 for less than what I would pay for a couple of premier F40ph or F59phi (only units I could model for O)

Also with the departure of MTH, I’m think I’m done. Lionel is too costly for me.

What I have still worked on in O? I have been finishing up a set of fluted BiLevels for a friend. A Pullman bicycle car is in the works for our O collection, as well as a Premier F59phi METX 90 CNW heritage

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@mark s posted:

Big Truck Pete:  What is the "shoo fly" for?  Are they replacing the toll road bridges? I will have to take a drive over there to see the action!

Which brings to mind, in 1957 (I grew up in Hinsdale), when the Burlington constructed the toll road bridges originally and built a "shoo fly" for the displaced trains. They employed a steam pile driver and I enjoyed laying in bed listening for it's steam locomotive whistle, as it signaled for re-positioning.

Mark,

They are widening the toll road by at least two lanes and due to the expansion the railroad bridge also needs to be widened. The cat walk or pedestrian bridge is coming down permanently. They plan to add a pedestrian/bike path lane on a new bridge on 47th street. I’ve used that bridge since I was a kid to bike all around the area. We’d bike “all the way” to LaGrange and over to Graue Mill and build forts in the woods. Plus it was a good place to get trucks to blast their horns!! Gonna miss the bridge.

As for the pile driving, it has returned!! I have the pleasure of waking up to the melodious pounding! They tend to do this through the night. Unfortunately, no steam whistle to listen for!! It is one massive project and has been interesting to watch. Still about a year to go to complete it.

Hi! Haven’t been doing too much with my o scale stuff after getting back into n-scale and DCC.

Just the offerings of MP36 units and just the offerings of shells on shapeways got me hooked into N. I’ve managed to do a METX 614 F40C, a fleet of MP36 units in various heritage schemes, F59phi, **** even a F59ph and a Gp23ECO METX 11 for less than what I would pay for a couple of premier F40ph or F59phi (only units I could model for O)

Also with the departure of MTH, I’m think I’m done. Lionel is too costly for me.

What I have still worked on in O? I have been finishing up a set of fluted BiLevels for a friend. A Pullman bicycle car is in the works for our O collection, as well as a Premier F59phi METX 90 CNW heritage

Jerry,

As long as you stay friendly to us o gauge/scale guys all is good!😜.

I don’t blame you on the cost and variety available outside o scale. I’m with you on the loss of MTH. Being a fan of modern equipment MTH is the end of my purchasing new equipment for now. MTH lured me back into the hobby with their modern diesels.

Your fluting skills are amazing!! I’m going to hunt down a set of donor cars and then I’ll reach out about how to fix em up right.

Big Truck Pete - Thank you for the amplification.  I took a drive over to Hinsdale yesterday and was surprised to find descriptive and quite informative signs for the bridge work, with shading for the "shoo flys".

Appreciate your description of biking the area as a kid. Had a friend who lived on the north side of Hinsdale and we would also bike over to LaGrange, to visit the old LaGrange Hobby Shop (located on Calendar, not LaGrange Rd). But we used a foot bridge over the Toll Road up around Ravine Street. My friend was a Rio Grande enthusiast, so we pretended to be double headed K36's !!! We would stop in at Gordon's Hobby Shop, across from the Stone Ave station, too. That was in the halcyon days of the later 1950's.  Sweet memories.

B84684C3-A70A-4A9A-BBBB-6BC8BA841BC810926AE2-4028-463B-9A91-AB2F06FE26A0Latest project: a “Winnebago” Metra... F40PHM... this is a Switchline Decals Designed F40PHM. CAB designed and resin printed by Christopher Williams fused to a MTH F40ph premier model.

Still needs windows and grabs

Is the 3D  shapefile available for public download?  I saw a similar version on shapways, but there were some differences in details.

Also, what material, resolution did you have the 3D print done in?

I am considering doing one myself, but have a lot of questions.

Bringing back an older thread...I'm excited to finally have a set of MTH Pullman Bi-Levels.

They're Amtrak Branded, but I'm going to repaint them.  Figured I'd jazz them up a bit to look more like the Burlington Northern Fluted Pullmans that I remember riding on behind the green BN hockey stick E9's back in the 80's.

Found a few photos online and I'm planning on some decals from Switch Line, and 3D Printing some custom fluting details and vent ports to more closely match the Pullmans.

Here's my stab at balancing the dimensions of the MTH model with the real life cars.  Each different colored part is a separate 3D printed panel or detail:

Fluted Pullman 1Fluted Pullman 2

Fluted Pullman 3

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Bringing back an older thread...I'm excited to finally have a set of MTH Pullman Bi-Levels.

They're Amtrak Branded, but I'm going to repaint them.  Figured I'd jazz them up a bit to look more like the Burlington Northern Fluted Pullmans that I remember riding on behind the green BN hockey stick E9's back in the 80's.

Found a few photos online and I'm planning on some decals from Switch Line, and 3D Printing some custom fluting details and vent ports to more closely match the Pullmans.

Here's my stab at balancing the dimensions of the MTH model with the real life cars.  Each different colored part is a separate 3D printed panel or detail:

Fluted Pullman 1Fluted Pullman 2

Fluted Pullman 3

Jeff, Wow!! Keep us posted as you work through the process. The pics you shared look perfect. This has me very excited that we may be able to get these cars looking like the BN versions yet!!

Ok, so those of you in the know about METRA stuff, I've got 4 questions:

1) Was the base panel material on the BN gallery cars STAINLESS or ALUMINUM? I'm talking about the actual flat panels, not the fluting.

2) Was the fluting aluminum or stainless? I'm trying to figure out if I should airbrush everything together or if there should be a small difference in the appearance of the fluting versus the panels. Trying to determine how shiny everything should be.

3) are there any versions of the BN cars that have black painted trucks? Or are they a silver / gray truck? Galvanized or painted? It's hard to tell from photos online

4) I can find a couple different versions of the fluting in photos. There's a coarse fluting typically accompanied by the "Burlington" lettering above the door, and a finer fluting that seems to never have the lettering over the door. I've seen these together in the same consists, but which would be more prevalent in the 80's on the BN line?

Thanks! I just got a used Paasche  airbrush set and bought myself a compressor. Waiting for the decals to show up so I can pull final dimensions for my 3D printed fluting.

Any recommendations for removing the plastic window material without damage? The adhesive around those is REALLY strong!

Perhaps a telling story fits here.  As much as a decade ago, I was in Chicagoland Hobby to pick up something I ordered.  In a glass case, I saw a set of Metra Bi-Levels.  After one of those "freeze in your tracks" moments,  I asked about the Metra engines, and the late (great) "Bernie" explained that only a used one was available.  On testing, the engine's Protosound 2 passenger sounds named the UP Northwest line, the very one I take out of Harvard to and from the store.  (The sounds included the stock "can I help you with your bags?"--quite a hoot for Metra.) Piling up first the order I'd come to pick up, then the Metra cars and the Metra engine, I gave Bernie my debit card.  It wouldn't go.  I knew well that my checking account could cover the costs.  (Those were the good ol' days.)  Bernie suggested that I call my bank.  One of the tellers answered.  I identified myself and the problem.  The teller's response: "Ah, I bet you're in a train store again!"

My junior year in high school,  1971-72), I rode the Burlington/BN because the school didn't provide bus service to us in Brookfield Illinois.  First there were E8's and E9's in silver with red stripes then the Cascade Green and black with the "hockey sticks " striping. The first car behind the engine was a silver painted heavyweight coach used as a smoker then 8-10 gallery cars. Eventually the HW's were phased out. Forward 2 years to college and I'm back on the BN this time heading eastbound to Chicago, going to then UICC->UIMC  for pharmacy school. The RTA at that time used only stainless steel Budd cars on the BN.  CNW  had painted smooth side cars, and when I went to a Sox game,  you could see the Rock Island trains going in to LaSalle Street Station.  Their cars were also smooth sided and painted either blue or red.

Revisiting this, I've been on pause for a while but I've been able to print out a first article and test how it fits up on the car.

To my surprise, all the parts fit perfectly, even the tiny little slits to clear the grab rails at the lower ends of each car!

However, the detail is probably too fine for the SLS printing used, and the appearance is just not very smooth. The powder sintered together is still fairly granular up close, and the porosity is noticeable on close inspection.

But...I didn't want to waste 30 dollars of printed parts, so I went ahead and installed these, masked the black window trim before painting a base coat of gloss black Tamiya primer. (I don't think the BN gallery cars had black trim, but I think it looks good on these cars and helps the window detail pop. And come to think of it, I think two of the windows on the lower level on each side of the prototype cars have a different bezel as part of an emergency window frame. Maybe I'll do something like that.)

I also added eight vent holes above the doors and the ends of the car. I think the smooth roof looks too plain, but I don't want to mess with fluting the whole roof. So the vents add just a bit of detail, and are similar to prototype.

I tested the Tamiya stainless paint on the gloss primer on an old Lionel concrete container, and it looks fantastic if not a little dark, so I took the plunge on these cars.

What looks like damp smears are just the result of sanding off the Amtrak logos and texts from the original cars. I washed everything with warm soap and water and prepped it all really well for airbrushing.

Here some photos of my progress. I've only gotten as far as the black primer. I'll get to the stainless this weekend.

20220902_21521620220902_21325320220902_21324320220902_20595520220902_21000220220902_20123520220902_19360320220902_193558

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Update after painting and decals...

I experimented with the AlcladII stainless color to see if I could lighten it up a bit. The stainless over the gloss black base coat looks amazing on small smooth parts, but it's very dark. Too dark for a whole car I thought.

So I re-primed the steel with a gloss gray base coat

As expected, the porous fluting looks kind of meh, not great. From 6 feet it looks OK, but it's way too rough up close for a good shine and it really affects the car's look.

But I've got 4 more cars to do, so I'm OK with this one being the guinea pig.

Also, I primed this car in my old paint "Booth" which was nothing more than a cardboard box. After shooting a whole car with laquer, it became obvious that wasn't going to work. So I rigged up a redneck paint Booth with a ceiling vent that goes outside. The plastic tub makes way less dust, too. You can really see the dust in my car from the cardboard shedding.

The decals went on easy enough, and I sealed with two coats of Alclad Clear Light Sheen.

Also painted the trucks a flat gray... They look way better this way. The details really pop (and it's closer to prototype anyway).

Still have to finish painting the doors and waiting for my green light gels for my windows (I wanted the green tint like the prototype cars had). For now, I just smeared a green Sharpie over the existing plastic and it looks passable.

I'm not winning any contests with this one, but I'm stoked to have a much more prototypical BNSF silver Metra car in my fleet, and can't wait to finish the next 4!

I also included a couple photos of the original Amtrak paint scheme to see a before and after. 20220905_18460320220905_18445720220905_18442020220905_18061920220905_180702

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