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Hey all, wanted to share a new project I'm starting. I grabbed a Lionel USRA 4-8-2 locomotive recently for a cool project. I'm a huge buff of the New York, Ontario & Western and for years wanted a model of Y-1 4-8-2 #405, which in 1938 was redone with "streamlining" and maroon paint for the lines new "Mountaineer" train. I've already started stripping the paint on the cab, tender shell, and cylinders. The skirting will be brass sheets held on with magnets (tiny magnets will be on the skirting and attach to magnets on the  side the locomotive) Stay tuned for updates on this transformation! 20220828_11413120220828_114136

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@John A posted:

Can’t wait to see this develop!  Styrene can also be used to make convincing skirting. You can use a few dabs of silicone glue to attach (brass or styrene) skirting if you ever want to remove it. Magnets probably won’t work on brass. JohnA

Usually styrene is my main material I use in projects, but I wanted to try brass for this one. Two recent Lionel sets (Lehigh Valley Asa Packer and Lionel Santa Fe Valley flyer) have similar set ups with skirting. Magnets will be placed on the skirting. But styrene will be my backup if it doesn't work 😄

I’ll definitely be following this project. Really a sharp looking engine. As far as magnets go. I recently re did a brass milk car. Removed the factory lettering and added steel placards. This was a common practice seeing these cars were leased. I bought a very thin steel sheet. .005 thickness that can easily be cut with a good pair of scissors. Everything is easily removed if I decide to change it out. 4 magnets inside the car easily hold them on.

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Hi Blake, This sounds like a very cool project. I too am a huge fan of the O&W having visited most of the abandoned main lines at one time since 1980. Good Luck on it and be sure to keep us posted.  My layout is based on a portion of the O&W and parts of the New Haven. Here is a picture of an NW-2 General Models Switcher I just had repainted in O&W livery.  Billss2

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Unless just for the shelf, if this model is run much at all, that brass shrouding may vibrate down/off?  and maybe self destruct and derail loco, and or damage rolling srock and scenery.

I'm intending to run it like any normal locomotive. The mini magnets I have are pretty strong, Lionel used a similar set up on their Asa Packer set and Valley Flyer set (talked to someone who owns one) so it shouldn't be an issue. If anything I can switch to styrene or thin sheet metal. I'll find out once I start work on the skirting.

Good luck with your custom project!  I am following your progress.  We came very close to doing a custom run brass locomotive with Weaver Models once upon a time.  We did produce 2-8-0 consolidations with Weaver Models.  Currently, we have custom run NYO&W double sheathed boxcars and F3 A-B sets coming in from MTH Electric Trains.  We will be offering custom run O&W FT diesel locomotives, hopefully within the year.

Good luck with your custom project!  I am following your progress.  We came very close to doing a custom run brass locomotive with Weaver Models once upon a time.  We did produce 2-8-0 consolidations with Weaver Models.  Currently, we have custom run NYO&W double sheathed boxcars and F3 A-B sets coming in from MTH Electric Trains.  We will be offering custom run O&W FT diesel locomotives, hopefully within the year.

Speaking of the NYO&W, Phil just shared a picture with the club of a formula for O&W gray as 50/50 "Accupaint" NYC light gray and charcoal, which matched the 1945 DuPont Toledo Labs paint chip.

Interesting build; can't wait to see it!

- Mario

I was in Syracuse today and stopped by the JR Junction Hobby Shop. The store has a very nice stock of O guage equipment. I purchased the new Woodland Scenics Hobby Shop Model along with a set of MTH electric gates and some brown roof paint and grease. There is a great deal of scenic materials along with some other hard to find items like a good selection of styrene supplies, wood materials for scratch building and a good selection of paint and those kinds of items. The owner was once an employee of K&K Trains in Utica and would be knowledgeable in helping you find special request items. On my next trip out there, I will be again stopping. He told me he has special order O&W box cars coming in along with special order O&W F3's. I would not hesitate to call if you need something and ask him to help you. Bill

while paint prep work is underway, here are the sheets of brass that will be used for the skirting along the running boards. The sheets need to be trimmed on top slightly and the fronts will be shaved down to match the prototype. As stated previously these will have very small but strong magnets glued on, and will match up with magnets along side the running boards. 20220830_165610

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Good luck with your custom project!  I am following your progress.  We came very close to doing a custom run brass locomotive with Weaver Models once upon a time.  We did produce 2-8-0 consolidations with Weaver Models.  Currently, we have custom run NYO&W double sheathed boxcars and F3 A-B sets coming in from MTH Electric Trains.  We will be offering custom run O&W FT diesel locomotives, hopefully within the year.

Thanks! I remember hearing the story on a proposed brass Y-1 locomotive, younger me was excited for it. I think I ordered my Lionel NYO&W F units with the "robins egg blue" paint from your shop a few years back (I'm going to have the shells weathered to tone down the color) definitely ordering one of those boxcars!

Worked has started on the smokebox, headlight relocated, smokebox painted and rough  cardstock templates were made up of the front and skirting. A different headlight was chosen so the bulb can be installed from underneath. Void left by old headlight was filed in with epoxy filler. This will be sanded smooth when dried. 20220905_09495520220905_101806

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Headlight installation complete, epoxy putty sanded smooth, and smokebox door repainted. Skirting was made from 1/2 inch brass strips, ends rounded off with Dremel. Cab and cylinders repainted partially black, unpainted areas will be painted maroon. This project is coming along nicely.  20220908_20181220220908_20184320220908_20232520220908_20230420220908_201849

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The skirting was added with magnets, Magnets were glued on the boiler shell and onto the skirting itself, and it's holding really well. Also started painting the wheels. The color is Scalecoat CP Tuscan Red. Eventually the skirting, cab, and the tender will be painted. Please excuse the background, my new "workshop" isnt ready yet. 20220915_06381620220915_06375920220915_063755

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@Dave_C posted:

Looking Good. A couple of questions. What glue did you use to adhere the magnets on the brass and diecast ?

Is the Scalecoat Paint a recent purchase ?    Still waiting on my order from 6 months ago.

Regular super glue was used, it worked the best. The Scalecoat I ordered 2 weeks ago and it arrived yesterday.

For more on O&W F-3s  Check RMC Jun Jul Aug 1970 1971 or 1972   Author detailed ALL NATION F-3s to the max for O&W including scale "Chicken Wire" screening where appropriate, proper paint masks and now semi useless Floquil formulas for O&W paint colors.  I am sure MTH and Lionel could do a great job on the FTs  Scale F-3s and NW2 switchers

Great Job on the O&W 400 series Mountain.  Is there appropriate passenger cars to pull behind it?  Baggage and Coaches for the most part.   Note O&W was a road that served a good part of the "Borscht Belt" resorts in the lower catskills in addition to bridge line traffic and hauling Anthricite coal  A  good part of the ROW became  Hwy 17 and possibly 17B in that oart of NY

My summer camp at TEN MILE RIVER was right on the Erie Main Line along the upper Delaware River I think Tusten was the station

Ed Samsen



Ed

@Ed Samsen posted:

For more on O&W F-3s  Check RMC Jun Jul Aug 1970 1971 or 1972   Author detailed ALL NATION F-3s to the max for O&W including scale "Chicken Wire" screening where appropriate, proper paint masks and now semi useless Floquil formulas for O&W paint colors.  I am sure MTH and Lionel could do a great job on the FTs  Scale F-3s and NW2 switchers

Great Job on the O&W 400 series Mountain.  Is there appropriate passenger cars to pull behind it?  Baggage and Coaches for the most part.   Note O&W was a road that served a good part of the "Borscht Belt" resorts in the lower catskills in addition to bridge line traffic and hauling Anthricite coal  A  good part of the ROW became  Hwy 17 and possibly 17B in that oart of NY

My summer camp at TEN MILE RIVER was right on the Erie Main Line along the upper Delaware River I think Tusten was the station

Ed Samsen



Ed

Lionel and MTH both did F units and the NW2 switchers in the past , I have lionel's versions of the F3 with the very bright "robins egg blue" gray color. MTH's look fantastic. Thanks! I don't have cars right now, but I do plan to make a 5-7 car train. According to research, the train consisted of a combine, 4 coaches, and 2 obs. I'm having HO scale decals redrawn to O gauge for me as we speak for when I buy and repaint cars. I used to go upstate all the time with the family and my late dad would bring us along the old ROW, including rt 17.

I have been thinking of doing something similar to what you are doing, geting a TMCC Mountain and re-detailing it as stand-in for a Norfolk & Western K2. The N&W used USRA Heavy Mountains for the K2 class, but I am not holding out hope that we will see Heavy Mountains in O scale, so the light Mountain would probably be the closest thing in O scale. Nice to see a similar, more-ambitious project getting done, gives me hope that I can get my humble idea done one day

I also love the creativity of using magnets for the streamlining, it's brilliant! Are you at all worried about a magnetic field impairing or damaging engine electronics?

@harmonyards posted:

How did you apply it?….step by step if you don’t mind….

Pat

Prime and lightly sand parts to be painted, mix the paint with laquer thinner , I usually do a 50/50 mix, or the thinner Scalecoat sells, and spray the parts you want to paint, and let dry. I use a siphon fed airbrush, so setup might differ slightly with a gravity fed airbrush. After everything is dried spray a clear coat to seal everything. If using decals, add decals first then clear coat.

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