Alco PA and FA 2023

[bob turner]

Sure, I did a search - there is an Alco PA thread, from five years ago, now shorn of photos. I was going to tack on a comment about the Doyle Mc Cormack PA, but realized the thread is useless without photos anyway - so as long as Shutterfly puts up with me, these should last for a while.

First, the McCormack thread is on OGR, and the last comment is by Hot (and he is indeed hot about something) but the stunning thing is a Youtube video taken from a drone. Worth looking at, not because the locomotive is so great, but because the drone camera is gyro-stabilized to the point where you would think you were bolted to a tower. I had no idea these things were that good.

Also, and this is strictly opinion, I agree with the poster Hot is so hot about - that Nickel Plate color scheme just has to be the worst aesthetically applied to any railroad item. Hopefully they will re-do it into at least D&H.

With that said, let's have a few Alco PA model photos, and maybe a reprise of the nose/windshield discussion that got wiped off that 2018 thread.

[bob turner]

To start us out, here is a shot of an Overland body on Lionel trucks, converted to 2-rail by Joe Foehrkolb for Jim Seacrest. The B unit is a dummy on CLW trucks.



A decade ago I posted that I thought Overland had "missed" on the windshield, and that created a debate that has been fractured over time by missing photos and posts. You can see, though, that the overall carbody is quite nice. I may yet unload this pair - but they seem to be happy on my shelf at the airport.

[R.K. Maroon]

I am awash in CLW cast PAs. Here is a photo from 2017:



My roster list tells me I have a total of ten -- seven PAs and three PBs. I am embarassed to say that none of these ten are ready-to-run, except for a lone B-unit dummy in UP colors that came with the Fernando Valley cast Erie-Built:



I am not sure I will leave them paired, but they actually do mate up reasonably well, and there is evidence that UP mixed and matched their passenger units. So maybe.

More on the fate of the rest of these cast PAs later.
Jim

[bob turner]

Yes - perfect match except for the height of the grillework over the upper vents. And of course the roof accoutrements.



And surely better than the sides that came with those early doorstops.

But back to the PAs:



This one actually ran before the sprockets cracked. Six axles powered by a giant 24000 series Pittman (way larger than the 9000-series, and way slower). Dennis cast the passenger car trucks from a mold my dentist buddy made for me.

[R.K. Maroon]

Back when I was in the "actively acquisitive" mode, meaning in the days when I scanned eBay at least once a day for possible "buy-it-now" bargains, I came to realize that Christmas time was often when some of the best deals appeared. I guessed there were two reasons for this: buyers were either tapped out with buying presents for everybody, or they were distracted with holiday events and just not looking. One year I found this pair of CLW PAs for $300:



These have the noses that many complain about:



Nonetheless, given the condition and price, I thought it was a good buy. The decision was made easy by the presence of sprung trucks and drives for both units:



For a long time, I called this chassis setup the CLW "second generation", in that they followed the original solid-gearcase drive in the original PAs. It turns out there were other drives in between, but they are exceedingly rare, so "second generation" still works as a practical matter. They are distinguished by the adjustable frame (which reminds me of an Erector Set), phenolic body bolsters. cast brass gearboxes, sprung trucks, cardboard drive tubes, and open-frame Pittman motor. Works for me.

Jim

[bob turner]

I wonder if there would be a market for a better nose casting. It would be about a hundred bucks per, not including installation.

The windshield can be fixed, sort of. The casting could use a plastic body, but to mass produce it might take some work.

[bob turner]

Here are my "noses." Left to right, early CLW, Lionel (latest run - exquisite), Overland, and MTH.



Recall that Jay helped me get a lost-wax nose for my Erie-Built project. Worth every single penny. I would convert a late CLW PA in a heartbeat, but am not looking to invest in it.

As of right now, there are four MTH Scale PA shells on eBay, each for just under fifty bucks. The first shell I converted cost over $80, special deal from MTH. The MTH windshield is not as good as Lionel, but the nose itself may be better.

[bob turner]

Here is my first CLW PA. Steve Pittges sent it to me for fifty bucks way back when - I worked it over pretty good, powered it with CLW plastic gearboxes and a 9434 Pittman, and painted it SP:

[bob turner]

Just thinking about the DRGW - here is one of my favorites: MTH, but converted to silicon bronze by a process known as "shell cast."

The unit behind it is also MTH, but converted by conventional "lost plastic" to nickel silver by Dennis and Kathy. Had to cut it in half to fit the flask.

[sleepmac]

Bob, I appreciate the photos of your and other's efforts. Weaving a bit of 0 scale history amongst your faithfulness to prototype.

Dan Weinhold

[bob turner]

Thanks Dan. I am not terribly faithful - I worry about the big stuff that is hard to fix - noses, boiler tapers, driver spacing - but as you can see, I often omit little ladders, coupler release bars, handrails, even horns and window glazing. Just a personal flaw, easily fixed by future holders of my work.

This one came from Allan Wehrle a decade or so ago, with badly butchered cab roof and sides. I did the brass equivalent of cobbler's work on the roof, and sectioned some spare sides to restore this thing to some semblance of what it should look like, then committed my usual blasphemy of an imaginary paint job!

[J. S. Bach]

Imaginary paint job? I still like it, so there! Me, I would have gone with Western Maryland. Well, they did have FAs.

[R.K. Maroon]

Me, I would have gone with Western Maryland. Well, they did have FAs.

I will take that as an invitation to post this:



What we have here is a Ken Kraft cast-bronze model from the late 1940s. The quality of the casting is among the best seen in sand-cast O-scale. We can attribute this to an accurate and detailed master pattern and the skills of the Adams and Son foundry.

More PAs to come
Jim

[bob turner]

I can change the title! I do like the Ken Krayer FAs - I have three FA and two FBs.

[bob turner]

Done. The painted one is powered - got it from Rich Bozak on a Chicago overnight, along with an FB. The unpainted one came in a box of three from Harold Peters, virgin castings. I think this one got the Car Works trucks - hard to tell from the photo.

There was a time when I was a pretty good painter, no?