Alco PA and FA 2023

[E7]

Changed my mind. It will be GM&O. Red and maroon.

There is a great shot of a GM&O E7 at the beginning of the film "In The Heat of the Night" arriving with Philadelphia Detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier).

[R.K. Maroon]

Looks great! Kudos on successfully applying the Alclad, that stuff confounds me. That warbonnet decal set isn't exactly "easy-peezy" either.
Well done!

I agree with my brother on this. That set is really sharp. My warbonnet cast PAs are painted aluminum, and they look dull by comparison.

Jim

[bob turner]

Discussion on OGR about Right-Of-Way brass 3-Rail PAs. I have never seen one, but photos looked ok. Anybody know if they were full size? Easy to tell, because Lionel and MTH PAs are indeed full size.

[DaveJfr0]

Yep. see the old Doorstop thread, from which almost all my photos have been stripped.

Here are my Doorstop PAs with new Micro decals. The sides are Alclad II stainless; the rest not red or decalled is Duplicolor silver. Very happy.

My nickel silver MTH PA is now in silver primer with warbonnet red, and will get chrome (probably Alclad) sides. The decals are neat, but only have right side winged logos. Theoretically, Microscale is looking in to it.

That looks great.

I've known about Alclad II for awhile now. What directions did you follow to apply it? IIRC it either requires or looks best with a black undercoat? Was it difficult to apply and how did you do the glosscote required to hide the decal edges? Testor's, something else, or nothing?

[bob turner]

Gloss black out of a Dupli-Color rattle can, then Alclad II out of my model H Paasche gun. I don't think you have to thin it. Two coats. Then with a clean cotton swab a layer of Future Floor Wax (they changed the name, but it is clear acrylic wax).

Then decals, Microsolve, and after a week, another wiped-on coat of acrylic wax.

I have no idea why the black works, but it does.

[bob turner]

This thread has not been seen in a year. But I just captured a plastic PA on the eBay for $45. Could not pass it up - NYC grey, in perfect shape, with dummy trucks. It matches (almost) an Erie-Built B Maroon sent last year.

I don't do plastic as a rule, but there are a few things I will put up with - especially if they are just shelf models on display. I have maybe three K-Line Train Masters, converted to six axle power 2-rail, and a pair of SD-35s with strange Alco power units that Atlas was selling for cheap.

The reason I am bumping this thread is just a technical note about the MTH PA truck side frames. I of course yanked them off my new acquisition and slammed a pair of good old CLW PA trucks under it. My intentions were to 2-rail the MTH sideframes at my leisure.

Normally I measure three times and drill once, and do not always get it perfect - but here the very nicely detailed die cast truck sideframes had dimples where the axles would go if MTH ever decided to have axle stubs on their Diesel models.

I was going to drill some brass rod and stick it in the dimples - they are roughly .189 in diameter, so they really need brass bushings. My center drill kind of wandered and I was not happy with my machined bushings, so I found some K&S tubing of the correct diameter, with an inner sleeve of smaller tube, cut twelve short pieces with the good old Dremel, stuck them in with JB Weld, and after 24 hour set time, I ran a #41 drill down each to clear them out, filed them down for a minimum protrusion, made an aluminum bolster tapped four places for 4-40 for each truck, and presto! I now have perfect 2-rail PA trucks.

You have to understand, I am kind of nutty for PA parts. I could use a good psychiatrist.

[bob turner]

I just realized that I have no shots of the metal MTH ATSF PA set, since I gave up on the nickel silver polishing and painted it with rattle can silver. Here it is - it looks better in real life than this shot might indicate. It took a lot of editing just to get the detail of the silver parts to pop.

I should again mention that the trucks under the PA are from my master - and the ones under the PB are those really good CLW trucks. Not bad for an amateur, huh? They too are nickel silver, but now painted with rattle can. Yes, the PA is powered on all six axles.

[sleepmac]

Bob, that engine sure caught my eye! Very nice.

Dan Weinhold

[bob turner]

Bump.

Carey's You tube of the NYC FA/B set got me on fire. I took one of my B&O FAs and an unpainted FB, and tried to duplicate the paint on Carey's models.

So far so good - I used the five whiskers of Carey's models, instead of the standard three in all NYC Lightning Stripe paint jobs - nothing around here is totally prototypical. I need some more dark grey before a photo shoot, but rest assured, at least iPad quality photos are coming.

The big Dell computer just suddenly stopped accepting the digital camera, so quality may suffer while I explore other options.

I did take the two remaining B&O units and sharpened up the stripes a bit - and converted most of the white to light grey. Those will take some more work, but photos will be forthcoming from them as well.

[bob turner]

iPad photo - still learning. I sort of copied Maroon's tripod mount, so I got the shakes to a minimum.

Again, this is copying Carey's FAs, and not the prototype. I can always re-do it if I want. I need the darker gray on the A unit, and some touchup on both, and then maybe, if I remain happy with it, some decals. Not powered, will probably never get glazing or handrails until it goes elsewhere.



Darker grey is difficult to get for some reason. The darker areas on the B are Tempo Lycoming Engine Enamel, currently $23/can, but out of stock.

Yes, the Paasche Model H still works. Getting really lazy, though.

[bob turner]

PS - working on another Shutterfly book - I have to buy something by Feb '26 to stay in their good graces, so expect a link in the next few months. It will include all the FAs that are currently laying around here - GN, B&O, and these. I have more doorstops than any other kid on the block.

[Dennis Holler]

I think I showed this cast PA kit in another thread, but it fits here and I need to figure out and make a jig to get it together for soldering. I need to check the nose and see what it looks like. It is already fitted pretty well and screwed together, but it's still just a little loosey goosey so I feel like it needs a jig to keep it where it should be straight and square!

[bob turner]

Bump. I did answer Dennis, in a PM. My motivation was twofold: First, I get uneasy when my name sits on the top three threads for extended periods of time, and second, I figured nobody else would be at all interested in how to hold these things for soldering.

But the real reason for the Bump:

Dennis Mashburn just sent me a pair of brass "Right of Way" Alcos (not to be confused with Jay's Right O' Way track products). ROW produced brass 3-rail models, and I just assumed that they were slightly undersize, like a lot of Williams.

Bad assumption. They park well behind the Overland version. They appear to be full size 48/ft. Detail is excellent. Pilot, fuel tank shrouds, and maybe trucks and windshield area need help.

Dennis did the pilot and shrouds in beautiful lost wax - they would also fit Lionel and MTH, and had I known, I would have used them on my metalized MTH PA.

I may put some .020 brass in the windshield of one. Just needs a slight reduction in height.

Dennis also sent PSC trucks. They are true works of art. The only flaw is the width over the brake cylinders, which is almost 11 scale feet - wider than the carbody. Still, beautiful and rugged models.

I might post a few photos if there is any interest.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Bump. I did answer Dennis, in a PM. My motivation was twofold: First, I get uneasy when my name sits on the top three threads for extended periods of time, and second, I figured nobody else would be at all interested in how to hold these things for soldering.

I'd be curious as to how you set these up for soldering. I've long thought that the set up was an important variable.

ROW produced brass 3-rail models, and I just assumed that they were slightly undersize, like a lot of Williams.

For some odd reason I actually did know they were not undersized.

I might post a few photos if there is any interest.

The more, the merrier....

[up148]

Bump. I did answer Dennis, in a PM. My motivation was twofold: First, I get uneasy when my name sits on the top three threads for extended periods of time, and second, I figured nobody else would be at all interested in how to hold these things for soldering.

I find myself in that predicament too, if it's really a predicament, but I just don't worry about it.....I know sooner or later someone will post and take my name off the top.

Dennis Mashburn just sent me a pair of brass "Right of Way" Alcos (not to be confused with Jay's Right O' Way track products).

Is Dennis still doing casting? I have a complete set of castings to convert a coal FEF3 to oil purchased from him 25 years ago. Does Dennis maintain any spare parts that he sells or did he strictly do custom casting?

I might post a few photos if there is any interest.

Definitely! This thread has been running several years so nice to see some fresh photos. I have no FA's or PA's in my collection.