Santa Fe Fantasy FP45 BiCentennial

In my September 3rd blog, I mentioned that I had a photo of my custom painted FP45 in BiCentennial colors published in Model Railroader Magazine.  I promised an expansion on that, and here it is.

This is what the Santa Fe BiCentennial locomotives should have looked like. Although the SD45-2'S were a great choice, the FP45's, in my opinion, would have been the ultimate choice.  But it was a great paint scheme, no matter which locomotive was used.

F units in Needles, CA

5940 in the Mojave

5940 crossing the Mojave

The FP45 in BiCentennial colors in Barstow

 In 1975, Santa Fe painted 5 SD45-2's in this paint scheme.  I previously posted a video of these in action on my Needles Division. 

Santa Fe SD45-2 BiCentennial unit fresh from the Barstow Paint Shop in 1975.

(photo: Kansas State Historical Society, Santa Fe Collection)

A picture of my FP45 was published in Model Railroader's trackside photos in the October 2012 issue.

The TOFC in the video on YouTube are basically flats and trailers from the late seventies and early eighties.  One of the two periods I model is June of 1981, so most of my TOFC stuff  is from that period.  Since this is a "Fantasy" train, I guess there are no strict rules.  So here goes with many of the flats in this train.  Please note weathering on most of the 89' flats.

A video of that train is available on YouTube at:
                                 

                             http://youtu.be/3jAsBKbCxHU

     
Thanks for your time.

Atlas 45' Vermont trailer and new Athearn 40' B&O trailer

Two Micro Train trailers, slightly weathered

MT 45' custom Preferred 45' trailer and a new Athearn 40 footer.

Two custom MT trailers, with the refrigeration unit and diesel fuel tank added, and slightly weathered.  Custom Santa Fe trailer transit 40 footer.

Custom Tex Mex 45' MT trailer and stock UP, both slightly weathered.



Can't get enough of Preferred Pool and Santa Fe trailers, both custom MT units.

I think the Transamerica unit is custom painted, but I am not sure.  The weathered N&W unit is a stock MT trailer.

Soo Line custom 45' trailer and stock MT BiCentennial trailer.

I believe the 45' Conrail is stock and the Burlington is a complete custom.  The trailer is very old, one that required assembly. 

MT custom Preferred pool and custom WP forty footer.

The new Athearn and Trainworks trailers are absolutely fabulous!  I am waiting on further releases from both Trainworks and BLMA on their 85' flat cars.  When I get delivery, I hope to redo some of my earlier videos, and match trailers and flats in the proper time frame.  Til then..........

A video of this train is available on YouTube at:

                                   

http://youtu.be/3jAsBKbCxHU

Dash 8-40CW's with Manifest Freight

The Santa Fe ordered 152 of these units from GE between 1992 and 1993. They were the predecessors to the Dash 9-44CW's, which had better adhesion trucks and 3-400 more horsepower, as well as better fuel consumption.

As far as the models go, these units pale in comparison to the Kato Dash 9-44CW's. The made in China stamping is the first indication that this would be a poor performing unit, which it is in every way. As with the BNSF, I shall be retiring these Super Fleet units first.

The first car in the consist is the Rio Grande gondola.  All my gondolas on my layout are heavily weathered, as you will see in the following.

CB&Q gondola.  Notice weathering on trucks and wheels.

Santa Fe 60' waffle box car.  MT car issued by Lowell Smith.

Santa Fe 60' DD Hi Cube boxcar.  MT car custom painted and decaled.  Bx-138 class boxcar, modeled after photo from the book Santa FeFreight in Color...The Series. 

The covered gondolas from Micro Trains are really cool models, but way to shinny out of the box.  Weathering on the coverings is a must.

Mildly weathered Chicago and Eastern Illinois gondola.

Couple of examples on a Detroit, Toledo and Ironton gon and a Western Pacific covered gondola.



Back in the late eighties, I spotted a Santa Fe manifest freight heading through Cajon Pass with four of these cars in a row. A few years ago a company in Oregon called LBF made these cars available, whereas I quickly purchased four of them.  I have not heard much lately from this company, but I got these, as well as a UP model.



I think this looks pretty cool!  All slightly weathered.

Covered hopper with replacement hatch and evidence of repair on left.

Custom painted and decaled 50' GN boxcar.  You can see a prototype photo of this car on page 69 of the book "Great Northern Equipment Color Pictorial" by Scott R. Thompson.

UP center depressed flat car with load.  Strapped down, and industrial decals added to whatever this thing is.

Heavily weathered UP 60' single door boxcar.

Atlas tank car from the 70's (?) upgraded with Gold Medal Models brass end plates, walkways and railings.  Really improves the appearance of this model and brings it up to 21st century specifications.  Note the weathered trucks and especially treatment of the MT wheels.

Detail of the rust weathering flowing down from the top of car.

Pyrofax Gas tank car, released originally by Atlas in very late 90's.  The plastic railings are much improved over previous releases.  This tank is still available today.

MR 60' waffle car, slightly weathered.  I have another of these cars weathered much heavier.  Yellow cars look great with a little rust applied.  The photo robs the cars of the subtle weathering applied here.

ATSF 60' single door boxcar.  This is an Atlas model custom painted and decaled.  This Bx-101 car is turning pink with age.  Notice the uncommon black Santa Fe lettering in the 10' Cirlce Cross.  Note the contast in color with the repainted wide cupola caboose, a very nice Atlas model. (I added the caboose to this photo just for contrast.)

 

Thanks for viewing this blog.

 

You can see a video of this train on YouTube at the following link:



                                             http://youtu.be/uFFM92d4b80

Amtrak Southwestern Chief

 

This photo represents the Southwestern Chief in or around 1974.  The lead unit is an Amtrak acquisition, a SDP40F, in it's as delivered paint scheme.  The second unit is an E8. I found a few photos of the SDP40F mu'd with an E8 on the RRPICTUREARCHIVES.NET website.  There are many thousands of railroad photos for you to use as a reference.  I would encourage you to visit this site.

The SDP40F was made for Amtrak by EMD, Electro Motive Division of General Motors in 1973.  It was essentially and SD40-2 in a "cowl" body.  It had a 16 cylinder 3000 hp prime mover.  The model is again an old Life Like FP45, heavily modified.  The FP45 is similar in appearance to the SDP40F, a model which is not likely to be produced in N Scale.

The above model  is an E8 from Kato.  It is custom painted, as I put these units together in the nineties.  (An E8 in Amtrak paint scheme is sometimes available from Kato.)  Notice the difference in the paint schemes on these two units, the location of the "arrow" and the difference in the placing of the name Amtrak, and the different type and coloring of the lettering.  Amtrak received dozens of E8 and E9 locomotives from the various railroads joining Amtrak.

Stock Con Cor Amtrak baggage car.

 

These Kato Superliner cars represent the original Amtrak paint scheme.  These passenger cars have seen four paint schemes over the years. 

 

From right to left, a dining car, lounge, and a baggage coach crossing the Mojave desert eastbound.

 



Southwestern Chief passing through my recently installed Tomar searchlights.



 

This is the power source for the SDP40F.  It is the chassis from a Kato C44-9W, with trucks taken from a SD45.  These trucks are available separately from the Kato parts department on their website.  There is some cutting of the frame involved.  This is a modification unnecessary now(even if you could find an old Life Like model)  with the availability of the FP45's from Athearn.  

 

 

For a short video of the Southwestern Chief, go to: 

 

                                                                http://youtu.be/3viSYOJz5xA

Logic Rail Technologies BA-1-IR and Tomar Searchlight Signals

Wiring the Tomar searchlight.

 




This week I would like to show you the Logic Rail Technologies Infrared Block Animator. On my layout, the infrared detector is the best block animator as it eliminates the problem with direct and/or indirect lighting.  I am using this detector with the new Tomar searchlights. I have installed 11 different blocks successfully and they work perfectly. The only problem I had initially was how to hook up the lights, a problem solved with help from Chuck Stancil at Logic Rail.



The above information is directly from the instruction sheets and highlight the aspects of the BA-1-IR detector. The highlights are the bi-directional control of two blocks and the ability to work with various manufacturers and types of signals, yellow delay, and no modifications to track, rolling stock, or motive power.



I used the Tomar N-872 signal searchlight and the N-873 dual searchlight with the BA-1-IR. Chuck informed me that the Tomar searchlight is a "classic searchlight signal which uses a single bipolar LED within the signal head..." He also stated that the "BA-1-IR will create yellow by blending the red and green LED's.  It does this electronically within the board itself".  Magic!

I was initially confused as to how to hook up the Tomar searchlight to the BA. However, Chuck Stancil at Rail Logic was happy to help with the wiring. He told me to refer to Figure 1b in the instructions, as I was unable to figure which illustration would work with the Tomar signal.  Thank you very much, Chuck!

 

There are two ways to make the connection, with this illustrating using just one resistor (supplied with the BA). Although the label says black wire, it could also be a blue wire.  Whichever, it is the common.

 

This is the method I used, using a resistor on each of the leads, again with the same resistors supplied with the BA-1-IR.  Make sure your wiring is done with care.  If an LED's green or red is not functioning correctly, recheck your wiring.  It happened to me, where a green diode was barely lit.  I rewired, and it came to a full bright light.

In my next blog, I will cover wiring of the infrared emitters and detectors.

You can see a demonstration of the finished product on YouTube at:

                       http://youtu.be/3eogErne3wo

 

Mustangs by the Bay, San Diego CA October 2012

Just thought I'd divert from the model trains to share with you a few photos from the San Diego Mustang Club's annual Mustang show.  It takes place in Embarkadero Park which is located in downtown San Diego on the waterfront, a very scenic place for a car show.  Every year, participation in this show increases, and there had to be 300 cars there this year.  Because of the popularity of the recent model year Ponies, the grounds are nearly completely full. 

Here in this blog, I will show you a couple of photos of my 1967 Mustang convertible.  It has a 302 ci engine I obtained from Ford Racing a couple years back.  It has a roller cam, high compression heads, a Holley 471 carburetor, dual exhausts, and a C4 three speed automatic transmission.  It is a daily driver. 

 

      A video of the show can be seen on YouTube at:

          

                                   http://youtu.be/9MXupwhGDek