malletman
Alcohaulic
Here is our lines GP35. She was purchased from the ATSF out of their deadline, its been thru one rebuild but was sidelined with mechanical issues before the rebuilt that moved the headlight to the nose. Our shop forces replaced the missing air horn with a stacked 5 chime we had on hand, along with replacing the beacon with a brand new 8911 model from Prime. I am waiting for the AC unit detail part to come in the mail, then I can clean up and prep for paint. Took awhile today to limber up the drive unit. This model lived in a closet in its box since 1982. I was 9 years old when this model was new!(I am 45 now) This is an older "tank drive" that preceeded the silky smooth tower drive that Ajin developed after this style was made. Power is a single ended Sagami can motor to a central gear tower, then drive shafts that come out of each end of the fuel tank to each truck. Each axle has a cast gear box that resembles a traction motor. All of the ones on this unit have zinc pest cracking but run ok for now. A replacement set of trucks with better gear boxes are on order. The last run of tank drives had a different gear box casting that seems to be stable and not cracking. But I will run these trucks till issues arise. As I do not use DCC, one of Richmond Controls excellent constant lighting circuits with Prime beacon is on its way to me. One can see old No1 sitting on the shop lead in the background. My railroad builds on the actual Logansport & Eel River excursion train that I rode as a child. While they used either the TP&W or Conrail tracks for the excursion, the line owned what was left(1.5 miles) of the old PRR Eel River line/Butler Branch that ran from Logansport, Indiana to Butler, Indiana. I am modeling like the line was left intact up to Columbia City to the grain elevator. So along with the excursion train, some freight runs as well. The local rail fans got a real treat when old No1 was used for the first 2 weeks as the GP35 was still having mechanical issues. Last pic is my ticket from 1982, same age as the brass GP35. Mike the Aspie
