Need CN modeler's help

[iomalley]

It was really tough getting the shell back on. Phew!

With Atlas engines, I glue the walkway to the body permanently and cut off those gawd aweful tabs, especially the Atlas GP38/40s! The only reason the model had a seperate walkway was for tooling purposes, so there's no reason to keep it that way. My models now lack those infernal tabs and the body is held down firmly with the couplers, and slides off nicely for servicing!

 

[zoegraf]

With Atlas engines, I glue the walkway to the body permanently and cut off those gawd aweful tabs, especially the Atlas GP38/40s! The only reason the model had a seperate walkway was for tooling purposes, so there's no reason to keep it that way. My models now lack those infernal tabs and the body is held down firmly with the couplers, and slides off nicely for servicing!

I got rid of front tabs and two oversized spacer tabs that were under the walkway that were causing the shell to have a slight tilt to one side. I also had to re-gauge the wheels that were out of gauge! After reading what you have said, I think I'll remove the rear tabs too.
I glued the body shell to the walkway last night.

 

[zoegraf]

Well, here it is just about ready for the track. Still waiting on a bell I ordered.
Had to do a lot of tweaking to get it right. I knocked off the ACI plate by accident, but will put it on later. I also continued the white stripe up to the steps like I noticed on the prototype.

 

[zoegraf]

Still waiting for the bell, but I decided to assemble it and start running it. I put a new ACI plate on it and weathered it a little more.

The couplers are holding the shell well to the frame and aligns it much better than the tabs did.

The walkway warped a bit upwards behind the cab after a couple of months causing it to look not straight.

Nice running loco just wish I didn't have to tweak it so much to make it look acceptable. It will do for now until someone makes a nicer loco that will suit the era and location I model.