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 Posted - June 13 2023 : 9:31:23 PM
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I just finished another custom steamer for the EV: old-timer 4-6-0 #3! Formerly a very beat up TYCO Spirit of '76 "1890 Roger's" steam locomotive that I've had for years, #3 was missing a motor as well as many other small parts, but after its restoration, it's now looking better than new in Ephrata Valley livery. A Huge Thank You to DarthSantaFe (https://youtube.com/@DarthSantaFe) for doing an absolutely incredible job repainting the driver wheels flat black.
BEFORE:
 
AFTER:
   
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/rpmodelrailroads
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rp_model_railroads/
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Bamos
Big Six
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Posted - June 13 2023 : 11:50:44 PM
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Looks great. Are you using vinyl for the lettering?
Bill
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Posted - June 14 2023 : 8:59:14 PM
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quote:Looks great. Are you using vinyl for the lettering?
Originally posted by Bamos-June 13 2023: 11:50:44 PM
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Thank You! Yes, all of my EV locomotives and train cars feature vinyl lettering which is unconventional for models, I know, but for a fictitious railroad, bending the rules seems okay. 
I've worked with decals before, but using these "stickers" is just easier and doesn't look all that bad. Guess that's an EVRR trademark now. 
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/rpmodelrailroads
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Posted - June 16 2023 : 12:24:34 AM
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| Wow! Did she get a makeover, or what??
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Posted - June 16 2023 : 11:44:34 PM
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if I ever could do one I'd want it to look like Doc's Time Machine train 
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Posted - June 17 2023 : 8:05:43 PM
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Armadilloville. Where the Jade Fog Plant leaked and all kinds of transmorgifications
occurred, including the giant Armadillo.
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Posted - June 17 2023 : 10:35:51 PM
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quote:Wow! Did she get a makeover, or what??
Originally posted by Chops124-June 16 2023: 12:24:34 AM
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Thanks! Yes, all parts were stripped in DOT3 brake fluid to remove original paint, then spray-painted black, with the finishing touches done with oil-based sharpies. 
Busss, I might just have to take a photo of EVRR #3 with a DeLorean now on my layout.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/rpmodelrailroads
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rp_model_railroads/
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Posted - June 18 2023 : 4:36:42 PM
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Y'all did a great job on this one.
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Posted - June 23 2023 : 11:05:12 AM
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quote:
Armadilloville. Where the Jade Fog Plant leaked and all kinds of transmorgifications
occurred, including the giant Armadillo.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â June 17 2023Â :Â 8:05:43 PM
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Chops, Is that armedillo an 0-4-0 type.
frank
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
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Posted - June 23 2023 : 11:11:59 AM
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A recient find at a jersey train show were this Walters pair of FA-1's. Rrie FA1 and Fb1,
frank
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
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Posted - July 09 2023 : 03:17:10 AM
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Beautiful reproductions from the end of a Golden Age.
The beast is actually an 0-5-0 as I have to move it around with my hand. 
Edited by - Chops124 on July 09 2023 03:22:37 AM
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Posted - July 18 2023 : 8:45:30 PM
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quote:
Armadilloville. Where the Jade Fog Plant leaked and all kinds of transmorgifications
occurred, including the giant Armadillo.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â June 17 2023Â :Â 8:05:43 PM
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Your layout has all the makings of a 1950's Sci-Fi movie.....
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Posted - July 21 2023 : 01:51:07 AM
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I like photo bombs. Also, I grew up in an era when nuclear power plants were popularly
considered to be the root of all evil. Looking back, I have to laugh at myself. So, in
Armodilloville, the back story is that the Nuclear Power plant, in conjunction with
the Jade Fog Manufactory, has leaked its toxic isotopes and spawned a resurgance of
extinct species (in the manner of Jurassic Park) and an explosion of outsized mammals
(Armadillos) as an immediate consequence. Yes, not a lot of people get my humor.
It should be noted that the appellation of "Armadilloville" was from El Rojo Grande, who,
perhaps, is one of few people who get my peculiar love of the zany. The vehicles were
mostly done by A-A-Ron, who's particular style is evocative of "Katy and the Big Snow;"
a favorite book from childhood.
(Like anything man-made, it has benefits and dangers).
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Posted - July 21 2023 : 09:55:00 AM
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I've watched a lot of 1950s Sci-Fi horror movies, and it's amusing all the properties ascribed to radioactivity: colossal men and beasts, the incredible shrinking man, Spider Man. Really you just sicken and die with too much exposure, but fiction plays on widespread ignorance of some new thing to make the impossible possible. It's a great literary device, but a lousy way to form opinions of industry and politics.
I also "get" your humor and don't take it for serious social commentary.
I do think you need to harness your giant armadillo for use as a locomotive as John Allen did with a stegosaurus. Just be careful at railroad crossings. Armadillos seem unlucky in crossing roads.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - July 21 2023 : 11:54:22 AM
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The advent of high pressure steam (pressure in excess of 40 PSI, specifically) was intermittently outlawed
in the UK in the earlier part of the 19th century. The destructive power of enclosed steam was worrisome
to many. A story goes that the inventor Trevethick was working diligently upon a high pressure boiler and
was served with a warrant to cease and desist. It was said Trevethick, a giant of a man, grabbed the
constable by the heels and dangled over a well until he ceased and desisted.
Edited by - Chops124 on July 21 2023 11:55:40 AM
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Posted - July 21 2023 : 7:34:58 PM
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quote:It was said Trevethick, a giant of a man, grabbed the constable by the heels and dangled over a well until he ceased and desisted.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â July 21 2023Â :Â 11:54:22 AM
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And after all that, Stephenson gets so much of the credit! 
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Posted - July 22 2023 : 12:24:45 AM
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Yes and no, and I've no read anything to suggest that Stephenson was particularly aware of
Trevithick's experimentation, other than they were after the same purpose: a self powered
engine that could move coal more efficiently than a horse.
If I am not mistaken, Stephenson, from his invention of a miner's safety lamp (it wouldn't
ignite methane in an enclosed space) had developed the concept of multiple flues
which geometrically expanded the surface heating area upon water, while at the same
time creating a powerful draft, and up the chimney, which caused the coke (coke was a
hotter fuel than coal, coke being essentially toasted coal) to burn that much hotter.
Trevethick ran a single flu through the boiler, and while it did the job, barely, it was
Stephenson who hit on the idea of multiple flues as opposed to one flu. That, and
Stephenson's piston arrangement both became the basic pattern for all steam locomotives
ever built since 1829; no one could improve one it (steam turbine was not efficient and
was abandoned by the PRR. Maybe C&O tried a turbine version also, additionally a flop).
I always wondered how these guys tested a new prototype. Did they say, "yo, you there,
Chops, yeah you, go shovel on some more and we'll stand over here and see if it blows up?"
Surprisingly, their pump technology was pretty good, and they also had pressure gauges.
So, they would do "hydrostatic" testing, which consisted of pumping the boiler up to as
much as 60 psi (over the rated 40 psi) and inspected for leaks of the unheated water.
These early mechanical engineers were also really good at measuring stuff. Before the
Rainhill trials in 1829, Stephenson, Jr. wrote his eminent father that during one such test
the boiler back head was seen to bulge outwards by an alarming 1/8th of an inch.
Stephenson, Sr., who could barely write (3rd grade education), instructed his son to insert
long metal rods, "stays," to bind the rear boiler face to the front boiler face, thus reinforcing
the entire lot. Again, I have the impression that is also a standard design for steam
boiler construction, hence.
Stephenson, Sr., long familiar with pony pulled trackways in the mining districts, laid out
track that was 4' 8 1/2" between the rails, which was, as we know, the standard
width of a Roman two wheeled cart. The switches were also directly inherited from these
antique trackways.
The trackways were often hafted out of solid granite and still remain to this day in places
like Devonshire. As a child of seven I saw them first hand, and was amazed, even then,
at the sheer ingenuity.
When I think of Stephenson, artisans like Darth Santa Fe and The Siding (reworking bits of
pot metal to make a Shay) come to mind. It takes a special level of intuition married with
ability to put this stuff in working order. At this level I suspect it is innate, not taught, as
there was no DIY video available in 1827.
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Posted - July 22 2023 : 09:11:27 AM
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In part, my reference to Stephenson was tongue in cheek.
Strictly speaking, Trevethick came before him, and was therefore first, but Stephenson was first with a truly practical machine.
People argue ad-absurdum about who was first or what was biggest or smallest or whatever superlative and usually get nowhere. When the Big Boy made its grand tour, it was billed as the biggest steam locomotive, and that really depends on what you measure. There are longer engines, heavier ones, more powerful ones, etc. Many of those were not successful designs. Big Boy is biggest, all around, among enduring and successful designs and that's all that was meant.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - July 22 2023 : 10:22:03 PM
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Since you mentioned the BigBoy, I'll make an observation about big locomotives in general and Union Pacific in particular.
I am not that familiar with Union Pacific steam, but I suspect they ran what they did because they weren't hampered by the close clearances and sharp curves that were common on the major railroads of the NorthEast. PRR spent untold fortune straightening its mainline over the years, so much so that in some places there are 3 or 4 previous alignments of that section of line.
B&O's conditions, due mostly to the political forces that prevented them from building in Pennsylvania in the early years, were even worse than the PRR, and far worse than anything the UP encountered on its mainlines. And yet they ran the EM1, a locomotive similar in size and more powerful than the BigBoy. And it was able to squeal around all those sharp curves and up the steep grades hauling heavy coal trains, not the fast freight the BigBoys ran.
The UP's love for big motive power is well documented in the diesel ago, with first the gas turbines, then successive iterations of the 8 axle double diesel. Most of us don't realize that all of these designs were less than successful, with even the best of them barely lasting 15 years in service. A standard diesel, like a GP9 or SD40-2, by contrast has a service life of 30 to 50 years. One wonders if the money spent on designing these massive, customized beasts was worth it. In the end, the UP wound up running the same multiple unit consists of standard locomotives as everybody else in the industry.
There are currently experimental designs out there that run on battery power or hydrogen. Union Pacific does not have a major presence in these experiments. Perhaps management is gun shy after the failure of the last three experiments they heavily invested in: Genset switchers, and the two 6000hp super diesels (GE AC6000CW and EMD SD90MAC)
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