Just as the Qustion says. I’ve thought of that today has anyone thought or
has done this?
No. But I’ve turned a 40’ boxcar into a trackside shed.
Tom
thats cool i’ve done the same to a couple old bachmann 50’ boxcars make great buildings. I thought of turning my shells into buildings might be cool.
Mt Newman Mining F7 5451, ex Western Pacific, became a clubhouse for a miniature railway at a park in Port Hedland, Western Australia. It was painted up exterrnally in its normal colours. The engine and generator had been removed, along with the radiators and fans, giving a large space with good headroom inside.
It has since been moved to an outdoor museum of mining activity just as a normal exhibit (you cant get into it any more!). Is that what you meant?
M636C
Actually, one of the F7s that is owned by the Conway Scenic RR in New Hampshire used to be somebody’s office or something in his backyard. The guy bought it from the B&M then had the innards removed. he sold it to Conway in the early 90’s I think. Now it just sits on one of the sidings still unpowered. Also I know that the Mass Central ( another RR you probably haven’t heard of) made a u-shaped shed out of three old 50’ boxcars. They might be Iowa traction but i’m probably wrong.[:D][2c][swg]
None that I know of. I know some Travel agency in western PA. called All Aboard Travel uses old passenger cars for their offices and some restaraunt in Monroeville called Maggie Mae’s was made out of old boxcars or at least looked it anyway. I’ve never seen “retired” locomotives on the other hand used as anything other than historical displays.
Same here. I’ve seen old cars used for all kinds of things, but don’t ever recall seeing an old loco used for anything except being an old loco…
Tracklayer - Layer of track…
Sounds like you could use an old steam engine as a boiler for a building. Have it so some of it sticks out of the back of the building or in like a lean-to shed and say it is used for heating and hot water. I dont know if any old locomotive boilers suffered this fate but they should be able to be used as such.
I know of half a Pacific electric “Blimp” that was incorporated into a residence, imagine the surprise of the of the crew that wass contracted to tear down said residence. The local live steam club took ownership for use as a club house…
Dave
well i desided also while working on my layout a while ago to go ahead and take my old SF shell and turn it into a building.
Someone turned an Alco locomotive into the world’s biggest snowplow, Go to Trains forum under “Large snowplow on Alco”
Its your world on that train table…make it happen, take a pic and post it…its cool creative kit bashing idea…it could be an office for yard employees, or an office for an excursion r/r, anythings goes…have fun
thanks and tatans i will check that out.
There is a hermit on my layout who lives in an old caboose.
I haven’t check it out lately but a pediatric dentist on Est Spraque in the Spokane Valley had an E-8 painted in Daylight colors and lettered 'Spokane International" tricked out w/ treatment cubicles.
Almost exactly this situation occurred on the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington in Maine. There was a problem with the running gear of one of their smaller steam locomotives. Rather than fix the running gear, they opted to use the boiler as a source for steam in their car shop in the Wiscasset yards.
In this case, the boiler was completely enclosed by the building. This would probably have been the usual situation. Having some of the boiler stick out of the back of the building would have made for a leaky building when it rained, and a drafty building in the winter. Plus it would have made it difficult to access parts of the boiler for normal maintenance. Steam boilers need periodic inspection and maintenance. You don’t want to build a wall that straddles the boiler, because you may have to tear down that wall later, to have access if part of the boiler needs repair.
Better to have it either completely inside the building, or completely outside. You’d probably leave the boiler outside only in a warm climate. Otherwise, for half the year, you’re going to spend extra money heating the outside air, just trying to keep the boiler hot enough. Similar reasoning explains why nobody builds the furnace outside the building they want to heat.
-Ed
No, but when my wife and I were dating she said something I thought was really intriguing.
Five miles down the road I turned my car into a motel.[(-D]
Andre
here in mexico NdeM donated older steamers to public works and has them placed on traffic circles, laater i’ll post some pictures someday
lol andre
jer thats good
i will be turning an old sante fe shell into a building after i finsh my csx tool shed im building.
Supposedly some lumber company used an SP Cab-Forward boiler as a source of steam power for a logging mill–now that must have been an impressive sight!
I’m not sure if electric interurban equipment counts as an “engine” under this definition, but many streetcars and interurbans ended up as mother-in-law quarters (like the magnificent “Bidwell” of the Sacramento Northern) or bunkhouses (like the Pacific Electric funeral car “Descano”) or storage sheds, or chicken coops, or…