Hey all!
I’m a New Haven modeler, and I’d love to kitbash a 5 axle C-Liner for myself in N scale. I’ve seen some old railwire forum posts about this topic, but nothing really definitive that I could discern. Any ideas on whats the best way to kitbash a 5 axle C-Liner (preferable without requiring the Rapido FL-9 since thats quite a bit out of my price range for a kitbash!)? Thanks in advance!
The lead truck is a fairly distinctive curved drop-equalizer that any B-B trucked C-liner will have.
The rear truck is the F-M version of the sort of A-1-A truck on a PA; in fact one of the restored PAs currently rides on F-M Erie-built trucks. It should not take too much fiddling to get PA model sideframes to get them to look right.
I suspect that bashing a PA frame and motor is going to be better than lengthening a C-liner frame. I don’t think anyone makes an N-scale Erie-built.
I’d think you’d be able to section a couple of C-liner shells to get the right side detail and extra fan.
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Isn’t the 5 axle version the same length as a 4 axle C-Liner? I bashed one in HO by taking a Proto 1000 C-liner and the truck and mounting pin from a Proto 1000 Erie Built. (Back in the day Trainworld was blowing them out, so I bought a few to play with).
I’m not familiar with N-scale locomotives, but you could start with a LifeLike C-Liner and get a truck from an Erie-Built…
Thats the plan, thank you! Just need to figure out what locos to use.
I gather the Erie Built is hard to come by, so I would get a junked LL PA-1 and steal a truck from that.
The HO models had a couple of complicating factors–the mountings pins were different, so I had to hacksaw it out of the Erie-Built frame, and cut a notch and epoxy it in the C-liner frame. Then the gear ratios were different between the two trucks, so I just powered the front truck…
The color scheme is wrong, and it needs steam generator details, but I’ve got other projects that are taking priority right now.
Yup, I’ve got some already that I don’t mind screwing up, but I will also be keeping an eye out for a unit for parts online. Thanks for the advice! This is a sort of back burner project for myself as well, so I’m planning on slowly collecting what I need.
For some reason, I thought the 2400hp locomotives were about 3’ longer. That might have referred to the wheelbase, because the references I see confirm a common carbody. Internal weight from the steam generator and its fuel and water are the reason for the extra idler axle, not the bigger engine.
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