i just came up with the ultimate loco that i am going to build. it will be called the DDAC90X. it will be like the DDA40X, but it will be 2 SD90MAC-H’s put together. it will have 4 trucks, 12 axles, and an extended cab. the best reasoning behind this loco i can come up with is that it is designed for non stop fast freights. the extended cab will have sleeping quarters for another crew, kinda like team driving an 18 wheeler. that way some of the stops can be cut out. also, with it’s 4 trucks, it’s weight will be more evenly distributed so it can operate on any existing tracks and around tight curves. i plan to take 2 or 3 rail power 90MAC shells and chassies and cut em up and put em back together. it will be powered with 2 motors like the athearn DD40. the leading and trailng trucks will be unpowered, with the 2 middle trucks powered. this thing is gonna rock! i’ll be sure to get some pictures of it up when i get it assembled…ordering the parts now 
thank y’all for the ideas in this forum.
I have a H9025M which is like a SD90AC except it is streched even further and rides on 2 4 axel trucks i designed andf has a longer cab. Specs: Weight 600,000lbs
Length 58.40m
HP 8,500HP
Trucks Softride Radial
GDRMCo
Right on james. here in aus we had garrats. now we have CLPs, NJs and NZs.
I have designed a larger steamer than you trainmaster15. it is the 4-10-10-6 Highlander built to pull anything with more power than the 2-6-6-6 Alegheny. it has the same size firebox as the 2-6-6-6 but more drivers and can pull as much as 2 2-6-6-6s.
I also have made a DSA50M and a DSB50M
James, Along about 1963 I was entranced by the “look” of the UP Veranda turbines and decided to have one. Only it turned out to be an Athearn F7 A and B with the sides cutaway and the sides of a GP 9 hood stuck in thier place. Definitly cool looking rig. Hobbytown multi-drive pulls like a demon and it is still cooking along in revenue service.
Lowell
Recently put the finishing touches on my latest and greatest creation. I call it a CC-80X. Basically, it’s 2 Athearn F45 shells joined together(only 1 cab)and placed on a custom chassis. Chassis is scratchbuilt and set up with span bolsters and 4 6-axle trucks, similar to N&W Jawn Henry turbine. Used SD40-2 “porches” for the pilots on the bolsters. I used 1 large Sagami motor to power all axles. The motor barely fits in the shell, and I did have to shave the inside of the shell for clearance. Since my road is still in boxes waiting for a home, I don’t have any performance data. All that is left to do is the decals, but I don’t have them made yet. This loco is supposed to be the result of a joint venture between the Great Lake Central Railroad and EMD in the early 70’s. GLC management was looking for a replacement for the 15 Jawn Henry style turbines that had been in service, yet did not want to stay with turbines or lose the ability to run these units system-wide. EMD provided 20 cylinder engines, modified like the 16 cylinder was for the DD40AX, to produce 4000 horsepower each for a total of 8000 horsepower on tap. These locos were built on the old turbine frames, but the tri-mount trucks were replaced with the newer EMD trucks to handle the increased horsepower. The F45 style body was chosen to blend in with the F45’s being recieved from EMD at the time and the rest of the passenger fleet, as these locos were destined for fast freight and passenger service. The results of the first test unit were good, and the order was made for all 15 turbines to become diesels. At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it! Good luck, Morpar
I am also planning to build an ALCo HPA/HPB Heavy Passenger units. They look like normal ALCo PA/PBs but are as long as a SD9043MAC and ride 2 4 axle trucks and have 6000HP to pull the GDRMCo’s Highlander named after their 4-10-10-6 Highlander steam engine. The story goes the Great Dividing Range Mining Co. needed a boost in productivity and worked with ALCo to produce a loco powerful enough to pull a 100 car passenger train across the GDRMCo.'s Rande Route. When the first new unit arrived it was numbered 555A. During trials 555A proved to be able to produce 100,000 pounds of tractive effort which was required to pull 50 50 pound 5 truck 4 unit articulated passenger cars built by Pullman Standard. when the second unit arrived, a booster unit, it was numbered 555B. These units were so successful the GDRMCo. bought 50 more numbered 556-606.
Hey, what about a totally goofy thing like a modern comfort cab being spliced onto an RS-1 body? Maybe justified as an industrial switcher, bought secondhand and repowered by its owner, given a comfort cab because of union labor rules and because the distance from mine to processing center is something ridiculous, like a 12-hour trip through abject wilderness. What if gold was discovered in the Alaskan interior in sufficient quantity to justify such a run, with the smelter being near the coast?
And, what if, what if, world economic conditions had collapsed to the point that gold was a much more valuable commodity, the only reliable currency, and thus this forlorn little mine run was a real security risk? Imagine this little locomotive being equipped with a machine gun turret! And of course an armed caboose would be necessary.
Odd you should bring this up as i’ve been eyeballing this oddball shaped cap on some kind of hair stuff that my daughter uses on her hair in the morning time and trying to figure out what kind of Hot Shot Fireball I can make out of it. HA HA HA, if she only knew. One morning, that thing will come up missing and she’ll wonder what the old man is up to. Only I would be so bold.[}:)][}:)][}:)][:D]
personally i’m trying to figure out how to model the quadraplex 2-8-8-8-8-2 or the 2-10-10-10-10-2 and this in n scale hmm any suggestions on how to make a flexable boiler?
[^]Rubber tubing maybe[:D][:)][:)][:p][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][8D][:p]
A few years ago I modeled an F-1 1/2, Thats the front half of an F-3 shell mounted to an Athern Lil’Hustler Chassis.
How about a DD40 chassis with two F40PH shells on it back to back- giving it two cabs. it could be called a DD40PH
Well the HPA/HPB locos are built and i have plans to extend them to be as long as my H9025M loco. A scale 55m!!! They so far are powered by 4 Athearn Hustler engines. They hardly fit into the shell!!!
[:p]I got it, I got it, and she didn’t even see me do it, but she’ll know soon enough, then will come the interragation, the lights, the thumb screws, the water torture, and for what, a worthless piece of plastic, shaped like a nose cone of some NASA creation of the distant past. But!!!, I’ll endure, and I won’t give in, I won’t tell her that I, her so called sane father, swiped it just to build some distorted creation conjured up in my sick mind. I can’t let her believe that I’m really building a FRANKINSTIEN, dreamed up in a deep sleep brought on by too much Italian sausage and Miller Draft, at 10pm on a friday or saturday night. I will endure, yes I will, I never give in, never!!![}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][:p]