There are freelanced railroads, But what about freelanced loco's?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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In light of another post querying about freelance model railroads and the modelers history of it, started to make me think a little. How many of us ‘freelance’ or locomotives?

So has anyone heavily modified or even built there own locomotives for themselves?

I have a P2K GP18 (SAL #400) that I have thought of ‘rebuilding’ and the aforementioned post really got me thinking of it. So as time (and mostly money) allow I have decided to model this creature of the iron as my own version of rebuilt unit. Eventually will be representing a custom rebuild for a fictional short line railroad I have in my head (not sure if it will go much beyond a few engines and rolling stock painted up).

As mentioned it is a P2K representing a GP18 with dynamic brakes. My plans start with the frame by cutting the sill to fit sill-mounted air tanks (ala EMD 35, 38, 40 series), and using the fuel tank from same model modified to fit the new space. Small style EMD snow plows will be added to front and rear pilots (I live in WIS).

Trucks will have the outer brake shoes removed (I think it looks better), along with some speed recorder and sand hose details added.

The original short hood will be lowered and headlight assemble remains, but the original class lights and number boards will be removed and ‘plated’ over. The cab front will be filled in with the dual-windshield cab face (from 35, 38, 40 series parts loco), and the cab itself will be modified with a raised and slanted cab roof (from SF GP7u rebuilds). The number board/headlight from the (Spartan) parts cab will be used with a block out plate in place of the headlights. Other minor details like radio antenna, sun shades, weather windows, wind deflectors etc will be added as I please.

The long hood will remain reletively unscathed compared to the rest, but will still be modified. I plan to replace the original P2K louvered radiator intakes for better detailed ones since the ones on it now are damaged and some louvers missing. The dynami

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BerkshireSteam,

Wow, that is one interesting project, I am drooling to see it’s progress already!!! COOL!!

I’m glad you started this thread! I am mostly a prototype type modeler, but I like the unique too! I am building some of the units that have been used in motion pictures, & television, & stray from the ‘everyday’ now & again!! Why, well, cuz I think it is fun & also interesting!! But that is just me!

Sometime in the late fall in 2007 I saw an article in a Mag or a book, that showed F7 conversions, one had a nose of the F7 cab graphted with a GP long hood, at the time I thought I had to model that! I think it may have been Australian, but don’t quote me on that… I am also enamored by unique loco’s like the GE BQ23, the Morrison Knudsen MK 5000 (cuz DME had one, #5000, really, YES) & on the other side of the scale, a little SDL39 MILW, & wild little switcher units!

There have been a few shots from folks on here that did some serious bashing… One that comes to mind is JeffreyW’s loco, (please show it to us again Jeffrey)!
Some really odd ones are some of the new Tier-II emissions units that are coming out now… Hmmm Sad…

So, what would make my “WILDBASH” project list???

A GP unit based on ACe equipment, (although it will be severely long to be a GP!)
Some F units with, either a long hood swap, or inversely, a 40 series cab w/short hood swap!
Neat little Switchers with 40 series cabs…
An SD40-3 with SD70i or ACe Cab fitment, just to confuse & make ‘some’ folks have a meltdown!
& Here is one that I can show you, an afternoon in Photoshop with a pic of an Intermountian GEVO, became my modern “Q” Quarters Cab version… Someday, I will really want to build it, cuz I think I already commited to it, by showing a photoshop ‘pilot’ verson of her!! & I still think it is clever!!! Hah hah!!!

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As the GER is freelanced and I’ve added details to all the diesels and in addition kitbashed practically all the steam, then by definition everyone of them is a freelanced loco.

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I have one brass loco (Baldwin 0-8-0T, class of 1897) that has Westinghouse air brakes the prototype didn’t last long enough to have installed. (Compressor on the side of the smokebox, air tanks on the tops of the side tanks with cooling coils behind them.) A standard modification for an antique still operating in 1964.

Then there is tha 2-6-6-2T that started life as a Mantua logger, but now looks more like a Kawasaki than a Baldwin - shorter, fatter boiler, typical combined steam-and-sand dome with outside throttle linkage, Elesco feedwater heater in front of the stack, huge reciprocating water pump balanced by a cross-compound air pump opposite. Also, the new cab has windows in the bunker bulkhead and the bunker itself has been heavily redesigned, rather on the lines of a C56 class mogul’s tender.

A couple of surplus 0-6-0Ts are scheduled to become a Golwe when, as and if I need it. The result will probably owe more to the C58 than the French Golwes of the Ivory Coast Railway…

There’s also a Withuhn inspired 4-(4+4)-4+4-(4+4)-4 Garratt with high pressure boiler, internally-connected 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines (design cancels most dynamic augment.) Ten thousand plus horsepower, plus speed…

The Withuhn-Garratt would just be a fun project - I need that on my layout about as much as Custer needed more Indians…

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with tongue in cheek)

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With diesels, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of scope for freelancing: most of the important stuff is under the hoods, and it’s mostly a matter of selecting appropriate details and a paint scheme. And in any case, the level of standardization in diesel construction and details really doesn’t give you much to freelance.

In the 1970s and 1980s, John Swanson published a series of articles about kitbashing the then available HO steam locomotive kits to either more closely resemble prototypes, or for totally freelanced designs. However, the disappearance of a number of manufacturers in this field, and the discontinuation of most of the kits until recently available has probably put a damper on doing this sort of thing. In N scale, the scope is further limited by the dearth of detail parts, the small selection of steam locomotives, and the fact that the small size of these models discourages doing more than cosmetic modifications.

To make credible freelance steam locomotives would require the designer to be very familiar with steam locomotives and the technology available a any given time in the steam era.

I wanted to build a model of the “Super 4-8-4” that was shown in the old Trains magazine article, “Was There Ever a Super 4-8-4” that was published in the 1970s. Kalmbach’s staff artists produced a composite drawing of the “super” features of a number of different 4-8-4s. I would have liked to have had a fleet of those, painted in a red, maroon, and gold scheme reminiscent of the Alton/GM&O and CGW.

Westside Models once proposed a line of freelanced brass HO steam locomotives, and one was produced, a 2-10-0 called “The Brute”. One of these engines was reviewed in Railroad Model Craftsman in early 1980s, but I’ve never seen any on hobby shop shelves or offered used. It would have been a cool engine to have. The freelance line must not have sold very well, because no further engines in the series were produced.

I

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If you want to see some truly odd looking, yet real locomotives, just search for “ugliest locomotive” in these forums.

Plenty of kitbashing fodder there - with the added pleasure of showing any critics a picture of the real thing :slight_smile:

I’d love to see a model of this one GMD GMDH1

Grin,
Stein

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My railroads are a freelanced prototype…ish. I model GTW, BN, DMI&R, and Amtrak. My GTW have a lot of second hand power that they have re-painted in GTW blue and orange. I currently have an FP45 and had a GP60M. I plan on painting GP40X and SD60F. I am going to modify markings on a BCR 8-40B to GTW but maintain the blue and silver paint scheme. For passenger service, all my roads maintain service, the GTW will have a SD35P, FP45, and a Genset painted black and orange. The Genset will be my passenger switcher.

Someday I would like to paint a SD60 in SP&S.

The plan for my road is that DMI&R will have trackage rights to bring ore into Detroit over the GTW. BN also have some sort of partnership with GTW as well. Amtrak competes with all roads for passenger service,this is possible due to horrible service from the airlines. Hmmm?

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Nile,

That is very interesting!
Could you tell me more about that “BCR 8-40B in silver & blue?”
I am only apprised of the Red White & Blue, & the Green multi toned ones on BCR, I’d like to learn more…
Maybe a picture?

Here is a (moch-up) picture of my Dash8-40CM & an SD40-2 doing a FreeLancer thing!

Thanks!

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This is one I built in 2009. It started life as an Atlas GE U30C and ended up as a U30M-R-EM-645. Using tha Atlas body as a base pieces from an Athearn SD40-2 and a Bachmann GP40 were grafted in.

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Yup that is the one, Jeffrey rules! Really cool loco!

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Chad-

That scene’s definitely freelanced: The Star Gate was closer to the Joint Line in Colorado…

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What is funny is that I almost used my sheared/destroyed ring gear from an '87 944 for the pattern…
Perhaps if I have time today I will dig it up & shoot it, & post it…

The real Cheyenne Mtn Base is an inspiring thing, no wind, or roof shingle issues!

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It’s your model RR empire. Do what you want! Sounds like a great idea to me!

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Here is a shredded 944 ring gear, acting as a monument! With a CITX SD40-2M (really is a a re-engined SD45 to SD40-2 specs) that represents one I saw on IC&E rails a year or so ago, the number is false, but there are some out there… It needs a lot more details, but getting there…

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I like narrowgauge diesels. There are a few prototypes, mostly outside the US, and there are some locos where narrowgauge can be spec-ed on what is usually a standard gauge chassis. Then there are ones that are pure fantasy, but I like to keep things believeable.

Here’s a pic of my first conversion. It’s Australian in origin, with a Powerline shell on a K&M Engineers HOn3 chassis. I added steam generator details and repainted it. It’s a strong puller, but the C-C trucks don’t like curves too much.

Here’s an Athearn conversion of a SW chassis that resembles a Whitcomb diesel. I bought it from jeepcaptain, who sells all sorts of NG diesel conversions on the popular auction site.

Then there are my GE 70-tonners, based on the Hauff brothers article in RMC.

My latest conversions are of Kato NW2s to what I call a NW2M. It’s based on an article by Raymond Hoppes in the August 2010 RMC, where he converted a NW2M to a replica of the Army 4700N experimental narrowgauge diesel. My mod adds a steam generator and dynamic brakes to the basic underpinnings provided by Hoppes.

It’s not that I don’t like steam. I’ve got a number of Blackstone locos, as well as several pieces of brass that I’m beginning to convert to DCC/sound. These conversions represent an economical way to add reliable motive power to my HOn3 system.

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My ATLANTIC CENTRAL has lots of freelanced locos that were designed in conjunction with various builders and our mechanical department.

While LIMA was busy building the famous “Berkshire” for the NKP, C&O, PM, etc, they also built Mikados for the DT&I that were very similar.

The ATLANTIC CENTRAL ordered Mikados based on a combination of the two locos, bigger than the DT&I Mikes, and with 70" drivers like the Berk’s.

Here is photo of one before it went to the paint shop:

Sheldon

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I picked up a random BB GP38-2 one day because it was super cheap. I don’t really have a use for it and thought about turning it into a GP38-2W. Around that time, Atlas put out their offer and I sidelined it. A lot of effort for something I could get off the shelf, you know?

So I toyed with the idea of grafting a widecab onto it as a homegrown wreck rebuild by my freelance’s shops. But it wouldn’t look like much more than a GP38-2W anyhow. The brain kept going.

I have a soft spot for the sloped short hood of the SD18s and SD24s. If I can find the parts, this January’s project is to start work on the world’s first and probably only GP24-2.

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I’ve played around with the idea of building an EMD rebuild on top of an Atlas SD35 frame I have. Tier-4, Genset, and CAT rebuilds all come to mind, as does the idea of a wide cab. So far I haven’t pursued it, but someday I may. I’ll be following this thread with interest.

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Back in the 70’s, I scratchbuilt CN-style safety cabs for several Atlas SD24s and 35s:

The steamer, from Bachmann, was modified slightly from its original Santa Fe appearance with a scratchbuilt all-weather cab, plus a cast steel pilot and other details from Cal-Scale. The original tender was shortened and converted to coal, and I made it into a pedestal-type by grafting the top of a Tyco 54’ ACF covered hopper onto its cut-away bottom edge. The pedestal was created from the sideframes of the original four-axle trucks - all detail except the journal covers was filed away, then parts of the two trucks were spliced together. I added the pedestal-style overlay, cut from .020" sheet styrene, then added leaf springs (built-up from Kadee coupler box covers) and hangers (brass wire).

This doodlebug was built from a Rivarossi combine and part of an Athearn F7, along with detail parts from various sources. The pilot is the original from the ex-Santa Fe loco shown above.

While all of my other locos are commercially-available models, all have been modified and/or detailed to reflect a “family” appearance.

Wayne

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One thing I see from a lot of people when they try to scratchbuild or kitbash something is that they’ll try to plan it out to the nth degree and have all the pieces the exact size they have to be before actually putting anything together. Folks, that hardly EVER works. There are always those little things the plan doesn’t consider. I nearly ripped my hair out several times trying to figure out why the pieces I planned out so well wouldn’t go together the way I thought they should. I finally figured out the best way to get around that. Start with the idea, don’t try to pre-plan beyond the first few pieces and JUST DO IT. The little things will be taken care of as they come along and you won’t have to trash the plan.