Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Locomotive Breath - Part 4

Its been 6 months!  Six Months to make one locomotive model.  I'm sure that this is extremely slow, but this hobby is not my full time job.  Though some days I wish it was!  Locomotive Breath - Part 4 is finally here!  We put the finishing touches on Mascoutin Valley GP7 #217 and get it on the layout. Without further ado lets get to it!

Pictures for Parts Placement

For the final detail parts I had to reference the pictures of the prototype (real thing) to get the location correct.  I will admit this is not a 100% replica of CNW 4133, but it gets us in the ball park.  After all I'm sure the crew at the Mascoutin Valley engine shops added their personal touch to this GP7 to make it special just to the MVRR.

Around the Horn

The horn on CNW 4133 was located in the center of the nose right in front of the cab.  The manufacturer of the model would have you put the horn in the left center of the nose.  Well that didn't work for me!  I have a picture of Wisconsin Central 4133 (ex CNW 4133).  She looks rough.  Notice the placement of the horn on top of the nose, in front of the cab.

WC 4133 (ex CNW 4133) with Horn Location Identified

Below I'm going to show where the model manufacturer puts the horn.  Subsequent pictures below show how and where I attach the horn.  Please note the super expensive clamp holding the horn in as the cyanoacrylate (CA) dries.  Hint: its a wooden railroad tie!  I had thoughts of leaving it in there.  The Mascoutin Valley couldn't have one of its star players on the bench.  Especially if it had a broken horn due to smacking it into a low hanging tree limb!  Put some lumber in there and prop it up!
Where the Manufacturer Suggests where the horn goes.
Drilling new Horn Mount Location
MVRR #217 Horn Assembly featuring the fancy prop to hold it up while the CA dries.



Hell's Bells

One of the other features of CNW 4133 I wanted to capture was the bell location.  You can see it in the photo of WC 4133 by the front of the fuel tank.  I took a fine drill bit and put a hole in the shell.  Then I mounted the bell in the location with CA.  Take a look at the picture below notice the bell in front of the tank.

MVRR #217 Engineer's Side.

Final Product

With a little bit of touch up paint and a final dusting of weathering MVRR #217 is ready for service!
Here are a few more shots of the finished product.





MVRR #217 Bill of Material


Manufacturer Item # Description QTY
Life Like P2K N/A GP7 Undecorated W/O Dynamic Brakes 1
SoundTraxx 827101 Tsunami EMD 567 1
Unknown N/A C0603 Surface Mount LEDs 5
Details West RB-126 Rotary Beacon Western Cullen Type 1
Details West BC-244 Axle Bearing Caps 4
Details West SA-124 Spark Arrestor "Super" Non-Lifting Non Turbo C&NW 2
Detail Associates 1101 Lift Rings 3 1/2"  12
Details West PL-155 Snow Plow C&NW 1
Details West SR-284 Speed Recorder 1
Kadee #158 Realistic Head Whisker Coupler (Pair) 1

Next Time

So what's up next?  Here is a little video that will give a hint as to what the next post is about!


I want to thank everyone for reading and following along.

Be sure to check out my facebook page!  As the dog days of summer kick in, work on the layout and equipment continues! I am posting updates multiple times per week so check it out and please provide feedback!

You can find my Facebook Page here.  Make Sure to give it a 'like' to keep up with my progress!



https://m.facebook.com/MascoutinValleyRR/

Thanks for reading!  Until next time keep 'er in Notch 8!