Projects you 'should have known better' but did anyway....

[wcfn100]

An SP FP7 would require new tooling.  I don't know off hand of another FP7 with no DBs and a passenger pilot.

Jason

[craigolio1]

The Canadian? It must be, 'cause I'm working on my resin version.

As for "I should have known better" projects, it might just end up being The Canadian.

Geoff

Plus one. I just bought and modified a whole train full of Concor stainless (and I need a baggage dorm and some sleepers from you when available and I can afford it). Plus I'm one for one with Rapido outdoing my efforts so the Canadian in N Scale is happening for sure.

Craig

[tehachapifan]

Projects you 'should have known better' but did anyway? Practically every one of my kitbashes as I knew they would then be mass-produced (and were).

[Angus Shops]

An SP FP7 would require new tooling.  I don't know off hand of another FP7 with no DBs and a passenger pilot.

Jason

Oh-oh, your right, no DB's and passenger pilots. And the 2nd headlight. That's a problem. But I'm happy with my IM units, but an alternate supplier would be nice. Maybe they'll get around to that new tooling given they could cover a lot more road names with that new mechanism.
Geoff

[daniel_leavitt2000]

The C30-7A/C36-7 projects were major, but they went together alright. So I can't complain about those.

Back when LL was blowing out their GP20s for $15 each, I bought 10. One of them was destined to be a GP15-1. JNJ shell purchased. Chassis milled and modified. Then the fun began. The cab didn't look right for that was lobbed off and replaced with an Atlas part. The radiators and grills were replaced with etched metal or parts from an Atlas GP15. Pilots and walkways carefully filed and sanded. I then painted and decaled the model. Tried to drill holes for handrails. They went all over the place. Gouging out the paint and resin along the way. Puttied, filed and repainted. Tried again and got the same result. This happened about 3 more times. Entire sections of still were now either bondo or milliput. This resulted in ceramic like cracks as I try to redrill holes for the umpteenth time. Finally everything is put together... sort of. Final job is to solder the wire to the stanchions .

Entire side of the hood melts before my eyes. Ugh...

Around the same time I was building a CN GP40-2 wide cab using an Athabasca Shops kit. Spent two weeks bending, tweaking and building the cab. It looks good. Too bad there just ain't no way to attach it to the GP40-2 body. Nope. It's too wide to attach it to the hood. Styrene strips keep breaking. The side still needed to be almost completely milled out to level the cab to the hood. Now the front pilot is loose with no way to secure it.

About an hour after I ruined the GP15-1, I broke the hood of the GP40-2 when trying to carve out the rear handbrake area. I took what was left of both models out to the parking lot and had at it with a rubber mallet. This was the only time I ever destroyed one of my projects out of pure frustration.

About 10 years ago I built one of those SAR F45 kits. What a great kit. Etched parts were incredible. Painted in Susie-Q yellow and black. There was some sort of chemical reaction with the Floquil and resin and the shell warped and melted. No replacements available. and project was terminated. Still have NO CLUE what could have caused the resin to craze.

Now I have an Athearn Santa Fe F45, and several Atlas GP15-1s. I think I'll wait on the CN GP40-2W.

That's coming next, right Atlas? Right?

[CNscale]

In my case, apparently it's going to be the 2 Atlas GP40s and Athabasca cab etchings I have waiting on the corner of my workbench ....

[cjm413]

I've been trying to kit bash a New York Central 19000 series caboose from an Athearn three window wooden one. So far it's taken me two cabooses to shrink the cupola to the right size, and now the evergreen plastic for the side walk ways melts into the beams when I apply plastic weld. 

Lionel made an ornament based on the NYC caboose, but I don't know if the measurements are OK for a N scale model:

[btrain]

Lionel made an ornament based on the NYC caboose, but I don't know if the measurements are OK for a N scale model:

That's a sharp idea! If it's close to scale, I'll have to make a resin copy of it, since the windows look to be filled in. But after that I could take the resin copy and place it on the Athearn frame.

[pdx1955]

The Hallmark caboose seems pretty close. Just compared one to a MT caboose...its a bit wider and taller and quite a bit longer. I'd don't know how a NYC caboose compares to a SP C-30 caboose in size but it looks like it could work.

[craigolio1]

In my case, apparently it's going to be the 2 Atlas GP40s and Athabasca cab etchings I have waiting on the corner of my workbench ....

That made me laugh.

[ncbqguy]

IIRC the Hallmark NYC caboose is fairly oversized for N. 
The RPO that was part of the General set and the SP standard Lionel caboose are very close to N.
Charlie Vlk

[randgust]

Just for the record....on the project that started this thread....

The slippery slope of demolishing the interiors of two Kato cars to move the "El Capitan" drumhead and door end of a hilevel coach to the end of a standard Budd coach is done.   Finally.    Can't say as I recommend this to anybody, Tomar would have probably been a lot easier.

It does look pretty cool though, and it works.



I do know that in all likelihood there was NEVER an Amtrak drumhead there in 1972, but I'm invoking the 'its my railroad' clause here.

[Philip H]

Years ago I started scratchbuilding a 5 car set of 40 foot well cars - the originals of these (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fUqUXhi5G38/UIm1RjWNlKI/AAAAAAAAAYo/PBGIeu_4V2U/s1600/CSXT+%23620139C+X-Sealand+Gunderson+well+car+moving+south+through+CSX+Boyles+Yard+Birmingham+AL+10-13-2012.JPG) from a MR article.

Actually got all five cars built, and started on the articulations . . . . then these came out . . . . (http://www.deluxeinnovations.com/rolling/rollingtwinstax01.html)

I kept the car bodies for years intending to finish them . . . but they are now mysteriously gone . . . .