What old zombies should come back, and who should do them?

[peteski]

Does that mean the curmudgeon jumped the snark?

Oy! 

 

[nkalanaga]

U28C vs U30C:  The NP had a dozen U28Cs, all with the early U25C body.  The last three were rated at 3,000 Hp, thus were, technically, U30Cs, although they looked like U25Cs.   They, and the CB&Q, had GE custom build the units with the earlier bodies, for whatever reason.

The NPs second order of U25Cs were rated at 2,750 Hp, so should be U28Cs.  But they all looked basically alike.

I suspect that the prototype for the Minitrix U28C was a later U28C body style, which carried over to the U30Cs.  GE seems to have changed body styles in the middle of several model's production runs, unlike most EMD models.

[OldEastRR]

5 axle C-liners are at least as viable to market in n scale as the DL109 -- actually more so, as the NH had almost every DL109 made. The passenger C-liners ran on the LIRR, NH, NYC, CN and CP, and not just as the road's only unit of that type (unlike the DL109).
Two different companies made the DL109 model!
And since Rapido already came up with a five-axle loco, and they like CN, CP and NH, it only seems logical they make the new C-Liner. (Tho they can't just use the FL9 frame with new trucks and shell on it).
I know somebody out there constructed a C-liner out of various loco parts, so the first requirement of mass-producing an N loco has been fulfilled: some modeler just went through a lot of time effort and money to hand-build a decent version.

[Missaberoad]

CP didn't have any 5 axle C Liners... Theirs were all 4 axle like the Life-like model...

[High Hood]

Did Atlas acquire the C-Liner tooling? I’d like to see it rereleased.

[johnb]

I wish that I had some old N Scale of Nevada Rivarossi  2-8-2 and 4-6-2 retro frames for my Atlas steam

[thomasjmdavis]

Another thing from the old days that I wish would make a come-back:

DUMMIES

Especially B units.  I think the last ones I bought came with Life Like Es 20 or 25 years ago.  I have made a few with Kato spare parts and shells picked up at train shows and eBay.  But either as a part of a major manufacturer product line or an aftermarket chassis that could accept shells from Kato and IM.  Also could be made to accept a sound only decoder- a lot more room for a speaker than in the common N Scale F unit.

To give credit where due- OldEastRR made a comment about dummies on the recent RDC thread that got me thinking. 

[wcfn100]

Another thing from the old days that I wish would make a come-back:

DUMMIES

Especially B units.  I think the last ones I bought came with Life Like Es 20 or 25 years ago.  I have made a few with Kato spare parts and shells picked up at train shows and eBay.  But either as a part of a major manufacturer product line or an aftermarket chassis that could accept shells from Kato and IM.  Also could be made to accept a sound only decoder- a lot more room for a speaker than in the common N Scale F unit.

To give credit where due- OldEastRR made a comment about dummies on the recent RDC thread that got me thinking.

Broadway Limited makes dummy B units for their Es and Fs.

Jason

[High Hood]

If Atlas could resurrect their old USRA 2-8-8-2, that’d be awesome.

[hegstad1]

If Atlas could resurrect their old USRA 2-8-8-2, that’d be awesome.

Just picked one up at a train show for $30!!  Like new condition and runs great. 

[ncbqguy]

The Con-Cor GN S2 did not follow J3A design but was more of a brass locomotive executed in plastic.  Main fault was the motor worm not being held in positive mesh with the main gear.  The shell was a Chinese puzzle of interlocking small segments which simplified painting in the fancy GN green scheme.   It had coined frame halves and lacked the self quartering feature of the Hudson mechanism.
I never got any of the later CHina built S2 Nor the GS4 which shared parts.   (The GS4 was planned to be a Kato engine for Con-Cor but the split happened before it was started in Japan)
Charlie Vlk

[mike_lawyer]

The Con-Cor GN S2 did not follow J3A design but was more of a brass locomotive executed in plastic.  Main fault was the motor worm not being held in positive mesh with the main gear.  The shell was a Chinese puzzle of interlocking small segments which simplified painting in the fancy GN green scheme.   It had coined frame halves and lacked the self quartering feature of the Hudson mechanism.
I never got any of the later CHina built S2 Nor the GS4 which shared parts.   (The GS4 was planned to be a Kato engine for Con-Cor but the split happened before it was started in Japan)
Charlie Vlk

Charlie -

Would you consider the Kato Mikado to be in the category of a simple, bulletproof design?  I know you mentioned the Micro-Ace steamers earlier, but I always consider the Kato Mikado to be about the best in design as far as simplicity and operability for North American steam.

More recent steamers to me have been far too complex, especially if you need to fix something. 

[cjm413]

U28C vs U30C:  The NP had a dozen U28Cs, all with the early U25C body.  The last three were rated at 3,000 Hp, thus were, technically, U30Cs, although they looked like U25Cs.   They, and the CB&Q, had GE custom build the units with the earlier bodies, for whatever reason.

The NPs second order of U25Cs were rated at 2,750 Hp, so should be U28Cs.  But they all looked basically alike.

I suspect that the prototype for the Minitrix U28C was a later U28C body style, which carried over to the U30Cs.  GE seems to have changed body styles in the middle of several model's production runs, unlike most EMD models.

Late U28C's and the first few orders of U30C's (e.g. ex-ACL unit below) did not have the two small intakes present on the Minitrix model.   Minitrix pulled that square opening right out of their 



I suspect they called their U30C a U28C for the same reasons that they called their F7 a F9...

[ncbqguy]

Mike-
No, the Kato USRA Heavy was a new design.   The only concept was held over from previous locos was the faulty drawbar which had caused the factory to send a technician to Bensenville to fix all the GN S2s.....a fiasco which was repeated  but solved by Kato USA staff doing repairs and sending out drawbars for consumers to fix themselves.
The half height frame halves with a full weight above works better than full frame halves. 
The plastic valve gear on the Hudson never gave much in the way of problems and if it had been molded in flat black plastic would have looked better.   The main improvement to the 4-6-4 would be coned axle pickups.
Charlie Vlk

Mike, did I run into you “back in the day” at All-Nations in Chicago?

[Curtis Kyger]

I would like to see a fresh version of the 2 bay covered hopper (with the triangular side cut-outs) that has been produced by Deluxe Innovations ...for ever.  A few suppliers have beat around this bush (Kato, Athearn, Atlas) but no one has yet chosen to made a fresh run at this model (ACF or Pullman Standard versions please).  I'd like to see TrainWorx take a stab at it.