Adding scale detail to lionel scale ATSF Alco PA 1

I'm going to try aluminum or silver scalecoat. Not too concerned about the match as the pilots got pretty weathered.

 

The pictures Eric sent were of his Key Alco.

 

Paint finally arrived today so I will paint and finish the pilots as time permits.

 

Ron

Ron I think your project is just wonderful!

Keep up the outstanding work.

Eric, thank you very much. I just wish I could be a little faster, but when it get's tedious I put it down and play with something else and then come back to it.

The job the author of this thread is doing on that PA1 is really quite nice. I think when one decides to modify a locomotive or car to add realism, it takes great patience and skill. Many do not posses the skills or patience to venture off into this aspect of the hobby.

 

My compliments to this gentleman.

Very nice additions.

Yes!  Really nicely done and showing just what can be done with a bit of applied effort.

Thanks for sharing!

As I was completing the truck detail on the B unit I noticed an unprotypical casting extension on the trucks at the outer brakes. Now grinding these off.

 

In this picture the upper truck frame has the extraneous pieces outside of the far end brake ends. On the bottom truck frame it has been ground off.

Wow, Ron.

Didn't even notice those extra pieces until you pointed them out. Now when I go back and look they stick out!

Good eye and great job!

Me neither.  But what strikes me most is the absolute beauty of these sideframes - they compare well with high end brass.  Lionel and MTH are making better models than we 2-railers could buy at any price three decades ago.

The easiest way to tell the latest Lionel PAs is the fuel tank is a scale foot too long and the radiator fan is a scale foot too small.

Bob2 had asked earlier about the Lionel PA wheelbase.  Anybody know?

 

Quote:  "One thing wrong with most MTH locomotives, and the PA in particular, is that the wheelbases were incorrect.  The Lionel trucks look perfect - is the wheelbase correct?"

 

Thanks. Bill

Looks to me like it should really be there. Looks to be part of the truck frame. Oh well, too late now. 

Zoom in

 

Big Jim these are not to be found on the prototype photos of the Santa Fe locos. If they are there they are deep in the shadows.

 

Ron

 

Yes, it is in the photos if you look at right photo. Finding a pure side photo is hard to find, but, there are a couple. Yes, it is in the shadows, but, if can zoom in on the front of the front truck and the rear of the rear truck you can see it.

 

What you took off is a part of the frame that is in what I believe is an oxbow type shape. In other words, from the side of the frame it curves ninety degrees inward, then ninety degrees down, then curving ninety degrees inward again. The plan that I provided is I believe from a "Locomotive Cyclopedia", so it is there.

 

 Maybe these two will convince you.

 

 

 Look very closely at this photo posted earlier, just behind the stirrup, and you can see how the frame "esses" and goes across toward the other side.

 

Let me add this,

The cast on part that you took off is clearly not a good representation of the way the frame is actually shaped. Since you have done so much detailing already, I am sure that you can make a new part that more closely represents the "S" shape of the frame . 

Jim. You are correct.

 

I know exactly what you're speaking of. I have the drawings. These are the front and rear frame pieces of this truck. Your right, the Lionel casting just jumps out while this piece is deeper in the truck. I've considered modelling this , but later. I'm more concerned about the visible frame pieces at the ends of the units and the end plates of the units where the air hoses are mounted.

 

I'm at the point where the B unit is almost done and I can start on the powered A unit and its' pilot. There is going to be a stopping point soon.

 

I've got two more projects I really really want to get to next. Installing ERR cruise and sound for my Pecos River ATSF Hudson and ERR cruise and sound for a 3 rail conversion of my Westside ATSF 2 rail Mikado.

 

Thanks Big Jim for the tips.

 

Ron

Not intending to detract from the excellent work displayed in this thread, but one factory-applied detail that could use some work is the windshield wiper.  It's in the wrong place and the blade is canted in relation to the arm.

 

The original Alco-GE PA1 windshield wiper had the arm and the blade parallel and they were located further inboard, at the bottom edge of the windshield.  The original wiper motor was a Trico-Folberth rack and pinion air pressure motor with a 140-degree sweep.

 

(Later, several owners -- including Santa Fe -- got tired of getting under the dashboard to repair or replace windshield wiper motors, and mounted them above the windshield.  Alco-GE got the message, and, beginning with the PA2, used the same Sprague Air-Push 100-degree wiper motor used by EMD, mounted above the windshield).

 

Too much information, probably, but the Lionel PA1 windshield wiper has always been a burr under my saddle.