Do you customize your engines?

yes!

 FINALLY! I can upload files now.

 

 

Yes!

I do also.

I've made  a ATSF GP7u with a slug. The GP7u is mu'd to the slug with a powered truck on both the GP7u and the slug.

 

I'm also building a switcher with a SW switcher cab mated to a GP7u long hood.

 

That slug is pretty cool!

My TMCC Lionel Mikado Jr has been the subject of many customizations.  I dressed up the front end with a headlight visor.  Painted the headlight, marker lights and smokebox supports black.  I also added a "brake Hose" to the pilot and recently installed an ERR cruise commander M into it for cruise control as well as an LED in the cab.

 

That's a nice pic Jake.

Yep!!!

 

I don't have a single engine (yet) that has not been modified in some way.  From fixed pilots, Kadee couplers, crew added, LEDs, electronic packages (ERR Cruise Commander, PS2 installed), repaint, all the way to taking my Dremel and cutting away a Bellpaire boiler to make a RailKing 2-8-0 into something that looks more like a Seaboard Air Line engine.

 

When my 3rd Rail E7 gets in that may be the first engine not to get modified.

 

Atlas GP9 with PS2 installed:

 

 

MTH RailKing NW2 with fixed pilots and Kadees:

 

 

Williams E7 with the works:

 

 

RailKing Imperial 0-6-0 repainted for Seaboard:

 

 

RailKing 2-8-0 re-worked to look like a Seaboard engine.  I have since blackened the siderods.  The Bellpaire boiler was removed, the walkways changed, the domes moved, and the headlight moved. Engine originally came out of a RTR set I think (won off EBay):

 

 

The only engine I didn't show is a RailKing RS3 (just haven't taken a photo yet) that has the pilots fixed and Kadee couplers added (all engines have fixed pilots and Kadees)

 

Yes, I do a lot of things like that.    I have three WBB Baldwin ten-wheelers, and not one is unmodified, etc.    I added detail on all three - the basic loco is pretty, well, basic . . . .  I cut the cab height down by 1/8 inch on two so they would just slip through a tunnel on my tight mountain loop. 

 

The most drastic mod I made, I suppose, is to put the drive/chassis including from a WBB Baldwin ten-wheeler in the body from Lionel's recent conventional Mogul (the Lionel never did not run smoothly).  The WBB driver set was a bit more compact and the result looked weird, so I added the rear truck shown, which I think had been the front truck on the Mogul.  The result is a really nice little loco that looks good and runs very sweetly at very slow speeds in conventional.  

I did some when I was hot 'n heavy into MPC and Postwar back in the 80's.

 

This started out as an 8101 Chicago & Alton Hudson:

 

Former 8361/8362 Western Pacific FA's:

 

A "basket case" Postwar 736:

 

And, after I got into S and American Flyer, a former 293 New Haven Pacific:

 

Rusty

The vision Hudson has been criticized for its lack of detail. I've started correcting that.

 

Before:

 

Coupler mod:

 

 

Builders Plates:

 

 

Stay tuned.

 

Pete

I like that ATSF GP7 and slug (also the layout looks nice).

 

I do some customizing, including fixing pilots and adding appropriate details.

This FP45 has fixed pilots, full handrails, relocated headlight and rooftop and other details. The fuel tank also was modified:




Though I model ATSF, every so often, I update everything to today, and these BNSF Dash 9-44CWs received fixed pilots, other details and weathering:





I've also fixed the pilots on a number of my Atlas engines and added full handrails and scale couplers (scenery is still roughed in):


This SD40-2 received similar treatment to the FP45. Pilots are fixed, the horn has been moved (and an airline added). Among other additions are anti-climbers, brake lines, MU hoses and cab sunshades:

I almost forgot about my Lionel SP&S 0-6-0T that I had a friend reletter for the DT&I, a local road.  I also had him convert it to Kadee's because the orignal Lionel couplers disintegrated on me at about the same time.  He also painted all the shiny metal handrails black.  I think it's definitely a better looking engine now.

 

 

 

 

Formerly

 

I live about ten minutes from Ironton so the DT&I is well known to me.

 

I am currently super detailing a williams crown edition brass class J. I will post pics when I get a chance ad the rest of the parts come in.

I like to customize some of my engines too.  Sometimes it is as simple as adding a cab interior with figures to Williams diesels or adding snow plows to diesels.  My WBB GP38 and Lionel Centennial GP9 both received Lionel snow plows.  I think they are improvements and add a lot of interest to the locomotives.  Oddly enough I have not added a plow to my Polar Railroad GP7.  The biggest custom on an engine that I did was to my WBB E7.  It received a P&D hobby F3 pilot and pilot door painted to match the loco.  It also received a Kadee coupler, cab interior, LED headlight, and weathered trucks.

I've added stuff like cab figures and lighting, also stuff like markers and backup lights.  I've painted a couple, but that's still a work in progress for one of them.

Rich, Where did you find the rooftop A/C unit for the SD40 and how did you go go about re locating the horn? I have a Weaver unit I want to do the same thing to. Dave

That looks good Pete. Did the scale pilot wheels come with the locomotive?

I guess custom models must of started with my father

 

 

 

 

 

Cant remember when I did the V&O

 

 

 

This was my last Major kitbash,  Shell is a cutdown GP38-2 and an Atlas RSD4/5 truck and motors.  other body section parts are atlas sd35 or sd40 parts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a 2nd SDL39 in the works

 

Just a few of my repaints 

 

 

 

On a few diesels I have drilled paths to make it easier to fill smoke units. It also helps the smoke stacks from  blocking up. I'm sure many would say its crazy to do this but I like plenty of smoke and want to be able to fill as easily as possible. Discretely drilled holes the diameter of a pipet are not very noticeable. some I cap, some I don't. 

The most I have done so far is re-paint them too my own RR name.

 

Here is an MTH Pacific repainted for my M&GL RR

       

 

While this K-line F40ph has no external changes, I did upgrade the lighting to LED's and directional as well as made the markers light up red and rid of those pathetic mini light bulb strobes to Blue LED strobe lights!

  Here is Neutral with "light test"

 

HEre is reverse with markers and E- cyclopse light on!

 

 

Only minor mods for the most part like adding marker lamps, modifying headlamps, etc. One thing to remember is that they can become very hard to resell.

 Here's a Lionel GP9 that i upgraded to TMCC and lightly weathered, but it is now a hard item to sell even at train shows.

 

 

My most ambitious project (short of scratch building) stared out as a Lionel GP frame and a Lionel rectifier body; added some Williams trucks and pilots, Timko can motors, and a KLine reversing unit. Then learned the PRR never had E33's and making it into an E44 seems a little daunting! Result ...... a great runner but can't seem to sell it.

 

I did a repaint on Lionels little switchers ($35 from years past) including stripes, lettering, railings, horns, windows, engineer, & weathered one. I also wired them together for better travel through switches.  They still run like rockets.

 

I upgraded the motor/electronics and super-detailed my Lionel Chessie T-1.  I also kit bashed an auxiliary tender:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

quote:

I didn't like the pilot that came on my n&w y3 from lionel so I replaced it with the pilot from the santa fe y3.

I did the same thing to mine years ago. Looks much much better now, as does yours.

The list of modifications on this thing is a mile long. It's a dummy unit, modeled as a trailing unit in a consist.

 

 

I model the DT&I adhering to 3RS standards, so every locomotive I own is customized in some way. 10 of my 13 locomotives are custom painted, and most engines are weathered.

 

 

 

My latest engine: a Weaver DT&I SD40-2 (fantasy, I know, but I love the SD40-2)
 

I didn't like the pilot that came on my n&w y3 from lionel so I replaced it with the pilot from the santa fe y3

Heresy!! A Santa Fe pilot on an N&W loco? Maybe you could got a Y6b pilot instead...

While I have, so far, just taped temporary road names and numbers on locos prior to a future repainting, except for a couple of MTH 0-4-0T's, and a Lionel O-6-0T, which I repainted and relettered as Great Western "dinkies", one project I have long thought about is converting a 3 truck Lionel Heiser into a desired two truck, and into conventional.  Wonder but doubt if anybody else has done that?  That and

regauging Bachmann are always at the back of my mind.

When I first got on this site, I was surprised how many people were doing modifications, in what I thought was a culture of new-in-the box originality and the preservation of perceived value.  It looks like a lot are more interested in getting

what they like.

Chas,

 

First, thank you. It's been a while, but I think I used a no. 50 bit, mounted in a pin vise. That's maybe half as large as the holes needed for the lens, but a conservative approach is best. I drilled in the appropriate place in the cast-in detail and then carefully enlarged the holes with a hand reamer, test fitting along the way. The factory lens assembly does fit once you make the holes in the cast-in fitting. I simply removed the lens assembly and the light harness from the factory position and glued it inside the nose. If you can't remove the lens assembly cleanly, you might need to order a spare from MTH (I worked mine out cleanly without breaking it). Work carefully and test fit, a lot, but it can be done.

 

I don't know the answer to the Mars light question, but the guys on the DCS board likely do. My guess is that the outputs on the PS2 (and now PS3) boards are standard and that thus there is an output that could be used to support a Mars light. You might, however, need a different sound file to operate it once installed; I don't remember seeing a Mars light feature in the soft keys and of course the engine doesn't come with one. Maybe the sound file from an Southern Pacific SD45T-2 would have a Mars feature and could be used. Again, check with the DCS experts. My hunch is it can be done. By the time of the era I model, the Mars lights were removed from the ATSF FP45s, and the location plated over, as I did on my model.

 

I cut the fuel tank in half lengthwise and glued styrene to the metal frame body to lower it. I drilled the styrene and simply mounted the back end with the original screws. The front end screws are the body mount screws. Those screws don't originally go through the tank, but it worked out that way with the tank repositioned. I then trimmed and painted silver some thin copper sheet to fill the gap on the tank ends.

 

Hope this helps.

 

RM

A few years back I bought a Railking 2-8-8-2 on the buy sell forum and made it into an N&W 0-8-8-0 X-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Smith

At some point I will try.  Just bought an airbrush and I am painting buildings now.  At some point I will buy a not so attractive piece and give it a go.

A Forum topic inspired me to add a crew to my Williams NH EP5. Now I know which direction it will move when I turn on the voltage.

 

 

 

A while back I consulted the forum about adding a coupler to the front of my Lionel PRR Consolidation. The scale coupler broke in a minor collision. I always wanted to use the Loco in switching operations from time to time, so I cut out a slice of metal in the pilot to accommodate the shaft of a MTH front coupler, drilled a hole in the pilot for the mounting screw. It worked except that the coupler would not re-center without some sort of spring mechanism. Until I come up with a better system, I tied a piece of black elastic to one side the pilot, wrapped it once around the coupler shaft, and tied the tail to the other side of the pilot. I can't post a photo now because it’s in the shop to have ERR cruise commander installed too cure the lurching runaway problem and hopefully a 4 chuff modification. Can't wait to have it back in the lineup.