HUDSONS GALORE!!..Tales From Harmon Shops

Now that is an awe inspiring lineup there Pat. All those Hudson's around all your Hudson's, they're going to tell stories. Think of the crews as well. "Man, you should have seen the skeletons operating those Hudson's before Pat got his hands in there.", First engineer says.

"Skeletons? There was no one at the back head until Pat put us in. You wanna talk about runaway train, Good God.", Second engineer.

I love the green in the cab, gotta love green. I can't wait until there is more, lol.

Great to see more excellent work from you Pat

You're simply amazing Pat!   Great work and we're so blessed to have a man of your talents and dedication in the hobby and accessible like this. A hearty 'Thank You Sir' from all of us.

Pat, they all look really great!  I have other engines to run, so it was fine to wait on everything to be done right on my 5343.  I do have a fine set of NYC cars with new LED lighting I added waiting to be pulled by the Hudson, but they haven't complained at all.  Thank you for all the great work, even while you are still working the day job.  Thank you!!

Thank you, Pat! It looks fantastic, and definitely worth the wait!

John

Really, really super nice work.  the New York Cental Hudsons are always a crowd pleaser.  Thanks for sharing!  Best, Dave 

What a fleet. Great work Pat.

A bunch of lucky guys are getting early Christmas presents.

Bob

Just amazing, Pat!

Peter

Excellent craftsmanship Pat!

Pat - Looking forward to getting the "New" engine - Thanks !!

Tremendous work, Pat.

Cant Wait to get My Commodore Vanderbilt Back with the motor upgrade!

Very impressive work indeed.

Incredible jobs as usual Pat.  Thank you for sharing your talents with us, both those who own your masterpieces and those of us that get to see the Master's work.

What really strikes me is the differences between the drivers. Just a little different here and there with the counterweights, or even the spokes on them. I always liked the Hudson's over the Pacific's because of the difference in the drivers. That is Pennsylvania Pacific's. Some of them had the spokes painted in some instances at least on the models, but would imagine that translated from the real deal.

As always, no one does that extra special NYC touch like Pat.

Great looking engines!  Can't wait to see the progress on my 2 rail Crescent! 

Nice work Pat👍

Even my Hudson Brain, while being thoroughly awed by these things that you have done, could not help seeing the phrase "Conrail-inspired custom T1".

Conrail-inspired custom T1? I do love the T1, the engine from Mars. Photos, please. Is it blue? Is there a can-opener?

@ZWPOWER13 posted:

Cant Wait to get My Commodore Vanderbilt Back with the motor upgrade!

Same here.  Can't wait to get my Pennsy H6 back with motor repair and coupler upgrade.  Should be great.

I wish I had taken some before shots of my Hudson before I sent it off to Pat. When I acquired it the locomotive was missing the bell, side rods on both sides were snapped in half, one dome was missing and while it had a NYC PT Tender, that was from a Legacy Niagara. I completely planned on it spending its remaining days on the shelf. One night I was bored and having set up my floor layout for Christmas I put it on the track and the electronics came to life . I had an idea maybe she could be made whole. I emailed Pat, I think the subject line was FrankenHudson Project. He responded and I gave him a rundown of what was going on. He gave me his address and off she went. He came up with the missing dome , bell and replaced the side rods and with I believe K- Line ones. I mentioned I liked the smaller tenders with 6 wheel trucks . He said he had one and we worked out a trade as Pat said he could use the PT tender on another project . He came up with a locomotive number that corresponds with my son’s birthday which I thought was great. It took a while but he kept me informed and stayed in touch. Did a little other horse trading in the mean time . Last weekend he delivered it to me at the Lionel Store while he was in the Concord area. Am thrilled with the results and handed him the next project , turning a Legacy 2-8-0 into Lancaster and Chester #40. Can’t wait to see what he comes up with for that .

Quality work Pat...

I think you are going to give the Lionel Vision Line J1E Hudson's a run for their money!  The K-Line Hudson's have always been a standard for detail.  Now you are adding performance...

Absolutely STUNNING work Pat.  Zooming in on the photos took my breath away.

John

@Duncan H W Foster posted:

Quality work Pat...

I think you are going to give the Lionel Vision Line J1E Hudson's a run for their money!  The K-Line Hudson's have always been a standard for detail.  Now you are adding performance...

@Craftech posted:

Absolutely STUNNING work Pat.  Zooming in on the photos took my breath away.

John

Thank you fellas, …..Kline really set the bar high when it came to the looks dept. It’s a shame they had to cheapen it up with such a small motor …..It’ll be interesting to see how the new release from the orange box people stacks up against the Kline, ….surely, the electronics will pack a punch, but, do they nail it in ooh la la category? …..they’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill!…..whatcha think?….

Pat

Pat, I saw they were coming out with another.  I can’t imagine them making it able to pull as much as your upgrade does!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Pat, I saw they were coming out with another.  I can’t imagine them making it able to pull as much as your upgrade does!

Every one I’ve built has been able to meet the performance requirements made by the client…….it was good to see you put it to a grueling test right away!…..I’d bet she’d straight line anything you could pile on there before she stalled it Mark!……you’ve got some serious grades buddy!…..I’m glad it met the challenge…..I thought my good buddy Chris A.’s had a challenging climb, but yours goes straight up a wall!!…..😂😂

Pat

Dave at Lionel has said he looked at the K-Line before they made the upgrades to their 700 model.  He said they did not have the K-Line molds.  I wonder who has those? I have ordered the Hudson with the larger tender so we will see some time next fall.  Unless it is delayed like my F-19 Halloween model this year. In the mean time we need to talk about upgrading my K-Line Hudson model.  I sent you an email!

Duncan

@Duncan H W Foster posted:

Dave at Lionel has said he looked at the K-Line before they made the upgrades to their 700 model.  He said they did not have the K-Line molds.  I wonder who has those? I have ordered the Hudson with the larger tender so we will see some time next fall.  Unless it is delayed like my F-19 Halloween model this year. In the mean time we need to talk about upgrading my K-Line Hudson model.  I sent you an email!

Duncan

There’s just too many similarities between the infamous Kline Hudson, and all the later runs of Lionel Hudsons, all the way back to the CC Empire State Express. AMOF, the last J3a ran by Lionel in 2018 or 19 has a lot of Kline heritage in it. I had one come in for major rod work, with no parts available……Kline parts bolted right up, and looked 100% identical to a Kline Hudson. I’ll hold a prayer for judgement on what Ryan has to say about the “new tooling” for this latest offering when I see one for myself…….my opinion is they’ve got the tools, now what they’ve modified and haven’t is another story,……they’ve run this playbook in the past,…..the small Legacy Berks, …reborn Kline’s ….the Legacy K4s, ….reborn Kline’s …….and the list goes on…..not to say Lionel hasn’t improved some of them, but when they can use existing tooling, I’m sure they will…

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

Every one I’ve built has been able to meet the performance requirements made by the client…….it was good to see you put it to a grueling test right away!…..I’d bet she’d straight line anything you could pile on there before she stalled it Mark!……you’ve got some serious grades buddy!…..I’m glad it met the challenge…..I thought my good buddy Chris A.’s had a challenging climb, but yours goes straight up a wall!!…..😂😂

Pat

You are right.  I can imagine it pulling 50 cars and more on a level layout.  It met and exceeded the challenge.  I'm quite impressed!

Pat, I am seeing two monikers for your place.  Harmon Shops and Harmon Yards. What is the best way to reach you.

Duncan

@Duncan H W Foster posted:

Pat, I am seeing two monikers for your place.  Harmon Shops and Harmon Yards. What is the best way to reach you.

Duncan

Click on my profile buddy, ….you’ll see the email address displayed there …

Pat