Lionel 2367 Wabash F3 restoration

A quick video of her first test run.

Great job on one of the best Lionel F units made. Don

Great job! Just think you saved a 61 year old piece of American made toy history and it still works.

Nice restoration of a beautiful locomotive!

Great job. The Wabash F units are iconic and you really did terrific work in bringing them back to life. 

Fantastic job, and thanks for the pics of its progression.

I always learn something new when you guys share this way

Fantastic looks great 🙂

Thanks guys, I’m glad you like it! I am pretty proud with how she turned out. Not absolutely perfect, but I think pretty good for my first train resto. 

Here she is running with her other postwar sisters on the layout.

https://youtu.be/yVqNqw4kads

Wonderful job!  Great!  Terrific!  If it ain't perfect, you're the only one who could find the flaws.

That looks pretty darn good.  

When I restored a set of 2343 F3s I cheated and used the replacement shells Lionel issued for the 2343 conventional classics F3s to correct the red color. So I just had to paint the frames, trucks, and pilots silver and pop on the brand new shells. Nice job on going the extra mile repainting the original shells yourself. 

Nice. Layout.

Only thing I would do is add switches to the upper track. So those train's can run on both  sides.

With a block system..

Beautiful! I enjoy seeing a skilled craftsman restore an item that most would consider trash.

Wow, great job.

When I clicked open this thread, I expected a question or seeking advice for a restoration project. So I was quite surprised to see the whole project pictured from start to finish.

Yeah, I can personally relate to your "fun doing the paint masks." Yes, it is time consuming too. Not just the labor of making the masks, but also waiting for the paint to completely dry before proceeding to the next step.

Well, like the others, I think you did a fabulous job on this. I think it's great to see some trains that weren't so loving stored, getting some careful attention and being brought back to life.

Amazing that a train engine 60 plus years old can be made to run like new once again. And while it may not visually be like factory new (more for the decoration techniques and materials of that time period) I'd say you did very well for a first restoration project!!

From your original post:

To replicate the original heat stamping, I took the shell to a local custom decal/graphics shop. They re created the markings into new decals for me. Think they did a great job!  This was the most expensive part of the resto by far, but I believe it was worth it. 

Please provide more detail on this step in the restoration.  You took the shell, and what did the shop do from there?  What did the shop provide you with?  Any photos of the product?  Cost?

Great job, by the way.

Excellent job! I love seeing something like this get saved and brought back. I can relate to your masking job comment as well. You are really understating it...

BTW, what can you tell us about the hazmat suit in the background?

Chris

LVHR

Lou1985 posted:

That looks pretty darn good.  

When I restored a set of 2343 F3s I cheated and used the replacement shells Lionel issued for the 2343 conventional classics F3s to correct the red color. So I just had to paint the frames, trucks, and pilots silver and pop on the brand new shells. Nice job on going the extra mile repainting the original shells yourself. 

Thank you!

I have a decent but “loved” 2343 showing a bit of it’s age in the power unit, that I’ve contemplated redoing... The stripe job kinda scares me off a little though. Would be very difficult to replicate that! I’d have to get another shell to practice on first..

I thought about swapping the shells out from a celebration series wabash, but was pretty adamant on keep her as original as I could. 

brianel_k-lineguy posted:

When I clicked open this thread, I expected a question or seeking advice for a restoration project. So I was quite surprised to see the whole project pictured from start to finish.

Yeah, I can personally relate to your "fun doing the paint masks." Yes, it is time consuming too. Not just the labor of making the masks, but also waiting for the paint to completely dry before proceeding to the next step.

Well, like the others, I think you did a fabulous job on this. I think it's great to see some trains that weren't so loving stored, getting some careful attention and being brought back to life.

Amazing that a train engine 60 plus years old can be made to run like new once again. And while it may not visually be like factory new (more for the decoration techniques and materials of that time period) I'd say you did very well for a first restoration project!!

Thank you! I thought it would be a fitting post, after seeing a few recent restoration threads posted the last couple days. Figured some would enjoy it. 

Waiting for the paint to dry, to mask for the next step was very hard!! Very eager to get the next coat on, but had to wait a couple days in between.

Pingman posted:

From your original post:

To replicate the original heat stamping, I took the shell to a local custom decal/graphics shop. They re created the markings into new decals for me. Think they did a great job!  This was the most expensive part of the resto by far, but I believe it was worth it. 

Please provide more detail on this step in the restoration.  You took the shell, and what did the shop do from there?  What did the shop provide you with?  Any photos of the product?  Cost?

Great job, by the way.

It took a little searching to find a decal shop that would touch this kind of thing. Most of them are set up for bulk ordering, and big signs. It took some searching to find the place I used.

i dropped the “A” shell off for them to get artwork, and measurements from. There was one drawback, that actually worked out for most of it. Their machine is not able to print just the small lettering onto decals. Something this small needed to have a backdrop for the lettering to be printed on to. This worked out for the “Wabash” and “built by Lionel” as they were already in a blue background. I just had them print the background to the same dimensions as the blue background they were originally in. This saved me from extra paint masking. Where as the numbers in the nose didn’t originally have a background. Luckily after a few try’s, the blue background on the decals was close enough to the new paint, that it doesn’t stick out horribly.

It was right at $113 total out the door. $45 to print the decals, and $65 to generate the artwork for printing. I still have several decals left over, as they all get printed on one page. I could do atleast 10 more engines if I had em.

Wonderful job! This is the stuff I like to do!

Countrybunker, thanks for the information; I've used decal makers in the past, but not for a project such as you undertook; and, the method you described was not one I was familiar with.

One more question:  how did you mask the curves at the front of the A unit?  I ask because I have a couple of projects on the drawing board and I am always curious to know how others deal with masking curves and separating colors.

Also, very nice collection of PW F units on display in the video--they are my faves.

Pingman posted:

Countrybunker, thanks for the information; I've used decal makers in the past, but not for a project such as you undertook; and, the method you described was not one I was familiar with.

One more question:  how did you mask the curves at the front of the A unit?  I ask because I have a couple of projects on the drawing board and I am always curious to know how others deal with masking curves and separating colors.

Also, very nice collection of PW F units on display in the video--they are my faves.

It was all done free hand. Thinnest tape I could find locally was 1/8” from the local auto parts store. Had to cut it thinner around the nose.

The curve in the white, I cut out from normal 1” wide masking tape. Couldn’t get the 1/8” wide tape to curve as tight as what was needed. 

lehighline posted:

Excellent job! I love seeing something like this get saved and brought back. I can relate to your masking job comment as well. You are really understating it...

BTW, what can you tell us about the hazmat suit in the background?

Chris

LVHR

Just some early Halloween decorations. The zombie in the suit fits right in, in the train room lol.

 You did an outstanding job on your restoration.

This one was my dad’s and is one of my favorite locomotives.