Even though my most recently acquired 253 "Electric" was in really good shape when it arrived, I decided to totally rebuild it, including a total repaint. I rewired the mechanism, and replaced the motor brushes and springs. Driveline-wise, I replaced the wheels, and fiber idler gears with new parts from Hennings. With the exception of the headlight castings, all brass trim is original, just polished and clear coated. I usually replace the couplers, but these were in such good shape, I decided to leave them alone, other than cleaning them up. I wanted to do a Pennsy inspired paint scheme, so I painted the frame Tamiya Gloss Black, window frames and side "vent" backing plates Tamiya "Italian Red", and the body shell Scalecoat Pennsy "Brunswick Green". Everything got a nice coat of clear gloss afterwards. Sharp-eyed folks may notice that the new wheels are of the "spoked" variety. While I have seen some early 253s that came with these, mine actually came with disk wheels. I prefer the spoked wheels, so that's what I installed. This makes four 253 locos that I've restored, and added to my collection. Is it obvious that I really like these?
Attachments
Images (7)
Original Post
