Prototypical UP Rocket Booster Train

Awesome.

Thanks Jim, I figured I might as well make it look like the prototype if I was going to have it.

I think I'm pretty close, just need those A/C units on a couple of cars to complete the picture.

Looks very good.  Was hoping to see those printed HVAC units too....

Looks great John!

That is really nice. Where did you get the second engine?

Charlie

@cpowell posted:

That is really nice. Where did you get the second engine?

Charlie

I got it here from my WTB ad.  It's one of the 2012 Catalog ES44AC engines.

@2naboat posted:

Looks very good.  Was hoping to see those printed HVAC units too....

Yep, those will be a nice addition, that will get it pretty close to the Prototype.

Very nice. That's a pretty long train on your layout, gotta love it. I had never seen the prototype before.  I think that last horn could have been a bit longer going over that non-lighted/gated grade crossing.

Dave

@luvindemtrains posted:

I think that last horn could have been a bit longer going over that non-lighted/gated grade crossing.

Finger slipped off the whistle button.

That's a heck of a train! What are the buffer cars for? Improving clearance between the booster sections?

Buffer cars are for weight distribution, they're filled with concrete blocks so they don't derail from the heavier booster cars

Show off !

Very nice.

@MichaelB Thanks! I wouldn't have thought of that even though it's kind of obvious now that I think about it haha

Just need the passenger car at the end that houses the engineers from Utah to the Cape. They would check on the rocket sections after every stop to ensure nobody slipped into one of the rocket covers. This did happen once and they found a fire setup that someone tried to start to stay warm. Slightly dangerous with the load.

@OhB1 posted:

Just need the passenger car at the end that houses the engineers from Utah to the Cape. They would check on the rocket sections after every stop to ensure nobody slipped into one of the rocket covers. This did happen once and they found a fire setup that someone tried to start to stay warm. Slightly dangerous with the load.

Actually, I left the passenger car off since it doesn't run with the train anymore.  I still have the passenger car that came with the set, but it's no longer used with the train.  You can find a bunch of YouTube videos of the real Rocket Booster Trains, none of them have the passenger car.   The car that came with the Lionel set is actually the one that was used for the Space Shuttle booster trains, the Hialeah.  I don't remember the name of the one that was supposed to be used with the SLS boosters, but since it isn't on the trains, I figured I didn't need it.

@Engineer-Joe posted:

Show off !

Very nice.

Well, you have all this great stuff you keep showing us, I had to get in on the act.

@BillYo414 posted:

That's a heck of a train! What are the buffer cars for? Improving clearance between the booster sections?

The buffer cars are filled with 50,000 pounds of concrete for stability, their real purpose is to prevent any accidents from doing more damage than necessary to the rather expensive booster sections in the event of a crash.  They serve a similar function as the buffer cars used on tank trains between the locomotives and the tank cars.

A very impressive train, John. Much too large for my layout, though, so I had to make my own booster cars.

@breezinup posted:

A very impressive train, John. Much too large for my layout, though, so I had to make my own booster cars.

I hope you don't try to use them as is, it would be tough to boost anything without a sharper point.