That's very impressive work Lee, and you banged that out in a heatbeat! 
You never cease to amaze me.
Thanks everyone. I ran it some this afternoon. Just a really pleasing loco now. A favorite for sure! But the glossy sheen is too much.
Wowak, I'm going to do it in flat black on a second coat in a few of days. Whatever is wrong with semi-gloss, it and glossy paint make for a nice hard smooth finish when given a few days to dry out well. I will then lightly weather it. It will be numbered 1856 - I have a photo in a book of that number 1856 in service in June '52, about the time I model, so . . .
Lee, it looks great! Seems like you had a lot of fun with your modifications. I might have to buy one of these locomotives, but I won't be altering it. I don't want to screw it up!
I'm pretty sure you warranty is now void. Lol. Great project.
Congratulation on yet another amazing conversion Lee. 
You never cease to amaze me with the vision and skill, not to mention the bravery, that you bring to bear on your projects.
He's dangerous with that bandsaw and Dremel! 
Speaking of which, I hope this is not an omen. This past Saturday my trusty bench belt sander died just as I was finishing up the 1800 project.
So I buy a new one and get it installed this afternoon and start a new project: I'm using the bandsaw, and actually wondering when it will die, since I bought both it and the old sander at the same time, when bam, kerthump! The lower wheel bearing mount snaps: the casting is actually broken. Ruined.
There you go, thinking bad thoughts again. Just look what it gets you! 
You've really got stop those negative waves Lee.
Very cool and nice work. My 1 question is:
Do you run the train with the included remote or do you run it with your ZW-L throttle?
I know your a conventional runner and I too have the ZW-L and am impressed how much control that transformer provides but I was wondering if you liked the simple remote better than the ZW.
Do you run the train with the included remote or do you run it with your ZW-L throttle?
I know your a conventional runner and I too have the ZW-L and am impressed how much control that transformer provides but I was wondering if you liked the simple remote better than the ZW.
I run it both ways. It runs very nicely in either.
The advantages of running it in conventional are really only that I don't have to keep the remote on, using up its batteries - this is a real concern for me, as typically I run locos about four hours a day -- just set them running whenever I am in the trainroom or such. I'm not sure how long the batteries last - I'd guess eight to sixteen hours?
The advantages of running in in remote mode are: a) the remote coupler operates, as do the announcements its makes, if you are into that stuff, b) it will go noticeable slower with the remote (with the ZW-L it goes very slow, but with the remote ridiculously slower as in two-to-three-seconds-per-chuff slow).
This loco will be a runner, one of the six or so locos I have that stays on or near the layout and is run every day. As such I will normally run it conventionally: set it on a loop, turn it to the cruise speed I want, and let it go for several hours while I go about my business in my workshop/working on the layout. No use wearing out batteries.
But I will run it in remote mode on rare occasions because it allows me separate control of two locos on one loop: I can set a first loco running conventionally at say, 12 volts, and then set this puppy running with the remote and dial in the same speed as the other loco, so I have two trains running nicely, about 60 feet apart. (The remote works at any track power level about about 10 volts actually, although slow speed is not as good unless one is up over 16V in remote.) I will normally only do that when I have guests, etc., and want to maximize the motion and trains running, etc.
Most of the time, though, I will run conventionally.
