So after almost an entire year this project has been completed. This project combined my electronics skills with legacy and Pats master craftsmanship. His work is outstanding and I can't thank him enough.
With that said lets take a look at this Vanderbilt. Pat painted it this beautiful color. As close to the real thing as you can get. The pin stripes and lettering are fantastic. So crisp and well done. Moving onto electronics I worked my magic alongside Pats modifications. Pat installed the Pittman motor along side a custom flywheel with the legacy encoder. He also mounted all the electronics in the locomotive (RCMC, Smoke unit DSMK, and the headlight. On the tender side he mounted the RS lite and LTC1 bracket. He also fabricated amazing 3rd rail pickups for the tender truck. They work very well.
Moving onto my work, I installed the big fatboy speaker in the tender, custom mounted the volume pot, and wired the entire tender. I made sure to make all the wiring clean and made sure nothing would rub or get caught underneath the trucks. There is a three pin flat tether between the engine and tether for IR data for the legacy rail sounds and power pickup connections. On the engine side, I added two red 3mm firebox LEDs, mounted a nice 5mm warm white cab light to illuminate Pats amazing back head detailing, and reinstalled a PRG/RUN switch. Pat had already installed the 3mm headlight LED so all that was left was the engine wiring. Again I made sure it was all very clean and presentable. The final result is what I would call the greatest Vanderbilt you will ever see.
Engine Features: Legacy Control, Legacy J3a Railsounds, LED lighting, Firebox Glow, Stack smoke, Whistle Steam, Detailed Back head....
The list goes on. This is basically a brand new legacy engine stuffed into an old 700e chassis. This is what I call the best solution to Lionel not making a legacy Vanderbilt.
Well enough of me blathering on. Here it is:
