The GN 1956 Empire Builder has arrived (3rd Rail/GDD)

Very impressive,Jeff.

Norm

Awesome Jeff, congrats!

I am officially impressed.  They look great.  You are a candidate for conversion to 2-rail and wider curves - everything else is perfect.

Without looking, I am going to guess at $350/car - times 12 = lemme see . . . $4200 not counting locomotives?

Wow! What a passenger train! That should provide you some inspiration to build that bigger layout.   

Brewman1973 posted:

Wow! What a passenger train! That should provide you some inspiration to build that bigger layout.   

That bigger layout is years away (and we'll have to move) but in the mean time my wife allowed me the dining room (formerly our son's playroom) where I can experiment.  It has been decades since my last "real" train layout (HO) and it all was rekindled many years ago with the Polar Express set under the tree.  I do have mental plans for a good sized layout in either a future basement or large 2nd floor room, we'll see.....

- Jeff

bob2 posted:

You are a candidate for conversion to 2-rail and wider curves - everything else is perfect.

I haven't given 2-rail much consideration, and the widest curve I can get away with right now is O-72, the inner loop is O-63 (with O-72 entry/exit).  If/When that future layout happens in a dedicated room I foresee much large curves.  Right now it's time to experiment and learn.....

- Jeff

Ive got those coming, will be here Wednesday. I cant wait, gonna have to make a trip to the layout to run em

Very impressive!!

Very nice  thanks for sharing the video.

Richard

Loved the video! Amazing train, congrats. Scott is the best! 

Terrific video and thanks for sharing Jeff! 

The Empire Builder is my favorite passenger train. Beautiful model. Thanks for posting.

Pat Kn posted:

The Empire Builder is my favorite passenger train. Beautiful model. Thanks for posting.

Same here.... Scott just happened to announce these when we were travelling on the Empire Builder to East Glacier for a week of hiking.  While there I picked up and read "All Aboard! for Glacier" by CW Guthrie.  By the time we were on the Empire Builder back to Chicago the order had been placed with Scott.  One of my initial favorites about the set is seeing the names on the cars of places we've been and hiked in Glacier.

- Jeff

Thanks much for the video. Regarding the interior lights, I have deduced from checking my own assortment of their aluminum cars that GGD is continuing to use a relatively short LED strip in their 21” models that is really not long enough for them as opposed to a15” or 18” car. You can replace it with a longer strip but that would need a power supply (GGD’s strips have the supply mounted on the strip itself). Why they have not upgraded to a longer strip I do not know but then I have never mentioned this point to Scott.

 Beautiful set! I have a pair of aluminum cars from 3 years ago with the same lighting issue which I find frustrating given the price tag of the cars. I'd love to see more videos of trains running on your layout! 

i dont find the end lighting to be a problem but i wonder if adding a thin mirror a few inches long between the seating on the corridor  floor  would reflect up enough light to illuminate the ends?

Great looking consist, super long passenger train. Will need a large layout to do it justice.

Bill

AlanRail posted:

i dont find the end lighting to be a problem but i wonder if adding a thin mirror a few inches long between the seating on the corridor  floor  would reflect up enough light to illuminate the ends?

I think that if you were going to open up one of these cars (not an easy project) replacing the lighting would be more effective than trying to get a reflection. On the other hand, as the video shows the light strips when used in the domes are fine because they have round lenses that are quite effective (IMHO) in representing real light fixtures. In that respect they beat the lighting used in Lionel’s and MTH’s dome cars.

I have wondered about extending the strips with, say, and extra 6” strip of the kind used for HO cars but haven’t experimented with tapping into the GGD power supply.

Beautiful train!  Thanks for posting.

Art

Wonderful videos.  Thanks for sharing!  That Amtrak set on the other track isn't too shabby either!

Hancock52 posted:

AlanRail posted:

i dont find the end lighting to be a problem but i wonder if adding a thin mirror a few inches long between the seating on the corridor  floor  would reflect up enough light to illuminate the ends?

I think that if you were going to open up one of these cars (not an easy project) replacing the lighting would be more effective than trying to get a reflection. On the other hand, as the video shows the light strips when used in the domes are fine because they have round lenses that are quite effective (IMHO) in representing real light fixtures. In that respect they beat the lighting used in Lionel’s and MTH’s dome cars.

I have wondered about extending the strips with, say, and extra 6” strip of the kind used for HO cars but haven’t experimented with tapping into the GGD power supply.

 That's the other issue. Opening these cars is VERY difficult. One of my GGD cars I hands not been able to get open in 3 years. All the screws are out but nothing will budge. 

Will Ebbert posted:

Hancock52 posted:

AlanRail posted:

i dont find the end lighting to be a problem but i wonder if adding a thin mirror a few inches long between the seating on the corridor  floor  would reflect up enough light to illuminate the ends?

I think that if you were going to open up one of these cars (not an easy project) replacing the lighting would be more effective than trying to get a reflection.

 That's the other issue. Opening these cars is VERY difficult. One of my GGD cars I hands not been able to get open in 3 years. All the screws are out but nothing will budge. 

If I remember correctly (from my GGD SP Daylight cars), the end caps/diaphragm-vestibule assemblies come off by taking out two screws on the bottom. This enables you to take that cap off to get at the light strip and its track power connection. In my cars the light strip actually slides out. In these respects the GGD cars are similar to Lionel's aluminum cars based on K-Line tooling.

From memory (which I accept may be faulty) and looking right now at a GGD Daylight observation car, the similarity with Lionel's aluminum cars does not stop there. You may have to detach the underbody detail assembly in order to slide the interior assembly out, that assembly being (1) a metal frame that slides into channels in the bottom of the body shell and (2) the plastic interior details, mounted on a flat plastic sheet screwed to the metal frame. This is no mean task as the fitting of the frame in the channels is tight and in addition, the trucks may have to be detached from the frame to avoid them catching on the skirting as you slide the whole thing out. In my Lionel cars I found that applying some WD40 helped get the frame to move but with GGD paint I'd be wary of trying this except as a last resort.

There are other people who know a lot more than I do about the design and construction of GGD cars so maybe one of them can weigh in on whether there's an another and easier way to do this. I marvel at the fact that the factory assembled these cars without causing at least some paint damage!

OMG I WANT ONE!   

These cars are very nice, but it is NOT a 1956 Empire Builder, other than the dome cars. The other cars are modeled after the 1947 Empire Builder; those cars were reassigned to the Western Star in 1951 and lost their “Empire Builder” letterboards. This is most apparent from the RPO and the observation car being in the “River” series instead of the “Coulee” series.  

If you have the dome-lounge car “PRAIRIE VIEW”, be sure the name is correctly spelled. Mine was not; about 5 cars slipped through with this error. 

OOOOOPS, I thought I ordered 1 more car than I though

That is a lot of model train.  Wow.

If your one of the lucky 5 "Prarie View" Great Domes. New decals are coming. Just email us. There are 5 others that went out before it was discovered.

If you have one will be happy to change the decal, or

you can keep it as a "one of a kind" factory misspelling. So embarrassing. I never could spell Prarie.

Scott Mann 

You should go shoot prairie dogs, you’ll remember that 

Matt Makens posted:

You should go shoot prairie dogs, you’ll remember that 

Poor little puppies!  I'll stick the range thanks.  I only shoot prairie dogs with my camera.

Matt Makens posted:

You should go shoot prairie dogs, you’ll remember that 

we call that a coyote

We can add this to the panoply of Chinese spelling mistakes. My favorites are "Huck Fin" (as in shark's - Legacy Mark Twain Zephyr) and "Bucyrus Eric" (as in Eric's Trains - Legacy boom crane). Ooops, I mentioned Lionel twice!

Don’t knock it til you try Jonathan. They’re vermin that destroy the land and spread disease. They aren’t actually dogs they are big rodents. 

Matt Makens posted:

Don’t knock it til you try Jonathan. They’re vermin that destroy the land and spread disease. They aren’t actually dogs they are big rodents. 

We have them in the desert, I just don't have them living in the city.  I suppose my attitude would be different then.  A good use for my .22 hollow points. 

At least the great dome wasn't labeled "Rodent View" and it was one of 4 names for that car. 

PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE,  

Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, Antidisestablishmentarianism, 

All work and no play makes Scott a dull boy

PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, PENNSYYLVANIA, 

The infamous Congressional Sample Set.  Bob Heil Spotted it first.

It is spelled PENNSYLVANIA if they don't know..

Jan

Great train Jeff and a good video! So am I correct that all the cars in that set have roller bearings or is it just the dome cars? Also it would be great to see a video of your Amtrak El Capitan set too!

Jan posted:

It is spelled PENNSYLVANIA if they don't know..

Jan

Are you sure?