I was reading the recent thread about the MP36 (and how it would allow for the manufacture of a lot of current commuter trains), and it reminded me about the Railrunner project I did a few years ago. I really wanted a railrunner, and it seemed unlikely that anyone would build one, so I made my own.
I've posted pics of my train running before, but haven't provided any background on the build. To the best of my knowledge, mine was the 3rd Railrunner running in three rails, and the first one using DCS.
As with other Railrunner projects, I subbed a F59PH for the MP36 and procured scale bombardier cars. Here are the measuring pictures w/the original paint scheme, which I used to order custom decals. I was able to save some time and set-up fees on decals since I used the same vendor as a previous Railrunner builder:
Taking the passenger cars apart for painting was a job... lots of wiring and small parts that fit together. I resolved to add more detail to the interior while I had them apart. I should have converted them to LED while I was in there... but maybe someday:
I was at least smart enough to mark which end was which for when I reinstalled the lights... and organize all the many parts & screws in little bins:
Doors were greasy, so I cleaned them prior to painting:
...and then lined them up for a coat of white:
Passenger car interiors painted red:
...and the engine & car shells painted a semi-glossy white:
I decal-ed the engine first, as it was much less complex than the cars:
Tables painted, passengers re-added, and seats detailed with yellow striping:
Engine shell done!
When ordering decals, I had the engine number matched to the existing number boards. Not prototypical, but consistent at least:
Test-fitting the decals, with reference points marked in green tape:
The car decals came in two big halves. Here's the first half, of the first side, installed:
...and my first nearly complete side:
Added a few more passengers:
Numbers added:
...and decals added to the doors. The first time I did this, I didn't take into account the step height. Had to re-order a set of partial decals and re-do all the doors to correct the error (e.g. a mismatch in decals between the doors and the car body):
