Greenberg FINALLY showed up back in Northern Virginia at the Dulles Expo Center. Lots of O at some good prices. HO, N but no Z! 😢 I was on a budget of course; Christmas having just causing a mass exodus of funds. I really just wanted to walk around and see all the cool stuff again. I did get a 4-car set of Kline PRR Hoppers in the OB with different #. $40. I picked an N scale SW1200 - I have way too many likes in this hobby. One guy had a working oil pump, bubbler and derrick. he was asking $75. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
Last item I saw yesterday the guy was talking to someone else, and I just figured I would come back. Show ended and I had to go. Decided I needed to go back and talk to him. It was a Southern GP38 cab # 2730 with the dynamic brake. Didn't have a tag. So, I asked what the deal was as the body looked great. He said when they opened box (I guess he's a reseller) one pilot was off and the coupler was broken off. The horn was missing, too. It's a two motored engine one of the trucks turned good one went through a fairly long turn bu the stopped. Both directions, long roll then locks.
But I only paid $20 for it! I'm hoping the truck will tell its story when I take it apart after Christmas and the coupler should be easy enough to find.
I looked at the Lionel site and I found one set that came out in 2003 that had one without the dynamic brake and I found another on eBay that gives a different set # but it is the image of mine. Hopefully I got something nice (I like these conventional ones GP7s and GP9s, RS-3s) when I start to poke around in it. I did see on the Lionel support site a listing for a conventional GP38 that has parts both with and without train sounds. The trucks are not expensive, they look to be can motors. I'm wonder if I replace the one truck if I should replace both so as to make sure they have the same electrical qualities. and does anyone have any thoughts on what the problem might be. Why I can roll fairly far in both directions and then it just stops. Also, the pilot looks undamaged so I'm hoping when I replace the coupler it will go back in with no fuss.
Of course, the coupler is broken on the back, at least I believe it to be the back since it has a low nose, and it just looks right cab forward. I guess I could just swap the couplers for now.
My first real project engine. Cool.
Frank
