|
|
John
hails from Wisconsin. He has taken to modeling the American
Freedom Train in HO scale and has graciously agreed to share
with us images and notes of his progress. It is still very
much a work in progress, so check back every month or so to
see what's new. John is basing much of his model on the Lionel
AFT cars from the 1970's. Click on any of the images to see
a larger version!
|
|
|
IN THE
BEGINNING (late 2006)
AFT
Showcase Car #41, with considerable reworking.
It
wasn't long after this that John decided to try to model
the entire American Freedom Train. These pages chronicle
his progress. Check here regularly for the latest!
|
|
|
Another
shot of AFT Showcase Car #41. Beyond the considerable reworking
of the interior to rearrange and modify the showcase items,
John lowered the car height to a more prototypical level.
|
 |
John's
notes on lowering the Lionel cars: If you turn over the car
and remove the trucks, you will see on the bolster that the
outer ring is raised about 1/16th of an inch from the other
level. I shave this higher ring down flush with the lower
one and when the car is reassembled, it sits lower on the
trucks. This of course requires some modifications to the
trucks; looking at the Lionel trucks from the side, on the
tops of the frame you will see little rounding areas above
the frame where the wheels line up. Shave these down even
with the truck frames. This will provide a truck that will
clear the car body when swinging on tighter radius (less than
26") curves. And of course the wheelsets that come with it
are discarded and replaced with the correct 36" metal wheels.
I was surprised at how close Lionel came to the actual trucks
with these. After this process, you will be able to body mount
Kaydee No. 5's (or whatever you choose) easily with a few
shims.
|
 |
AFT
Display Car #101, flat panel side - with Accuen's stickers
replacing the panel art.
|
 |
AFT
Display Car #101, shadowbox side - with Accuen's stickers
replacing the shadowbox art.
|
 |
BEFORE
: The Freedom Bell from Lionel's AFT model.
|
 |
AFTER
: The Freedom Bell. Ripp sanded, drilled and painted it.
|
 |
BEFORE
: The Lunar Rover Test Article from Lionel's AFT model.
|
 |
IN
PROGRESS: The Lunar Rover Test Article gets some paint and
a mast for the antenna.
|
 |
COMPARISON
: The Lunar Rover Test Article from Lionel's AFT model and
Ripp's makeover, complete with communications dish/antenna.
|
 |
John
is no big fan of the Lionel GS-4, but when he received a "basket
case" Daylight in a batch of AFT cars he bought, he decided
to see what he could do with it...
|
 |
John's
notes 12/23/2006:
BEFORE:
When I received one in a lot I bought for the cars, I thought
I would throw it out. But being the frugal one, I decided
to tackle the beast. The first picture is what the thing
looked like when I opened the box; driving wheels all screwed-up,
motor fried and frozen and parts broken off. It was also
CAKED with dirt, mud and who knows what else.
|
 |
AFTER:
I tore the engine and tender completely down. Some things
that were done: Re-quartered the drivers and removed the motor.
The cast frame in this early production model does not lend
itself well to remotoring, so I opted to make this a freewheeling,
'dummy' that would have the home-road helper cut in right
behind it, thus supplying the power to move. I also cleaned
and touched up the engine and tender shells, fixing the broken
parts. The drivers got their rims painted white as did all
the others as per the real girl. Metal wheels were added to
the tender as well as a kaydee #5 coupler.
|
 |
Still
to come: Repositioning of the boiler number boards. Correcting
the position of the cab Numbers. Finding right sized stars
for the drivers and adding pilot stripes and constant lighting
w/mars light. And of course, blackening the side-rods.
|
 |
John
Ripp's update February 2007:
This
will be AFT car #202, the 'Pie Car" (circus slang for
the meal car). The model is a commission for AFT fan/collector
John Finnin. A few years ago Finnin modeled the AFT himself
in O Scale using K-LINE's AFT model and adding the rest of
the cars from his own handiwork. Several years ago John had
modeled the whole train in HO. Now he has decided to update
it, enlisting the help of Mr. Ripp.
|
 |
The
combo car is a model made by Bethlehem
Car Works. It's a near-perfect match for the
real AFT #202, which started life as a Reading commuter car.
The kit John is using is Bethlehem Car Works Steel Combine
(suburban) Kit # 220.
|
 |
One
end of the roof.
|
 |
The
other end of the roof.
|
 |
AFT
#202 before.
|
 |
AFT
#202 after!
|
 |
Other
side. Looking good!
|
 |
AFT
#202 with lettering.
|
 |
AFT
#202 with lettering, other side.
|
 |
AFT
#202 ridin' the rails of Ripp's fictitious Madison Central
of Wisconsin - also known as the 'MadCow'.
|
 |
AFT
#202 headed through town.
|
 |
AFT
#202 headed cross country.
|
 |
AFT
#202 ready for its close-up.
|
 |
AFT
#202 complete and ready to ship to Mr. Finnin!
|
|
|
|
