The In-ko-pah Railroad

 
 
I started out with a Buddy L 2-6-2 locomotive  which I modified, detailed and repainted. It originally came with a nice sound system but that died. Eventually the motor died too. A new motor, supplied by Dave Goodson, was installed by Barry Olsen of Barry’s Big Trains. Electrical pickup has become a problem, I think due to wear and corrosion on the wheels. Slow speed performance was never very good. Now I rarely run this loco.




Left: Buddy L locomotive as purchased, prior to modification.



Below: Buddy L loco after modification, painting, and weathering.



























Below: Currently my primary “steam” locomotive is this Bachmann “Anniversary Edition” 4-6-0, with a custom drive mechanism from Barry’s Big Trains. It has terrific sound thanks to the latest Phoenix sound system. I replaced the plastic coal load with a scratch-built oil bunker. I also changed the paint scheme and added custom decals. The decals on the tender are from Stan Cedarleaf. I printed my own lettering for the cab, on self-adhesive vinyl. This photo was taken when the loco was new, and had not yet been weathered.


In June 2013 I converted this loco to battery power and installed an Aristocraft “Revolution” r/c receiver.





Below: This beautiful RS-3 diesel was a gift from Cris’ brother Matt. It’s from Aristo-Craft, it runs great and pulls strong. It was built to 1/29th scale, so I rebuilt it with a larger cab, wider walkways, and other details to make it look like a small, 1/24th scale narrow gauge locomotive. Here’s how it looked straight from the factory:



And here’s the “kitbashed”, customized version:



Click here to see how I kitbashed this loco!


I also have two LGB Porter locos - eventually I will repaint and weather them, and perhaps make other changes. And I have a 1/20th scale Bachmann 45-ton diesel. Eventually I will “kitbash” it into something else. And I have a disassembled Aristo-Craft “Rogers” 2-4-2 which will someday be rebuilt.


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Railbus #1 - The “Tin Lizard”

A scratch-built, Model T railbus!



Updated July 2013

 

LOCOMOTIVES