I finally managed to get some workbench time on these two units today
and got the Q-Fans fitted to the RPP shell, the grabirons fitted and then spent time
hunting through my parts collection for the various bits and pieces I
will need to finish them.
I've got almost everything I need but I
realised I still haven't sourced any suitable handrails for these
units, and ebay seems to be empty for Athearn sets so I will need to
order some stanchions and bend my own (first time I will have to do
that).
I have a set of Railflyer treads for the RPP unit, the Athearn one will recieve decal treadplate.
Another cheap geep for the Peoria project. This one is an Athearn RTR GP35 in Western Pacific silver and orange livery.
The ebay listing advertised it as a basket-case but this locomotive is actually in very good shape. This is a reissue of the old Rail Power Products shell, with some extra detailing and see-through fans. The chassis is DCC ready and it's a nice little model. The only issues with this one are missing coupler pockets, snapped handrails and a front truck with damaged sideframes.
The previous owner has broken the sideframe mounting pins and then attempted to fix the problem by drilling holes through the plastic and using plastruct tube to refit the frames. It's a bit of a mess of glue and plastic, so the easiest way to fix it will be a replacement truck (any Athearn GP7 or F7 truck will fit). So it needs a little work, but for the price it was a steal.
I plan to turn this loco into a high-hood N&W unit, the handrails will either be glued back together or replaced with brass wire and I will fit a Cannon high nose.
