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Post by bloodynose on Jul 30, 2023 14:39:07 GMT -5
Casey,
I would suggest using this case upside down with the deep side as the cover. That way you would have room for buildings and landscape. You may need to add a little weight to the front of the shallow side for stability.
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Post by bloodynose on Jul 30, 2023 14:32:38 GMT -5
It would also be nice if the same could be done for the E and F locomotives sometime in the future. It's not that urgent as the spare truck does work with the plow removed.
BTW, there is quite a bit of room inside the plow of the PA1... maybe enough room for a coupler box...
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Post by bloodynose on Jul 30, 2023 14:22:27 GMT -5
Thanks Rob!
I think the replacement coupler for the plow would be the best and most popular solution even if it has to be manually coupled. I personally (and probably most of us) would prefer retaining the plow in A-A or A-B-B-A configuration. I was going to experiment with one of my A units to modify the new truck with a longer coupler scavenged from a freight car or try adding a pivoting coupler to the plow but decided with my luck I would do more damage than good...
Thanks, Mark
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Post by bloodynose on Jul 28, 2023 15:42:11 GMT -5
Another image: After doing a few side-by-side comparisons, I decided it wasn't worth removing the plow and possibly damaging an expensive and beautiful locomotive. Maybe someone on the forum will find a way to successfully modify one of these trucks with a longer coupler, or even better, install a working coupler with some sideways movement in the plow and share it with the rest of us.
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Post by bloodynose on Jul 28, 2023 15:06:41 GMT -5
Since this post and my direct email to AZL have been met with crickets, I think it’s safe to assume the ALCO PA can not run in an A-A-B-A configuration unless your layout has wide radius curves. The front truck replacement does not exist. They do exist. Available from azldirect. www.azldirect.com/partsIf you are referring to the ALCO PA1 trucks that sell for $6 on AZL Direct, I purchased a few and it appears that they are just replacements for the rear. The coupler is too short to use on the front...
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Post by bloodynose on May 8, 2023 4:18:49 GMT -5
The GP38-2 is a good looking and affordable locomotive.
When I first got into Z scale AZL only had the GP38-2, Mikado, and F59PHIs that were affordable and available. There were at that time a few brass locomotives available but I did not see why one should pay so much for something so small... Hindsight sucks!
The early GP38-2s had a problem with the material that the frames were made of and became very brittle and would almost self-destruct. I, unfortunately purchased a few of those. A while back AZL offered an exchange program to replace the defective frames but there was still a small cost plus shipping.
So in other words be cautious of any GP38s you might find on the third party markets! GP7s and GP9s are kinda cool for that era.
Mark
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Post by bloodynose on May 8, 2023 3:34:49 GMT -5
Now why would the 38-2's be running out, its the Unly GP you have that goes with the SW. im spending money on superliner cars at the moment and as someone who is looking to purchase something like 12 locos at first i was going to buy F59PHI's because i wanted a full hood unit but the front coupler does not work and now the 38's are not going to be in stock..why would that be? this is what i was afraid of trying to make a list of things and numbers of to budget for and your most affordable locos are not going to be in stock i have to buy online for anything the model rr place down the street is a distince ghostly shell iv already spent 1200 bucks on passnger cars. so what am i to do if your just going to let all this stuff run out?? whistle in the wind? and why does the F59PHI front coupler not work properly anyway?? it makes no operational sense. It's not a hobby... it's an addiction! Soon you won't admit to how much you've spent on all the locomotives, passenger, and freight cars (and cabooses) you have stached away! This crowd really needs to consider starting a ZSA group! (Z Scale Anonymous)
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Post by bloodynose on May 2, 2023 13:55:46 GMT -5
This train of 12 outside brace boxcars and 8 8000gal tankers being pulled up the grade by 2 D&RGW GP7s with no problems. I had another 4 boxcar set in the consist but they seemed to have some wheels rubbing the trucks and the added friction would cause the locos to spin a little but they would eventually make it.
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Post by bloodynose on May 2, 2023 13:41:48 GMT -5
To decrease the grade to 1.5%~2% I put spacers half the thickness of the pier sections at every other viaduct joint. This gave a more realistic grade and allows a longer train with no problems. This is the finish [test] layout with only bridges and underpasses for crossings.
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Post by bloodynose on May 2, 2023 13:24:22 GMT -5
so about grades how well do the current locos handle them? 2% 4% ? Seer, I built this test layout exclusively to find out what grade is good for a medium length train. I used Rokuhan R220mm as min radius along with viaduct and multiple pier sets. If the Rokuhan gradient piers are used as designed, they have a grade of ~4% which is way too steep for a longer train. Attachments:
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Post by bloodynose on Mar 22, 2023 0:10:05 GMT -5
Rob, Could you let us know which trailers are going to be offered in the 3 car sets? Yes I can! 5 car sets: Roadway JB Hunt UPS Amazon FedEx Freight (White) FedEx Mulitmodal (Grey) 3 cars sets: Xtra Intermodal ABF NS Triple Crown Schneider England US Express Martin Swift Ryder Two Packs of the spare trailers will be released at the same time as the Spine car sets. (We charge the same price for two that others charge for one) Cheers! -Rob(A) AZL Rob, Thank you very much for this list, it will give me time to make a financial plan! I am curious though if the container trailer frames from Showcase Miniatures would work with AZLs spine cars? And yes, I have seen this on Union Pacific trains... containers mounted on trailer frames riding on spine cars!
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Post by bloodynose on Mar 20, 2023 23:05:36 GMT -5
These are totally awesome! When it comes to the spine cars, I'd prefer all UPS or FedEx, although I have seen UP with 15 to 30 ROADWAY trailers grouped together and I've seen 50 UPS trailers together. As this is the first release (I'll wait for the UPS release) hopefully there will be many more with more carriers so we can mix and match! Maybe some sets with mixed Walmart, England, Prime, etc. With the container car sets I'd prefer mixed carriers and lengths. I have seen 40' containers in 40' cars with 48' and 53' containers stacked on top and vice-versa. This is what I usually see with UP here in southern AZ.
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Post by bloodynose on Mar 16, 2023 23:32:20 GMT -5
Dang, those F7s look nice. Just switched out my F3s with the Alco PA to pull my passenger set. I really don’t need another set of engines….. Yeah I got a couple sets of the D&RGW ALCO PAs and they perform really well and so much better than the F3s especially at very slow speed! As much as I like this particular Rio Grande livery I will probably pass on the F7s for now (still trying to recover from the ALCO set purchase including the SP units I got too). AZL really hit it out of the park with the ALCO PAs!!
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Post by bloodynose on Mar 15, 2023 2:13:36 GMT -5
New print! It will take some time to paint, and then do a final running test. I thought I'd show you what it looks like once the pieces are glued. View AttachmentNice work Robert! I was going to ask you what 3d software you were using but I read back through the thread and saw that you are using tinkercad. I haven't tried tinkercad yet, I'm using another one. I plan on printing houses, buildings, bridges, and other structures (no train cars!). Hopefully I will get started on my layout soon, have only built a test layout so far. Keep up the good work. Mark
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Post by bloodynose on Mar 15, 2023 1:42:34 GMT -5
Looks like some Rio Grande F7s are heading our way for mid March!!
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