O gauge Trains

[monaco75]

This has really turned out to be a real sweetheart of an engine. Cracked her open tonight, to check her out. Very clean inside. Just as I thought, she is a first year (‘54) production with one horizontal motor. Adding a front horizontal motor should be a piece of cake. However she is so nice..... idk if I want to alter anything on it... I opened up the 2343 Santa Fe next to it for comparison purposes.

Even the horn works!! First postwar engine I’ve gotten with a working horn! Needs a little tuning adjustment, but am tickled to hear it.

Although it is the same motor as what’s in the Santa Fe’s, this one has a nylon idler gear, making it quite a bit quieter then the earlier F3’s.

Testing the horn


A little running


Some layout action from tonight

 

[monaco75]

Taking the plunge, and taking a stab at restoring the Wabash F3. Had sticker shock for sending it out for restoration. I’ve done my fare share of work on the cars, how hard can a little train be?? LOL

I dropped the shell off at a local decal shop last week. Waiting to hear back from them for approval on the artwork. They are making new decals to replicate the original heat stamp markings on the body.

Ordered a bunch of new parts for it. Still waiting on some stragglers to come in. Also ordered some new paint, and picked up some painting supplies. I got a new tool (toy) for the job. A cheapy harbor freight airbrush. Should be neat to try.

So far I’m %50 under sending it out for resto. Only broke one unexpected thing taking it apart, but that should be the only other thing that needs ordered. The big ticket items are the decals, and airbrush kit.

I read online that simple green does a great job of stripping the original paint, and not harming the plastic. Its working pretty good! I let it soak for a little over 2 hours, and went after it with a stiff brush. Already removed the bulk of the paint. Will let it sit a while longer to strip the harder stuff.

 

[Samplingman]

That's gonna be a fun project. I'm actually looking forward to the fall and winter so I can get back into the train room. I would have thought there would be repro decals already available for Postwar F3s. Henning's paint is the best, it looks like that's what you are going to use. They also have tons of parts for Postwar/MPC era. The shop is close by and in the Fall I go up there once a week on my lunch break. Review on the HF airbrush will be appreciated, I've been putting off getting one.

 

[monaco75]

That's gonna be a fun project. I'm actually looking forward to the fall and winter so I can get back into the train room. I would have thought there would be repro decals already available for Postwar F3s. Henning's paint is the best, it looks like that's what you are going to use. They also have tons of parts for Postwar/MPC era. The shop is close by and in the Fall I go up there once a week on my lunch break. Review on the HF airbrush will be appreciated, I've been putting off getting one.

For sure!! We’re hiding inside from the heat currently. It’s no fun being out in the garage during the summer. Plus we have today and tomorrow off due to the possibility of the storm hitting, so taking advantage of the time lol.

Only decals I could come across is the flag for the front nose. Nobody makes the original heat stamped “built by Lionel” and “wabash” on the sides unfortunately.

The paint was a huge PITA!! The few places I found were either no longer in business/owners had passed. Company sold and they no longer offer paint. I finally gave up and ordered through Hennings. I’m great full to have it, but the gray and white are not 100%.

I reached out to the train enamels guy several times to no avail. He decided to email me back after I ordered through Hennings already. I said to hell with him lol.

 

[Samplingman]

There was a guy back in the day, Charlie Woods, I think. He was highly recommended so I bought 8 spray cans, $50 worth, and when I got home only one of the cans worked, the others just sputtered chunks of paint. He sold the business shortly after that and I think a new guy is trying to re-create the enamels, but I'm skeptical now.

 

[stubs300]

Some motivational pics for ya from a trashed out SF's I acquired for a custom project. Good Luck
This was my first project.

Under construction and completed, with a custom caboose thrown in. I still need to find some blank number boards and the right sized numbers to totally complete them.

 

[LocuMob]

Just like with cars, these train layouts never seem to be finished.

I still can't get over the guy who had a completed room, and redoes the whole damn thing because he didn't like a turnout, and still gets it done in less than 18 months.

 

[xxcarguy]

Love them all.

 

[monaco75]

There was a guy back in the day, Charlie Woods, I think. He was highly recommended so I bought 8 spray cans, $50 worth, and when I got home only one of the cans worked, the others just sputtered chunks of paint. He sold the business shortly after that and I think a new guy is trying to re-create the enamels, but I'm skeptical now.

That name sounds awfully familiar. I believe that’s the train enamel guy. I called the number off the website, to find out he sold the business years ago. Why the website and number are still up is beyond me.... however the guy he sold it too added and s to trains enamels. He has a different small webpage “under construction” with a phone number. Guy never answered at different times of different days. Took him almost a week to reply by email. Figured with that kind of response, I didn’t want to chance sending $$ that way.

Henning’s colors are damn close, and I don’t think anyone but a collector will notice.

Some motivational pics for ya from a trashed out SF's I acquired for a custom project. Good Luck
This was my first project.

View attachment 314686


Under construction and completed, with a custom caboose thrown in. I still need to find some blank number boards and the right sized numbers to totally complete them.



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Those came out great!! Looks like an early A unit, and later B unit?

Did you paint the trucks? 99% of this wabash seems to be press fit together, and not screwed like the earlier ones. Kind of a pain!! Want to disassemble the trucks, but am afraid I won’t be able to get em right again. Had to take the front apron off for paint, as well as being loose, and the sheet metal frame bent from usage...

Just like with cars, these train layouts never seem to be finished.

I still can't get over the guy who had a completed room, and redoes the whole damn thing because he didn't like a turnout, and still gets it done in less than 18 months.

That dudes a nut job!! Pay him no mind lol.

 

[monaco75]

I’m impressed by the simple green! Damn!!

The plastic B unit seems to be stained on the back with the paint. No matter though, shouldn’t affect the new paint job.

The A unit frame has a few dings in it. Waiting on the spot putty to dry for sanding. The frame got a tear in it, but the battery cover rivet, during removal. Think I’m just going to have to leave it....

You guys have any tricks for installed the new rivet?

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Brake fluid will remove paint and not harm plastic. My BIL's dad gets old models that people painted God awful colors. Strips them with brake fluid and repaints.

 

[monaco75]

Brake fluid will remove paint and not harm plastic. My BIL's dad gets old models that people painted God awful colors. Strips them with brake fluid and repaints.

The brake cleaner was mentioned on the train forums too, but had a little bit of mixed reviews. The postwar Lionel plastic is goofy, seems some are fine with certain methods, where others can be destroyed.. idk. The simple green was highly recommended, and I’m pretty happy with it.

Set up a little make shift paint booth on the opposite end of the train room. Too humid outside to paint, but inside is nice! LOL

@Samplingman the harbor freight system seems to do good. Wish it had different tips for different spray patterns. It took what seemed like forever to paint the frames. Took a little over an hour to paint them, and the front apron.

The paint looks nice. Seems a little glossy though. It lays on flat, and is glossing up as it dries. I’ll leave em over night and see what they do.

I started getting water in the system by the 2nd frame. The little air water separator on the compressor could do a better job.. luckily the water blew out mostly on the bottom side, where it won’t be seen, and a little on the top of the apron (which is hidden also)...

 

[monaco75]

Had a little bleed through from the spot putty, and a little unevenness in the paint. Gave em a 2nd coat. Moocho better.

I thinned the hell out of the 2nd batch of paint. The airbrush sprayed a lot better this go around. Needs to be super thin for a nice spray pattern apparently.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

I thought about that after I posted it. Looks good carry on.

 

[cantflip]

Brake fluid will remove paint and not harm plastic. My BIL's dad gets old models that people painted God awful colors. Strips them with brake fluid and repaints.

I thought about that after I posted it. Looks good carry on.

Brake fluid will certainly go after paint... IDK if I would use it on something I loved. I have seen it used with short tern good results on rubber, but it dries it out and leads to extreme cracking in a short time. It may be ok after a good rinsing with water... but IDK.

Brake clean is several different products, any of which may contain solvents that would damage plastics... I would never try that on something I wanted to keep.

 

[Big_John]

The little air water separator on the compressor could do a better job

You need to get the filter/separator farther down the line. Air is still hot and filled with moisture just out of the compressor. Run a line to the filter, then a line to your airbrush for better results. The air will cool and the water will condense as it travels through the line.

 

[stubs300]

Those came out great!! Looks like an early A unit, and later B unit?

Did you paint the trucks? 99% of this wabash seems to be press fit together, and not screwed like the earlier ones. Kind of a pain!! Want to disassemble the trucks, but am afraid I won’t be able to get em right again. Had to take the front apron off for paint, as well as being loose, and the sheet metal frame bent from usage...

View attachment 314715

The 2345 is stock Lionel, that was my first job. I may have taken a wire brush to clean them up and give them a shot of flat black. Other then that I did nothing. The other 2 loco's are Lionel powered by Williams, I bought their dummy upgrade kit to power them so those bolsters are painted by Williams. They did turn out nice! I think I had to do some spot putty on the frame in a couple places. For the body I just used some testor's model glue as a putty to fill places on the body. They do look good rollin on the rails!

 

[monaco75]

Brake fluid will certainly go after paint... IDK if I would use it on something I loved. I have seen it used with short tern good results on rubber, but it dries it out and leads to extreme cracking in a short time. It may be ok after a good rinsing with water... but IDK.

Brake clean is several different products, any of which may contain solvents that would damage plastics... I would never try that on something I wanted to keep.

Brake cleaner would deff eat these away. They would melt in the blink of an eye.

You need to get the filter/separator farther down the line. Air is still hot and filled with moisture just out of the compressor. Run a line to the filter, then a line to your airbrush for better results. The air will cool and the water will condense as it travels through the line.

But it’s so convenient there! LOL Maybe pick up another hose for it, to get it away from the compressor. It is a good little compressor. Deff gets hot though, with the constant running while painting.

 

[monaco75]

Disassembled the wheel assemblies and trucks. The trucks cleaned up pretty good. I masked the rear sets off, and painted the tops where there was some rust bubbling. The SEM trim black paint I had was a pretty good match. Also painted the ladder steps with the same black.

Gears cleaned out, and fresh lube applied. Waiting for the blue to dry a bit more, before re installing the front apron on the truck assembly. Think I’ll have to go get some super glue for it, as the tabs may be a bit of a pain.

The pickup rollers were rusted in place. Got em free’d up and rolling again, with a little oil.

 

[stubs300]

Going back to strippers, I used brake cleaner and mixed in some 90% isopropyl alcohol to kick it up a notch, about a 70/30 mix and you'd get some bubbles watchin it do it's job.
Here's another custom job I did, not really a custom paint job though! The sad part is the decal on the other side got trashed before I could clearcoat it. This is dingy black!

These were my 4th attempt at making the front handrails and getting them right, adds a nice touch!