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I suppose I should blame all this garden RR madness on our family cruise to Alaska in 2007, where we rode the White Pass on our day in Skagway. Many thousands of hobby dollars later, I decided to pay homage to that trip and try something new by scratchbuilding a 1:20 GE Shovel Nose.
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My approach uses a cord cut from some 4" diameter ABS pipe for the roof and nose. The tedious cutting and filing for the windows in the nose persuaded me to make a make a mold (which I'll attempt with Richard K this weekend) so I can make additional units in the future, likewise with the truck sideframes. The roof panels were made from thin sheet stryrene glued down, after which I drilled a million holes for the nails that represent bolts and the wire lift rings. The hump in the back (someone on the White Pass fan email list speculates it is an air heater to cope with the brutally low winter temps) was made from styrene, curved tin and an O scale roof walkway used for the grills. Various vents were made from nails and wood and styrene scraps. The body sides to come will be styrene.
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The chasis is a piece of wood supporting my boomin' sound system - a Small Scale Railways Alco soundcard. The PVC tube sounding chamber was an idea I got from Ray on this forum - greatly improves the sound quality and bass. The trucks are made from basswood and Sierra Valley wheelsets - bearings are nylon. The side frames I have yet to cast will go over the wood trucks. Tanks are pieces of tubing with ends made from carriage bolts. More pics to come as the project progresses!
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My approach uses a cord cut from some 4" diameter ABS pipe for the roof and nose. The tedious cutting and filing for the windows in the nose persuaded me to make a make a mold (which I'll attempt with Richard K this weekend) so I can make additional units in the future, likewise with the truck sideframes. The roof panels were made from thin sheet stryrene glued down, after which I drilled a million holes for the nails that represent bolts and the wire lift rings. The hump in the back (someone on the White Pass fan email list speculates it is an air heater to cope with the brutally low winter temps) was made from styrene, curved tin and an O scale roof walkway used for the grills. Various vents were made from nails and wood and styrene scraps. The body sides to come will be styrene.
The chasis is a piece of wood supporting my boomin' sound system - a Small Scale Railways Alco soundcard. The PVC tube sounding chamber was an idea I got from Ray on this forum - greatly improves the sound quality and bass. The trucks are made from basswood and Sierra Valley wheelsets - bearings are nylon. The side frames I have yet to cast will go over the wood trucks. Tanks are pieces of tubing with ends made from carriage bolts. More pics to come as the project progresses!
