Dirtbag Articulated

[Pacific Limited]

Beautiful photos Bob, nice work.

[bob turner]

Well, bump!

This thing has been running around my test loop for a half year. It is ugly, dirtbag, not detailed, and without prototype, and yet there is something about it that pleases me.

SW just sent me a book with a serious bunch of photos of the SP MM-3 - ex Verde Tunnel & Smelter 2-6-6-2 Mallets. There were only two of them, and they wound up in LA, with much better looking tenders.They had 57" drivers, which means they were relatively small locomotives - maybe not much bigger than a logging locomotive. SW's book has drawings, so I am not just working from photos.

But in 17/64 scale, I could use Lobaugh Berkshire drivers, and maybe even get away with a boiler of similar proportions. So now I am thinking about it. I have a spare Berk frame, but looking at it says that it will not make a very good six-coupled frame, so the first step is the frames. Then it is a search for drivers so as not to impact future plans for Mikados and Consolidations.

I note that I am in the middle of a QJ 2-10-2, but that is stalled while I figure out how to emboss ridges on the elephant ears. I am considering a male/female die set for two ridges, but so far I have not even purchased the necessary steel blocks.

Once I get moving on an MM-3, I will update this thread.

[up148]

If by dirtbad you mean unfinished, damaged or ??? then I have several. I actually know what you mean, but I don't have much to add. BTW, your's in not a dirtbad either!

But, here's my dirtbag Challenger.....actually it was the EB seller who was the dirtbad/*******......not the model. Estate seller, who most likely stole it from the family and then didn't have the knowledge or ability or mindset to box it up correctly, so it wouldn't get damaged in transit to me.

He tried to put it off on shipper, but if they saw how he shipped it they would have denied responsibility and rightly so......it was his ignorance that caused the problem. No remorse and even tried to turn it around and tell me the damaged was inconsequental (which it was not). But, I love battling with bullies and he qualified as one. The shipping damage was everyone's fault but his.

In the end he didn't make as much on his sale and I was happy with the adjusted price.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

If by dirtbad you mean unfinished, damaged or ??? then I have several. I actually know what you mean but don't have much to add.

Have to wonder just how many unfinished, disassembled, not reassembled, or damaged locos are sitting in basements all over the country,

[up148]

Huge number would be my guess and if you include the models sitting in boxes or displays or not operated for other reasons, I would guess the number to be even higher.

I don't know enough to comment about 3R, but I believe it applies to 2R guys. We see orphaned projects and unused/unloved trains at every train show as well as on EB and YS. But, in a way, this is what keeps out hobby alive. I've bought many uncompleted projects over the years.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I've bought many uncompleted projects over the years.

As have I, but I'm clearing several of these out of the shop, off the shelves, etc. so I can focus in on those projects that I know I can complete reasonably. I can use the funds to finance the supplies to finish many before the supply dries up totally.

[bob turner]

Takes two minutes to load anything around here - could that be caused by 231 guests?

Me too - considering the M1 offered by Trainz - to add to my collection of things to do. I really like the M1.

I think of all the models now either burned to a crisp or submerged in flooding - the evening news has featured both every single evening for the last six months - last night it was such old news that the "AI is going to kill us all" headline was first. I might line up in the "It will indeed kill us" but right now I don't understand why we can't build in an "unplug it" switch. I remember the Airbus - " don't ask why it is doing that; turn it off and fly it yourself!"

Back to the MM-3 - it is a large locomotive - my boiler will start out with a 2" brass tube, expanded to 2 1/4" at the firebox. Still have not checked the driver supply. If I was incredibly wealthy, I could just buy them from Jim Canter. I may wind up machining from rough - I think I have steel tires.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Takes two minutes to load anything around here - could that be caused by 231 guests?

Doubtful; probably something more fundamental with the traffic load at the server/host. It's working just fine now...maybe correlates to time of day?

I think of all the models now either burned to a crisp or submerged in flooding - the evening news has featured both every single evening for the last six months - last night it was such old news that the "AI is going to kill us all" headline was first. I might line up in the "It will indeed kill us" but right now I don't understand why we can't build in an "unplug it" switch. I remember the Airbus - " don't ask why it is doing that; turn it off and fly it yourself!"

If only we could always move that fast to turn things off.......maybe reading a book "Retrograde" would be entertaining....

Back to the MM-3 - it is a large locomotive - my boiler will start out with a 2" brass tube, expanded to 2 1/4" at the firebox. Still have not checked the driver supply. If I was incredibly wealthy, I could just buy them from Jim Canter. I may wind up machining from rough - I think I have steel tires.

That is large! I saw drivers in piles on tables at the last Strasburg meet for petty cash.....since there are very few builders anymore, there's really not a large market.

[up148]

Yeah, I saw those drivers too. But, like most everything he sells, the price seemed high.