Work Train (Part 1) ST&D Crane Tender.

I have a few universal mills cars laying around and didn't know what to do with them. I have enough slab cars and I plan on using one for a shoving platform. While looking at the layout I seen a couple 200 ton Tyco cranes that I redid a while back. Add grab iron filled in the front where the couple was and install a Kadee type couplers. They did not have a crane tender so, I went to work building one. They may have built for mill services but with a little work, they can be used for just about anything. They still need to be lettered but I like how it turned out. The ladders are from Plastruct. The blocking is from cut down match sticks. Like always I'm open to suggestions.

ACE-G1-4000 Turbine Part 3

The locomotive and tender had been painted and ready for lettering. There has been a delay in lettering and while the wait the turbine is being put through a few test while sitting in the yard. As of right now, the locomotive has been a good success with a few minor issues that are being worked out.

ACE-G1-4000 Turbine Part 2

How the ACE-G1-4000 turbine come about. With the new way to power locomotives always on the drawing broad, companies all over the world are working on their ideals. The KV&O isn't a stranger in building locomotives. They have been rebuild locomotives since the late 70s at there shops at the Black Mountain Yards. The KV&O decided it would try there hand at building a turbine. The biggest decision to be made what kind of fuel they wanted to use. They looked at passed achievements and failures from other railroads. There was the Union Pacific Turbines that used Bunker C oil. Then The N&W, C&O, and also UP to test out steam turbine locomotives. The Bunker C oil turbines proved to be very reliable but with the cost of oil going up the KV&O decide on trying a steam turbine locomotive due to the main freight haul was coal and it was available at a moments notice.

The KV&O and GE discuses and came up with a plan. GE would come up with a engine and the KV&O would build the body and frame. With in a few month GE contacted KV&O with the plans for the engine and components and the KV&O started working on a frame and body. KV&O was well know for keeping there retired locomotives. They had a frame to a GG1 that had been rolled over during a derailment on the electrified division. The frame was still in good shape but the body was not repairable. The locomotive bed had been found. Purchased from a scrape dealer in California was a cab to a thought to been scraped Krauss-Maffei locomotive.

The frame was refurbished to the specs GE provided and the Krauss-Maffei cab was fitted to the frame. After a couple months GE delivered the engine and the locomotive started taking shape. The locomotive's body was build electric and piping ran and a tender was built.

The coal and water is loaded onto the tender but the coal is pulverized and mixed with a small amount of oil. it is then sent to the locomotive by connection pipes. There it heats the water to produce steam to turn the and turbine.

The next couple pictures are of the tender setting out side of the car shop and the nose of the locomotive (still in SP paint) sticking out of the paint shop waiting to get sand blasted.

    

ACE-G1-4000 Turbine Part 1

I'm always looking for odd and unique locomotives and rolling stock. While surfing on eBay a few weeks back I came across a very unique locomotive. After a few emails with the seller I found out the builder has passed away and he was selling the locomotive for the widow, and I ended up purchasing the locomotive. The locomotive was incomplete and still need some work, detail parts mostly. The front pilot had to be attached and the drive rods put back in place. The locomotives was built with parts from a Penn Line GG1 locomotive. The frame was scratch built out of brass tubing and plates, and the shell was built from 2 AHM Krauss-Maffei locomotive. One thing I really like about finding odd pieces of equipment I can make up store of how they came about. Wounder what I can come up with?