well, today was a bad day. I ordered a book on detailing diesel engines the otherday, but it turned out toe be the wrong one, and doesn't have much on the prototypes i liked.
to top things off, my SEPTA train derailed for the billionth time, except this time a coach dragged the AEM7 locomotive with it off the table to the concrete ( the train was going in Push mode, so it may have been some momentum, it was kinda shocking). while the coach that derailed isn't so seriously damaged that i can't get it back up and running in 10 minutes, the AEM7 is wrecked.
the forward right side ( the box on the top is offset towards the "front") marker light was scraped half off, and some of the pilot was crunched in as well, so the shell won't fit on right. That isn't the worst of it though, as the pins and deals that held the trucks to the chassis have cracked right off.
now that i've had time to think of it, it might be saved.... but its gonna take some work. all the seperate detail that came loose has been recovered, and it should be easy to reinstall these parts.
next comes that marker light. I might just pop the lens out, and just cut the whole thing off with a razor blade, then try and see if i can't fine a plastic rod or something that will look the same, to put in it's place. the pilot can be re-built with some modeler's putty, some paint and decals.
the hard part will be getting the Chassis to run again. my dad suggested that i get a small nail, like my track nails, and drill a hole into to the truck assemblies where the pins used to be, so that it is big enough for the head to fit in. Then he says i should use expoxy to lock the nail in place. after that, all i'd need to do is clip the nail down, and the trucks should stay in place. the motor and everything else appears unharmed.
I'm also thinking of instead getting an entirely new SEPTA AEM7, and using the old one for parts. for example, the airconditioner boxes on the AEM7 are similar to those used on the E60MA, and these airconditioner details apperently are not available seperately. any repairs i make to it still won't make it look as good as it used to, and there is not garunteeing it will ever run right either.
what do you think i should do?