Been working on 2 of these locos for Gary and they are moving along kind of slowly as the decaling is quite tricky. Gary had decals custom made. After 2 of these P-2's I have a T-3 to do.
Gary's New York Central electric (p-2)
- Thread starter Blake
- Start date
Fantastic!!!!! Grab that third rail and run that baby all the way to Harmon NY where, unfortunately, they'll slap a diesel on the train. 
I've never seen a model of this loco before. Fabulous!!!!!!!!
Ralph
I've never seen a model of this loco before. Fabulous!!!!!!!!Ralph
Nice job Blake.
I did a lightning stripe paint scheme on an RS3, one stripe at a time, I can relate to and appreciate the work your putting into those.
I did a lightning stripe paint scheme on an RS3, one stripe at a time, I can relate to and appreciate the work your putting into those.
Blake,
I had a friend that had the world’s messiest desk. He had a sign on the wall above it saying, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk signify?”
George
I had a friend that had the world’s messiest desk. He had a sign on the wall above it saying, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk signify?”
George
As far as the bogie/truck thingys, you'll have to ask Gary Pheil about that, I'm not really sure. And hey George D, about that empty desk comment.........I forgot what I was saying.
Blake,
I never met a model railroader that had a neat work are - how long did it take you to clear things off to take the photo?
Last night, at the train club, a friend told me that I should never clean my work bench, I wouldn’t be able to find anything. You may regret what you did.
George
I never met a model railroader that had a neat work are - how long did it take you to clear things off to take the photo?
Last night, at the train club, a friend told me that I should never clean my work bench, I wouldn’t be able to find anything. You may regret what you did.
George
What a locomotive!
Never saw a pic of this P-2 before. Must be fun to watch her going through a maze of turnouts!
And what a paintjob!
Great as usual, Blake. Again the weathering is superb - just that hint of new rust on an otherwise almost freshly shopped loco. GREAT!
I guess that you used up a few sets of fresh nerves until that striping was done.
Ron
Never saw a pic of this P-2 before. Must be fun to watch her going through a maze of turnouts!
And what a paintjob!
Great as usual, Blake. Again the weathering is superb - just that hint of new rust on an otherwise almost freshly shopped loco. GREAT!
I guess that you used up a few sets of fresh nerves until that striping was done.
Ron
Thanks Railron, yes, new set of nerves indeed. Hey George, see the cat at the bottom of my posts, if I don't clear the workbench, he will!!
Woodie, in order to negotiate the throat trackage at the passenger terminals, this loco had its wheelbase in two seperate sections. Each section contains 4 pilot wheels and 6 drive wheels. The carbody spans the two sections but is considerably shorter so there are "porches" at each end. Here is a photo of the prototype.
Attachments
Gary,
Can you expand on that a little more? I still don't see what purpose they serve, compared to other locos with 6 drive wheels, as part of the main body of the loco.
I'm no railway engineer, of course. Just a modeller.
Can you expand on that a little more? I still don't see what purpose they serve, compared to other locos with 6 drive wheels, as part of the main body of the loco.
I'm no railway engineer, of course. Just a modeller.
Hi Woodie,
I tried to understand why they built the NYC P-2 as such a contraption with those 'thingies' in front. Here are my ideas - they could even be right (so I hope). Comments are welcome.
To guide a loco through the curves and turnouts, it is always better to have a set of leading wheels in front of the driving wheels. The driving wheels are somewhat stiff, and going through a diverging turnout on a 0-6-0 or 0-8-0 is a very jerky affair! (That's why switchers are restricted to fairly low speeds!) A leading truck rolls much softer into the curve and then (by the help of springs and levers) it pulls the drivers gradually into the curve, too. This enhances the safety considerably. :thumb:
One leading axle is better than none, but a four-wheel truck is still much better, especially at higher speeds. Unfortunately each additional axle rises the price of the loco. That's why the slower freight locos mostly only have two leading wheels: 2-8-0s, 2-8-2s, 2-8-4s. On passenger locos they went for four-wheel trucks early, from the old Americans 4-4-0 up to 4-6-2s and 4-8-4s.
A 'classic' for passenger trains was the Ten-wheeler, 4-6-0. So I guess that the engineers who constructed the P-2 thought of an electrified 'double-Ten-wheeler' 4-6-0 + 0-6-4, making a good runner in both directions.
And why the porches? Lots of weight on the drivers is much more important for traction than weight on the leading trucks. So they concentrated the heavy hardware (transformers and traction motors) over the driving axles in the center, where it added to the pulling power.
And I suppose, that the brake stands on the front porch only acted on the leading trucks. So when the P-2 was parked soewhere, the brakemen could prevent her from 'walking away' without even entering the cab of the loco. This is a wild guess - perhaps some NYC specialist could enlighten us about this...
Phew - end of my dissertation!
Ron
I tried to understand why they built the NYC P-2 as such a contraption with those 'thingies' in front. Here are my ideas - they could even be right (so I hope).
Comments are welcome.To guide a loco through the curves and turnouts, it is always better to have a set of leading wheels in front of the driving wheels. The driving wheels are somewhat stiff, and going through a diverging turnout on a 0-6-0 or 0-8-0 is a very jerky affair! (That's why switchers are restricted to fairly low speeds!) A leading truck rolls much softer into the curve and then (by the help of springs and levers) it pulls the drivers gradually into the curve, too. This enhances the safety considerably. :thumb:
One leading axle is better than none, but a four-wheel truck is still much better, especially at higher speeds. Unfortunately each additional axle rises the price of the loco. That's why the slower freight locos mostly only have two leading wheels: 2-8-0s, 2-8-2s, 2-8-4s. On passenger locos they went for four-wheel trucks early, from the old Americans 4-4-0 up to 4-6-2s and 4-8-4s.
A 'classic' for passenger trains was the Ten-wheeler, 4-6-0. So I guess that the engineers who constructed the P-2 thought of an electrified 'double-Ten-wheeler' 4-6-0 + 0-6-4, making a good runner in both directions.
And why the porches? Lots of weight on the drivers is much more important for traction than weight on the leading trucks. So they concentrated the heavy hardware (transformers and traction motors) over the driving axles in the center, where it added to the pulling power.
And I suppose, that the brake stands on the front porch only acted on the leading trucks. So when the P-2 was parked soewhere, the brakemen could prevent her from 'walking away' without even entering the cab of the loco. This is a wild guess - perhaps some NYC specialist could enlighten us about this...
Phew - end of my dissertation!
Ron