One saving grace is that it wasn't unusual for the real ones to get bent
too! I really haven't come across the perfect solution of strength,
flexibility and appearance. On my two Sunset GP-9's I removed the
originals which also seemed easily bent and replaced them with some from
Southwind (BTS). I then used music wire for the 'runner'. After
several years I don't think the somewhat thicker BTS stanchions are much
stronger than the originals. I also made a semi-mistake of not
soldering each stanchion to the music wire. My feeling at the time is
that I would rather straighten one unit than the whole string---well
perhaps, and I'll never know, if they were soldered as one unit it might
be harder to bend any at all.
Bob Werre
On 3/22/12 3:38 PM, Ed Kozlowsky wrote:
Boy, those hanrails on 8552 look wimpy. I bet they won't last one op
session /*:o)
*/
*Ed Kozlowsky*
*Sanford, Maine*
*www.SScale.org <http://www.sscale.org/>*
*From:* Robert Frascella <frascerj
If you've been following my posts on the conversion of the AM
GP-9 to a GP-7, I'm happy report that the locomotive coversion
is complete and ready to be moved to the paint shop. I've
uploaded a couple of progress photos showing the pre-painted
version, which you can view here:
Modeler, I discovered that the fuel tank was not tall enough
and rode too high above the rails. I also added the Pennsy cab
signal box behind the fuel tank, thus the reason for the
roof-mounted air tanks. The correct GP-7 early handrail
stanchions were used. These are very delicate castings and
bend very easily but the well worth the effort.
I'll post more photos after painting and decaling.
Bob Frascella
Wenham, MA
otos
