Good stuff. I have 2 of the old Spectrum SD45's in the Reading scheme I'd like to upgrade, how much different are they from the KATO's? Anybody know if the Cannonball cabs will fit? I also have an Athern GP38 to make one of the PRSL/PC units, maybe a good one to try first.

First, thanks Rick, I do have my lawyers working on that. . And by The way Rick, you got my name wrong. It's Ron.

Thanks James, Well it's like night and day on a performance level. the Kato is much superior in allot of ways. I'm not sure if the Cannon cabs would fit on the Spectrum. The Spectrum's do have a scale hood. Give it a shot!

Getting back to the frame, the first thing I’m going to do is place the deck onto the frame. I’m going to mark the locations of the Salem air filters on the frame rail. The upper portion of the frame rail ledge has to be shaved flush so the filters slide down since they will be mounted on the deck. Even though I milled the frame, it’s still not scale width. So there is a give and take for detail placement. But, it does give me the room to add details.

I’m using Railflyer Models DP-6203 Salem air filters. These are scale size and they fit rather nicely because of it. Highball graphics has the Railflyer parts in stock. The DW air filters are over sized. To use them, you will have to modify them to fit. You‘ll have to file a flat spot on the inside of the large filter to slide down over the rail also. And if I remember correctly, you’ll have to shorten the small filter to fit over the fuel tank. When figuring the locations for the air filters, you want to mark the deck as well. I measured from the center of the first station back for the large filter. That came to .223. I did the same for the smaller filter, which was .410. After transferring the markings for those filter locations to the frame rail, I set the deck aside and shaved off the ledge of the frame rail. This just has to be wide enough for the filters to slide down. So you will have to calculate how much to remove based on what filter set your using.


Now, I’m going to finish detailing the frame by using two sets of DW 224 traction motor cables. I do have to modify how the cabling is going to be added to the frame. I can’t set the cables on the frame rail like the prototype. Again, I don’t have a scale width frame and the tops of the truck frames would rub up against the cabling causing derailments. So, what I’ll do is give the illusion of full cable sets. I cut the cables length wise in half. To split the cables, there’s a gap between the sets of 2 that are molded together. I use a #17 chisel blade to do the honors. To give the illusion that these cables are running off the frame rail edge, I shave off sections of the bottom frame rail ledge flush only where the cables will run. I use barge cement to glue the cables to the bottom the rail. There is always a method to my madness. With modeling, improvising can be a good thing for achieving the results that you’re looking for. Below are the pics for how I cabled.









With the cabling complete, the frame work is done. Next up is the trucks.

Ron:
Please accept my apologies; guess I got a bit carried away with the model.

Rick

Rick, no apologies needed. I've done the same thing before. It's really no big deal.

Does Cary still make the cabs anymore? Todd