Scrap Line Rescue

Greetings All,

Earlier in 2018 I was able to vanquish the zinc rot chassis that were powering my Walthers FA and FB fleet. In most cases I found a complete locomotive and just swapped the frame out leaving me with several FA and FB shells that went into the locomotive shell purgatory box. 

Fast forward to April 2018 and I came up with the following scenario to add some new scrap line rescue units to my Empire Belt Railroad Fleet;


Empire Belt parent company the New York Central Railroad owned a fleet of 44 FA1s and 23 FB1s that were mostly all retired prior to the NYC / PRR merger. Some may have been used as trade ins for second generation diesels as that was very popular during this time and some may have ended up in the scrap line. With the purse strings tightened after the purchase of the SDP40s the Empire Belt was on the lookout for cheap power and once again contacted the N.M.D.C. (Neal Multz Diesel Consultants) to head out to Collinwood to see what if anything could be salvaged for use on the E.B.R.R. After a day of combing the scrap lines an A-B-A set worthy of rebuilding located.

The engines were transported back to the Terminal Yard shops where the mechanical rebuilding was undertaken. The engines were then sent out to the Patti O Paint Shop for some cosmetic improvements.

Here's the FA1-FB1-FA1 units  along with some other projects in new paint.

Empire Belt FA1 #1032 fresh out of the paint shop. I'm using the larger lettering to simulate the New York Central's final paint and lettering scheme that came about in the late 1960's. This was basically Cigar Band phase II. Check out FA2 #1045 at Marion Ohio in April 1967 and at Cleveland in August 1967

FB 3327 with NYC numbers. 

FA1 #1035. Since no NYC FAs or FBs were repainted with PC logos I kept the units in their pre merger NYC attire and numbers.

The newly painted and lettered trio ready for assignment.

Empire Belt FA1 #1035 proudly shows it's NYC heritage. 

The E.B.R.R. consist awaiting clearance to depart Terminal Yard. An easy spotting feature to tell the difference between an FA1 and FA2 are the radiator shutters at the rear of the engine. The FA-2 is four feet longer to accommodate an optional boiler and has a grill beyond the shutters. 

Running light with a NYC FB1 thru Bedford NY towards North Side Yard with 1/87th scale Senior Engineer Sir Neal at the throttle. 

A few days later 1/87th scale John B has a good vantage point overlooking Empire City Station and checking out his newly posted billboard. I think John B knows something, these tower men have a grapevine all their own.

His info is on the money! The newly painted Empire Belt FA1-FB1-FA1 combo are pulling a freight train out of the lower level tunnel and are heading for Empire City station. Gotta have the right connections!

But wait there's more! I later found a second FB shell in a different box and painted and lettered it as Empire Belt #3309. 

So now I have an actual A-B-B-A consist. Mimicking the old lead blog photo.

The A-B-B-A set looking sharp and pulling a heavy tonnage train thru Bedford NY  

Returning lite to North Side Yard.

Later that week the Empire Belt ALco's meet their GE brothers in front of University Millwork while a Route Ralph tractor trailer looks on. 

1/87th scale Senior Engineer Sir Neal has gathered the guys and the engines of the Empire Belt Railroad at their North Side Yard HQ.  

Now that the ALcos have been certified for revenue service Senior Engineer Sir Neal will have the guys qualified on them in no time. That's 1/87th scale AT JOE and Big Mike standing down the tracks in front of the GP30s and U Boats

In his well known gravelly voice old head 1/87th scale Big Mike imparts some of his opinions on new engineer AT JOE. "Kid these GP30s slip coming out of the roundhouse and the GEs are super slow to load." "Grab the SDP40s if you can!"

Empire Belt U30Cs, GP30s, FA-FBs and SDP40s in Empire City at the Hohman Ave side of the yard.

With the newly added ALcos and SDP40s the Empire Belt GP9ms are at Terminal Yard ready to head into the shop for some well deserved maintenance and a well needed rest. These engines have been in constant service since last summer. 

 Thanks for reading!