#44 Out on the Line

[Mike Trent]

About a year ago, I posted about a joint project Rob Smith and I did, C&S #44, which was made from extra parts from both of our accumulated materials on the bones of a Broadway LTD On30 C-16. It was great, until the plastic main driver gear split, and it became inoperable. I took the gear remnants out, rendering #44 as a free rolling static model, which took up residency in Rob's Como Roundhouse. As I was reassembling the engine, I reversed the polarity of the tender trucks so that it would be able to run as a static model in a train with no headlight and the motor disabled.

Today, we took it out of the roundhouse and double-headed it with #71, a backdated Overland model with PFM sound. It was a complete success. As a freewheeling engine, it rolls like a boxcar and adds virtually no weight to the train. So if anyone has an out of service locomotive consider this as an alternative, while awaiting a solution as we are doing with #44.  Great to see the old girl out again!



 

[Dave Eggleston]

I love this idea of a free-rolling engine. Looks fantastic, fools the eye, gets the mind thinking...

[Mike Trent]

Thanks, Dave. I'm thinking of enabling the headlight to further the effect.