help finding new Alco shells

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
Hi guys, I need some help finding some Alco Shells

Im not sure what type of Alcos these are but I have pics of them

17618044921.jpg


17618044934.jpg


I either want to get new shells for both of them or just get new frames for them, which is better to do on these old models? What should I do with them? I want to re-paint them and detail them out also. Any suggestions?

any help is appreciated
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
Josh:wav: , I am not sure exactly what Alco model those are..:eek:ops: ...but CNW was once known as the "Alco line":winki: , and GBW ONLY HAD Alco's:eeki::winki: . just a couple thoughts:thumb: .
:deano: -Deano
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
Josh:wav: , I am not sure exactly what Alco model those are..:eek:ops: ...but CNW was once known as the "Alco line":winki: , and GBW ONLY HAD Alco's:eeki::winki: . just a couple thoughts:thumb: .
:deano: -Deano


OHH YEAH, just what I was hoping for, CNW they will become then lol :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Im not concerned about the inside, im making these puppies dummies so im going to rip the motors out anyways.

now what would be the best thing to do with these units as far as fixing them up?
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
just a note first, hey, since i am not sure exactly what Alco models those are:eek:ops: , i really couldn't tell you if CNW really had those:eek:ops: , but i can tell you they had MANY different Alco's:thumb: . most ran out west, here in the Midwest sure they had plenty of Alco's, but FM's were more common:winki: .
:deano: -Deano

EDIT: DOH!...i forgot to mention, i would just paint them and fix the railings:winki: , if you really wanted to detail them, add plows, and antennas:thumb: , not sure just how much you can do with N scale details.
 

Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
They are a models of the Alco C430. (Tyco as mentioned above)
Only 16 were built and owned buy the New York Central, Reading, Seaboard Coast Line and the Green Bay and Western. Some made it into Penn Central and Conrail.
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
yeah i have a SLSF bicentenial C430. I was going to work on it, but i decided i might as well get a new Alco in conrail or something.
 

Triplex

Active Member
Only 16 were built and owned buy the New York Central, Reading, Seaboard Coast Line and the Green Bay and Western. Some made it into Penn Central and Conrail.
L&N ended up with several - bought from SCL? Most of the Conrail ex-NYC units went to the Susquehanna.
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
Thanks Ray, G.E.C. and Triplex for the help, im going to do one of them in CNW and one in GBW.

just a note first, hey, since i am not sure exactly what Alco models those are:eek:ops: , i really couldn't tell you if CNW really had those:eek:ops: , but i can tell you they had MANY different Alco's:thumb: . most ran out west, here in the Midwest sure they had plenty of Alco's, but FM's were more common:winki: .
:deano: -Deano

EDIT: DOH!...i forgot to mention, i would just paint them and fix the railings:winki: , if you really wanted to detail them, add plows, and antennas:thumb: , not sure just how much you can do with N scale details.

alexbnfan said:
They are tycos. I'd replace the metal motor, with the rear dummy truck. less weight to be lugging around.

Thanks Deano and Alex, I might do 1 in CNW paint and one in GBW paint :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Ohh and BTW, these are HO not N :mrgreen: sign1

The reason I want to do some work to these is that the shell has a HUGE opening to the front and rear for the couplers because the couplers are truck mounted. I am going to get rid of the motor inside, the front and rear trucks; replace them with dummies as Alex said, and then find something to do with the front and rear ends where the gigantic hole is for the truck mounted couplers lol. Any ideas as to what to do with those areas?
 

Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
The reason I want to do some work to these is that the shell has a HUGE opening to the front and rear for the couplers because the couplers are truck mounted.
Any ideas as to what to do with those areas?
I have done this with a number of models.
I build a coupler mounting pad first.
After I get the couplers mounted and adjusted I cut and fit a filler plate in the Gaping hole.
Then add some pilot details if desired.
 

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TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
WOW Ray!! That looks great, nice job, I might be doing that myself, it looks simple enough lol

what couplers did you use? Is that a Kadee coupler box?
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
Did a lil research on the GBW and the Alco C430. Turnes out, engine #315 was the last new engine that GBW bought, the rest after that were bought from other railroads. #315 had a interesting history also, here is some history I found on #315. There is also a picture of #315 on the page in the link. I will be doing the paint on #315 with the "newer" paint scheme tho as in these pictures of #315.
The trucks on this Alco were Alco's Hi-Adhesion trucks, does anyone know where I can find some of these in HO scale? I will need 2 pairs of them, one pair for each of the 2 engines I have above.
 

Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
WOW Ray!! That looks great, nice job, I might be doing that myself, it looks simple enough lol

what couplers did you use? Is that a Kadee coupler box?

Thanks Josh,
A #5 KD and box (with the ears trimmed off) fits into the pilot. I built up the area around the box with styrene and filed it to shape.

Great research on #315:thumb:
I haven't found any Hi-Adhesion trucks yet.
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
Josh, well, i figured i would get at least one of the 2 right:winki: , CNW and GBW were real big on Alco's:thumb: . I know you live out in Cali, but the GBW was quite an AWESOME shortline:winki: , one of my favorites:mrgreen: .

Ray, DOUBLE WOW!!:eeki::eeki: that was a FANTASTIC IDEA on the couple box area, LOOKS GREAT!!!:bravo: .
 

Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
Ray, DOUBLE WOW!!:eeki::eeki: that was a FANTASTIC IDEA on the couple box area, LOOKS GREAT!!!:bravo: .

Thanks, the coupler box also holds the shell on the frame on this old Bachmann. The mounting pad is on the chassis. The shell is put on the chassis, the coupler box slides into the pilot and onto the pad. Once the screws are installed the box keeps the shell on.
The shell in the photos was for this brass chassis.
http://forum.zealot.com/t102430/
A mounting pad can be on the shell if this feature isn't necessary. I've shell mounted them on AHM GP18s and RS2s and a few Tyco GP20s.
 

Triplex

Active Member
Not an HO expert, but I expect these hi-ad trucks will be hard to find. Most C430s, a number of C415s, some of Long Island's highnose C420s and at least one T6 switcher had them. As far as I know, that's it. I don't know of any C430 other than these old Tycos, and no C415 at all.
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
Not an HO expert, but I expect these hi-ad trucks will be hard to find. Most C430s, a number of C415s, some of Long Island's highnose C420s and at least one T6 switcher had them. As far as I know, that's it. I don't know of any C430 other than these old Tycos, and no C415 at all.

I was thinking the same thing, these trucks are going to be hard to find if I could find them at all :cry:

So with that in mind, can anyone suggest any other trucks I could use on these?
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
Thanks Josh,
A #5 KD and box (with the ears trimmed off) fits into the pilot. I built up the area around the box with styrene and filed it to shape.

Great research on #315:thumb:
I haven't found any Hi-Adhesion trucks yet.

Thanks for the info Ray :mrgreen:


UP SD40-2 said:
Josh, well, i figured i would get at least one of the 2 right:winki: , CNW and GBW were real big on Alco's:thumb: . I know you live out in Cali, but the GBW was quite an AWESOME shortline:winki: , one of my favorites:mrgreen: .

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I think I might do both of them in the GBW paint now :thumb: :mrgreen: One numbered 315 and one 314
 

Triplex

Active Member
So with that in mind, can anyone suggest any other trucks I could use on these?
It appears the Tyco model has AAR B trucks. The real Reading C430s hade these from trade-ins. AAR Bs were used on all 4-axle non-switcher Alcos that didn't have hi-ads, and on almost all 1960s and a number of 1970s (usually due to trade-ins) 4-axle GEs.
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
It appears the Tyco model has AAR B trucks. The real Reading C430s hade these from trade-ins. AAR Bs were used on all 4-axle non-switcher Alcos that didn't have hi-ads, and on almost all 1960s and a number of 1970s (usually due to trade-ins) 4-axle GEs.

Thanks Triplex

Im new at detailing and fixing up engines lol, are AAR B trucks available for me to buy in HO scale for these 2 engines? If not, what should I buy to put on these?

Thanks guys for all your help so far, im still in the learning process as far as this stuff goes, sorry about the neebie questions sign1
 
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