unklian
Western Thunderer
Some time ago I fell in love with these. French, rare (only two ever) and technically way ahead of its time, bimode electric or diesel electric in 1939. They were nicknamed Amphibie . Also rather good looking especially when compared with most railcars IMHO. The only model I had heard of was by a French artisinale maker at eye watering price for a dodgy looking resin kit, that is until Atlas Editions came along with one. In their Michelines et Autorails collection , france only, I had to have one and eventually got one through a certain auction site for about £30.
So when the boss cocked up the rota and I ended up with an extra day free, in true scattergunneri modelli tradition, rather than finish an existing project I kick started motorizing this one.
The obvious method would have been to fit a SPUD or similar power bogie, but I have never been impressed with their performance, especially slow running. What does run nice and smooth are the old Athearn US diesels, and it just so happened that the guts of an otherwise tired Geep, would fit in the engine room and baggage compartment of the Amphibie.
Four screws held the railcar together.....
...... and the diesel came to bits pretty easily too.
The floor plate was then strengthened and the Athearn bogie pivot swapped over after a bit of filing. A big chunk of the floor was then cut away. I also fitted smaller wheels and after lots more filing got the powered end to sit at the right height. A trailing bogie was then concocted from some more split axle wheels, a bit of tufnol, some bearings and brass strip, so that it picked up through its bearings as per the original bogie on the other end . After a few build up and strip downs to get everything to fit and sit at the right ride height, oh and to go round corners too. I ended up with this pile of bits, most of which had been modified in some way .
It does run and just as well as its Athearn underpinnings would suggest. I need to sort the wiring mess, it runs wrong way too . Maybe one day I will have a proper go at the cosmetics and correct a few little mistakes, but for now I have to make some new bogie sides and that should be it . And of course it took more than a day off to get this far .......
So when the boss cocked up the rota and I ended up with an extra day free, in true scattergunneri modelli tradition, rather than finish an existing project I kick started motorizing this one.
The obvious method would have been to fit a SPUD or similar power bogie, but I have never been impressed with their performance, especially slow running. What does run nice and smooth are the old Athearn US diesels, and it just so happened that the guts of an otherwise tired Geep, would fit in the engine room and baggage compartment of the Amphibie.
Four screws held the railcar together.....
...... and the diesel came to bits pretty easily too.
The floor plate was then strengthened and the Athearn bogie pivot swapped over after a bit of filing. A big chunk of the floor was then cut away. I also fitted smaller wheels and after lots more filing got the powered end to sit at the right height. A trailing bogie was then concocted from some more split axle wheels, a bit of tufnol, some bearings and brass strip, so that it picked up through its bearings as per the original bogie on the other end . After a few build up and strip downs to get everything to fit and sit at the right ride height, oh and to go round corners too. I ended up with this pile of bits, most of which had been modified in some way .
It does run and just as well as its Athearn underpinnings would suggest. I need to sort the wiring mess, it runs wrong way too . Maybe one day I will have a proper go at the cosmetics and correct a few little mistakes, but for now I have to make some new bogie sides and that should be it . And of course it took more than a day off to get this far .......