"Old West Train " Topic

Do you think I should cut down and lower the roof of the cab on the loco or can I get away with it as it is?

link

The wheels on the carriages are going to be replaced with metal washers, so they'll be 5mm or so higher than they are in the photo.

Cheers

Jim

Jim,
Looks great!! Don't see a need to change anything!
Kevin

Looks good to me. Even if it's not 100% "scale" in the end, trains are supposed to be big.

I think it only looks "big" because the tender is sitting low, like the rest of the train, because there are no wheels on it, while the locomotive does have the wheels. Should be fine as is though for gaming.

It looks great as is. I think you would only notice the excess overhead space if you placed an engineer up in there and even then it doesn't make the train look out of scale, maybe it's a sleeper model with an attic compartment for engineer naps…not that I would sleep up there.

I vote leave it 'as is'.

Excellent stuff!

I think that I saw this model without the boiler pannel in front of the cab. The guy removed it along with the electrical stuff inside then he cut the boiler pannel and put it inside the cab. The space left is enough for a 28mm mini on 25mm base to stand inside the cab.

I am supposed to do the same thing one day.

Olivier

Where did you get the train? It looks really good.

Dave

Jim,
looks like the proverbial mutts nuts to me great job.

I do see what you are driving at. The front panel of the cab would be appropriate for something that runs around the marshalling yard or a short industrial line like the one to the Etowah Iron Works, but not for something intended to pull big trains along the main line. That said, I think it looks pretty good, and you'll end up doing a lot of work to lower the cab and get the new joint to look right. There is a lot to be said for leaving things as they are.
Grelber

I uploaded some old pictures of a LotOW campaign involving the same train painted by a friend of mine.

link

I added a youtube video of the train in movement.

Olivier

Thanks for the advice and positive comments.

I'll leave it as it is for the moment but may chop it when I send it to the back of beyond.

Thanks for the pictures and video Olivier..very nice.

(I got the train free at the local recycling centre!)

I really the way that you painted the train. The black is very well highlighted. I like the use of conker brown before rawhide. It gives a very nice hue.

Olivier

Where are people finding these wonderful trains?

-Eli

It is really a toy train that is sold with an egg shaped track. There are a lot of different styles of the same train but with different car types. It is not really expensive box (about $20).

Olivier

Who makes it and wherei s it usually found? I've been looking but it tends to evade me.

-eli

For those who wanted a bit more info …

These are Goldlok trains (I have seen identical sets under the Fast Lane brand name). I own two different set:
-Western Express (Spirit of Steam)
-Passenger Express

The locos in my sets are a little different from each other (so I can confirm there is a bit of variety between those two sets at least).

Both come with an engine and 5 cars and enough track to build a 41" x 29" oval. Neither box has a product code or ID number. The bar code on both boxes is identical, so that's no help.

There were several other versions of this set that I know of, including:
-Continental Express (engine and 3 cars)
-Patriot Express (engine and 5 cars)
-Western Express (Christmas Express) (engine and 4 cars)

There are definitely other configurations. I have seen the same set (Western Express) packaged in several different ways (the types of cars changes, but there are usually only an engine plus 3 cars in these smaller sets). One version of the set comes with the standard engine plus 5 cars, but includes additional track (the oval mentioned above, plus two switches and some extra curves so you can make a circle inside the end of the oval.

So DO NOT just search for a set that says Western Express and think you are getting the "right" one. You may pay more and get less than you bargained for. Before you buy, make sure you see a photo of the set so you know if it's a small 3 car set or a larger 5 car set.

They are "not" 28mm trains. They are brightly colored (not painted, the plastic parts are molded in different colors) engines and cars, with black plastic track. The track is not bad actually. The wooden ties have a wood grain to them which a quick drybrushing would bring out, and the "rails" are shown spiked to the ties, a nice little detail). No scale is specified anywhere. The idea is you snap together the track, put a couple of batteries in the loco, switch it on and your train chug around the oval track. The loco makes train sounds, and the light on the front works. Apparently the various Christmas versions play tunes.

I found both of mine on ebay. Every now and then somebody will post that they saw a set at WalGreens, but one store may have them, others not.

I just checked, and here are a few on ebay:

You might get this one for cheap, but the shipping is on the steep side:
auction

This is the exact Spirit of Steam set I have. The nice thing about the "larger" sets is that instead of just an oval, there are two switches and some extra curved track:

auction

And if you want a brand new one from TrU here you go:
auction

Yes, you can find them cheaper (or free, apparently) if you are willing to be patient and search high and low.

I found the above by entering "western express train" as the search term. I had no luck with "passenger express" or "patriot express". But next month, one of those might get a hit. They come and go.

Hope that helped.

Steve

We just get the Golden Creek set around here, which looks like someone widened a bunch of mine skips to Standard gauge and built various super deformed bodies on top to falsify their intended purpose.
There were a few of a set with coaches, which looked better, but still not enough.
Are there any that have bogie wagons and a loco that isn't a shunter?