bogieman

Fantastic work! I, too, would love to see a video of it in action.

I've bought injection molded R40 and straight ballast plates from an AliExpress seller and am very pleased with the fit and finish. Here's a link: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804522620044.html?spm=a2g0o.order_detail.order_detail_item.3.35a1f19cmSQDAr&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa The straight ballast plates are about $0.61 each if you buy 100, They fit both Lego and clone track I've bought. I've been printing my own R56, R72, and R88 ballast plates to fit Bricktracks, BlueBrixx, and TrixBrix molded tracks and TrixBrix R72 switches with good success too, after several iterations to get the fit where I like it. Dave

Looks good!

Great video and exploded assembly sequence. Not trying to be critical but the prototype shown at the beginning of your video and all EMD passenger locomotives until 1994 have the steps mounted to the side of the loco with no recess for toe clearance. The steps are only 4" wide and having climbed them many times, I always thought they were unsafe, especially in winter covered with snow and ice. But since they worked okay on the FT demonstrator they were done the same way on every wide carbody model until the F59PHI. So you can just use a 1x2 door rail plate (32028) to represent each step or something similar that protrudes, replacing the 1x2 panel. Dave

Well done! I was surprised to see the red strip go down the middle of the roof, expect that was covered by soot soon.

A nice little locomotive but I think your son did a fantastic job on the video! How many frames in the video? I can't imagine the work it took. Dave

Agree with all, great work!

Well done! Impressive how well it works with the long cars and tight curves. Dave

Agree, great job! How big is the base area in studs? Dave

FWIW, on my home layout I have a number of vertical transitions between flat and grades that are more abrupt than I should have made them. In order for my steam locomotives to stay on the track, I need to leave a vertical gap between pilot bogie and frame that closes when entering an uphill grade and then there needs to be enough flexibility to allow the pilot bogie to "droop" when entering a downward grade. I have found using tungsten putty to add weight to the bogie keeps it on the track - I stuff it into the underside of the bricks making up the pilot bogie. On trailing bogies, I have found it best to use a suspension loaded by rubber bands acting on the tiles atop the trailing bogie to keep it planted on the rails since the trailing bogie has the drawbar to the tender attached to it and the tractive effort from the drivers is passing thru it. Dave

Well done, especially like the bogies! Clever use of the "Slope 18 2 x 1 x 2/3 with Grille" for the dynamic brake intake, at least that's what I think you used. Dave

Terrific accomplishment to get the color scheme in all bricks/plates, no stickers, in spite of the cost in part count.

That's very clever how you did that, love it!

Wonderful work with all the details particularly on the boiler. The red undercarriage and wheels really sets it off. Dave

Thanks for letting us know that aliexpress now sells the three way switch. I've had one for several years from Trixbrix that the clone makers likely copied, although they used Lego-style throw levers while Trixbrix has their own style. Your link led me to another seller with ballast plates for straight tracks. Until this time I have avoided ballasting but am now ready to so ordered 100 to get started. Dave