Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Hey all,
Being sorta new at scratch-building anything, i was just wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction??. I have 2 resin MP-54 coach kits by Funaro & Camerlango and i've heard of people using old deisel motor trucks to power them, but being i am short of funds to buy the proper power trucks and have a ton of old deisels that i hardly use, i figured i use one or two for this project.I have a few sets of side frames for the trucks too, so all i really need is a source to a how to of sorts. any pointers, advice, and other suggestions are highly accepted by me for this project as i really would like to complete this task.
Well if he is short of funds for proper power trucks using an old power truck from a diesel would work. My suggestion is use an Athearn. There are 1,001 ways you can reuse an athearn powertrain for other purposes. I have seen them used for booster trucks, trolleys, and even a custom gas-electric car a guy made out of a model power coach.
What you could do is either centrally mount the motor in the passenger car, and then add two custom drive shafts to two trucks, which would be plenty of power. Or since you just have two cars if one is a combine car you can hide the motor in the combine section and then put the powered truck directly under it. You would only then need a short driveshaft. Athearn motors usually can easily be screw mounted to the floor of the car.
Otto, i seen those con cor cars and love em, just have a super tight budget (future maybe,hopefully,LOL). ApproachMedium, that advice is great, thanks. Now i just gotta do some digging to see what i have.If anything when i aquire what i need, i'll see about posting a build process here for anyone else interested(other newbs like me???). could be useful i think.
If you need any Athearn parts ask. I may have some motors somewhere. I know I have a bunch of power trucks only problem is they are the long wheelbase type from Alco RS engines.
The problem with using diesel trucks is that you might have issues finding the proper wheelbase and wheel diameter to match. If it were me, I would buy a Stanton Drive from NWSL. One Stanton with a reasonable amount of weight (and all metal gears) should be able to drive a single MP54 and an unpowered trailer. Not as cheap as reusing athearn parts, but its a whole lot simpler, and you're still not paying anywhere near the cost of a Concor MP54.
The stanton drive might be the final answer for a power truck for a kit car, but they are not cheap. While diesel trucks may not be exactly correct, the EMD Bloomberg trucks have close enough wheelbase to be used for an MP54. The wheels can always be changed to smaller wheelsets, thats not really a problem but at the same time you can also reuse a set of the same size larger wheelsets on the other end of the car to make it sit even.
I've seen those stanton drives, they are real nice. I'm gonna keep that idea as a last resort or for future cars. This is gonna be more like an experiment for me since i'm a beginner,lol. I was pondering a thought ,using the truck frames from an old Alco Blue box P70 coach kit.the frames are large, almost like the frames on one of my old AHM RS-2's. I figure a motor truck from the ahm model with an athearn motor might work??.
