Finally...an update

Well, I'm finally back after an extended absence.  With the hobby as of late, I tend to get small things done over a short period of time but often I've been really lazy when it comes to updating all my sites (this one included) so hopefully I can get everything I've done out of the way during this update.

Ho Scale:  Well as far as my Ho scale roster goes, not much has changed.  I've recently decided to address a trio of old diesels that I have: a Tyco GP20 Union Pacific #5628, an Athearn Bluebox GP9 Union Pacific #130, and an Athearn Bluebox F45 Burlington Northern #6615.  I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to model an F45 in my fleet so I first eliminated that from my decision making process (more on the F45 later).  Second, the GP9 was nice, but my biggest gripe with the engine was that Athearn made the engine a four scale feet too wide, which earned the early Bluebox engines the reputation of being "fat", so I eventually ruled that out of my list as well.  Lastly, I came to the Tyco GP20, which surprisingly for it's toy like quality, matched the major demensions of the prototype.  I eventually decided to try my hand at kitbashing and detail the Tyco model to match Southern Pacific GP20E #4109 (the real #4109 is still around but is now San Joaquin Valley Railroad #2036).  The mechanism however in the Tyco unit was shot and was horribly outdated, it was at this point in time that I read an article on the web about using Athearn trucks and mechanisms to repower Tyco GP20's, which I conveniently had lying around in Union Pacific #130, which I had planned to get rid of.  It was also at this time that I realized that although the Athearn GP9 shell was too wide in Ho Scale, it might just work well in O Scale.  Overall, I made the decision to do the following: 1) Rebuild the #5628 as SP #4109 using the trucks and chassis of Union Pacific #130, 2) Use the shell from #130 and the chassis and trucks from #6615 to build an On30 diesel, 3) restore #5628's trucks because they are just that old ;) and 4) discarding the shell of #6615.