JSSX 126 is Done. Finally.

Well, here it is...finally.  My beaten up SD7 is done and lettered for my JSSX shortline.  This engine is of course weathered to look rough, but it runs really well, although it has stumbled a bit on a couple of Atlas switches.

Another trouble with it is that the clips that hold the couplers (Kadee #158's) in place are so tight that the couplers wouldn't swing side to side.  I found some old clips from an Athearn blue box GP38 and tried them, and they're a lot better, although they don't really fit perfectly either.  If anyone has had similar trouble to this and you know a proper solution, I'd really like to hear it.

Oh, and JSSX management (me) has numbered the engine 126 for my late little brother Larry's birthday. Just something I had wanted to do for a long time.

I won't get into a whole review of how things progressed with this project, but here's a picture of what things looked like as it was undecorated coming out of the box.The undecorated shell, chassis, and a bagful of parts.  I tried to count how many detail parts I put on the finished engine, and I think it was 65 separate parts.  But that's plus handrails, window glass, couplers, and decals.  And paint of course.  Seemed like it took forever to get this finished up.

So here's 126 sitting just outside of the JSSX maintenance building.  I removed the white stripes that I had originally applied along the sill and showed last week.  I've replaced them with the ones that we see here, which are just a bit more narrow than that first try.  I feel that these look a little better.

Side view among some of the stuff at my short line's terminal.

126 coming round the bend with a couple of tank cars in tow.

A view of the short end of 126 starting to earn it's keep moving those tank cars.

During a run-around before heading back to the terminal

So, that's about it for now.

Thanks for looking in, and have a good week out there.