Recently CSX Train K996-10 stalled on a hill in Central Florida, which definitely made it a more remarkable catch in my outing. Once I saw it, the shot turned out a classic. These Standard cabs have been gaining on me as a more unique model compared to the widecab version. CSX purchased these before the C40-8W was made. If you ask me, these engines work better than the -W.
Needless to say, I saw two of these in "Fresh" YN3 lead Q453 to Miami on March 19, 2011. This shot somehow proved to be iconic due to this fresh coat and the more unusual delinquent pair of these Standard Cabs.
Hence an idea was born. Recreate a South Florida Rock Train for the Tampa layout. It would look iconic and cool to see. To start - a CSX C40-8.
This 40 stud engine uses various borrowed, old, and new techniques to draft this engine. I could say I had an epiphany with the back section there; the radiators seemed to snap in beautifully with that particular build. There are channels inside for Power Functions wires to flow and the motor is just a placeholder, to be changed to a PF Motor when possible. The cab can accommodate the new LED lights. Cab is also removable but is a bit tougher due to a limited DkBlue palette. Now the flaws. It turned out a bit taller than desired but that is so the tank can function beautifully and realistically. Also I can't find a good way to jump the nose over without requiring dk tan 1x2 tiles of which I only have one that I was lucky to find in PAB on 11-11-11. Cab windscreen design was a bit limited but I made what I could.
A new truck design was crafted, kind of on the footsteps of 10219 (Maersk) but with the personal touch of yellow grills. In the front since it uses the wheels it works but out back it doesn't; there is a one stud overlap.
The dark tan was a nice experiment to see what it would do to the engine. Many cameras distort light; add ambient light to the function and you could have a really different hue. If taken just right, Dark Tan will look precisely like Dulux Gold, which is the color listed in YN3. I kept reflective stripes yellow since it is a bright tone. Otherwise it is a completely different approach.
With two existing engines and a shell of a third, I was quite limited in my parts palette. Luckily I had the aid of the Star Wars Droid Tri-Fighter to serve in some wedges and 4-stud tiles. I couldn't find many 1x1 and 1x4 plates which are fewer in number but was able to do with almost none of them. This model celebrates five years of an era I moved into in Summer of 07. With an online order of Dk Blue brick, plus ~6,000 parts of Pick-A-Brick in three sittings out of Orlando, I entered what I call the "Modular" era which began to instill earth tones (dkblue, dktan, dkgreen, tan, dark red, et al) to my MOCs. I miss those days on PAB when we had all sorts of fancy shmancy variety (I have Dark Green 2x4s from there!) but at least we're reliving some of it with today's palette.
Comments... suggestions... the like... All appreciated.
