N Scale ALCO C420

Hello all...

Probably been asked/discussed before, but I'm new here, your patience is appreciated. I read somewhere in another post about "building" an N scale, low short hood C420 by using an Atlas U25B chassis and a Model Power C420 shell, as described in a past issue of Model Railroader. Can anyone point me in the direction of which issue contained the article? Has anyone here actually done this build? I haven't kitbashed anything requiring major surgery, so I was wondering how involved this project will be. Any other suggestions, such as a little known manufacturer's plastic resin body kit, fine handrails, or different chassis, will be appreciated.

I'm looking to have a few custom painted C420's as the primary motive power on my layout, and prefer to have a quality running model, capable of DCC operation. I'm not a rivet counter, so the large, square GE fuel tanks are acceptable to me, unless I can find comparable round tanks. I also prefer a reasonable looking model, nothing that screams "cheap toy". I'm more into the "prototype operating" vein of the hobby, but would like to have good looking, reliable models to work with. Thanks in advance for any advice...

Hi SOOLINE Rob
Firstly, I was one of 2 New Zealand members of the SOO Line Historical & Technical Soc 25 years ago, the other was a guy from Auckland called Rob!

The mag you're looking for is the August 1999 issue of MR. It has an article detailing how to put Model Power Alco C-420 shells onto Atlas U-25B chassis. For your purposes it would be ideal. Better looking C-420s could be kitbashed from Atlas and Life-Like shells, but that would involve a lot more work.

Mark Watson who wrote the article has captured about as good a look as you are going to get with the Model Power Units.

Cheers
Steve
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/steveadair

Thanks for the info Steve...

I'll try and get the article. I'm in the process of planning/building another layout after several years of not having one, this time making the switch from HO to N. I actually have a tendency to "hide" the trains behind structures and scenery, giving visitors the feel of the prototype, like they're catching brief glimpses of a train rolling through town. I also built my past layout benchwork rather high, starting at about 4 feet, to aid the visual "forced perspective", and it seemed to work well. People look at the entire scene, not stare down at the locomotives' details. As a result, I'm not "counting the rivets"...thanks again for the info!