The picture above was shot in Portola, California, on July 9th, 2004.

• First, perhaps some of the US Märklin users could help identifying the types of UP engines on the photo (having road numbers 2778 and 4368 respectively)?
  

• Second, are there any H0 models made of these types of UP engines?
  

• Third, assuming that there are H0 models, are there Brands that are easier than others to rebuild to 3R? For instance, not having RP25 wheels and trucks that easily can be modified to hold a 3R-slider?
  

A bit more about the photo, the location etc.

Portola is located on the UP, ex WP, Feather River line, not far from the state line to Nevada. In Portola there is a Western Pacific museum and from where the photo was taken, by just turning 180 degrees I would have been looking at the outside areas of the museum.

In the summer of 2004 my father in law, Grandpa Jack, had rented some second homes in Graeagle for a family reunion. On one of the days when Grandpa Jack, took all his grandkids fishing, and my wife wanted to spend time with her sisters and the brothers had figured out some activity that I wasn't up to. I ended up on my own. Grandpa had mentioned the railroad museum so I decided to go there and spent quite some time looking at various museum exhibits. Reading signs in the museum was how I came to understand from where the slogan "Rides like a feather" that I had seen in Märklin catalogs as a boy already in the early 1960-ies. Then I also decided to take some photos at the UP RR station and this photo is one of the shots from there.


As a side remark:
Being less than 3 years after 9/11 and having read in Swedish railway forums about people who had been given a treatment by US RR police and other RR employees, that one could get in eastern Europe and in the USSR before the fall of communism when trying to takes photos of trains, I made sure that my camera was very visible and had anybody asked me then I would have responded that I'm interested in trains as a hobby. But no one showed any interest in me or the fact that I was taking photos. So I assume that UP employees in Portola had a more relaxed attitude towards the possible risk that anybody would be taking photos in preparation for a terrorist attack, compared to what I had read about taking place on the east coast.

Per,

Here is a site that updates on UP motive power. It is possible that the units you pictured have been rebuilt since and might have a newer designation.

http://thedieselshop.us/UP.HTML

Also read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_SD70_series

As for American models that are built for AC 3R I only know of MTH, have to check if they have done an SD70 but I doubt it.


Only DCC

http://www.mthtrains.com...s/2011_ho_v_1/index.html

Athearn Genesis series

http://www.athearn.com/Products/HO/Default.aspx

http://www.athearn.com/S...SD70+ATHG&CatID=THLD

Kato

http://www.katousa.com/Z...index&cPath=71_74_93

In terms of picture taking. If you are in the NYC subway system, or one of the large passenger stations on the east coast such as Grand Central, you will attract the attention of the local police, Amtrak police, and the TSA. I'm not up on the latest, but typically you registered with the law so as to be able to photograph in those locations.

Out in the less urban and rural areas railfans and picture takers continue without issue, as long as you are not on RR property that has been posted without permission.


r/Thomas

Edited by user 01 February 2012 21:32:43(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Roman, Thomas and John,

Thanks for your answers.

The links will surely be useful to try to identify the UP diesels, but that will have to wait until tomorrow evening - it's around 23h25 (11h25 pm) here and I'll have to get up early tomorrow morning.

I realize that it will be a challenge to find H0 models without RP25 wheels, but if possible that would make a rebuild relatively simple, somewhat like what I did many years ago with Lima and Jouef models. If I cannot find models without RP25, then a change of wheels may make a rebuild impossible for me, given the tools and skills I have. An idea could of course be to investigate if the trucks could be replaced with Märklin trucks, but somehow modify them to make use of the original truck sides. This last idea of course requires that wheel diameters and axel distances are the same or at least less than 1 mm off or something like that.

Per

AJCKIDS have 2 ALCO 3R Locos in Stock Made for Brawa by Lifelike
P/N 0895 and 0896.
Good Prices.
Nev

Thanks,

An SD70ACe is obviously is from the same engine family as an SD70M and this might be as close as I could get with the requirement to have wheels suitable for Märklin. I will investigate this more and also figure out what is the best strategy, to buy it and have it sent to Sweden and risk to have to pay Swedish customs duties and Swedish VAT or have it sent to my sister in law's address in California and then probably pay CA sales tax and either have her send it as "a private gift" or pick up when visiting them. (My wife and daughter have started speaking about spending Christmas 2012 and New Year 2013 in CA).

DCC shouldn't be a problem technically, only budget wise, since I'd have to bring up cash for a CS, since that is the way I want to go in the long run (I'm not sure I want an MS2) and I need to get something more modern than my current 6021.
By the same token, I saw this about a Fleischmann/Roco digital multi protocol controller Z21( Z21 in German only though) that you would use with a PC, a tablet PC, or a smart phone (or Roco multiMAUS). Had that box also had mfx or M4 - it has Motorola - then that would have been the way I'd gone, but with this product I think Fleischmann and Roco are "opening the door" to a new generation of digital controllers where the model railway industry leaves the design of the HW for MMI to other industries and the model railway industry focus on the railway control protocol boxes.

Again thanks

Per

I believe Brawa once made some Marklin compatible US diesel locomotives (EMD GPxx, possibly SDxx as well). Not sure if they have the livery or version you're looking for, but may be worth a look. At least it goes beyond the F7/PA-1/GG1/Mikado models produced by M*. I also saw GP15s in the 2012 Noch "new items" catalog, but not sure if these are for AC or DC.