Can I please see a pic of Ol' 96?My best runner, ole 96 ground to a halt the other day. The Cliffs Notes version is a piece of grit got through the open bottom of the truck and jammed the gears. This stressed one of the couplings which then started to slip on the shaft. Complete disassembly and popped the bottom off of the gear box and scrubbed in an alcohol bath till it ran smoothly, lubed and re assembled. The male part of the coupler, inside the flywheel got a drop of CA. So far it's working. I'll leave this loco running for hours, so it has. a lot of time on it, also not being new before it's transition surgery.
First person scale models already has both the GE 90 shovel nose and Dl535 shells ready to print.Under the aegis of the old Bill Clinton homily: "Even a blind hog can find a chestnut now and then". I re assembled the locomotive with the narrowguaged trucks. This required some adjustment and re engineering of the pickup system. I fully expected no action or a failure of the smoke testing (smoke leaks out).
However the loco smoothly and silently ran in both directions! With all the weight will be a good puller! . So now I have to design an appropriate shell to more or less White Pass specs. The GE 90 "Shovel Nose" would be a good candidate, though the Montreal Loco Works that now grace the D&S still in their mostly original WP paint, would be fun as well.