Tweaks

I don't obsess over detail, but I usually make changes to any new model to suit my own preferences. One of the biggest is operational reliability. Couplers are a big issue: the plastic Kadee clones never work as well as the real metal ones (the Walthers metal ProtoMax are just as good, though), and McHenrys break almost immediately after you put them on a layout.

I tend to tolerate the Bachmann plastlic ones a little more, both because they're not quite as bad as Accumates and McHenrys, and because Bachmann's coupler mounts make them a pain to replace. MB Klein had a sale on Bachmann last month that went even beyond their normal disocunted price, and I picked up a NYC RS-3:

I replaced the stock decoder, also for operational improvement, but as long as I had the shell off, I decided to bite the bullet and Dremel off the cast coupler mount:

Then I drilled out with a 50 drill and tapped for a 2-56 screw to install Kadee boxes and couplers:

Since I was on a roll, I went ahead and did the same with a WM unit:

I lived with my family in Maryland for several years, but I was in college out of state for most of that time and never got a good enough chance to railfan the WM. As Bill Schaumburg once put it, modeling gives you a chance to relive the memories you never had!

I got a couple of NYC boxcars with the same order. I like the new Walthers Mainline boxcars more and more. Here's a Pacemaker car:

However, the factory paint left the underframe in light gray. Photos of even new cars show the underframe black, so I masked off the sides and hit the underframe with an airbrush. I also painted the truck sideframes and wheel faces black.

This Accurail car was all jade green out of the box, but as far as I can tell, NYC jade green cars with the large emblem had black ends and roof, so I fixed this at the same time as the Pacemaker car:

Note the replacement Kadee 158s. It also got Kadee wheels. Eventually I'll also add A Line stirrups to the Accurail car.