THat mike again...

[electrical whiz kid]

Well; have got the drive train (note the pun...) running off of an OLD lifelike  Xformer.  RUns nice and smooth.  Am also putting parts on the body, so that it looks like a really bad small Mike.  This has been quite a challenge, and not without some pretty big surprises, as well as some neat things to have discovered.  I had an old Russian tender; and with a bit of fanagling , moving the decoder in the other locomotive tender ().  Am building a Dawghouse" for the brakeman-this unit will be used on locals, so lots of switching....  Kadee #58s, lighting courtesy of Demarr...and Cal-scale. 
Just to recap:  I used a Frisco "Mike" body (which is really a Russian body-shhhhh...Don't nobody tell the Bach-man...) and just removed the SY body from the frame.  After a ton-and I mean a TON-of re-fitting, things finally started to come together, as I had planned (and hoped!).
WIth a penchant for getting myself in a world of trouble, I am removing the appliances like power reverse, train control, stack, etc, and replacing them with brass parts, courtesy of Al at Greenway. 
Now, this has been a project that would tickle the fancy of the likes of R. Travis et al...Who are probably just as nutzy as I am.
Also; all joking aside; this was no piece of cake.  I would never recommend it to anyone who lacks mechanical skills to any great degree; on the other hand, how else do you learn?  If you want to attempt this, I strongly suggest that you sharpen your skills AND THOROUGHLY plan out the job-before you even lace up your sneaks.  It isn't the most insurmountable project that I ever took on, but it does rank right up therein terms of back pain, eye strain, exacto'd fingers, and salty comments from a usually tolerant girlfriend!  I guess I'm just blessed...

[jonathan]

Don't leave us hangin' man.  Where are the pictures? 

Congrats

Regards,

Jonathan