Virginian AG

Wed Sep 17 14:03:20 EDT 2014

Don: I am told, but I haven't put the scale rule onto one, that the Key
brass AG also has the correct domes.  Brown Book III calls the Overland the
first one with correct domes, but I'm reasonably certain that the Key AG
came out later.  I think John Glaab is specifically referring to the C&O
H-8s that had the boxes labeled as VGN AG's.

Steve, Harold, et al;

I do a clinic called Philosophy, Science Fiction, and Model Railroading.
One of the major points is that each of us must find his or her own
threshold of tolerance; that threshold will vary as an individual decides
what is "good enough" that he is satisfied, or at least not offended, by
what he sees in his basement.  And this will also vary with locomotives,
structures, scenery, etc.  An individual may be comfortable with selective
compression in a building, but not in a locomotive.

As we have been discussing at length on the Virginian list, there are
people who will be happy with the Rivarossi AG, and don't know or don't
care about the domes, or can fix the domes, can't see the stoker, don't
mind the swiveling rear engine.  There are people that are greatly offended
by one or more of these.  There are people who will argue about the right
color of Tuscan red, but don't mind an early Athearn hood being a foot too
wide.  One of my buds spends a lot of time on brake gear and underbody
detail; one of my other friends says "I don't run them upside down".  The
MTH VGN triplex almost makes me physically ill--wrong boiler fixings, wrong
tender, wrong wheel arrangement, and wrong driver size.  I know a fine
modeler who is quite happy with his.

There's room in this hobby for all of us, and I will not put down someone
else's choices.   We who try to add to the conversation mostly try to put
out the most correct information we can get, and let each individual decide
how far they want to go on their own layouts.

Harold Davenport and I (half the Society Modeling Committee)recommended
that the Society not carry the Rivarossi AG; for several reasons in
addition to the inaccuracies.  If Rivarossi sells a bunch, and that
increases interest in the Virginian and results in more accurate or
semi-accurate Virginian models in the future (please: no more silver 4 bay
hoppers, and no more blue and yellow ELC's, C430's, or cabeese!!)more power
to them and to us.  This is part of the reason I and others defended the MR
series on that little Virginian project layout a few years back.  On a
related now, there is a museum that I'm told is building that little layout
and stocking it with Virginian rolling stock; stay tuned.

And as I said a year ago, I'm waiting for the article from someone who
fabricates the right domes for the Rivarossi model (and maybe uses them on
an old Akane--BTW, you can get an Akane 2-6-6-6- for less than the "list"
for the Rivarossi now, and the rear engine doesn't swivel).

Frank Bongiovanni

On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 11:48 PM, NW Modeling List <
nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

> No wonder they did not rework the domes because of the DCC access. Majority
> of modelers would not know the difference in the sand domes. If MTH can
> sell
> the VGN triplex with the wrong boiler and wheel arrangement. Then the
> Hornby
> VGN AG should be an easier sell.
> Stephen Rineair
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NW-Modeling-List [mailto:nw-modeling-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On
> Behalf
> Of NW Modeling List
> Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 8:58 PM
> To: nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org
> Subject: Re: Virginian AG
>
> The domes give access to the DCC, you don't need to dissassemble the engine
> to add DCC. Filling them in is not recommended, but to work the new domes
> the same way.
> If you make some kind of notching fit, maybe dashes of Walthers goo will
> hold them in place and yet you could remove them fairly easily if you need
> access, then just goo them back, unless you can make a reasonably good
> press
> fit snugly. MY new BLI 4-4-4-4 tender has no screws for the shell, they
> snug
> pressed the shell on, that had me going for a short trying to find out how
> to remove the shell....oh DUH!!!
>
> -Lynn-
>
>
> On 9/16/2014 7:56 PM, nw-modeling-list-request at nwhs.org wrote:
> > Message: 3
> > Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 10:29:53 -0400
> > From: NW Modeling List<nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
> > To:nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org
> > Subject: Re: Virginian AG
> > Message-ID:<mailman.4094.1410883427.30127.nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >
> > Lynn
> >
> > You say the domes pop off on the model. Is there a big hole to fill?
> > The reason I am asking is that I am presently involved in changing the
> > domes on a Bachmann C&O H-4. It involves debonding the present domes  and
> then
> > filling in a large hole with styrene and putty. It's a pain! New domes
> will
> > be from masters made by the 3D process and then cast in resin.  This
> whole
> > process involves disassembling the boiler, cab, etc. If the  AG can be
> > worked on and domes replaced without all this
> > disassembly it may be a very easy conversion to make if someone  can make
> > the drawings and have the domes made by  Shapeways.
> >
> > Jim Kehn
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 9/16/2014 10:18:19 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> > nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org  writes:
> >
> > I poured  over some images, and I see the diffrerrences now, the
> > Virginian Tender  sides are higher, the domes maybe a little narrower
> > maybe slightly  longer.
> > The domes pop off on the RR model, so maybe if you hit Precision  scale
> > or other parts places you may get the correct dome.
> > I don't  understand why they couldnt tool up for the domes, but it might
> > mean  changing the entire boiler casting just for the piping, might be
> > why they  didnt want to mod the domes.
> > But the model community even some OEM  manufactures have done mod kits
> > for other engines like a box cab for the  athearn hustler, the AG would
> > need some piping and the domes  changed.
> >
> > -Lynn-
>
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