couplers, I hit upon
the idea of using
small washers
between the truck
and the body to
raise the body. This
also had the benefit
of bringing the body
roof ends back into
alignment as well.
I also found that I
had to swap out all
the truck mounting
screws that came with the kits for longer screws.
The engine
The City of Miami was powered by a single EMD E6A
2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW) diesel passenger cab unit.”
No vendor was offering a prepainted engine, but LifeLike was
doing an E6A under their Proto 2000 line. I picked up an IC
#4003 on eBay (they were no longer available in stores). I then
contacted LifeLike and bought an undecorated shell for the
E6A, intending to decal and paint it myself. The undecorated
shell I purchased had no Mars light, which was prototypically
correct for the City of Miami engine.
Working with another fan of this train in 2004, we were trying
to build some decals or stencils for the engine. His for an N scale
version, mine for HO. I was never completely satisfied with what
we came up with, so the engine went back into the storage box.
In March of 2010, I was searching the web and came across
Streamstyle Graphics, run by Todd Brinkmeyer. I discussed the
You can start with either the coupler box or the car bottom.
For the coupler box, starting with the cover with sides, use the
4-40 tap to add threads through the coupler mounting box.
Assemble the coupler mounting box using the #5 Kadee cou-
pler and the brass screw supplied with the kit.
On the body, I use the #17 X-Acto blade to remove the air hose
lines from the bottom of the cars where the metal plates are to
go. Create a smooth sur-
face for the glue to adhere
to. The hardest part is
the raised line along one
edge of this area. This is a
cut and fit on the bottom
of the car until the plates
fit into the slots available
(10-12).
Then glue in the metal
plates in layers with the
supplied glue and finally
the coupler boxes. Be sure
to drop the end of the
brass screw into the hole
left in the metal plates
(13-15).
Most of the time the cou-
pler height came out cor-
rect, but every so often
one will be a little too low.
There is no way to raise it
with the kit supplied. Since
these are body-mounted
City of Miami - 6
13: The second part of the
kit has been added
13
14: The Kadee #5 coupler
has been attached to the
body with the brass screw
supplied with the kit.
14
15: IC E6A 4000, the engine for the
City of Miami.
15
MRH-Jul 2013
