This project has leap-frogged to the top of the pile...refurbishment of this Lionel 1664E in gunmetal:



I had mentioned to a friend of mine awhile back that I was looking for a gunmetal version and he found this one (loco only) on the Trainz site for twenty bucks. It has a number of issues (broken eccentric, missing pick-up sliding-shoe assembly, and possibly other things to be found upon disassembly), none of which are overly concerning, as I'm mostly interested in the boiler casting and trim. While filthy, it looks like it will clean up nicely; I have a rather battered black 1664E from which I plan to swap out the the guts (later I can rework this one's motor and put that back into either one).

I've had this stripped 1689T tender in the parts/project bin for twenty years, so presuming I can find a reasonably decent match for gunmetal paint, this will serve as a good mate. I have a couple of cans of automotive touch-up paint that I've used before; just hoping they've not gone flat. Otherwise, I'll be looking for a new can. Gunmetal, like silver paint, can be a tough match.

I originally bought this tender with the idea of putting a loco-sound unit in it (I bought one of Ott Machine Services units back in the 1990's). I'd have to wire in a switch to turn it on or off, though, as it might get rather annoying. I'm sure there are much better units available today, but to be honest, I'm not that kicked up on adding sound anymore. For a guy with background-sound issues, loco-sound can be deafening.

No progress on this yet as I got sidetracked by the 1688 I acquired at York and a number of structure projects. I did pull out the black 1664E from which I plan to swap out motors; it looks pretty straightforward, even being a year or two later in production. Looking forward to getting this thing apart so I can give it a bath and make an evaluation of the paint. Once I have a glimpse of the color, I can start looking around for a match.