I am looking for 1 or 2 Rivarossi HO scale E-8/9 B-units in the ACL Purple and Silver colors.If anyone knows where I might be able to purchase these or if someone has one they feel they can part with, I would certainly appreciate the info.I am trying to complete an ACL diesel collection. Thanks Tom Hughes

-- Tom Hughes (TomRobalo@aol.com), September 12, 1998

Answers

Tom, an additional suggestion. To create a powered B unit a little more economically, you may want to seach for a used Model Power (Roco) E7 or E9 chassis, perhaps from ebay or another online auction. These units are heavier and are more powerful than the P2K units, and are nearly as smooth, having a large steel flywheel. I have about 9 of these units which can be had for $20 typically. For secondary power, this would definitely suite you need. Model Power never made B unit shells, so you would need to go elsewhere (P2K or Rivarossi) for this item. Good luck with your project.

-- Mark V. Huband (markhuband@aol.com), May 24, 2000.

Tom,

What Wayne stated in his E-mail is true: Scrap the Riverossi mechanism and graft the body of the B-unit onto the power chasis of a Proto 2000 E-8. This is relatively easy to do. The B-unit has no fuel tank skirting, and this is just what you want. Take the body of the Proto A-unit and carefully slice the fuel tank skirting off of it with a razor saw. Then graft them onto the B-unit's frame, using some very thin styrene{I don't know the thickness, but it's as thin as you can get in the hobby shop}as a splicer plate on the inside of the shell. Allow this to dry thoroughly, as these skirts are what will be holding the B-unit's body to the chasis. Now you'll have a powered E-8 B-unit shell. Add some details like a Detail Associates stainless steel air grill, hand rails, ect., and you will have a great looking model. You can even recycle many of the details from the now scrap A-unit shell to spice the unit up even more. I've done this project for an AT&SF E-8m B-unit and was quite pleased with the results. I'm sure you will be too. Unfortunatly, I do not have a digital camera, so I can't send you a photo of my B-unit, but trust me, it works! Regards,

John V. Pasquariello

-- John V. Pasquariello (GRIZZLETOAD@AOL.COM), May 22, 2000.

To my knowledge, ACL had only 2 E8 B-units (ACL 765B and 766B), both bought used from EMD in 1965. I do not recall whether or not the Rivarossi units were ever factory painted for ACL, A or B units. If you find one in purple & aluminum, you have a problem, because, even if the number is correct, that color scheme was dropped in the late 50's.

If you want B units anyway, in black with yellow stripes, IHC sells ex-Rivarossi B-units, unpowered, for about 20 dollars. I recommend you discard the chassis of the loco (dummy, or course) and adapt it to a Proto 2000 (P2K) drive, or even a dummy. Why? You'll need about 4 powered Rivarossi units to pull a 6-car passenger train if you have any grades steeper than about

-- Wayne R. Long (E9_wayne@usa.net), September 14, 1998.