She's a keeper

After wrestling with what to do with my AAR1937 boxcars, I ultimately decided to keep the ones I'd completed and letter them up. This one just needs a few more details to be done. I almost have more New Haven rolling stock than CV right now...

M-3-a Cab Rebuild

Decided to remove the windows entirely since I'm going with a detailed cab. I also wanted to work in space for a fireman and engineer. Here's the result.

M-3-a Cab Rebuild

This is a surprisingly sturdy method for holding everything together...

M-3-a Haul Test

6xAAA NiMH Rayovac cheapos fully charged. I wanted to forgo some of the additional weight I had planned to hide in the cab in order to include cab details. However, I was worried that I wouldn't have the traction to pull a B&L mixed train. I decided to test that out. Looks like it will pull 3 freight and a passenger car with pretty decent speed. Not sure how long the battery will last, but for purposes of my layout it should be fine. Sadly my AAR1937 and postwar boxcars are anachronistic for the B&L so I'm considering scrapping or selling them. The truss rod coach will also get scrapped to build the truss rod combine.

CV M-3-a #455 WIP

How am I doing here? The valve gear are finalized and this thing runs beautifully. Now I'm trying to get the appearance just right while working in some durability. Constructive criticism very much appreciated at this stage. Here's a reference of the exact locomotive working the Burlington and Lamoille branch in the era I'm modeling: #455 on the Cambridge Jct. turntable