Childhood models: Athearn AC4400…

I’m not sure how many more of these I can pull out of the cupboard, this may be the last, which is fitting, as it was the last model I (sort of) finished as a teenager…

The model was an un-numbered Athearn blue box example, and having seen them at Field in the summer of 1999 I decided to model one particular example, 9591. I believe these have since been renumbered but when I saw them they were pretty much brand new, and the new kings of the mountain! 

Canadian Pacific 9591 at Field, British Columbia in August 1999. James Hilton photos.

The model was numbered and detail painted, and I added plenty of extra detail. The grabs, wipers, flush glazing, plough and hoses, brake pipes and I modified the side frames, I think the prototype was fitted with self steering trucks? I just fabricated them from styrene IIRC! 

The finish was fairly basic, and I never finished it, which is a shame. It still runs, but I think I’ll leave it as is, a memory of another time, and it’s neat to find the prototype photos in the collection. I guess looking back this was the product of many years of experimenting and playing with models as a child and teenager. Later I have taken these basic skills and confidence and honed them on British Rail diesel models before more recently working in narrow gauge, industrial and back into Canadian HO. We all come from somewhere, until next time, more soon…