Plymouth Locomotives were found in the heart of industry in every state across America; and many are still in operation today. The first friction drive locomotive ever built equipped with an 18 HP two cylinder air cooled engine was designed and built by Plymouth Locomotives in 1912. This locomotive was the foundation for the first Plymouth Gasoline Locomotives; the AL and BL models were equipped with a much heavier cast frame design. Fran Foley’s design carries over the heavy frame, cab and radiator from Plymouth’s Model HL which was offered in 18-Ton, 20-Ton and 25-Ton versions (See illustration), with many unique stylistic touches to create a locomotive at ease in a variety of industries.
One of my personal goals has been to highlight these models as they come from Fran, and keep the build as out of the box as possible. With this little critter I do plan to add brass railings, supports and “grab ons” in addition to glazing the front facing windows in clear plastic. Initially I found myself drawn to making a green loco and after briefly considering red I renewed my vow to make that the color - believing that my first impulse probably was the best. I’ll be using a lighter green for the windows to further add visual interest and break up my reductive tendencies. This fella caught my eye when I was researching Virginia Railways:
With that in my mind I glued the cab together and started to paint; the Gunze color is simply called Dark Green but I bet it is an IJN color. I am not going to copy any particular diesel but I am going to heavily borrow or crib from the above diesel. The details are all there! I also really love the splash of red on the sand dome, as well as the yellow grill covering the radiator!
Quitting time!
