The Omnicon PRR M1 and M1a were released in 1989 after a successful PRR K4 and PRR L1 project. They were made by FM Models where all the other Omnicon PRR steam locos were made by Samhongsa. This is possibly the second steam loco I have ever painted in my life. It is 1 of the oldest surviving of my paint jobs at 25ish years that I have not repainted. This is the first PRR engine that I modernized. It is not up to my current standard of modernization but was good enough for that time. The original boiler weight was pitiful. When I painted it in the early 90s I made the awful mistake of adding more weight with 5 minute epoxy. That made adding a speaker in the boiler impossible. In June 2016 I spent most of a Saturday grinding out the boiler weight and epoxy and added a Tsunami2. In January 2017 I took out the Tsunami2 and installed a WOW4 decoder and a new bright white LED. The Tsumani2 eliminated the sound cam wire – NOT good. WOW4 decoders are my current standard for steam locomotives. Much of the motivation though, was converting the headlight to a LED. I don’t remember how I picked 6702 for this loco but it was probably something in “I Remember Pennsy” by Don Wood.

I have defied the M1a reputation as being a bad runner. This loco runs very well. The M1a is not going to run this well right out of the box but with a few hours of cleaning and oiling everything it should run well.

This is the 210F75 tender I painted with 6702. It is not modified in any way. I used Microscale Alco PA diesel decals. They are pretty close to being correct, and nothing else in that color to use at that time anyway. Many years later I helped make a very custom decal set that have been used on all other steam locos I painted since 6702.

I do not have any in progress photos of this loco. It was done well before I had a digital camera. This is my sound cam wiper I made. All screws are nylon. 2 screws are for mounting. 1 larger screw is for fine tuning of contact. I have truly 100s of hours of running including with my other PRR locos without ever breaking one.

Short Tender

I by far like the larger 210F75a tenders but just for a goof I have been running a 90F82 tender from my I1. There are only 2 shorter tenders in S Scale to pick from. The other is from the L1, a 90F75. I like the different look to it all. This tender has my scratchbuilt 3 man dog house. The I1 tender deck height is different for the M1 but it is not that noticeable.

6702 is up for a likely modernization detailing update and possibly a number change at some point. But this is good enough for now.

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Updated 5-7-20

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