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For those wondering what to do with your AMT 1:25 scale GENERAL loco kit, here's what trains typically looked like in the Civil War days. Note the loco in the thumbnail below. GENERAL looked very similar before being rebuilt after the war. The lovely brass model locos are hard to come by today.

This project is based on the designs of Trackmobiles. Heavy Equipment tractors that have pneumatic road wheel tires as well as traction wheels for the railroad to pull rolling stock freight. Trackmobile examples: https://www.machinerytrader.com/listing/for-sale/192544133/2019-trackmobile-hercules-miscellaneous-equipment https://i.pinimg.com/originals/eb/5a/ea/eb5aeae672f1703e5fe00c738249d08d.jpg https://www.marketbook.ca/listing/for-sale/192542857/2015-trackmobile-hercules-miscellaneous-equipment The three kits I'll be pulling parts and subassemblies from are all 1:35 scale and this will set the scale for the model. The cabs and upper deck parts will be from the FUG. The pneumatic road wheels will be from the Turtle. The railroad traction wheels from the Tramcar.

Approx. 1/7 scale!

In the early 1960s Lindberg produced a small line of HO model trains. A switcher and an assortment of freight cars were offered, as were freight car trucks that were exceptionally free-rolling. Reportedly Lindberg were among the first to employ Delrin in model products. Overview 1: https://hotraincollector.com/lindberg-line/ Overview 2: https://tycotrain.tripod.com/id34.html A pair of freight car trucks in rust colored Delrin: https://www.ebay.com/itm/353912166716

For those building the MPC/AMT kit of the "General" locomotive, it will take a bit of research and work to build it as it looked at the time of its service during the American Civil War. Built by the Rogers Locomotive Works in 1855, the "General" , (not "The General") was rebuilt numerous times after the war. The MPC kit depicts the locomotive after restoration. A long-out-of-print book, Civil War Railroads And Models by Edwin P. Alexander has some nice 1:48 scale line drawings showing "General" as it looked as built (as well as a wealth of info regarding other locomotives used during the war on both sides, and other items such as lineside buildings and period track). The link below has some info regarding the probable paint colors of the General, using what is known regarding other Rogers locomotives of the era: http://loggingmallets.railfan.net/trainsim/rogers/general.htm (click on image on page for a larger one) Several years a manufacturer offered historically-accurate 1:48 scale locomotives and some rolling stock relating to the Civil War era. Here is their interpretation of the General. (Note the company is out of business, their webpage inactive. I had to go back to an archived page to find their pictures of the General. https://web.archive.org/web/20060209190215/http://www.smrtrains.com/general3.htm More here: http://www.modelcrafters.com/wordpress/?product=w-i-p-_american-civil-war-general-locomotive-tender-freight-car-set-with-plexiglas-display-case-track-section_operates-on-3-rail-ogauge-track-custom-finished-by-modelcrafters The MPC kit can be kitbashed into representations of other locomotives of similar design: https://www.oldmodelkits.com/blog/plasitc-model-kits-how-tos/construction-of-the-jupiter-no-119-locomotives-from-mpcs-the-general/ And, for fun here's a scratchbuilt interpretation of the General, in a 1:6 scale diorama at an action figure convention: https://patchesofpride.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/the-general-dominates-joelanta-2012/ Or you could just go with a custom paint job: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/4-general-mantua-real-brass-all-die-1809306136