BLW Consolidation 2-8-0

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I am looking for an N scale Baldwin (BLW) Consolidation 2-8-0 such as the one at:

http://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco/JC-556.html

Bachmann seems to be the only one but it is not an exact match. Does anyone know of any others?

Thanks.
Peter

2

Remember the Bachmann isn’t really supposed to match any prototype (although it probably matches something) as it’s an NMRA design and is very generic. With that in mind, they are a great place to start kitbashing from and are generally good locomotives that run good out of the box (I’ve had a few exceptions to this but not many). Outside of brass I’m not sure if anyone makes a matching prototype to what you are looking for. Hopefully others will chime in with more information!

Jeff

3

Steam engines in N-scale are few and far between. Baldwin made so many locomotives for so many railroads, most of them very small runs, that the odds of you finding this loco, even in brass, are certainly very low. If it has to look like the Alaska 556 you are going to have to build it on your own.

4

The Spectrum Baldwin 2-8-0 is pretty much a stock design from Baldwin. Only the longer tender is rare of an engine of this era(at least delivered). There is no NMRA design(the model org), and I suspect Jeff typo’ed and meant USRA design. These engines were build lonng before the USRA designs(1918). I have two of these engines(the HO model) and they are some of the best running steam available.

Jim

5

The Spectrum Consolidation is based on the Illinois Central 900 series, which can be found in the Model Railroader Cyclopedia Volume I: Steam Locomotives. (Plan #25, p. 53.) It was part of a group built by Baldwin between 1909 and 1911.

While the drawings in the MR Cyclopedia show the unique IC sandbox added during the 1930s, the Spectrum model seems to follow the engine’s original, more generic, appearance.

(Incidentally, the prototype of the “other” Bachmann 2-8-0 is illustrated in Plan #28, on page 57.)

My guess is that the ARR engine illustrated in the original post was one of a number of engines built for the US military. Some of those engines were designed so that they could be regauged for use on foreign railways. I believe they were a bit lighter than the 2-8-0s typically used by US railroads.

If the basic dimensions are close, the Spectrum engine can probably be reworked into a reasonable likeness of the ARR engine.

6

Thanks you all for the input. I think the Bachmann is close enough for me and will likely buy it (birthday coming up soon [:D]

Peter