Has anyone ever kitbashed two bowser kits before? I was thinkng of combining two bowser A-5 shifters, and a USRA mountain (or similar) into an 0-4-4-0 or 2-4-4-2. But, since that would be a bit of an expensive bash, and never having built a bowser kit before, I figured I’d ask people who have built them before I shell out that much money on the engines. And also, do the kits still come with the open frame motors or not? Because if they do I’d be swapping them out with helix humpers or a Micro Mark can motor. And lastly, out of concern of shorting the engine out, how would I isolate Kadee couplers from the body? I dont want the electricity to jump across the couplings and body of the locomotive.
DarthSantaFe would be our resident expert in the field of Bowsers. I just got one (though it is at home and not at college with me to look at, timing was off by about 3 days for the end of spring break).
Anyway, as for the motor, I believe that they (still) use their open frame motor - the “DC-71” they use is apparently just that good. Now, I could be highly mistaken in this respect as they might have not updated pictures or PDFs of their building instructions in a while. However, these motors are STRONG and will probably pull the legs off your layout (or rip it off the wall as the case may be) if given the chance.
I should warn you though, hese are NOT simple kits to put together, you might want to build one or two of them before bashing them together… took me about a year of studying their instructions just to get confident enough to actually purchase one…
The couplers are the easy part since Kadee makes plastic couplers to fit almost any installation.
As to the kitbsh. Quite a project to make a working articulated. Back in April 1955 there was an article in MR about building a small articulated using mantua parts and it might be worth tracking [no pun intended] down that old article for some tips.
I guess what I would do if I wanted an 0-4-4-0 or 2-4-4-2 (drawings are in the March 1962 Model Railroader) would be to think about what I could do to modify the Mantua 2-6-6-2 where at least the articulated basics are already done for you. There’d still be plenty of challenge to the project.
Dave Nelson
Would the couplers really be an issue? All my Athearn BB locos have metal KD’s attached to the metal frame which conducts power to the motor. Never had a problem in over 20 years of running them. As long as your trip pin is adjusted properly I don’t see it being an issue.
Another thing is if you use the plastic draft gear boxes - they insulate the coupler from the frame
I believe he was talking about the possibility of double headed engines shorting through the metal couplers if the locos are coupled back to back or nose to nose.
Any locos I think have the possibility of being double headed have a metal Kadee mounted in their plastic coupler box. The box insulates the coupler from the frame so this is no longer an issue. I usually stay with the metal Kadee’s for durability.
Resurrecting this thread a bit because it looked interesting…
J:
Not sure how far you’ve come on your kitbash plans, but I had a couple of comments:
-The USRA 4-8-2 would be way too huge a boiler. For such a small Mallet, I’d think a light 2-8-0 boiler would be as big as you’d see on the real thing. (Take a look at the Little River 2-4-4-2; also notice that the Mantua Logger 2-6-6-2 has a boiler and cab that wouldn’t look too disproportionate on a very light, early Pacific.)
-You might want to kitbash an 0-6-6-0 or 2-6-6-0. These were quite small, and more common than the 0-4-4-0’s.
-The current Bowser A5, B6, and Dockside (which would be a good, cheap donor 0-4-0 chassis) come with ‘can’ motors. However, there’s nothing really wrong with a DC71. Most of the criticisms of open-frame motors are true of the cheesy imports, or of older motors with weakened magnets, but the current DC71 is a very good motor. Cogging is minimal and the magnet is very strong.
-Don’t overlook the secondhand market. Used Tyco or Mantua 0-4-0’s are widely available for about $10 each and have a very durable and well-engineered chassis. You could buy a pair, fit them with Helix Humpers and maybe replacement bearings, and have a good, cheap foundation for your machine. If you’re intent on swapping motors, I’d probably go this way. You might also pick up a couple of the current-producti