Agree totally. Maybe the Tried and True isn’t so bad, after all, right?
Tom
Looks good, but I’m curious about one thing - where’s the bell? I see the bracket.
On my workbench - she still has to make one more trip into the foam cradle to get the pilot coupler installed (waiting on the mail delivery), and I held off on the pilot deck detail and the bell until I get it fixed - that way I minimize the touchup work and painting. No point attaching a bell twice. I like painting it as I go, but there are some parts that need a touchup - had to sub out some bolts on the valve gear, and they’re still shiny brass, as you can see.
Thanks, Tom - I appreciate that (and all of the other nice comments). D’you mean the tender on the Bowser, or the West Side turtleback tenders?
DEFINITELY the Bowser! The whaleback’s big enough for a full-sized Kennel, LOL!
Tom
Sheds parts?? I didn’t know Chevy made locomotives! j/k!! No hate mail, please…
It’s something to think about - just wanted to get the basic model done right now. I like my engines short and large, and my tenders short and high - the old Vandy tenders on the F-81s are a good example: a whole lot packed onto a short wheelbase. I feel like a shorter tender accentuates the apparent length of the loco, and a higher one accentuates its apparent bulk. I am thinking about getting a couple of the CNJ freight tenders that Bethlehem Car Works makes and using one for the 3010, when I get around to painting her: the whaleback’s almost as long as the actual engine. I could replace the drawbar pin with a Kadee and use it as an auxiliary water tender, since it already has oil hatches and whatnot all over it.
ALmost forgot - Darth, I rechecked it, and you were right about the voltage: it starts to move at about 3 volts.
Midland–
You’re right about those F-81 tenders: Big things coming in small packages, LOL!
http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL573/3198599/8141579/130117312.jpg
Tom
Tom, your scenery is just beautiful - what a great look. Did you do these lower-quadrant semaphores yourself, or are they from a kit? I’ve been talking with Dave the Train elsewhere about building a mechanical interlocking for the MPR, but just designing the logic is compli-frickin’-cated.
Sometimes I like doghouses and sometimes I don’t - but the off-center/asymmetric look they give to those F-81 tenders is perfect - I really like it.
Midland–
Thanks for the compliment–really appreciate it! The lower quadrants are pretty ancient, frankly I can’t remember the mfgr, I’ve had them so long. They’re non-operational, and pretty much just there for show, though they’re wired for light. I’m thinking of putting in an operational signaling system, but that’s kind of in the future. Frankly, with my knowledge of electronics, I’m just happy that my DC block-system works, LOL!
As my son once told me, “Dad, you shouldn’t be around electricity without adult supervision!”
Tom
Well, they have a very Harriman-standard look to them.
I noticed the drivers on the 3 center axles don’t seem to have flanges. My Mantua Mike is the same way. I understand why this is done but is this a common thing? Do all mfg’s do this? I was looking at some Bach pictures and their wheels all seem to have flanges. My only other steamers are a Bach 0-6-0 and a Tyco choo choo. All the wheels are flanged.
Loathar–
Seems to happen on some Bowser locos and not others. I believe their USRA Mountain has all center drivers flanged, and so does their Challenger, but their 2-10-2 and Pennsy 2-10-0 frames have the blank center drivers. That may be a carry-over from the old Penn Line/Varney loco dies that Bowser acquired about 20-25 years ago.
I know that the Mantua 2-8-2 has blank center drivers, and always had, even when it was a kit. I had one years ago that I gave to my nephew, but the blank center drivers didn’t seem to affect its considerable pulling power. I have a feeling that the same is true for the Bowser models.
Tom
Never seen it before in brass, or newer diecast stuff. My suspicion is that older-pattern diecast stuff was pitched to a great range of modelers, some of whom were working with very tight curves, and it had to be able to negotiate 18" and 22" radii as a matter of course - and to do that, a five-coupled engine really needs to have blind drivers on all three center wheels, unless the drivers are very low. Even with just two flanged drivers, the current draw goes up significantly, so it feels like there’s plenty of resistance. Because the superdetailed model shorts on 24" radius curves (the trailing truck touches the injector plumbing) I couldn’t measure the effect on pulling power. Not having the flanges may lose you some pulling power on straight track, but the lack of friction eliminates resistance on curves - and that’s probably a good tradeoff, because the model has enough weight that it can pull reliably even with three blind drivers.
Midland–
Just a thought, but I wonder if a little dab of gap-filling CA on the inside of the injector plumbing where it touches the trailing truck might not insulate that short of yours?
Tom
If I remember my PRR loco history correctly, the original 2-10-0’s had blind center drivers, too, so the practice is not without some prototype support. One of the factors in that was the tight curvature around Horseshoe Curve. I think Pennsy later changed to all flanged drivers on the Hippos.
I was thinking of rubber cement, but that might be the trick.
Added some comments on the economics of the Bowser versus the Walthers engine here.
Midland,
Nice job! [8D] It’s a shame they aren’t building today’s high-end steamers with this kind of weight.
The open frame motor draws a decent amount of current, so have are you thinking of installing a can? Is there an enclosed gearbox to make this easier, or is the worm still mounted on the motor shaft?