Hi, I’m back—finally! I wonder how many former members of this forum have been locked out for a year or so by the Kalmbach software. About this time last year, I went to the Forums (Prototype Info and General Discussions) expecting to find everything just the way I’d left it the night before. It seemed okay until I tried to comment on one of the topics, only to find I couldn’t! When I tried to log back on, the !@!!#! thing kept telling me my password was invalid. Nothing worked and every time I tried one of the regular remedies, I got a form, in a red border and accents, wanting to know my data, including my Customer Number. If I’ve ever had one, it’s long gone because I quit subscribing when I moved to a studio apartment without even the room for my previous magazine collection(s), some of which I had to jettison (sob). Customer Service suggestions didn’t work, though I’d received a few, and I was in the middle of composing an email to Steve Otte, to see if he could help, when I decided to try logging on again. This time, I saw “LOGON,” in blue, above the normal Green greeting block. I clicked—and here I am again, able to converse with my brethren and “sisteren” again! Except, I hadn’t anything to ask or contribute at the time…
I’ve been disappointed when a member asks a question I could answer about an item he’s found and I couldn’t help. I also like to comment on
Google ‘Universal steam chest’ for a starter. These were made to bolt to slide-valve cylinders to convert them to piston valves when converting to superheat – even balanced slide valves had problems with their lubrication with the oils of that period. 1912 is squarely in the era they would have been used.
I will have to let Ed et al. answer the holes question, as it never occurred to me to look carefully. If I get to Collierville I’ll check what is on Frisco rebuild 1351.
Thanks, at first, I’d thought of substituting a PSC Wabash cylinder block and saddle, but I decided that since it was such a seldom-modeled system, and Pearce had done such a marvelous job modeling them–there are even oval rings formed to cradle the smokebox, plus the PSC cylinder saddle is made for a 63" diameter smokebox, while the Pearce has a 68" diameter (72"D boiler with a tapered middle course)–that I decided to go with it. I’m enjoying working in metal again, after all the years of styrene projects! Stay safe.
Interesting feature of which I wasn’t aware - sounds like a good candidate for photo-etching.
Here’s an HO scale B-15, that I picked-up many years ago…my first brass locomotive. I modified it a bit, since it’s for one of my freelanced railroads, rather than B&M…
I later decided to “modernise” it a little more, as my layout is set in the late '30s…
…but I don’t know if it’s anywhere near in appearance to the Franklin “Economy” steam chest…all I wanted was a little more modern version of a Mogul.
I also removed the old-style cab and replaced it with a Bachmann plastic cab from one of their Consolidations…
Neither of those locos has a cab apron, although all of my Bachmann Consolidations do (but, of course, they’re hole-free).
Wayne, apparently, the B&M had a bunch of those little B15’s, quite a few with the conversion valves–and all with Fox swing-motion tender trucks, which they also liked. One of my favorite Green Frog videos has a whole segment of one of 'em pulling a work train and one of the gons also has Fox trucks (don’t remember if they were the heavier ones or the more common ones with the dogbone-shaped sideframes). I was surprised, a couple of years ago, to find that British railways used a lot more Fox trucks than our roads did, including passenger trucks, which they said had very good riding characteristics.
Sure wish I knew where I got the pattern for all those holes I drilled in that cab apron with my #2 Moto-tool in their drill press, regulated by one of their foot rheostats…
The only thing I’ve been able to come up with regarding cab aprons is the Code of Federal Regulations 230.81 - Cab aprons. § 230.81 Cab aprons. (a)General provisions. Cab aprons shall be of proper length and width to ensure safety. Cab aprons shall be securely hinged, maintained in a safe and suitable condition for service, and roughened, or other provision made, to afford secure footing. (b)Width of apron. The cab apron shall be of a sufficient width to prevent, when the drawbar is disconnected and the safety chains or the safety bars are taut, the apron from dropping between the steam locomoti
My B-15 came with Fox trucks, but they kept falling apart, and at the time I wasn’t competent enough to devise a fix. I still have the major parts, but it looks like some of the springs are missing. If you can use them, let me know.
Thanks, Bear. While I never rode aboard a steam loco–my only cab ride, at age 14, was aboard a Soo Line EMD F7–from the way the cab tilted and swayed as we backed onto the House siding to pick up front end baggage-express cars, I can well imagine the movements between engine and tender! From what I’ve seen in photos, many modern steam loco aprons were of diamond safety tread, which, I was told by an elderly railroad engineer (the university kind, not driver) was, in the early years, of a rather soft steel that wore rather too rapidly. I’ve always supposed that’s why some roads perforated the aprons for traction–and possibly for drainage. Cheers, mate!
Thanks for the offer of the truck parts, Wayne, but they’re a trifle small for my loco. I have a drawer with 3-1/2 pairs of Jim Thomas’s O scale Fox trucks and a couple of pairs of Scale City Design’s copies of the former Kiel-Line product, probably from the original Thomas tooling. Two of my Thomas Consols have the original Fox trucks, but they’re really a sort of hybrid of the lighter Fox freight truck design and the heavier, swing-motion design. Remembering the excellent Central Valley swing-motion trucks I put under my many HO cabooses, I really wish we had 'em in O. The only ones we have are the Delrin (I presume) plastic ones AHM used for their “Casey Jones” Ten-wheeler tenders. (I used to daydream about using them as patterns for making RTV molds to cast them in bismuth alloy, but…)
BTW, I failed to mention (I used to have a memory, honest) that your B&M Mogul’s cylinders’ dry pipes were the more typical type, with the “kink.” I really admire your modeling, Wayne. Your attention to detail, prototype adherence , and execution is marvelous, not to mention your freindly sharing of knowledge, is great. Onward and Upward!
I deliberately left the original pipes, as the faux piston valves were built over the housings of the slide valves.
The loco, which didn’t run when I bought it, got a new motor and a bunch of added weight, and while it’s a smooth runner now and a surprisingly good puller for its size, the elbowed steam pipes seem to not have a negative effect on performance.
I remember seeing lots of those elbows in photos, and probably even prototype drawings, and never gave them a thought. My wonderful memory-of-a-memory function tells me there were also straight dry pipes, but I’m just assuming Henry Pearce was following prototype in this build. I’m not even sure this was for the B15, but the axle spacing and foreframe suggest drivers in the 62-64" range. I’ve always liked the staggered axle arrangement of so many Moguls and Ten-wheelers I’ve seen in old photos–and John Allen’s little job he’d made from, I think, an MDC/Roundhouse 0-6-0. It appeared in several of his photos, including a large color photo in Model Railroader, so the MDC “Old-timer” Mogul with the 52" (actual, I measured 'em) drivers caught my eye and gave me the urge to build one. (I have some excellent “shell-cast” 52" drivers from England on hand.) Your Mogul sounds like it’s as useful as the B&M’s. Someone once called them “ubiquitous,” as they used them in a variety of roles, freight and passenger (often seen with their “Ambroid” open-platform wood cars) and, of course, switching, as needed. (P.S. Glad to see the “kinks” don’t affect performance! LOL)
