And here’s a nice On30 2-8-0. Perhaps a bit modern for 1905, but a good looker nonetheless.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?function=detail&id=1427
I’d ditch the Rushton (onion shaped) stack regardless and replace it with a shotgun stack. Rushton’s were mostly used with wood burners. With the undec, you get a choice of fuel types and two different stacks.
Andre
One of the problems of modeling a “less popular” railroad or timeframe is finding appropriate locos and rolling stock. I am modeling Maine Central in the 1950s which is a well known railroad, but many fewer people model it than PRR, ATSF or BN. The bottom line is the manufacturers look at the railroads more people are modeling, and that is what gets produced. If a less popular railroad is produced it often is a “generic” model that is painted up in the that railroad’s livery.
For example: While there have been a number of MEC diesels produced recently, finding steamers that look correct and are lettered correctly is not that easy. For my 2-8-0 consolidation, I started with an undecorated Spectrum model. Then I replaced the pilot (a big job), added detail parts to the boiler and tender, and modified the cab roof. After that I painted and decaled it. It still would not satisfy some of my rivet counter friends, but I am happy with the result.
I am not saying to abandon the Deadwood Central in 1905 idea, but to do what you want, you probably will have to get into painting and decaling to get something that approaches the prototype. I was a bit intimidated when I started buying undecorated models or stripping the paint off decorated models, adding detail parts, then painting and decaling them; however, that was the only way I could model the protype I wanted. Come back here when you have questions about how to do things, there are folks in this forum who will help.
Addendum to my earlier post.
Except for the Walschaerts valve gear, that outside-frame Bachmann loco is a good match for DC #5 and #6 as built. Before 1905 the railroad crammed a second sand dome between the steam dome and the cab of #6 (CB&Q 538). The stack was typical Baldwin - shotgun with a fancy cap. The tender had a small shelter roof, to protect the fireman in typical South Dakota winter weather.
By the 1920s DC #5, (CB&Q 537) had been repaired numerous times, using whatever happened to be available. The headlight was a boxy thing, obviously homemade. The stack was a shotgun, but had a bolt-on mounting flange at its base. The front sand dome was 1880 style, possibly rescued from a scrapped predecessor. The steam dome had a sheet metal casing with a top like an upturned funnel(!) There was a turbogenerator crammed between the steam dome and the rear sand dome - a more modern type that barely cleared the front wall of the cab. The cab itself was a three window type, and the tender had been converted to carry oil. Judging by the height of the engineer standing next to it, the drivers were small, possibly 42 inches.
That Bachmann loco could be used as-is, but would also make a good starting point for superdetailing/kitbashing more accurate models of the longest-serving DC locos.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
It’s not clear to me what you are trying to do - standard gauge, narrow gauge, etc. But Bachmann has a HO 4-4-0 http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?function=detail&id=1692 actually there are 3 of them for the Ma&Pa Nos. 4, 5, and 6 which were built in 1901 by Richmond. I don’t know if the Bachmann is the as built model or if you would need to back date some details - for example the headlight appears to be electric, OTOH the cab is wood on 4 and 5. Also the 4-6-0 http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?function=detail&id=157 would seem to fit your era - again details may need backdating. Also I have no idea how similar to CB&Q standard gauge locomotives these are, but you can get them undecorated and decal them for the CB&Q. These are both DCC but no sound - biggest challenge is probably finding room for the speaker.
Enjoy
Paul
Looking at all the Black Hills railroads, including both standard and narrow gauges (and a lot of three rail track,) I found only one photo of a loco that might have been a 4-4-0. Since all of the railroads in the Black Hills had really nasty grades, an American would have been a very unlikely choice.
There were a few 4-6-0s in standard gauge service, but most road runs were held down by Consolidations or 2-6-0s. Sometime before 1912, the CB&Q assigned slide-valve 2-6-6-2 Mallets to the Edgemont-Deadwood run (the last 2 miles of which was on 3-rail track shared with the former Deadwood Central narrow gauge.) Starting in 1912, all steam locomotives in the Black Hills were converted to oil burners - mandated by the Forest Service, since the Black Hills were (and are) a National Forest.
A final note on CB&Q #537, originally DC #5 (the rolling junkpile described earlier.) In 1928 it was ‘prepared for kitbashing’ by a fatal (for the engine crew) rollover/pileup accident that cleaned everything above the (badly battered, bent-down) running boards off the boiler. After rebuilding it looked like a brand-new machine, with round-topped domes and fittings appropriate to the 1920s. When it went to the C&S in 1930 it was refitted to burn coal, including a typical C&S cinder-catcher stack.
(Just as an aside - those old steamers were rebuilt and returned to service time after time after wrecks that would have sent diesels back to the steel mill in gondolas, ready for re-melting.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Thanks to everyone. I don’t really know what I’m doing either. I’m a newbie just trying to find my way. My problem is that I’ve already got a boatload of HO EZ track though it appears that I should really be using N for a narrow gauge railroad.
Background, my father-in-law’s grandfather was a pioneer of Deadwood in the late 19th century. He’s buried on Mt. Moriah cemetary (aka Boot Hill) near Wild Bill. His aunt was the first woman lawyer in SD and worked for the Homestake mine in nearby Lead. We all went there in July for a family get together. It was the first time I’ve been there and I was knocked out by the scenery.
I thought it would be a tribute to my wife’s history to try to do a little modeling of Deadwood. I want to create the goldmine area and on the other side of my 4 x 8 layout the town were his cigar store was located. We have a picture of it and it’s pretty close to DPM Skip’s Ribs. I also want to build a cemetary up on on hill/mountain.
I am getting a copy of the book that was referred to here–The Railroads of the Black Hills and expect that will help, but basically I’m going to be cheating and running standard HO trains were these would be OK if running on narrow gauge track.