I’ve had one of these little steamers for a while now, picked up from a swap meet for ‘not-a-lot’, but it has never looked quite right to me. I even stuck a MRC steam sound decoder in it for fun, although I never got the synchronisation quite right.
…and thought there were enough similarities to make a passable representation. So it’s out with the new scalpel blade and the Exacto saw and off we go.
First of all, I wanted to shorten the tender, so I sawed off about an inch length from each side and also the chassis. I then glued the remaining bits back together, with some plasticard reinforcement behind the cuts for strength. I then filled the rough cuts with Squadron White modellers paste to try and hide the join.
Next up was to cut the cab sides to represent the larger NYC windows. I did this with a scalpel and steel rule.
Then it was the turn of the boiler and footplate. On the IHC model, the footplate sits quite high and is part of the same moulding as the bottom part of the boiler.
I want to lower the footplate along the boiler, so I removed the plastic until just the boiler itself remained. I also cut off the bell housing the class lights and pulled out the headlight, before filling the gaps with putty.
Not quite sure on that one yet Peter. The loco runs really nicely at the moment and I wanted to see how the rest of the conversion worked out before tackling the cylinders.
I had given some thought about soldering up some short lengths of brass tube and fitting to a brass crosspiece, plasticard fittings, with a saddle constructed from plastic sheet, but we’ll have to see.
Glad to see you here on the Trains Forum. I really love your work. If others here are not familiar with Jon, perhaps he could be persuaded to share a few photos of his “Chicago” layout built for a recent train show in jolly old. Superb work on both buildings and now locomotives!
Will
Great work Jon! Please keep us posted with your progress with some more pictures. I have been thinking about doing a bash with one of these. How deep are the flanges on your model? Would they be okay on code 70 or 55 rail?
This is some real insparation! I have an IHC Consolidation that is a really great runner but not much in the detail dept, and I have been mulling over the idea of adding some detail and making it look a little better. After seeing the progress that you guys have made I may have to make a real consideration of this project. Great work!
Bruce, see the first pic in the first post. The track is Peco code 75 and the loco runs great through the turnout frogs. I will be changing the tender wheels though for aesthetic reasons only.
BTW… the track on the snowscene is Peco code 100
I love the other conversion - very well done, although I hope to convert mine for no cost in parts. They’re difficult to come by in England, so I’ll scratchbuild the bits I need
Good luck on your conversion. I’m lucky. The IHC 2-6-0 is based on the Southern Pacific M-4, so I can use it as is since I’m an SP fan.The IHC tender’s too big, but that’s OK. I have a couple of 7,000 gallon Model Diecasting Vanderbilt tenders squirrelled away.
OTOH, replacing the cast on detail would look better
I did some work on the boiler and cylinders over the last 2 days
Here is the revised cylinder, with some plastic filed away and some plastic card added to build up the shape. I have also carved off all the moulded on pipework and added boiler bands (from plastic strip)
I have also started on the footboards on the other side. the line of filler shows where the footboards had been.
Now for the hardest part of the conversion - the cab windows.
After some thought, I raided my British outline spares box and decided to use some etched brass industrial windows for the side window frames.
I cut out the bits I wanted, painted them and glued them onto some glazing sheet. I mounted the units on the cab and framed them with plastic strip. any remaining gaps between the windows and the cab side were filled with Squadron filler. I also cut a hole for the roof hatch, made from plastic sheet.
I still have the back of the cab to rebuild, which will also lengthen the cab side by about 1mm, making it more like the NYC cab.
Well ’ you did modified the cylinders. That is great! How did you do that? Did you just cut into the existing cylinders with a small hobby saw? And how did you build up and square off the top? Any addtional details will be appreciated. My goal is to do the same with a IHC 4-4-0 and build Weed Lumber Co. no 1 ( Northern California 1903)
