Just finished my Balboa Santa Fe 1480 4-4-2![:D] I referenced every photo and bit of info I could find to make it look as authentic as possible. Of course, it’s hard to tell exactly what every color and detail is with old black and white photos, but oh well.
Gorgeous!!! Before I read your text I was going to ask if that Balboa had come with a ‘can’ motor, as I didn’t think that ‘cans’ were in production when Balboa was importing. But you answered my question. As to the dome numbers, it looks as if you have enough of a semi-gloss finish on the dome to mount the decal numbers without any repainting (maybe just a small shot of whatever clear sealant you used for the paint).
But that is a beautiful job. I’m a real admirer of your work.
Beautiful work on this locomotive. I recently learned the difference between a can motor and a coreless. I have a coreless (out of a camera!) and am working on putting it in a loco. They perform like a high quality can with a brass flywheel. I’d like to see your engine perform in person.
Thanks also for the before and after pictures. Dan
You brought back memory’s, when you mentioned Balboa. I have two 2-8-2’s that have been sitting around since the early 60’s. One is a basket case, after hitting the concrete floor in the basement from four feet up.
Beatiful train you got there! I’ve always wanted a model of an ATSF 4-4-2 #1491. To save money, I 've bought 2 dirty MDC roundhouse 4-4-2s, thinking I hopefully can combine all the best parts into 1, then superdetail it. I just learned its hard to play with metal! Yours looks real nice! Wonder how it runs?
twhite, that’s most likely what I’ll do. The clear coat is semi-gloss for that fresh from the shop look, so I should be able to put the decals on and put a light coat over them without making it noticeable.
Southgate, coreless motors are the best runners of all once you’ve gotten them figured out! The armature is a hollow cup or “bell” shape, and rotates around a cylinder shaped magnet. This along with the lack of an iron core means it will not cog at low speeds, and it will also coast a bit. The larger ones can coast like they’ve got dual 1" flywheels!
zstripe, sorry your Balboa got broken! I actually sort of broke this one a while back, when I tried to pour hot lead into the body to add some weight (not one of my better ideas). The entire cab fell apart, and it took a very long time to fix it. One of the nice things about brass is that it can usually be repaired.
snjroy, it’s still the original 7-wheel pickup. I may improve it later, but for now, it works fine.
Trainman440, I’ve heard the MDC 4-4-2 can be modified into a believable ATSF 4-4-2, although it takes some work to do it. Metal can be difficult to work with, but it’s easier to repair than plastic, and gives you a lot more weight! My 4-4-2 here is a fantastic runner! Smooth, strong, and very quiet.
Excellent work on your modifications of the old Balboa brass locomotive.
Shows what can be done to the old brass locomotives of years past and how they can be easily brought to a state as to be run today on layouts.
I have quite a number of brass locomotives based on Canadian railroads that I am tinkering with to be able to run these locomotives today.
While you changed out the original motor I am having very good luck simply swapping out the old magnets from many of the open frame motors and replacing them with the new rare earth magnets.
After they have been modified most of these engines run as well as most of todays locomotives with can motors.
While I have purchased a couple of new brass steam locomotives I have a tough time reconcilling spending what the new ones sell for especially when you can buy old PFM steam for approax 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of the new ones. The amount of detail on the older PFM engines is still more detailed than most of todays plastic offerings and are priced about the same.
