Have you ever considered building your own hybrid, never seen nor heard of before engine?
I have an old Rivarossi Big Boy, which is destined for the scrap yard. And though crossed my mind “why not turn it into a 4-8-6” I could do anything with it including Elesco Feedwater heater, Enclosed CN cab, etc…
Any thoughts?[:D]
There was a proposed 4-8-6 which was based on an enlarged C&O 4-8-4 class L-2. It is illustrated with a diagram in the Lima history from Hundman publications.
You would probably have to shorten the boiler, and use an 80" wheel 4-8-4 chassis.
Not using the original Rivarossi drive would probably help!
Peter
Rivarossi parts can bring $$$ so I’d be a bit cautious before cutting up your scrap model
Maybe experiment first with the Monogram plastic unpowered Big Boy? I have seen them at swap meets for $5.
Dave Nelson
Fergmiestro! Haven’t you been paying attention to the fidelity to scale folks? You risk ostrafacation of a magnitude not seen before on this venue! Freelancing is dead and is an abomination of the high model railroading principles set forth by our fondling fore fathers!
You will be captured by the “Model Railroad Brain Cops” and tortured to within an inch and a quarter of your life!
My god, just communicating with you about this on this forum has put me a grave risk! I must disavow ever having known you!
MY LIFE IS A TORTURE CHAMBER
&
WELCOME TO MY BOILER ROOM!!
And besides if the “Amateur Railway Society of Elitists” wants piece of my caboose then bring it on! John Armstrong, a man who’s articles I enjoyed and respected, built hybrids of things to be but never became.
A lot of small RR’s rebuilt one of a kind engines.
Remeber the MESS is mythical and with it comes mythical engines. Big Drivers no! I’ll stick to the original stubbies. I’m in dyer need of something with a short wheel base, lots of weight and incredible hauling capacity. Speed need not apply.
that proposed 4-8-6 had 1,783,916 rivets, so better make sure it is absolutely perfect because it will be under the microscope and watchful eye of the National Rivet Counter & Privates Busters of North America. Why not make it a cab-forward while you’re at it? How about a cab-forward, camelback, 4-8-6 gas turbine? Paint it yellow! Go for it, it’s your railraod. You should see the snow plow I made out of an Athearn Hustler chassis, MDC slope-back tender, and a bunch of junk. Kitbashing is some fun and so non-prototypically perfect-share the results here if you would. . .
I’ve thought about turning a Proto Y3 into my own special Cabforward. Not a Southern Pacific one, but somewhat similar. A thick 2-8-8-2 reverse runner with the tender converted to carry oil. The existing cab being extensively rebuilt with a new flat-face.
SP did have some 2-8-8-2 cabforwards, but they were slow and skinny. My theoratic one would be capable of higher speeds and have nearly twice the tractive effort.
It would be called, the Cabforward that never was…
Why not start with a 4-8-4 body?
I have never hybrid a steamer before, although I have done several diesels, in sort of “what if” scenarios, like “What if Amtrak took PA1s along with the E8s and F7s”
Fergie,
What if you make it a camelback, equip it with two slope back tenders (one on each end) and use it as a yard switcher. You shouldn’t have any problems with grade transitions (unless you have a hump yard). Best of luck!
Tom
Currently on my list of “to-do’s” is a pair of narrow-gauge steam locomotives for my as-yet unbuilt Northcoast logging railroad layout. It was not uncommon for local shops to cobble together weird little locomotives out of whatever was at hand, modifying parts from old steam omnibuses and donkey engines. These were commonly known as “gypsy engines” and no two were alike–thus, as long as I’m freelancing, the prototype be damned!
I’m starting out with that favorite of HOn30 enthusiasts, the Bachmann 0-4-0 Docksider. I’ve only got one with complete valve gear right now–the other broke off, but I’m using that to create an HOn30 diesel “critter” for an industrial plant in Sacramento that featured 2-foot narrow-gauge track for some, currently unknown, purpose…
Forgetting hybrids for the moment – a Big Boy boiler might be pretty close in size to the huge Q class duplexes that the PRR had in the 1940s – rigid framed 4-4-6-4 and 4-6-4-4 if memory serves. At one time somebody made a frame that could be altered to make these engines using parts from Bowser’s T class 4-4-4-4. Those PRR Qs were rigid framed! Now that would be an engine – minimum radius of., oh, maybe 50 inches? Tenders bigger than an apartment house!
Dave Nelson
Oh Please No! your teasing me[V]
Just kidding[:D] Kinda lets the mind go wild
I say make it a 4-8-8-4 B unit. No cab …make it a dummy to MU with another. Have it run tender first with an aux tender between it and the 'A" unit.
Or a cab forward with a Canadian Safety Cab…and ditchlights…
I would make a 4-10-10-6 Highlander from two 2-10-4s and a Allegheny . Or i would make a Highlander Garratt 2-10-4+4-10-2. It would be made from two 2-10-4s with a scratchbuilt tender and water tank.
Gentlemen! I give you the Hog back, very distant relative to the camelback, except with all that weight we notice an inverse hump.
Here is a drawing of the Highlander Garratt and Highlander
Maybe make it the world’s largest Beyer-Garrett with the boiler suspended between two tenders, with the drive wheels under the tenders.
Dave Nelson