With the Reading N-1 done I decided to dive right into the next project. First here is the real deal for the unfamiliar.
The starting point is one of those engines I have had for a couple years that doesn’t fit in, a DM&IR bachamann spectrum 2-10-2. This is the unaltered engine with the replacement trucks next to it. The new rear truck is a mantua left over, the tender trucks are bachmann off a cheap show bought I-10 Great Northern tender.
After disassembly the first thing is getting rid of the southern valve gear. The class of 75 engines had walschaerts and baker valve gears. I decided to go with walschaerts since I think a majority of them were that way and I wanted more practice in conversions. The only pieces of rods kept besides the side rods were the main rod and the eccentric crank. I started with replacing the crosshead using a left over spectrum 2-8-0 one from earlier conversions. I carefully ground the main rod free not cutting too much with a dremel, just enough to separate the pieces. The rivet is actually molded with the crosshead piece so the new main rod uses the original shaft and is capped on the back with plastic, super glueing around the rim. The plastic also sticks up and down to act as the other side of the guide.
This is one glued one not.
The main rods in place.
Next a yoke was built fit to be screwed into the spot of the southern valve gear.
really looking forward to watching this project unfold. Enjoyed the last kitbash very much, thanks for taking the time to photograph it all and describe each step.
And, if you’re interested in the C&O, the Hocking Valley, the LS&I, or the Pere Marquette, this kitbash can work for you, too. The Lehigh Valley’s last sixteen R-1s went wandering, starting in 1920.
Lehigh Valley sold #4060-4069 to the Hocking Valley in 1920, then #4070-4075 in 1922. The HV numbered them 130-145.
The Hocking Valley became part of the C&O in 1930, when #140-139 were renumbered as C&O #2950-2959. Of the six remaining ex-LV 2-10-2s, three were sold to the Lake Superior & Ishpeming, where they became LS&I #36-38, two went to the Pere Marquette to become their class SF-6, #1198-1199, and one went to Woodward Iron Co. to become its #37.
The C&O’s received large Vanderbilt tenders, one got a beetle-brow Elesco feedwater heater, and a couple others had their pumps moved to the front of the boiler like the C&O’s big Pacifics and Mikados. Still others had their pumps moved to the pilot deck in the same manner as the PM’s pair.
The PM’s pair received large, slab-sided tenders with three-axle Buckeye trucks.
I’m very much looking forward to watching this project come along.
Forgot to mention before, good info fmilhaupt. I was unaware of that, but it explains why the photo roster on northeast.railfan.net stops at #4059. That is a great site for PRR, RDG, CNJ, LNE, LV, LHR, WM and B&O steam and diesel rosters except PRR diesels for some reason.
Work continued with the cylinder heads. The cylinder faces are metal and were ground down a bit with a dremel about half of the total thickness the head use to be.
Then a new smaller head was made from .040 being sanded to a dome shape.
To make the bolts a strip of .010x.020 was cut into little squares and glued around the head, after the dome shape was centered and glued.
The installed views.
The shell was ground down with a dremel when the cylinders were, in short everything but the stack goes as well as the bands on the lower half.
Next I worked on the smokebox front and decided to use part of the original. Using the LED lights that came with the engine the wires go through a little hole in the shell and plug into the LED leads. To make it accessible for taking the shell on and off the smoke box front needs to be removable. I sanded everything off the front to the flat base and make the layers, 2 .040 and 1 .010. The .040 layers were sanded into dome shapes.
After a little more sanding I was ready to start the domes. .010 was looped around a couple layers that ended up the width of the existing steam dome and glued down at both ends.
The seams were then sanded flush to made a smooth tube. Then the pieces were sanded to fit the boiler top and glued into place. After place they were sanded down from the top to be at the final height minus .080 of space which will make the caps.
The caps start as 2 layers of .040 roughly cut and then sanded flush with the placed tube. Here you can see the sanded down (engineer’s side) with the rough cut (fireman’s side).
Then the tops get rounded to the final shapes.
And more putty.
That putty is then smoothed out to make a rounded transition into the boiler.
The cab started with the sides which were basically copies of the N-3’s. Started as a 3/4"x 1 1/8" piece then got trimmed down. I bent the pieces inward just below the window with a pair of pliers at this point too to match the prototype and help line up the front and back when in place.
Some more putty work was needed to get rid of the seam of the coal bunker. Nothing crazy just enough to smooth it out.
After sanding.
Before starting the running boards I wanted to set the steam delivery pipes higher which were made from a styrene tube. They are attached to the boiler, not the cylinders. They don’t have to be glued that way, that is just what I prefer.
The space over the first driver is where the compressor goes and I was originally going to do one piece for the front half the running boards, but having issues getting a piece to fit I ended up doing 3 pieces which is the easier way.
Also a minor technique, if you finally get a piece to fit but a little too much was trimmed off one end I add back with strips instead of making a new piece. Gluing a few layers then sanding flush and to the desired size when dry. This is one of the big reasons I like working in plastic, being able to fix on the fly.
This is the main running board pieces in place for the fireman’s side with the compressor in place. The compressor is a plastic one off the proto 2-8-8-2.
Then the steps were added made from .010.
The engineers side was easier without the compressor in the way.
Work started up again with installing the tender light which is the original tender light with the number boards shaved down. The light already has the LED in it and holes were drilled for the wires.
Then the water hatch was built made from a base layer of .040 and topped witha slightly larger piece of .010. Strips of .010 were used to make hinges and the lid split.
The front tender platform was then done to match the cab floor. Also the circuit board was placed back in.
Next I wanted to get a roof on the cab but first I needed to do the window frames and get a coat of paint in the interior. The frame and the arm rest is .010 plastic. I just do a simple coat of black for the cab interior since you tend not to see much of in there anyway.
The roof is made .010, so are the gutters and vents. Here is everything installed.
I put the original draw bar back in, I would like the tender to be a little closer but the generally tight curves won’t allow it.
With the cab roof in place I made the slight coal bunker extension to not go higher then the roof line. The bunter extension was made from .040 pieces. The rounded front and back is something I notice
With a visit to local hobby store I was a little surprisingly able to get the couple of detail parts I needed to finish this one. Before installing the parts I wanted to get the rivets done starting with the tender.
Rivets on the engine is just the smoke box, which is a little hard to see being a dark area.
The tender rivits were easier without a latter on the back so I build the latter after the decals were set.
Then the rest of the parts were installed ready for final detailing with plumbing. These include sander valves, air hoses, injector lifts, safety valves, pilot steps, washer plugs and main lubricators. The power reverse linkage will be built during final detailing.
I doubt will get to work on the project more tomorrow so I figured I would update whats done. The tender, front and engineers side of the engines have the detail finished.
The tender was really just doing the various handrails.
The front was the boiler braces to the pilot and smokebox front hand rail. The eletrical line for the headlight came after the line along the boiler was set.
To do the power reverse linkage I wanted to get what was behind it on first which meant doing the sander lines then the injector pipes.
After the reverser linkage was in place the rest was applied.
