How difficult is it to move the domes on the Spectrum 2-8-0? Are they separate and held on with screws or part of the boiler casting? Can they be removed without major surgery? I have several of these that are good runners from my previous B&O layout that I would like to modify. After much sleuthing, I have discovered that the Las Vegas and Tonopah had several 2-8-0s that are about the size of the Bachmann engine. Finding a picture has been difficult, but the UP Historical society had one of it after the UP took it . I would like to move the sand dome to where the bell is now. Otherwise it looks fairly close. I have never disassembled this particular model. Thanks - Nevin
They usually pop off.
My buddy Greg’s latest D&H project started off as Spectrum Consol
His previous four conversions were of a more conventional nature:
Nick
The domes, both steam and sand, are separate pieces that “mate” into holes in the shell and are secured, to varying degrees, with some kind of cement - it may be ca. I removed them by first applying some lacquer thinner to the joint from the inside, then, after a few minutes, grasping the dome firmly and pulling/twisting. Some can also be pushed out from the inside, and for a couple, I had to clamp a piece of steel rod, vertically, in a vise, then position the inside of the dome on the end of the rod, pushing down on the boiler with one hand and twisting the dome with pliers from the outside. (I had wrapped the dome in masking tape to protect the surface from the pliers.)
Wayne
It can definitely be done without too much trouble.
A fellow Rio Grande steam modeler on the Rio Grande forum on Trainboard turned his Baldwin Consol into a very close approximation of a Rio Grande Alco-built C-48 2-8-0, which required moving both sand and steam domes and modifying the boiler front.
I’ve also been able to turn the boiler of my Spectrum Heavy USRA 4-8-2 into a relatively faithful replica of an SP MT-series. Both domes and stack are realitively easily removed by using the techniques the other posters have used.
Those Spectrum steamers are just made for kit-bashing, IMO.
Tom [:D]
That’s some impressive work your friend does, Nick. Got any pictures of them finished?
Wayne
While the two locomotives pictured above are still in white, I do have photos of two of his earlier units…
Delaware & Hudson E5 Consol:
Delaware & Hudson E6 Consol:
After he gets done with the D&H power, I’m thinking of having him do a Reading I9 for me.
Nick
Very nicely done. [tup][tup] Please pass along my compliments. He’s got locos that would otherwise be available only in brass (if even then) with the added bonus that they run and pull well.
Wayne