Most Railroads in North America built some of their Rosters of Steam Engines along the USRA designs. Each RR put on there own flare and add ons.
My question is wouldn’t it be nice if more Manufacturers made detail kits so you could detail your Loco with extras, such as Elesco Feed Water Heaters and such?
I realize some manufacturers do detail their engines to meet certain RR’s specs and I realize detail parts are available but can be hard to track or locate at times. But to me it would be nice if more manufacturers like Bowser would make up Super detail kits so we can build better Locos and Locos that were more prototypical of the lesser known roads.
I agree with you Fergie. I recall one such detail item that drove owners of the Penn Line Pacific K-4 (metal kit) to distraction. As I recall, the boiler had a power reverse on the metal casting and many modelers preferred the earlier manual (hand operated) reverse. At the time, neither Cal-Scale nor Kemtron had the latter available. Fortunately, I was able to purchase the necessary extra detail castings for my (early 1950’s) Bowser, brass Mountain [4-8-2] and Varney (deluxe Pacific, 4-6-2) while both Kemtron and Cal-Scale were still solvent. The boiler castings on both locos were good (for the period), but the trailer trucks, pilots, headlights, marker boards, steam traps and piping etc. were crude or entirely lacking. However, with the addition of the brass “extra” detail castings, both locos were transformed into faithful replicas of the prototypes. There is no small measure of “pride” that goes along with the “transformation” as well. Good luck on your quest for perfection.
I agree. Specific detailing kits would make things easier. That said, I’ve found a few shops that still stock good selections of Precision Scale, Cal Scale, and other detailing part lines. I’ve also gotten catalogs from Presision Scale and Cal Scale and direct ordered from both with good results.
Have Fun,
Tom Watkins
I have to agree with you. I have had several projects on hold, for what seems like years at times, while I tracked down some part that no one had in stock.
I know that Cary, now part of Bowser, had several “sets” of detail parts that started with a basic USRA detail set, and then went up from there. There could also be RR specific sets, and depending on what level of detail you were trying to achieve, these sets could start with basic details like the USRA set all the way to a fully tricked out set for someone who wants their loco detailed to the max.
Nowadays, with the greater skills that diemakers and manufacturers are showing with their work, it would be nice to be able to buy the separate styrene parts for the details from the manufacturers of these now highly detailed locos without having to spend a mint for brass parts.
Bowser sells steam superdetailing kits to supplement their stock kits, through both their own name and the Cary line. Precision Scale sells superdetailing kits which give you all the parts you need to add a specific major superdetailed assembly, like fedwater heaters, booster trucks or backheads. And look on Ebay for the old Mellor superdetailing kits, which give you road-specific details like cabs, and general items like frame details, pilots, and valve gear.
That said, the problem with a manufacturer selling superdetailing kits for “road X, engine Y”, is that each steamer had it’s own personality, and it would be virtually impossible for a manufacturer to give you exactly what you’d need for each engine. My own prototype road, the Nickel Plate, had just over 80 USRA mikes (or clones) on it’s roster. Basically each one of the Pennsy’s H-8/9/10 Consolidations was the same way (and they had over 300 of them!). You could tell which engine was coming at you just by looking at it and not the road number! When superdetailing steam, it’s usually easiest to lay in a supply of brass wire of various thickness, find as many photos of the specific engine you want to model, and then start digging thorugh various catalogs (buy one of each of the Bowser and Pre Scale catalogs, and they’ll last you a lifetime)
I find the details I want through PSC, Cary, and Cal Scale. Many great detail manufacturers have left the market or gone under, I would guess because the modelers whom are actually modelers have dwindled.
super detailing steam engines is my favorite part of the hobby.PSC, Bowser,Cal-Scale,and Cary make a wealth of parts but it would be great if the manufactures put together a package of road specific parts in plastic and/or brass then we could hunt down the other parts to make the model engine specific.But I can’t see that happening on a large scale.I think LL Heritage has done it at a small level.
Pick up a Precision Scale catalog. Precision makes feedwater heater detailing kits for Elesco (bundle) and Worthington (both BL and SA types) as well as a side mount dual air pump setup. Additionally, the catalog shows typical piping diagrams. Precision makes a pot load of detail castings and miscellaneous pieces parts.
Got a Rivarossi UP FEF-3? Precision’s centipede tender kit is the proper tender for a UP 4-8-4. According to the price list in the catalog, you can get one for $89.75. 'Course. my catalog is 2 years old and prices may have changed.
While a nice concept, such super-detailing kits are really out of the question. As already indicated upstream in this thread, even locomotives within a given class on a given railroad often varied in their fittings one from another and were divided into multiple distinct subclasses. Even rather generalized parts kits, undoubtedly priced at $50-$100 (!), would not be economical for manufacturers as sales would surely be dwindlingly small. I’m afraid the day when large numbers of modelers superdetailed their locomotives is long past and such kits would not be in great demand. Probably a better choice would be for manufacturers to offer detailed boiler w/cabs over a wider range of variations over a time span of some years, working over a given wheel arrangement. This would more likely serve both the best interests of modelers and the manufacturers.
Nonetheless, there are some loco detailing efforts that fall into the category of relatively easy. Check out these two examples of detailing a Spectrum 2-8-0 for 2 different classes of 2-8-0’s for 2 different RR’s
Basic detailing on both involved creating oil bunker for tender and adding number boards specific to each railroad. Paint and decals complete the conversion. For the SP fan, the Spectrum unit can also be used to create a C-28/C-29 and a C-31 (although the sand dome is definitely not correct). Substitution of a Spectrum medium Vanderbilt tender (oil) can create different locomotives within the same class. Using a Vanderbilt tender and new number boards is probably the simplest way to go.
The concept of prototype specific detail kits sounds good. I’d buy half a dozen to start with. However, I’m afraid there aren’t the numbers present to support such items. Another idea would be addition of a few photos and a list of currently available castings to the packaging of BLI, Lifelike Heritage, etc. as incentive for the buyer to modify his purchase to closer reflect specific roads’ practices. My biggest problem modifying steam to CB&Q practice is a lack of correct sand domes and a correct 4 wheel trailing truck for 4-6-4s and 4-8-4s. Just my 2 cent worth.
Chris
