If you’ve been reading Garden Railways for any amount of time, you’ve probably encountered an article on the Woodland Railway. (Most recently in the December 2005 issue, and viewable by clicking here.) This is, of course, the railroad upon which I started my journey in this hobby.
Last year, two of the railroad’s faithful Delton C-16s decided to head for retirement, leaving my dad a bit short on motive power. Dad’s a fan of the 2-8-0 (consolidation) wheel arrangement, and had thought about the Bachmann 2-8-0 as a replacement. The problem is that the Bachmann 2-8-0, being built to 1:20, is a rather w-i-d-e locomotive. Dad’s railroad was built long before the larger 1:20 equipment became popular, so his clearances don’t allow for very wide locomotives. He and I got to talking, though, about the possibility of “downsizing” the Bachmann locomotive to 1:22, effectively making it narrower, hence more compatible with his clearances–to say nothing of no longer dwarfing his rolling stock.
He had a Bachmann 4-4-0 which was really too light for the steep grades and heavy traffic on his railroad, and I had just acquired a 2-8-0 from a friend. I wanted the 4-4-0 (which has been the subject of my current GR Basics series on painting and weathering), so a swap was quickly orchestrated.
I sent dad the 2-8-0, along with a surplus parts from a Bachmann 4-6-0 (The ubiquitous “Big Hauler”, which is built to 1:22). We talked about what changes might need to be made, and dad set off about making them. Six months later, he brought me back what was essentially a “roughed in” locomotive. He replaced the cab, narrowed the running boards, lowered the stack and domes, narrowed the front pilot, and extended the smokebox. The detailing and painting was my department. This is what emerged:
K- You do great work. I realy like the way you paint your equipment. I just hope I can learn to paint that nice. I am in the process of Kitbashing my first tender and box car (Industrial rolling stock) I am using one of the gondalas from the hartland mini series for my backwoods tender and the frame from a passenger coach on my LGB starter set. I will post some pictures as it starts to look like something. If I am succesful never done anything like this before. Should be intresting. Thanks for sharing your pictures and knowledge. It really will help me with my kitbash adventures.
I’m a little late to this thread, but I really enjoyed seeing the up/down scaled 4-6-0 your dad did. The reason is, I’ve been wondering if my dead B’manns can be ‘expanded’ to 1:20, just the opposite of your dad’s intention. I’m glad to see they can, and by doing about what I’d figured: making wider cabs. The wider footboards had escaped consideration, though.
That was one very educational pix, for me. Thanks!
While not modeled after any specific prototype, it does borrow heavily from the general lines of the White Pass and EBT mikados. I’ve (obviously) got a soft spot for the EBT mikes, and rather enjoyed this sojourn into the world of modern (post-1900) narrow gauge steam. I keep looking at the Bachmann K-27, thinking that if I were to lop off the trailing truck, move the cab forward, and make a few other changes, I could probably end up with something similar in 1:20.
Dang it Kev, between you and your 1/22.5 Bug Mauler cab modification and TOC telling secrets of R1 capability, I’m being sorely tempted to go ahead and get on of these next time I’m at the BTS [:P]
Many thanks to you and your dad for this thread. I have two 2-8-0’s that I’ve wanted to downsize for some time now but have hesitated because I wasn’t sure how the final product would look. After seeing the results of your work I’m now ready to break out the old razor saw.
The only reservation I have is the tender. Have you or your dad attempted to make the “Connie” tender narrower?
