This is my ONE piece of brass, a PFM B15 Mogul. A guy on the old Rec.Models.Railroad newsgroup gave it to me, free, years ago. It needed a lot of resoldering to get it back together, and a neodynium supermaget to get the old open frame motor to run without over heating. I didn’t add any details, fearing that anything I could do wouldn’t look good enough on real brass. It runs pretty good, and looks fine pulling open platform coaches on my B&M layout.
I have a couple of IHC moguls which I ought to detail and paint up as B-15’s. They run good, and are about the right size.
Nice to see one done-up in its prototype paint and lettering. The same B&M B-15 was my first brass locomotive, too, but mine wouldn’t run at all. I put a small can motor in her (mounted in the boiler rather than on the frame, as it wouldn’t fit through the narrow width of the firebox).
I changed the headlight on mine, removed the train control box and replaced the airpumps with a cross compound one. I also added brass sunshades to hide the arched window-tops, then painted it for my freelance road…
A couple of years ago, I re-worked it again, changing the Franklin Economy steam chests to better ressemble a standard piston valve set-up:
…and also added some piping and a new cab…
The tender got a bit of modification, too…
It normally runs with this one, an IHC Mogul based on, I think, an Espee prototype. This shows the modifications done shortly after I got it, mostly a new headlight and number boards, along with the tender, which was shortened, then converted to a coal-type, with an open bunker…
It got another makeover at the same time as the 34, mostly a new cab and some additional piping…
The old adage “leave well enough alone” simply does not apply to Dr. Wayne. I lack this sort of creative mind even to imagine his kind of work, much less the skills to pull it off [and photograph it well].
Oh, yes, realism in creating a scale model railroad is what I love the most about the hobby. And steam reigns supreme since I model the EJ&E in HO in the '20s. Ever since my wife-to-be and I rode behind NKP 759 on a Shenandoah Valley excursion in '68 I’ve been hooked on steam power and have dug into all the fascinating workings of the machine. To top it off I splurged on the FANTASTIC experience of operating (yes…hands on the throttle, “Johnson” bar, brake, whistle) Nevada Northern’s 2-8-0 a few years ago.
I’ve detailed a zamac Tyco 0-6-0 kit using Cal-Scale and homebrew parts with a pretty good result, I think. Of course, painting, and more importantly weathering, really give you the texture and feel of the “real thing”. Suggest you look at close-up photos and read descriptions of what the various components and appliances do. A shop tour is informative, too…I’ve seen the Strasburg Railroad’s (their staff is very friendly and knowledgeable)…maybe Scranton, PA’s also has tours. It gives you an appreciation and understanding of the mechanical genius of the steam locomotive. I’ve used Model Railroader’s “Cyclopedia-Vol. 1-The Steam Locomotive”, Alfred Bruce’s “The Steam Locomotive in America” and various other textbooks to gain knowledge of the machine. Yeah, as you can see I love two scales: 1/87 and 12 inches-to-the-foot!
In the recent past I acquired six Mantua Pacifics, specifically for the purpose of superdetailing them and making them the center of my main passenger class locomotives on my freelanced railroad. Aside from the fact that the average cost for each was less than $20 - kind of a must if you want to build an entire motive power class unless you’re wealthy and I ain’t - the heavy duty construction seemed to lend itself well to detailing.
Since acquiring them I’ve also rounded up a bunch of part spares. I haven’t really begun work on them yet, aside from stripping down the original class member, which has sentimental value to me and was the reason for the decision to do this project. I’ve also done thorough assessments of the other units, which, taken together, has done nothing short of reinforcing my determination to get this done.
Eventually, that is.
When they were on sale I got LokSound decoders for the fleet. But I still haven’t dealt with the question of whether or not to remotor them all, as they all have their original Pittman motors, some of which haven’t ever been used and some of which have an indeterminate number of operating hours. I’d prefer to have settled on such decision-making before beginning work, hoping to keep any need for in-process plan changes to a minimum.
Another problem I have is that I got some of the world’s best engineering training as a machinist’s mate in the Navy Nuclear Power Program. The thought of installing a pipe or other component that doesn’t actually connect to anything usefully really rubs me the long way. So I’m hampered/stand to benefit from feeling like I really need to learn a LOT of detail about how the engines were built, operated and maintained over their service lives. Whatever I add to any of them, I feel a need to have it make solid sense.
It would sort of feel like an insult to the brotherhood of machinist’s mates, too, if I were to attach a discharge pipe to the wrong port of an air compressor, etc.
Then there’s the ‘other’ thing - I’d love to get this all finished and have a long time to happily play with the engines (bragging rights included) before I drop dead or wander off into senility.
I blame this all on that darn Navy training. Sheesh!
[quote=“navyman636, post:28, topic:294791”] then they were on sale I got LokSound decoders for the fleet. But I still haven’t dealt with the question of whether or not to remotor them all, as they all have their original Pittman motors,
[/quote] yes remotor them for the lowest possible amp draw otherwise you will let the magic smoke out of your decoders as they say .lol
Remotoring can be tricky on some Mantuas. In some cases, I upgraded the motor by changing the magnets (using rare earth magnets). You can find some stackable ones on Ebay. They significantly reduce the amp consumption and will allow for a 1 amp decoder of your choice.
I think the ‘remagnetization’ of any open-frame motor with good bearings and 'stonable commutator with good brushes, is an advisable way to go.
Do not cut or file the magnets! The NIB stack will probably not match the height of the existing magnet – file a steel shim to the right thickness to get the pole pieces aligned right.
If you stone the commutator be very careful there is no debris or dirt in the slots.
This is my ONE piece of brass, a PFM B15 Mogul. A guy on the old Rec.Models.Railroad newsgroup gave it to me, free, years ago. It needed a lot of resoldering to get it back together, and a neodynium supermaget to get the old open frame motor to run without over heating. I didn’t add any details, fearing that anything I could do wouldn’t look good enough on real brass. It runs pretty good, and looks fine pulling open platform coaches on my B&M layout.
