I found this loco in my attic some time back, and I was surprised to see it up there. Well I immediatly tried to run it but the curves are too tight for it to go around, it also makes the most horrible “whirring” noise when it’s running. And it has a weird gear on the bottom. Is there anything I can do to it, a conversion, or something? P.S You can also tell the company that made it messed up big time, it’s supposed to be a 4-4-0 American class (I think), but instead it’s a 0-4-0.
If you hate it…then go to your local questionalbe-fireworks store, buy a handful of firecrackers, and insert it into the cab and under the tender. Light it and stand WAY back…
that will give you more enjoyment then trying to get that “thing” to look good or work properly.
Speaking as a certified pack-rat : Don’t lose it just yet. If you haven’t found a use for it in 20 years put it back in a box and think on it for another 10. It takes time for a lump of coal to become a diamond.
This is an odd “thing” I cant decide if it is supposed to be a 1930s 0-4-0 (there is an air tank for air brakes and a compressor in the picture) but the 4-4-0 American would not have that kind of stuff being that it is a loco before air brakes became main stream. It also looks like it has a Dynamo which would not be on an American again. Also the drivers are way too small. Now what does look like an American is the stack, Cab and tender. I cant tell what this thing is at all. I think it may have just been thrown together to make a steam looking loco for a simple train set for your X-mas tree.
The gear on the bottom is part of the drive assy. I would guess that there is a worm gear on the motor that drives that gear directly… well maybe one other gear but prolly not more that that.
Now as to what to do with it. Um… I dont have a clue.
That’s an 0-4-0 ‘Old-Time Teakettle’ also known as a ‘Fat Boy’, probably made by Model Power. I have one around here somewhere. Those must be really tight curves. Mine will take 18" radius (HO) with no problem, when I can get the cantankerous thing to run.
Well, Pilgrim, why don’cha set it in a park with some cyclone fence around it? Maybe out in front of your depot with a sign to give a little history to your area? jc5729 John Colley, Port Townsend, WA
What it really puts me in mind of is, if you ever read the book “Steam in the Sixties”, is that there was a part about the tourist railroads abounding at the time. It seems (to the author’s chagrin) that the thing to do was take a steam loco, & make it more “eye appealing” to your average joe by bright gaudy paint, balloon stacks, & other needless “add-ons.”
