Here’s a some pictures of a Spectrum Consol in process of becoming SPified.
The first two show a reworked engine as compared to the 3rd picture, which shows the initial pass.
I had started earlier and had done some detailing, but wasn’t satisfied with the result. See below.
I removed all but one of the hatches on the cab roof, removed the cinder deflector on the cab roof (SP didn’t have them since they burned oil). I also moved the marker lights to a closer approximation of the prototype and lowered the train indicators as they were too high. The modified tender handrails sucked, so I redid them too. Incidentally, the joke was on me, since I was in The Train Shop in Santa Clara and saw a brass model of a C-9 2-8-0 (Division Point, I think) with a 90R tender (that’s what the Spectrum medium oil Vanderbilt tender is) that had tender handrails virtually identical to the Spectrum ones. I’d never seen that before. It’s nice to know I can leave the tender handrails as is on the next Consol (I have 2) if I use a Vanderbilt. OTOH, I plan to use the rectangular tender with an oil bunker on the other one, so it’s moot.
The green stuff is Squadron Green putty used to fill holes and gouges. I’m not particularly enthralled with it as I think it’s too grainy.
Thank you. The next challenge is to remove the headlight bulb from inside the chassis and put a working light in the brass headlight. It’s alread drilled through to accept wiring. Unfortunately, the Bachmann light is in the chassis and light is routed to the stock headlight with a lucite rod or something like that… SP mounted its headlights slightly below center, so that method wasn’t really feasible.
I wrote: with a 90R tender (that’s what the Spectrum medium oil Vanderbilt tender is) …. It’s actually a 90C (cylindrical).
With the pilot steps and valve gear it could pass for class C-28,29 or the massive former Cotton Belt C-3s1. Excellent job, your efforts show in the final product.
Thanks, I was shooting for something resembling a C-28 or C-29.
'Course, the proof of the pudding will be in the paint job. I ordered a Soundtraxx pnp for the engine, but the decoder and speaker won’t fit in the Vanderbilt tender. Empire Northern http://www.empirenorthernmodels.com/Soundtraxx%20PnP%20Page.htm is selling the things at fire sale prices. Fortunately, I have another Spectrum Consol. That one is going to get a similar treatment, but retain the rectangular tender, since it resembles an ex-EP&SW tender. That’ll probably get the sound before this one (and before being detailed).
You have to open up a shopping cart to see the prices at Empire Northern. If you’re into sound, it’s a cheap way to get started. I understand that Tony’s Train Exchange is fire saling the things, too. Word has it that they’re being cleared out for the Tsunami.
I’ve got similar designs in mind using the S Helper Services soon to be released 2-8-0, yep, got four on reserve, DCC & sound included. Anybody up for a few scratchbuilt Vandy tenders?
I assume you are following a specific locomotive? Reason for asking is two features caught my attention… No BL feedwater heater and the Sport Cab. Either way a beautiful job. SP only had only one C28 and one C29 that were rebuilt with the Sport Cab, A BL feedwater heater was installed in the former Air Pump location, the Air Pump was relocate to the RH side midway from the cab. I apologize in advance for the nitpicking…
Very nice work, Andre. It looks as it will be a credit to it’s prototype.
I agree with you about Squadron Green putty-I have changed over
to using Squadron White-it seems to be finer and adheres better.
Again, great work.
Actually, that’s the stock Bachmann cab. The angle of the picture makes it look like a “sport” cab. If ou click on the picture and enlarge it, you’ll see that. I really wasn’t shooting for a specific locomotive, but I’ve sort of reserved the number 3451 for it. I also have another 2-8-0 that will get similar treatment, but the tender will be the stock Bachmann tender with an oil bunker. Fortunately, the USRA tender used behind the loco bears a great resemblance the the EP&SW tenders. Incidentally, I heard that someone had converted one of these things to an SP C-9. That’s a bit more than I’m willing to undertake at the moment, but it’s an intriguing thought as all the ingredients are commercially available. I wonder how hard it would be to adapt the Bowser cylinders from the “Casey Jones” 4-6-0 to the Bachmann chassis as they would be appropriate for a C-9. Take a look at the C-9’s and C-10’s on this page: http://www.challengerimports.com/Pages/2513.html
I hadn’t thought about it before, but digital photography is a great modeling tool. It shows you what you’ve done right and what’s questionable. It was the original photographs I took that showed me I’d kind of missed the mark on the first pass.
Incidentally, Tom Dill altered one of the Spectrum Consols to loo
That is very true. The first photos I took of my layout revieled more things that needed work than I would have seen if I stared at it for a week. I don’t know if it was the separation photo ts between you and our project or something about a photo, but t sure makes it easy to spot faults.
