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NYC K-11 Questions

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  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: St. Paul
  • 823 posts
NYC K-11 Questions
Posted by garya on Sunday, January 30, 2022 8:36 PM

I have a Bowser K-11 that I would like to add some detail parts to. 

Bowser doesn't sell the superdetail kit anymore, but I've gathered up some brass details here and there.  It's on page 2:

https://www.bowser-trains.com/docs/instructions/K-11%20Ref%20Pages.pdf

I've looked at some K-11 pictures, and just about all of them have the "passenger" pilot, so I think I will add that.  Very few of them have the lifting injectors outside the cab, though.  I can't find if the stokers were common, either.

Should I leave off the injectors and stoker, or were they more common than my research suggests?

Gary

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Sunday, January 30, 2022 10:04 PM

There were six sub-classes of the K-11 and very few of the early ones got a stoker. Just a relative handful had HT stokers installed later in life, perhaps in combination with a boiler replacement. Likewise, some had boosters installed.

Twenty out of the 200 K-11s were oil burners for use in upstate New York where the state had required them to reduce the chances of fire amongst the pine forests.

You can read more about the K class here:

https://nycshs.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/pages-from-1981q2the-k-11s.pdf

I have a 1946 NYC roster that lists the various classes and which engines had stokers which I can post here if you'd like. I can't pinpoint which engines had a lifting or non-lifting injector. Photos would have to suffice here.

The Bowser documentation mentions K-11 #4570 to 4599, these were K-11f class. There were 12 engines in this group and only the 4597 had a HT stoker and a booster. The 4586 had an  Elesco exhaust steam injector. Four out of the twelve had automatic train control installed.

Good Luck, Ed

 

  • Member since
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  • From: St. Paul
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Posted by garya on Sunday, January 30, 2022 11:39 PM

Thanks, Ed, that link was one of my sources for photos.  I think I'll leave off the stoker.  

Can't make up my mind about the injectors--it would be easier to leave them off, but the loco looks rather plain otherwise.

Gary

  • Member since
    May 2019
  • 1,314 posts
Posted by BEAUSABRE on Sunday, January 30, 2022 11:39 PM

The K-11 class were bought as fast freighters and were bumped from this by the L-1 Mohawks. Some (probably with original 69 inch drivers) ended up in local freight service or as dual purpose locos on branches/secondary trains. That would explain the footboard pilots. We don't normally think of Pacifics as freight engines, but it was relatively common assignment for low drivered machines - DL&W, RF&P and several southern lines (FEC, ACL, SAL) had them for fast freight

 

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, January 30, 2022 11:59 PM

BEAUSABRE
We don't normally think of Pacifics as freight engines, but it was relatively common assignment for low drivered machines - DL&W, RF&P and several southern lines (FEC, ACL, SAL) had them for fast freight

There is a good tidbit of information. I knew 4-8-2s were used for fast freight, but I did not know it was an assignment for 4-6-2s. I always considered Pacifics as passenger power.

I always thought the cab window arrangement on the K-11 looked odd.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
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Posted by doctorwayne on Monday, January 31, 2022 12:08 AM

I used a Bowser kit for their K-11 to build this loco for my son...

...but, as you can see, made some modifications.  He's no longer interested in model trains, so I'm going to re-build it as one of the TH&Bs two Pacifics.
Here's one of the real ones...

I'll pretty-well strip it back down, then build a new cab and tender, and add details as needed. 
When I originally built it, I installed a can motor and a NWSL gearbox, along with all-wheel pick-up.

 

garya

Should I leave off the injectors and stoker, or were they more common than my research suggests?

I can't comment on the details for a Pennsy K-11, but Bowser has pretty-well any detail you'd require for making a realistic model, as can be seen HERE.

Wayne

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: St. Paul
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Posted by garya on Monday, January 31, 2022 9:27 AM

doctorwayne
I can't comment on the details for a Pennsy K-11

Uh oh.  New York Central K-11. Don't let Ed see this. Smile

Gary

  • Member since
    March 2002
  • From: Milwaukee WI (Fox Point)
  • 11,439 posts
Posted by dknelson on Monday, January 31, 2022 9:31 AM

doctorwayne

I used a Bowser kit for their K-11 to build this loco for my son...

...but ....  He's no longer interested in model trains

Wayne      

Well dang, I've wasted two decades wishing I was Wayne, when I should have been wishing to be his son!

Dave Nelson

 

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: St. Paul
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Posted by garya on Monday, January 31, 2022 9:32 AM

dknelson
Well dang, I've wasted two decades wishing I was Wayne, when I should have been wishing to be his son!

Maybe he'll adopt us.

Gary

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Monday, January 31, 2022 10:51 AM

Note that you can't use a booster on a K11 with a composite trailing truck.  There is little point modeling a stoker motor if there is no additional stoker detail to go with it.

Detailing the injectors and their lines, and properly 'plumbing' this into the cast-on lines on the boiler (I think they represent the early version with injectors inside the cab)

In my opinion it needs a power reverse and linkage, generator with line connections, whistle and bell with cords.  I'd also think about independent brake detail and extending the sander pipe detail.

If you have a Dremel or similar tool you can cut back the nonprototypical 'spread' of the air compressor and main reservoir, then use some detail wire to plumb these up (Ed, where does the brake system radiator go on these?)

The single most gainful thing to do to these is to detail the front of the cab, with front windows at a minimum, and make up correct thin frames and glazing to replace those deep cast frames that take too much work to clean up and still are sunk too far into the cab side...

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