I just picked up an n-scale Atlas H15-44 and I'm puzzled by a hole in the locomotive's sill about mid-point between front and rear. On the model, it's literally a hole, which made me at first think it should have a railing or something mounted in it. But I looked at images of prototype engines of this model and you can see something that "looks like" a hole. Any thoughts on what this is on the prototype?
My quess would be some kind of fuel input, or a fuel guage perhaps. It will make a difference I would think when weathering the model.
And any other ideas about how someone could do further research on this? Where would you go to find some kind of builder's plan or diagrams?
Robert
Yes, that's where the fuel goes in.
The book you want is "H15-44 And H16-44, Fairbanks-Morse's Distinctive Road Switcher", by David R. Sweetland and Diesel Era. I understand it's still in print.
Tom
This illustrates the fuel filler if you'd like to see more detail...
It is actually an H-16-44 but close enough. Others here may have more information than I can supply. I could be wrong.
Thanks, Ed
Thank you folks. The learning curve here is that there are a lot of people out there who have covered the ground I'm working through now. So the fuel cap area will get some oily spillage underneath it.
Makes you wonder though - did diesel fuel pumps have automatic shut-offs and environmental safeguards in the early days? My bet? Nope. I'll make the sill kind of messy and enjoy the day. Peace.
Even WITH automatic shutoffs, there's still some fuel oil that runs down when the filler hose is disconnected. The area under the fuel filler should be dirty and streaked down the side of the loco if you are weathering it. You can see this is many prototype photos.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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