A couple of months ago, I was able to relocate a lighting support and add an additional track to my turntable. As such, I needed one more locomotive to complete my roster. I've been wanting an articulated locomotive for a while, and I decided to make a Bachmann 2-4-4-2 into a tank engine.
My original plan was to use a side-tank kit from Backwoods Miniatures. However, when I contacted them to purchase one, I was advised that they had ceased trading last year. As such, I decided to 3D print my own kit.
After measuring the model's footplate and boiler, I re-created them in Blender. I designed the cab and side tanks from scratch, as well as an extension for the cab floor at the rear. For the fuel bunker, I copied the one I'd made for the 2-6-2 tank engine and narrowed it to match the width of the cab.
Once this was done, I uploaded the model to Shapeways for printing. The cab walls were printed as one piece, however this didn't work out. In order to get them to turn out, I separated the four walls, added locating tabs and slots, then printed all four walls lying down. I also removed the rivet details along the side tanks, as this was not printable.
In order to fit the floor, I had to remove the tender walkway and the plastic detailing across the rear of the chassis. Once this was done, I was left with four holes at the chassis. The floor extension was designed to fit into the two inner ones, then screw in place through the original cab holes.
I fit the cab floor extension temporarily, using two of the original cab screws. After confirming that the coupler height was correct, I painted the cab floor extension and put it back in place, using some epoxy to reinforce it.
Using the side tanks as a guide, I cut the piping on the boiler flush with them.
In order to mount the side tanks, a couple of modifications needed to be made to the running board. There's a curve where the running board narrows, and this needed to be filed down to a right angle. Once this was done, I drilled the mounting holes for the side tanks. I'd printed a template for this along with the rest of the 3D printed parts. A 2.5mm drill bit was used, to allow a M2 screw to pass through and enter the side tank.
With the model ready, I prepared the 3D printed parts. After drilling out the pilot holes I'd left in cab sides and tanks, I formed grab irons from copper wire. The handrails on the cab and steps on the tanks were made from 0.8mm wire, with 0.5mm used for the handles on the tank lids. For the cab door handles, I used two of the brass castings left over from my boxcab diesel.
I wanted to add a front deck to the model, to give it a bit more bulk. This was scratchbuilt with styrene and 1mm copper wire.
Several replacement headlights are included with the 2-4-4-2, in two different sizes. I was unable to accommodate a headlight on the rear of the bunker. Instead, I put mounting holes for one of the smaller headlights on the cab roof, including a couple of holes for the LED leads.
Once the glue was dry, I masked off the front of the headlight, then painted and lettered the 3D printed parts.
After the paint had dried, I installed the speaker, then mounted the fuel bunker.
My next step was to install the cab side steps, which I printed in White, Strong and Flexible plastic. This is due to the brittle nature of the Frosted Ultra Detail material. As I'd learned with my 2-6-2T, small parts made with FUD can break very easily.
Each of these steps has a tab on the rear end, which was glued into a slot in the side of the cab floor extension. The other end of the cab steps was glued to the side of the original chassis. I had to use epoxy for this, as CA turned out to be too brittle.
I then soldered wires to the leads from the roof-mounted LED, as well as a 1K resistor. They were painted black and glued to the cab roof. After installing the roof on the cab, I ran the wires down the front left corner of the cab to the slot in the front wall. I positioned them so that they couldn't be seen through the front or side windows, then glued them in place.
In order to install the decoder, I needed to extend and redo some of the model's wiring. All I had to do to remove the boiler was undo the two screws directly under the firebox. With them removed, the boiler just lifts off the front of the chassis, revealing the mechanism.
After disconnecting the sockets for the tender connections, I extended all of the wires. These were then run through the wiring channel on the left side of the boiler. In order to allow the wires outside the cab, I drilled a hole in the cover that had held the socket on that side. After running the wires through it, I used a black permanent marker to colour them black.
While the boiler was still off, I drilled a new mounting hole for the air pump. This was originally located just in front of the cab, and I'd removed it earlier to clear the side tanks.
At this point, I realised I'd overlooked something. With the wires run through the slot at the front of the cab, removing the cab once the decoder was in place would be quite tricky. As such, any driver figure would have to be installed before the decoder. So I found an appropriate figure, painted him and installed him in the cab.
Once that was done, I pulled the wires through the slot at the front of the cab. I screwed it in place, using two of the original cab screws at the front and two M2x8mm screws at the rear. I then installed the right side tank. This fits into the notch on the front of the cab, and is held in place via a M2x6mm screw through one of the holes I drilled in the footplate earlier.
After mounting the decoder to the side of the boiler, I wired it up. The side tanks are designed to go over a TSU-1100 mounted vertically, with space for the keep-alive capacitor as well. I cut the wires so that the joins were in the gap between the decoder and the cab, to ensure that the width of the heat-shrink tubing didn't interfere with the fit of the side tanks.
With that done, I installed the left side tank and tested the locomotive on my programming track. Once I'd confirmed it was working, I programmed it. It was my first time using a TSU-1100 for a steam engine. I spent an enjoyable hour or two going through all the different sound choices, picking the bell, chuff and whistle sounds that sounded right for the model.
With that done, there were a few last things that needed to be sorted out. Firstly, I had to repair the rear pilot. It had been broken off during construction. I glued some 1x1.5mm styrene strip to the rear of the footboard, to bring the rear of the footboard level with the rear of the pilot. Once that had dried, I cut another four strips long enough to reach the top of the pilot. After gluing these to the back of the first set of styrene strips, I stuck the assembly back in place and painted it black.
When I'd first started working on this model, I'd realised that the original tailing truck wasn't long enough to go under the extended cab floor. An additional pilot truck was included in the box, which had a solid wheel instead of the spoked wheel that was installed on the model by default. I'd replaced the trailing truck with this, however it still didn't look right. All the other wheels were spoked, and I prefer that look.
Instead of ordering another pilot from Bachmann, I re-used a spoked pilot axle from an earlier project that hadn't quite worked out. After enlarging the axle hole in the Bachmann pilot, I replaced the flat wheels with this spoked axle. I used my NMRA gauge to ensure it was in gauge, then painted the sides of the wheels black.
While that was drying, I bent some 0.8mm wire into shape and installed it on the air pump. An air tank from my spare parts box was also added.
Once the pilot axle had dried, I installed it on the locomotive. The wheels on the modified pilot were slightly smaller than the ones that came with the model. As such, I put the original pilot at the rear of the model, and installed the modified one at the front. I also installed the pilot deck at the front.
My last step was to install the wood load at the back.
Once this was done, the model was ready to go into service on my layout.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Is this really going to be your last locomotive?
For the foreseeable future, yes. I've run a few operating sessions now, and I've got a couple of minor track tweaks in mind. After those are sorted out, I'm ready (after 7 years) to get a start on the scenery.
Also, now that #10 is completed, I feel as though my roster is complete. I now have geared engines (#1, #2, #5 & #6), simple rod engines (#3, #4, #7, #8 & #9), an articulated rod engine (#10) and a diesel (#11). This covers the variety of engines that would appear on a logging line like the BVLC.
I may build more engines in the future, but for now I'll be 'shifting gears', so to speak.
Having said that, I'm toying with the idea of an On18 micro-layout in order to practise my scenery technique and give me something to take to shows. Such a layout would need engines and rolling stock...
tbdanny On18
My compliments, and my thanks for taking the time to relate your project for us. Wow...............
Congratulations on the kitbash. It's a very nice looking engine. That would have made a great article for MR to run. Very inspiring creation! Something much more interesting than Cody assembling another plastic kit or building yet more trees!
oldline1
I agree with the others I'm impressed with your locomotive kitbash project.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
I agree with what the others have said...very nicely-done work!
Wayne
tbdannyI've been wanting an articulated locomotive for a while, and I decided to make a Bachmann 2-4-4-2 into a tank engine.
.
WOW! That is amazing and beautiful.
HO scale question here... since you had this apart, how big is the mechanism? Would it be possible to mount an HO scale boiler and cab and make a standard gauge HO 2-4-4-2 out of this model?
I have always "kind-of-wanted" the Oriental Powerhouse HO scale 2-4-4-2, but am not fully satisfied with the looks of that model. Could this be an alternative project?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
tbdanny,
Skillful and creative work yields a stunning model. Congratulations and thanks for sharing the detailed writeup and pics! Your new loco is a gem and, like Bear stated, can hardly believe it'll be your last. You're just hitting your stride on these after some past learning experiences, so I hope you find something else inspirational enough to bring your loco shop back into production
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
SeeYou190 HO scale question here... since you had this apart, how big is the mechanism? Would it be possible to mount an HO scale boiler and cab and make a standard gauge HO 2-4-4-2 out of this model?
Kevin,
The motor takes up most of the inside of the boiler, so you couldn't really reduce the size of it unless you remotored it with a smaller motor. As for a cab, you probably could put a HO scale one on. You'd need to reduce the width of the footplate, too.
Danny,
Great work. Are you going to weather it??
BTW: Time to get busy on those trees
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
trainnut1250 Danny, Great work. Are you going to weather it??
Guy,
I haven't weathered any of my steam locomotives yet. I've got a few failed projects which I'll be using to practise my technique, then I'll weather the locos on my layout.
So, weathering this model is a bit further down the track (pun intended ).