Oil Burning Bachman Decapod

[BEAUSABRE]

I'd like to know if anyone has converted a Bachman Decapod into an oil burner and what you did for the conversion. I'd like to model a Louisiana & Arkansas engine as my grandfather was a machinist at the Greenville, TX roundhouse. I wonder if we can generate enough interest in an oil tank that could be purchased as an option to drop into the coal space in the tender. Thanks for your help!

[SeeYou190]

I have converted the other way... oil burners to coal bunker tenders. It is easy.

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It should be fairly simple to go the other way. You just need a flat piece of plastic to cover the coal bunker and a round oil hatch. From there, the level of detailing is up to you.

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Some brass models have been offered with drop-in oil bunkers.

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-Kevin

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[doctorwayne]

BEAUSABRE

I'd like to know if anyone has converted a Bachman Decapod into an oil burner and what you did for the conversion....

While it's not for a Bachmann locomotive, there are some photos in this LINK showing the conversion of a shortened tender from a Monogram static model of a Big Boy's coal tender into a freelanced oil tender.

There are additional photos of the tender on page two of that thread.

My steam locomotives are all coal-fired, so I model open coal bunkers for all of the tenders, and fill them with "live" (loose) coal, to varying levels.

Wayne

[oldline1]

There are often oil bunkers from misc brass engines on ebay at decent prices. I also think Miniatures By Eric has some resin items available.

oldline1

 

[OT Dean]

BEAUSABRE

I'd like to know if anyone has converted a Bachman Decapod into an oil burner and what you did for the conversion. I'd like to model a Louisiana & Arkansas engine as my grandfather was a machinist at the Greenville, TX roundhouse. I wonder if we can generate enough interest in an oil tank that could be purchased as an option to drop into the coal space in the tender. Thanks for your help!

 

I added oil tanks to the bunkers of a friend's logging RR tenders, including a 3-truck Shay, using sheet brass with rivet lines embossed along the front and back joints, and added Precision Scale Company round oil tank filler pipes, plus the center handrail forced into the wood former under the shell.  I'm unfamiliar with the L&A Decapods' tender tanks, but if you're building it for your own railroad, there'd be nothing wrong with building the tank out of sheet styrene, bonding on the filler pipe with CA, forcing the handrail ends and uprights into the top, and calling it a welded oil tank.  Oh, and I used a short piece of 1/16"OD brass tubing, soldered onto a length of 1/32" brass wire to make a dipstick tube with a cap.  A lot of modern oil-fired locos had loop-topped dipsticks sticking out of the tube, and I'd use .015" wire in a bit of 1/32" brass tubing, made by Brawa in Germany, I bought from Walthers years ago.  But it's your railroad and you could design and install anything you want to tell the fireman the level in the tank.   Almost forgot: stick a piece of wire shaped like a cane somewhere on top, too, as a rain-proof vent!

Good luck and Happy Railroadin'!

Deano

[SeeYou190]

By the way... Tenshodo made a very nice "clear vision" oil tender in brass many years ago.

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They turn up from time to time in the $50.00 to $75.00 range. I have one I use behind an Oriental Powerhouse 2-8-2.

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-Kevin

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[jjdamnit]

Hello All,

On my pike there is a 0-6-0 with a Vanderbuilt tender that has been converted to fuel oil to pull the "Olde Tyme" excursion train in the era I model; early '70's to late '80's.

There is also a 0-6-0 side-tank porter that runs on oil as well for switching duties.

For the 0-6-0 "conversion" the only modeling modification I made was to cover the open coal load with a piece of styrene.

The cover was then painted to match the color of the rest of the tender.

VIOLA!!! A oil burner!

On the side-tank porter the only conversion necessary was to apply the included oil tank cover over the rear coal bunker.

On the Georgetown Loop in Colorado the steam locomotives have been converted to oil burning units.

The only spotting feature that is different from the coal burners is the lack of a coal bed in the tender.

Other than that, in outward appearance, there is no significant difference from coal burners and oil burners.

Take a look at this thread on Super Long Vandy Tenders...Is There Really A Necessity?.

Hope this helps.