A New #4 for the Bradford Valley Lumber Co. (On30 Porter Kitbash)

[JoeinPA]

Really nice work TB! I enjoyed following your adventure in tender building.

Joe

[mlehman]

Bravo, tbdanny! She looks ready for lots of hard work and is easy on the eye.

[tbdanny]

Hi all,

At the end of part 3 of this write-up, I mentioned that I wasn't happy with how the model of BVLC no. 7 had turned out, following what I had thought would be the completion of the build.  The problem lay with the tender chassis.

The tender kit had been in storage for a while before I got around to doing it.  When I went to actually build the kit, I discovered that the chassis casting had a bit of a bow in it.  I tried using my hands to straighten it out manually, but this only resulted in breaking it.  After an email to the manufacturer, I was able to use hot water and a flat surface to flatten out the chassis, then some styrene to reinforce the bit I'd broken.  However, the chassis was still slightly bowed where the break had occurred.

Further to this, when I went to attach the tender body to the chassis for the first time, the fit was a bit tight, due to the DCC decoder and wiring.  I had tightened the screws to try and force the body down on it, but all this did was push the tender floor up, creating two 'bumps' at the front of the chassis.  The result is the gap you see in the first photo above.  So, I decided to scratchbuild my own chassis, using the same techniques I use for my freight cars.

My first step was to dismantle the tender and remove the DCC decoder & speaker.  I cut the front of the chassis out and removed the wires without cutting them, as I didn't want to have to re-wire the model.  A tender kit I had done in the past (Forney to 2-4-0 conversion) had simply passed the original DCC boards of the model through a slot in the bottom of the tender.  I was hoping to be able to take a similar approach on this model.

I cut a sheet of 1.5mm thick styrene to the same width as the original tender, and slightly shorter.  I then marked in which end would be the rear, and which side would be the top.  I then lightly scored a centreline down the length of the styrene, to aid with positioning later on.

My next step was to centre the styrene on top of the original tender and clip it in place.  I then used the original chassis as a template, drilling through the original body screw holes with a finger drill.

As well as drilling the holes for the body screws, I also marked out where the holes for the speaker would need to go.  This was done by pushing the tip of a permanent marker through the outer ring of holes I had made for the speaker on the original chassis.

With this done, I test-fit the body to the styrene sheet.  Fortunately, no adjustments were needed.

My next step was to mark out where the framing would be going.  Again, this was copied from the original tender and marked out in permanent marker.  I also drilled 3mm holes for the truck bolsters, as well as a mounting hole for the brake cylinder casting.

At this point, I realised that building a gap at the front of the chassis to allow the wires in would compromise the integrity of it.  I decided I would re-wire the model after all, and so I just cut a slot at the front of the tender chassis.  I also drilled out the holes for the speaker.  Again, all drilling was done by hand.

Using 2x1mm styrene strips, I put the framing around the edge of the chassis.  I then glued some brass bar along the sides to reinforce it.  My next step was to put the two M3 nuts in place.  These are used as the truck bolsters, as the M3 screws are the perfect size to hold the Bachmann tender trucks in place.  I used the smooth end of the 3mm drill bit to line the nut up with the hole, then applied CA around the outside of the nut.

Once the CA had dried, I tested the chassis on my layout to check that the trucks were able to move freely, and that I was happy with the height.

Back on my workbench, I added the framing underneath.  Once the styrene cement had dried, I filled the gaps between the nuts and the framing with 2-part epoxy.  After that dried, I filled the space between the framing with lead shot, stuck in place with CA.

I then cut some black cardboard to fit the chassis, and glued this over the top of it with CA.  I left a gap where the speaker will join the chassis.  This will be covered by the body casting.

I've built freight cars using wood in the past.  In my experience, the use of CA to stick wood parts to plastic doesn't always work reliably.  The wood will soak up the CA, and often two or three tries will be needed for the wood boards to stick properly.  I've also had seemingly stuck down boards come off in my hands a few weeks later, while operating.

With this in mind, I decided that using white glue for the boards would be more reliable.  Hence the cardboard, to provide something for the white glue to stick to.  I chose black cardboard, in order to prevent any gaps between the boards from being too obvious.

With the core of the chassis complete, I was now ready to start putting the wood boards on.  My wood boards are made from those long, thin coffee stirrers that are used in cafes.  In O scale, they're about 3/4 of a scale foot wide.  I cut two side boards to length, and glued them to the side of the chassis with CA.

I cut two end boards to a scale 6'3" width.  The board at the front was just glued on, but I needed to put the coupler lift bar on the rear board.  I'd been able to recover the coupler lift bar from the original chassis, and I drilled out the holes for it on the rear board.  It did take me a couple of tries to get it spot on.

My next step was to install the boards themselves.  Working from the front of the chassis, I made the first three boards full width, as these will come out from beneath the tender body.  For the next 8, I cut them short in order to leave a gap in the middle.  This is where the decoder will go.  I did this in order to obtain a bit more vertical clearance for the wires above the decoder.  At the rear of the chassis, I left an even wider gap for the speaker, before putting a full width board across the rear.

Once the boards were in place, I painted them black with a paintbrush.  I made sure to keep my brush strokes parallel to the grain of the wood.

With that done, I added the steps to the sides.  These were the original etched brass castings from the original tender, which I had recovered and cleaned in acetone.

I then used some rivet decals to add rivets in line with the framing for the truck bolsters.  It took several applications of decal softening solution before they were completely set.  Prior to this, I also stuck the brake cylinder casting in place.

While the decals were drying, I turned my attention to the truck screws.  They were slightly too long for the chassis, and would stick out of the floor slightly when in place.  Unfortunately, they were directly underneath the speaker and decoder.

I initially tried trimming them with bolt cutters, but this damaged the thread and rendered them unusable.  My next approach was to take a fresh pair of screws, and make spacers for them.  For each screw, I drilled a hole in a spare piece of 1.5mm styrene, and screwed the screw into it.  I then cut the styrene out around the screw, filing it to match the screw head.  Once this was done, I unscrewed it slightly, applied some CA, and screwed it back in.  This effectively 'lowered' the height of the screw, and ensured they wouldn't protrude into the tender itself.

With this done, I painted the rest of the tender black.  I also had to remove the brake cylinder casting, as a test had shown it was interfering with the movement of the trucks.

At the front of the tender, I added a styrene pad, with a hole drilled to accommodate the screw for the drawbar.  I added a similar pad at the rear, for the coupler.

I had to file the sides of the speaker baffle down slightly, in order to get it to fit between the boards.  With this done, it just fit in place over the speaker holes.

I then added the tender trucks, feeding the pickup wires through the holes drilled for them.  I then placed the chassis on the layout for testing.  I was happy with the height, relative to the locomotive cab.  Although it was still a slight bit higher, it wasn't as high as the original chassis had been.

Unfortunately, the coupler height was very off.  This was with a short Kadee coupler, with a centreset shank.  After this test, I ordered a set of short, underset shank couplers off eBay.

While I was waiting for the couplers, I proceeded with the rest of the build.  My next step was to install the DCC decoder in the tender.  I wired it up as per the original.  There was one change, though.  Instead of using a piece of styrene to hold the decoder vertically, as in the original tender, I just used some double-sided tape to hold the edge of the decoder to the tender floor.  The space taken by the vertical styrene was needed for the decoder wires.

With this done, I tested the locomotive on my programming track.  It was all good.  Then I tested it on the layout, and it wasn't so good.  What I found was that the locomotive would derail on curves, even when running light.  There were several factors causing this, and the rest of this post will cover how I diagnosed and fixed them.

There's an S-curve on my layout, on the siding to what will be the log pond.  It's the trickiest curve on my layout.  If a model can get through that, it won't have a problem with any other curves on my layout.  After running the loco back and forth though this curve several times, I noticed that the wires between the loco and the tender were under tension when running through the curve, and were also interfering with the lead tender truck.  I tried cutting a slot in the front of the tender, and cutting away some of the styrene pad for the drawbar.  However, this didn't fully resolve the problem.

I realised that part of the problem was that the wires were on the outside of the locomotive, where they would have to move the most while it was going around curves.  As such, I decided to move them to the centreline of the loco, so this wouldn't be an issue.

I drilled two 2.5mm holes on either side of the locomotive's original coupler pocket, each of which can accommodate 3 of the decoder wires.  The original holes were 2mm in diameter, and were a tight squeeze, so I figured that the extra half millimetre would help the wires move with the locomotive.

I also cut a slot at the front of the tender, between the pad for the drawbar and the chassis itself.  This was done by drilling several 1.5mm holes next to each other, then using a hobby knife to cut them into a rectangle.  This allowed the wires to run between the framing, out of the way of the tender wheels.  Once this had been done, I re-wired the locomotive for the third and final time.

I then tested it on my programming track, and all was working as expected.  With this confirmed, I used permanent marker to colour the wires black, so they wouldn't be as noticeable.

Testing on the S-curve showed that this had improved the performance of the locomotive, however there was still a slight derailment issue.  Instead of the locomotive derailing, this time, it was the lead tender truck.  I determined that the styrene pad for the drawbar was interfering with it, and trimmed it back.  Slightly loosening the screws at both ends of the drawbar also helped.

I also had to trim back the pad for the coupler.  However, testing showed that even with the underset shank coupler, the coupler height was still too low.

In order to resolve this, I removed the coupler pad on top of the chassis framing, and installed a new one between the framing.  I then cut a slot in the wood at the rear of the tender, drilled the hole for the coupler, then painted the white parts black.

Once the paint had dried, I installed the coupler.  It was now at the correct height.

I added a brass whistle casting to the roof of the cab, in place of the original plastic one, which had broken.  I used some wire to simulate the bell pull cord into the cab.  With that in place, I reassembled the loco and put the finished model onto my layout.

[Geared Steam]

Great job Danny, it's great see modelers modeling for a change. I always enjoy seeing loco bashing on steamers..

[tbdanny]

Mike,

That's pretty much it. The chassis was a little high for the porter - it was designed for bigger locos. I also accidentally damaged the chassis during construction, which resulted in a bit of a gap between the body and the chassis. I'll be covering how I fixed it next post.

[mlehman]

tbdanny,

Nice work, it's a great looking loco. But something isn't quite right, you say? I'd guess that the bulk/height of the tenders is a little much, just not sure how you'd go about reducing it?

[tbdanny]

Hi all,

I'm aware that it's been a while since my last update.  I had to put this and my other model railroading projects on hold, due to finding, buying and moving into a new house.  Now that that's all sorted, I've been able to get a bit more done on the model.  This is also why you may see the background of the photos change during this particular post.  My new garage had enough space for me to set up a proper workbench, rather than working on the model at my desk.

Picking up from where I left off, my next step was to sort out the drawbar.  I'd purchased one from the Bachmann spare parts store as part of an order of parts for another project.  I can't remember exactly which model it was for, though.  I screwed the locomotive end of the drawbar into the Porter's rear coupler pocket, then bent it so that it was just below the styrene pad I had stuck at the front of the tender.  I also drilled two holes through the left of the rear pilot, to allow the wires to pass through.

I was now ready to install the decoder, so I set up the speaker.  I was using a 1" Soundtraxx speaker with baffle.  In order to allow it to fit, I had to carve away part of the inside of the body walls.  They were about 1/2" thick originally, and reducing both sides to 1/4" along part of the rear section provided enough room for the speaker to fit in the tender shell.  I then wired up the speaker through the baffle.

I forgot to take a photo of it, but the ring at the bottom of the speaker was glued in place before the speaker was wired.  I lined it up inside the body shell and glued it in place with CA glue.  I also glued a piece of plastic upright in the tender chassis, to hold the decoder.  In order to allow space for the decoder and wires, I had to remove a small wall between the front of the tender shell, which was open, and the compartment that had been cast into the rear.  I also mounted the trucks, and fed the wires for them up through holes I'd drilled in the tender floor.

My next step was to screw the drawbar connection in place.  With that done, I fed the wires from the decoder into the locomotive itself.  I used the original circuit board to determine which wire was which, and added a resistor into the connection to the front headlight.  I sealed each of the connections with heat shrink tubing.

It was at this point that I put the project on hold, in order to go house-hunting as mentioned above.

Once the moving house was completed, I was able to resume the project.  My next step was to finish off the tender body.  I broke up some twigs that I had on hand and glued them in place.

Originally, there was a gap between the two rounded sections at the front of the tender, running back about 2.5".  I filled in the top of this with some 1.5mm styrene, in order to create a compartment for the decoder below.

I then test-fit the cab to the body.  In doing so, I discovered that the wires in the side compartment were visible, as there was a gap between the top of the compartment and the side of the cab wall.  I cut a piece of thin styrene to fit, then painted it black.

Once this was done, I test-fit the cab again.  I was pleased with how it fit.  You'll also notice that the cab has the number 7 on it, rather than the number 4.  To be honest, I had forgotten that I'd renumbered my 4-4-0 to number 4.  The gap in my roster was actually no. 7.

With the cab in place, I turned my attention to mounting the tender shell on the chassis.  I ended up having to tape the wires to the decoder in order to ensure they wouldn't get in the way while the shell was being put in place.

I had put a plug into the wires between the tender light and decoder, in order to allow the body shell to be completely removed.  However, these took too much space, so I had to remove it and just connect the wires directly.  On the right of this photo, you can also see the section that I carved out of the tender walls for the speakers.

After putting the body shell on, I put the rest of the model together.

I then tested the loco on my programming track.  There were no shorts, and all was working as expected.

I had just one last touch to add.  The tender kit included an etched brass part for the front of the load compartment (painted black in this photo).  It didn't reach all the way down to the chassis, which I presume is to allow you to put the fuel load a bit lower down.  In this case, as it was masking the decoder and wires, I used some styrene to add an extra board at the base.

After I placed the loco on my layout, I realised I wasn't exactly happy with it.  I'll be covering why, and what I did to fix it, in the next and final part of my writeup.

[tbdanny]

Hi all,

I've had a chance to do a bit more on the new BVLC #4.  This was mostly additional tweaks to the model itself, as well as some work on the tender.

In the 0-4-0 Porter, the DCC decoder and the board that connects it to the locomotive's components are concealed by a small coal bunker on the right of the cab.  Given that I was converting this into a wood-burning tender engine, having coal would look a little odd.  This part is made of metal, so I filed it flat until most of the coal load was flat and level with the edges.  I then filled in the lower parts with body putty, and left this to dry. 

Once the body putty was dry, I filed the top flat again, then painted it black.

I then assembled the tender according to the instructions.  I did, however, make a couple of adjustments.  One was to put a square of styrene across the tender frame at the locomotive end, with a hole drilled in the middle to accommodate the screw from the drawbar.  The other change was to use a Bachmann LED headlight in place of the casting that came with the kit.

I decided to feed the leads for the LED down through the resin body casting, and wire them up inside the body.  As such, using the etched brass 'shelf' that came with the kit would have caused a short circuit.  Instead, I just drilled holes for the leads, and used strip styrene to raise the front of the headlight until it was level.  Once the glue had dried, I filled in the gaps at the side with body putty and filed it smooth.

While the tender was drying, I turned my attention back to the cab.  I had previously removed the side window glass, as I prefer to have open side windows on my models.  However, the rear window cavity was too large.  Using some 1mm square styrene, I put additional framing around both rear window gaps.  This'll be painted black when I repaint the cab.

My final step for this round of building was to attach the power leads to the tender trucks.  I had originally planned to use the metal tabs (left in the above photo), having them make contact with a circuit board on the chassis of the tender.  As you can see from the photo, I removed some of the bolster on the trucks in order to lower the height of the tender.  As a result, the tabs were now too high.  I undid the screws holding the sideframes to the middle, then slipped the wires under and re-tightened.

At this point, the model was ready for painting and wiring, which I'll be covering in my next post.

[hon30critter]

tbdanny:

Very nice work! It will be a handsome little locomotive when done.

Dave

[trwroute]

tbdanny

The body of the tender is about the same width as the cab, but the chassis is slightly wider than the footplate of the locomotive.

 

 

That's good to hear.  This should look fantastic!

[mlehman]

Nice work! Always good to see hands-on railroading.

[tbdanny]

The body of the tender is about the same width as the cab, but the chassis is slightly wider than the footplate of the locomotive.

[trwroute]

Looks good!  Out of curiosity, is the tender kit the same width?

[tbdanny]

Hi all,

A couple of months ago, I tried scratchbuilding a new number 7 locomotive for the Bradford Valley Lumber Company, using a Roundhouse HO scale old-time 2-8-0 as the basis.  Unfortunately, when that locomotive was reassembled, I was unable to make it run reliably.

Following this, the BVLC motive power roster went through a bit of a shake-up, which left a gap in the roster at the number 4.  I had one of the Backwoods Miniatures slope-back tender kits, which I'd originally purchased for the 2-8-0 conversion.  I hadn't used it for that project as it would have made the engine too long to fit on the turntable.  I wanted to use this for the new #4.  After doing some checking, I realised that the Bachmann 0-4-0 Porter was short enough to fit on the turntable with this tender attached.  So I bought one.

I've now started converting the porter from a saddle tank to a tender engine.  I'm starting with the engine first, then going onto the tender.

My first step was to remove the saddle tank and cab.  There was a circuit board above the motor with resistors and capacitors, connected inline between the decoder and the motor.  Most Bachmann models I've seen have one of these, and it's used for RF suppression.  I usually remove these, as doing so provides smoother motor performance.  In this case, it also meant that the replacement boiler could be lower than the original tank.

After removing the circuit board, I test-ran the locomotive on my layout.  After what happened last time, I’m now testing at every step to ensure the locomotive runs as it should.

My next task was to scratchbuild a boiler top to replace the model's original saddle tank.  I didn't really like the shape of the tank, and the addition of the tender means it's redundant.

I cut two running boards out of 1.5mm styrene, then drilled holes to fit the two rear screws from the original tank.  Once this was done, I screwed the running boards in place.

Normally, when I'm building the boiler for a locomotive project like this, I'll wrap styrene around a pipe, dip it in boiling water and microwave it in order to shape the styrene.  In this case, however, I needed something a bit more substantial.  I decided to use the PVC pipe itself as the 'core' of the boiler.

I cut the pipe to length using a hacksaw, then cut it lengthwise.  I cut it just below halfway, then used some sandpaper on a flat surface to sand it down until it had a semi-circular cross-section.

Once this was done, I filed two notches in the side to clear the screws, and glued the pipe in place with superglue.  After this was dry, I reinforced it with epoxy.

While waiting for the epoxy to dry, I weighed the original tank.  This is cast out of metal, and provides a significant portion of the model's weight.  It came in at 35 grams, so I will need to add at least this much weight back to the model.

Once the epoxy was dry, I filed the boiler assembly back until a sheet of 1mm styrene would fit between the it and the smokebox of the original model.  I then cut a rectangle of 1mm styrene and glued it to the front of the boiler assembly.

After the glue had dried, I trimmed and filed the 1mm styrene to shape, to provide the front of the boiler.  I also had to cut a notch on the bottom to clear the headlight wires.

My next step was to wrap 0.25mm styrene around the pipe, and add another layer, of 1mm styrene, to the tops of the running boards.  Once these had dried, I filed the edges flat.  I also cut the mounting screws a bit shorter, so that they wouldn't pop up through the footplate.

I then test-fit the boiler to the model.

After confirming that the boiler fit the model, I added some details.  One of the handrails is from the original porter boiler.  I was able to find an identical (albeit longer) one in my spare parts box.  I think this one came from a Bachmann cab that had been replaced by a laser-cut wood one.  I was able to work the handrail stanchions into position, then trimmed the handrails to length.  The dome was recovered from one of my failed projects, and a bath in some acetone cleared the paint and superglue off it.  The generator was also recovered from an earlier project.

Once the glue had dried, I filled out around the base of the dome with putty.  It'll be filed to shape after being left overnight to set.

That's all for the moment.  In part 2, I'll be covering the final few modifications to the locomotive and the construction of the tender.