A couple of months ago, I used some spare parts from failed projects to kitbash a no. 9 for the BVLC:
However, this model didn't really run smoothly. It had a 'limp', and a tendency to slow down at a couple of spots on the track that didn't give any other engines trouble. I tried to fix these faults. However, I was unable to do so, and ended up with a model that could barely run in a straight line. As such, I decided to consign it to the 'graveyard', my shoebox of failed projects.
While doing so, the question of what to do for no. 9 came to mind. I did consider purchasing one of the outside-frame 4-4-0s made by Bachmann, but they're too long to fit on my turntable. However, there was another mechanism in the graveyard that I thought I may be able to use.
Back when I'd first gotten into On30, my very first attempt at a HO-->On30 conversion was a Backwoods Miniatures 2-6-2ST kit, which used the mechanism from a Bachmann HO scale saddle-tank switcher. At the time, I hadn't been able to get it to work satisfactorily, either. The short wheelbase didn't provide for much of a power pickup footprint, and the mechanism had a tendency to 'bunnyhop' down the track. Furthermore, in the time since then, I'd 'borrowed' the brushes and springs from this model's motor to keep another one going.
However, there was one other model in the graveyard, a Roundhouse 'old-time' 2-8-0 which I'd attempted to convert. It had run into the same problems as the 2-6-2 above - namely, the mechanism would stall at some points that didn't give the other engines any problems. But although the chassis from this model wasn't reliable, the motor from it was still good.
I tried fitting the Roundhouse motor to the Bachmann 0-6-0 chassis, just to see if I could get it to work. After enlarging the hole at the rear of the motor mount, I had to file down the sides of the mount to allow the Roundhouse motor to sit flat. Once it was installed, it meshed nicely with the Bachmann gears and ran smoothly. Unlike this mechanism's original motor, this one has a flywheel, which helps with the smoothness.
Once I'd confirmed that the mechanism ran properly, I recovered the pilot deck from the 2-6-2 pictured at the start of this entry. After cutting it to fit this chassis, I glued it in place.
With the mechanism working, my next step was to figure out what to do with the body. I wanted to do a tender engine, in order to have extra power pickup from the tender wheels. I still had the tender left over from my Bachmann 2-4-4-2 conversion, so I decided to use that. However, the width of the motor mount and the motor itself meant that a narrow, tender-engine style boiler (e.g. the Bachmann Forney) wouldn't be able to fit. As such, it looked as though I would need to use the saddle-tank body and tender together.
(Photo by MattBuck. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.)
As strange as it may sound, there is actually a prototype for such an engine. Albeit from the United Kingdom, rather than the United States. This is Prince, a 'George England' locomotive from the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales. It's designed as a tender-tank engine, with water in the saddle over the boiler and coal in the tender behind the cab. I decided that this new BVLC No. 9 would be a similar tender-tank engine, an American 'Prince'.
However, this engine would have a slightly different backstory. Instead of being built like this from the beginning, I figured that the BVLC would have bought it as a 2-6-2T in 1935, from another railroad that had closed down. When they started using it, they found that although it had adequate water tanks, its fuel capacity left a lot to be desired. They had a tender rescued from a wreck a couple of years previously, so they rebuilt it and modified the tank engine into a 2-6-0, keeping the saddle over the boiler.
With that in mind, I set about converting the body from the Backwoods Miniatures kit. I dismantled the cab and soaked it in acetone, to remove the old glue and paint. As it was made of etched brass, I was able to use a pair of scissors to trim the doors and rear walls from it. I also added a dome with a whistle on it, and a spare headlight from the 2-4-4-2 on the front. I had be careful running the wires from the headlight, to prevent them rubbing against the flywheel when assembled. I also used 0.5mm styrene to make a cab roof.
In order to use the tender from the 2-4-4-2, I needed to make a few modifications. The first was to re-install a rear headlight. I'd cut off the mounting for it to use on my 4-4-0, so I built a new mount using styrene. My 2-4-4-2 didn't come with a wood load either. As such, I used styrene to build a compartment for the wood in the gap left by the coal load. Several mounting holes for the 2-4-4-2's coal and oil tank loads were filled in with body putty, and the whole thing was left to dry.
Once the putty had dried, I primed and painted the body and tender shell. While these were drying, I installed a TSU-1100 decoder in the tender. Fortunately, the tender had come with a speaker installed, and it was designed for use with a Soundtraxx decoder.
When the painting and lettering was done, I put the model together. Normally, I'd put the 'BVLC' lettering on the tender itself, with just the number on the locomotive. However, as this was a tank engine before being converted, I figured that most of the lettering would be on the locomotive.
I did have the pilot truck from the original Backwoods Miniatures kit, however I'd always felt that it was a bit light. Its frame was just etched brass, with no real weight to it. My plan was to use the trailing truck I had leftover from the 2-4-4-2 conversion as the pilot. However, when attempting to bend the mounting point to adjust it, it broke. A search through the graveyard produced another pilot truck, originally from the Roundhouse 2-8-0. This had a bit of weight over the axle, and was flexible enough to be adjusted without breaking. After trimming it to length and drilling a new mounting hole, I swapped the original axle with the axle from the 2-4-4-2 trailing truck. I prefer to have spoked wheels on my pilots.
With that sorted out, I put the model together, testing the mechanism to ensure it ran smoothly. Once I'd finished that and programmed it, I added a firebox to the cab using a brass casting and some 0.25mm styrene. I also re-used the floor flap (between cab and tender) from the 2-4-4-2, with a mount made out of 0.5mm copper wire. After adding a wood load to the tender, the model was complete.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
tbdanny,
Nice work, with its classic lines enhanced by its simple design.
If you go back far enough in the US, these sorts of engines were used, although never were common and gone from lines except a handful of industrials by around 1900. Operations that moved freight that could be burned as fuel seemed to favor the practice where it was in use. Fill the tender with wood or coal and away you go, then the tender could be dropped for switching in tight spots, etc. Got a long haul in from the woods? Then couple the tender on to take advanatge of the increased range wihout it being a bother otherwise.
On the model, since you want to take advantage of the lengthened contact wheelbase this mode offers, it's easier just to leave them coupled. Looks good, too, that way
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Unique,good looking loco with a well thought out "history". Nice job of explaining the process from start to finish. Thanks for posting!
Mike