Steam locomotive disassembly

[Anonymous]

Help! I recently came into possession of several very nice steam locos, N-gage, courtesy of e-bay. Disassembly is apparently not as easy as diesels. I'd like to be able to take at least the shell off, want to do some kit-bashing of one to another as well as upgrade lighting. Any suggestions? Any old articles in MR I can look for and print out? Thanks, Buck - [e-mail].

[cacole]

Most steam locomotives are held together with screws inside the smokestack, under the front, or under the rear of the cab. Check those locations for screws that can be removed. If any of them have pilot trucks and trailing trucks, the screws may be under them and hard to spot.

[ARTHILL]

I just took my old Sierra apart(HO) Getting it back together was a pain in that there were no directions and the assembly was not obvious. Keep good notes. If anyone knows where to get old assembly plans, I have other engines to modify for DCC.

[Anonymous]

I tried that on two of mine all ready, got both pilot and trailing trucks off, found additional screws under each, removed those, but could not get the shell off. Are there clips or snap links similar to diesel shells that I have to look for as well? Don't want to break anything if I can help it. Thanks again, Buck

[cacole]

Sometimes there are tabs at the rear of the cab that hold the back of the shell down, but most steamers allow you to just lift the shell off once the screws are removed. Try separating the front of the boiler from the frame first, and then the rear. If there are handrails between the sides of the boiler and front pilot, remove them first.

[Anonymous]

I just ordered Steam Locomotives Projects & Ideas. So far I can't say if it would help you in disassembling your locos. Do you know who manufactured them? If so, look for their web site and contact them to ask if they have the instruction sheet that should have came with the model.

[ragnar]

Heres a thought ,name the type and manufacture of your locomotives,Other N scalers may have the same model with the exploded drawing that came with them and might make a copy and send them to you,...Has worked for me in the past for H.O ,just pay their postage.

[WilmJunc]

I agree with ragnar. The name of the manufacturer and model will be helpful in determining disassembly method.

[Bikerdad]

N scale steam generally is not assembled the same as HO steam. As an example, I currently have a Spectrum 2-8-0 disassembled on my workbench, half way through a decoder install. Only one screw is involved, the pilot. You can find instructions for the disassembly and decoderization of almost all recent N scale steam on the web. Older stuff is tougher. Do a search for the particular model you have, along with the terms "DCC installation." Or head over to an N Scale specific forum (ex: www.nscale.net) and inquire regarding the SPECIFIC locos that you have. There's a good chance that somebody has delved into the guts of the locos you're dealing with, and may even have the parts diagrams.

I have found specific instructions(sometimes multiple different versions) with photos for the Spectrum Connie, Kato Mikado, MDC 2-6/8-0, Spectrum Mountain, Atlas Shay, and Model Power Pacifics on line. One of the N scale magazines just did an article on the LL 2-8-8-2.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the information, y'all. I have engines by ConCor - SP 4-8-4 Daylight with parts list only, no disassembly instructions and cannot find website; Rivarossi - (2), one 4-6-2 Pacific (tried to take this one apart, couldn't get shell off) and one 4-8-2 (haven't tried anything with this one yet); and one old ConCor 4-6-4 NYC streamline/bullet nose, set up as the AT&SF Valley Flyer, which actually ran a K-4 Pacific, ConCor had some old NYC's around and used them instead; abd one
Bachmann 4-8-2 with parts list only. Everything else is diesel.