Many of you have been following my quest for an N scale PRR M1 4-8-2, given that Precision Craft Models has not produced theirs after several years of pre-orders. I sought to produce a Baldwin-built PRR M1, number 6811, seen here on the Middle Division in 1953 in a photo by Harold K. Vollrath:
Well, she needs a bit of weathering and some more break-in time, but she's pretty much done. I added a DZ123 decoder in the tender.
From this...
To this:
Big-time special thanks to Bob Schultz for the ConCor Hudson tender frame and Lou D of the Atlas Forums for the cast drop-coupler pilot, to which I added a Z scale coupler and a new pilot beam.
Close up:
And a HUGE THANKS to Max Magliaro for inspiration and advice!!! A project this big is not a one-man task... Thanks again all who helped!
I'll post a video one of these days so you can see her running.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
A beatuiful job. Did you use all of the parts in the second photo to mash together and make the final product?
Avenger,
Yep, along with an assortment of details. Thanks!
Great job Dave!
Congratulations on finishing up on the PRR M1 project!
Ryan
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
Way to go, Dave. 1 down, 300 to go!!!!
You were going to model them all weren't you?
Andre
Andre,
Thanks! But sadly, no... I'd need 600 Minitrix K4s and 300 Spectrum Mountains for that!
The PRR built or purchased 201 of the class M1 4-8-2 between 1923 and 1926. In 1930, the PRR built or purchased another 100 4-8-2s, classed as M1a. The main spotting differences between the M1 and the M1a are that the latter has internal steam delivery pipes, twin air pumps, and a feedwater heater behind the stack. After 1946, 36 of the M1a class were refitted as M1b, with the addition of firebox circulators and an increase in boiler pressure.
Most of the M1 and M1a/b got the post-war "facelift" (as I modeled mine) whereby the headlight and steam generator swapped positions, the footboard above the air tank was raised partway up the smokebox front, and the slat or step pilot was replaced with a solid cast-steel drop-coupler pilot.
The Minitrix shell has the pre-war arrangement we all know and love with the distinctive PRR bar-slat pilot and the lower headlight. It was very tempting to keep it that way. But in the end I decided to be true to the late steam era.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
steemtrayn wrote:The PCM model should be on your dealer's shelves soon.
Ah yes, the First Law of Model Railroad Irony... whereby as soon as you finish a complex scratchbuild or kitbash, a dealer releases it RTR or in easy kit form. I'm counting on it!
I figured after 3+ years of waiting, if building one myself creates the cosmic forces necessary to kick PCM in the butt to produce theirs, I'll have been happy to take one for the team. I still have one on pre-order myself.
Great Work Dave !!
I wish i had the skills to do work like that !
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
The easy part was extending the firebox. The less-fun part was extending the frame and the trailing truck as seen here:
I also relocated the Spectrum backhead:
The facelift:
Nice work! It looks mightly clean for a Pennsy engine, however
I have seen photos of K4 Pacifics with long tenders similar to those on the 4-8-2s.
Dave Nelson
Railfan1 wrote:Very nice. How long did it take start to finish (after you recieved all the part)? Again, nice work.
Thanks! Took about a month. This wasn't actually as hard a kitbash as I'd anticipated. This is my thrid N scale steam bash, so I guess I've learned along the way.
Probably the most frustrating part is that the Spectrum valve gear is very picky and likes to come apart if you look at it wrong. That and the drivers are poorly balanced. Between re-assembling valve gear and shimming/aligning the drivers (all stuff that Bachmann should have gotten right the first time) I'd say there's a few hours wrapped up in tuning the mechanism. By contrast, it took all of 20 minutes to hard-wire a decoder in it; the easiest hard-wire DCC install I've ever done. Only a drop-in board would be easier.
Extending the firebox wasn't bad; extending the frame and trailing truck was tougher. There are a few hours wrapped up in that as well. The tender took maybe 4-6 hours spread out over a weekend.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
Very nice!
A outstanding effort.
Excessive waiting time is a problem sometimes lol.
Thanks!
You know, even if PCM does come out with their M1a/b, I won't regret having done this project.
First, this project, though challenging and at times tedious, was actually pretty fun, as well as a great learning experience.
Second, I built an M1, while the PCM moel is an M1a/b. The differences are external, and so would be obvious by looking at the two models. So I could run both without shame.
Anyway, I'm relieved to have finished it.
Reese
Modeling NS One Locomotive At a Time
Very well done. Makes me want to get on with a couple of the steam kitbashes I have simmering on the back burner.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Sweet....
I expect I'll be reading about it in the Keystone soon?
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
I like the drop coupler pilot, but I think Pennsy made a real esthetic faux pas swapping headlight and generator positions. My favorite picture of a K-4 is one that appears in Kalmbach's book on steam power (don't have it with me presently and can't remember title) in which the K-4 appears to have had a "partial" post-war makeover. Headlight and generator are in the original position, but the drop coupler pilot replaced the slatted pilot. What makes it even better is that the main driver was replaced by a Boxpok, which I believe were about as rare on the Pennsy as Belpaire fireboxes on the Southern Pacific.
Hmm. Wonder what a K-4 would look like with a sligthly below center Pyle headlight, a Worthington BL on the fireman's side, bell mounted where the headlight used to be, train indicators flanking the stack, and the generator moved back behind the steam dome. And all this trailed by a 120C-5 tender.
There were many variants on the K-4 over the years, including smoke deflectors, air reservoir on the deck above the pilot, roller bearing rods, boosters, and variety of rotary valve experiments. Stauffer's book Pennsy Power does a nice job of showing these variants, including the solid cast pilot but with headlight and generator in the "preferred" position.
Andre if you get a chance, try to track down the booklet "Pennsylvania Railroad K-4s" part of a "Steam Locomotives of Yesteryear" series of soft cover pamphlets. This one was published in October 1967 by Harry Albrecht, who incidentally was subscriber #1 to Model Railroader back in 1934. He has photos of the (at least) 9 different classes of tenders the K-4 operated with, shots of K-4s on freight trains, and a chapter called "some modifications" that show things in Pennsy Power but also some things that are not. K-4s with air horns, one with a stack taken from an L-1, solid disc drivers (very strange), skyline casings, a Delta trailing truck, etc.
Really nice job Dave! Look foward to seeing more releases from your shop.
Fergie
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Awesome job Dave! I'm pretty much thinking that even if PCM does come out with their version next week, you'll still enjoy this one better.
Again - AWESOME JOB! Please keep sharing your projects here on the forums.