I ordered a Bowser 4-8-2 with the super detail kit and cab detail kit from Standard Hobby. The super detail kit is back ordered for 6-8 weeks. However, here's my progress so far.
Frame and side rods:
Motor, cylinders, crossheads, main rods, and valve gear:
On my workbench running the motor in with a 9 volt battery:
After two batteries, I hooked up a 7.5 volt wall wart.
Here it is with shell, tender and decoder. It is now running on the track under DCC:
That's about all I can do for now until the detail kit comes in. The assembly was straight forward. Only a couple of minor snags. I'm trying to figure out how to attach the smoke box cover so that it will be removeable so that I can service the head light if neccessary. You can't see it from the pictures, but there were a few voids in the shell. I used a metal epoxy to fill them and worked very well.
I'll mount a coupler on the tender tonight and see how it pulls a train.
Nice job! Mine is still in the box after many years. I am trying finish the layout this Winter if so I will finally start building the rest of my Bowser kits.
So far I completed the T1, E6 and half of the G5. Keep me posted of your progress.
Doc
Those flanges are a heck of a lot shorter than the ones that came with my Mantua Mike kit. Did you polish the boiler or did it come that clean?
Oh boy! Did your photos bring back fond memories!
I had assembled one of these and had another unopened in its box--the Mountain was going to be my heavy passenger steamer--when curve restrictions caused me to move from HO-Scale to N-Scale in the early-'80s. These kits are a lot of fun to build. With the intent of creating a unique locomotive fleet I had done some extensive modifications to Bowser's standard designs; my steamers were all going to have Elesco feedwater heaters atop the smokebox and in addition I was going to configure all my steamers with Bowser's Semi-Vanderbilt tenders one unit at a time but the only unit I had ever completed to this individual standard was this Mountain. One of my modifications involved using a Harold Mellor cab in lieu of the one that came standard with my kit.
This Mountain was not my largest steamer; when stationed in Germany in the early-70s I tried to order a Challenger--as I mentioned in a previous post a friend of mine had a brass centipede tender from a Big Boy that had taken a dive to the floor and went under the cutters torch--but they were out of production at that time and when they did become available some years later I was no longer interested and so a USRA Santa Fe--also a Bowser kit--which was assembled immediatly after this Mountain became my largest steamer.
Were I to ever go back to HO-Scale--a highly unlikely prospect in lieu of my advancing age--I would probably assemble a steam fleet using a number of these Bowser locomotive kits.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Beautiful!
Though I've never built a Bowser kit, I've seen some in action, and I would think that when that lady is assembled and running, you'll probably be able to use her to raise and lower the garage door! The ones I've seen are smooth running and incredibly powerful, so enjoy!
Nice work!
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
twhite Beautiful! Though I've never built a Bowser kit, I've seen some in action, and I would think that when that lady is assembled and running, you'll probably be able to use her to raise and lower the garage door! The ones I've seen are smooth running and incredibly powerful, so enjoy! Nice work! Tom
loathar Did you polish the boiler or did it come that clean?
Did you polish the boiler or did it come that clean?
The boiler needed the most work. It had quite a bit of flash and some voids. I would guess that it's an older mold. After filing, I filled the voids with metal expoxy. Then 200, 320, 400, 600, and 1000 grit sand paper. I polished it with wadding.
Hey there, sorry to bump a somewhat old thread, but I figured someone else might find this interesting....so here goes...
I'm also building one of these kits....actually, it's my first steam kit.
I've got the valve gears together, despite all the hype, that wasn't really all that bad. In any event, when I go to put them on the hangers, I find that the holes in the hanger and in the valve gear itself are much larger than the brass bolts provided. Am I missing something here. I can accept that there may be a nut that was omitted from the instructions (heck, the step were the cylinders are bolted to the frame is missing the whole cylinder assembly...) My biggest issue is that there doesn't seem to a nut that would be appropriat...
Has anyone else encountered this? What was your solution?
Thanks,
Dan
Believe it or not Bowser is still making these metal loco kits today......
I took a tour of their factory December 22 2008 and had seen some of the just cast boilers.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
8500HPGASTURBINENice engine. One question, does all Bowser engines show that awfull looking worm gear from the side? Or is there something that isn't on yet that hides it?
Nice engine. One question, does all Bowser engines show that awfull looking worm gear from the side? Or is there something that isn't on yet that hides it?
No, the worms are always visible. At least they're not white, like Mantua's. An enclosed gearbox is nicer, but they usually block the view between the frame and boiler anyway, so it doesn't seem much more unsightly to me.
Nice work so far, AlreadyInUse. Very good job cleaning her up. I'm sure she'll be a looker, and pull anything you throw at her. Nice layout as well.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
SteamFreak/quote]No, the worms are always visible. At least they're not white, like Mantua's. An enclosed gearbox is nicer, but they usually block the view between the frame and boiler anyway, so it doesn't seem much more unsightly to me.
/quote]
I found at least a partial solution to the worm gear problem with the Bowser locos:
I built a box in the opening in the bottom of the boiler that was just as deep as the line where the bottom of the complete boiler would be. Painted it black, and now, as you can see, the worm is much less visible.
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Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
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"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
Apparently Bowser are stopping manufacture of these kits. On the PRR Modeling list, someone commented that they'd been told by a rep at Amherst "if you want any Bowser steam engine kits, to get them quick". Unfortunately their kits haven't really kept up with the times - the visible worm gear being an example of something that was perfectly acceptable 40 years ago, but times have changed. The usual solution to this in kits that I've seen is to drive the rear axle, so the gear tower can be hidden in the firebox.
Ed
Bowser did make a Big Boy, but it's been discontinued (again). It was made by soldering two Challenger boilers together, so making it look good was a challenge. It's the only kit that Bowser has discontinued, and all others are still being made (in batches). Bowser discontinuing their steam engines is only a false rumor.
The A-5 0-4-0, Dockside, and B-6 0-6-0 all use enclosed gearboxes, and run every bit as smooth and quiet as a Spectrum or Proto 2000.
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Eddie_walters Apparently Bowser are stopping manufacture of these kits. On the PRR Modeling list, someone commented that they'd been told by a rep at Amherst "if you want any Bowser steam engine kits, to get them quick". Unfortunately their kits haven't really kept up with the times - the visible worm gear being an example of something that was perfectly acceptable 40 years ago, but times have changed. The usual solution to this in kits that I've seen is to drive the rear axle, so the gear tower can be hidden in the firebox. Ed
Where they had both a standard and deluxe (i.e. superdetailed) kit, they're dropping the standard kit.
Bowser 100700 is discontinued. It's the standard kit for the I-1sa. Bowser 527 is the deluxe kit. It's in production. 100500 is the K-4 standard kit. Discontinued. 525 is the deluxe kit. It's in production.
Andre
On my scrathcbuilt steam engines I make the smokebox front removable similar to most brass imports. I make a round blank out of .060 brass that is a snug fit inside the smokebox and solder it to the back of the smokebox front.
I make the blank by first drilling a small hole (say a # 65 or so) in a piece of .060 brass and using a compass in the prevous drilled hole, draw a circle slightly larger than the inside of the smokebox. Now you can rough cut the circle with a Dremel cut off wheel. Next you want to drill out that center hole just big enough for a long 2-56 screw to pass through, securing the screw with a nut and washer from the other side of the disk. Now chuck this brass disc into your Dremel, and at a medium speed, run the disk against a flat mill file. It should start to form a perfect circle. Once you get close to your line you will want to start checking its fit into the smokebox until you get a snug fit. A decent file will remove meterial quickly so check your fit often. Than just take the screw out and solder, or in your case glue the disk to the back of the smokebox front. Friction will hold the smokebox front on securely.
John.
dwdean I find that the holes in the hanger and in the valve gear itself are much larger than the brass bolts provided.
I find that the holes in the hanger and in the valve gear itself are much larger than the brass bolts provided.
On mine at least, the hole in the hanger is a bit larger than the bolt. But not so much so that the bolt did not properly secure the valve gear. The bolt is one of the hex head brass ones that are also used to secure the gear to the crossheads. The little bit of extra play was necessary to get the mechanism to run free.
Here are few things I did on mine:
* I filed the cast on grabs on the tender off and replaced them with brass wire.
* I powered mine with a Tsunami decoder. I replaced the metal draw bar with plastic to eliminate the electrical connection between the tender and the loco. I filled the original hole in the loco frame for the draw bar with metal epoxy and tapped a new 2/56 hole from the bottom. My new draw bar is much shorter than the original.
* The screw that holds the pilot to the frame is quite visible and ugly. I decided I would never need to remove the pilot, so i epoxied the screw in and covered the screw with a small piece of styrene. I saw a prototype photo that showed what may have been a parts or tool box in that location and decided to model that.
* I used a mini NMRA plug between the tender and the loco that Bruce from Litchfiled Station recommended. It gave me six very flexible wires in a small package. I used all six wires: 2 motor, 2 headlight, 1 right track, and one chuff cam.
David B:
It took about 4 months to build it. Most of that time was waiting for the Bowser super detail kit that never came. I ended up spending several evenings with a Cal Scale catalog and prototype photos. It was a lot more expensive, but I ended up with exactly what I wanted. I was nervous about painting it, but it came out well in the end. The prototype that I model used Mountains mostly for passenger service, but I didn't think I could paint well enough to do that, so mine is painted for freight service. I used an automotive gray primer and Polly Scale steam era black. I was very conservative and sprayed three very light coats. Then gloss coat, decals, gloss coat, and finally dull coat.
It's about 95% finished. I still need to decal the number boards and glaze the windows. Yardbirds was able to locate a Helix Humper for me after a couple of months (great people). So I need to install that. In the mean time, the Bowser open frame motor pulls like crazy. I'm very happy with it. It doesn't have the detail of my P2K Santa Fe, but I built it and there's a lot of satisfaction in that.
BTW: The Tsunami decoder is great. But it has one annoying feature. When you turn on the lights, (I used yellow glow LEDs), the generator spools up to a very annoying high pitched whine. It was nice the first few times, but it quickly wears on you. I need to fire up Decoder Pro and turn it way down.
If any one is interested, I can take some photos and post them.
AlreadyInUse * I used a mini NMRA plug between the tender and the loco that Bruce from Litchfiled Station recommended. It gave me six very flexible wires in a small package. I used all six wires: 2 motor, 2 headlight, 1 right track, and one chuff cam.
Do you have the part number or who makes it? I'm looking for something like that.
It took about 4 months to build it. Most of that time was waiting for the Bowser super detail kit that never came. I ended up spending several evenings with a Cal Scale catalog and prototype photos. It was a lot more expensive, but I ended up with exactly what I wanted. I was nervous about painting it, but it came out well in the end. The prototype that I model used Mountains mostly for passenger service, but I didn't think I could paint well enough to do that, so mine is painted for freight service. I used an automotive gray primer and Polly Scale steam era black. I was very conservative and sprayed three very light coats. Then gloss coat, decals, gloss coat, and finally dull coat. If any one is interested, I can take some photos and post them.
Yes, please.
Gary
garya AlreadyInUse * I used a mini NMRA plug between the tender and the loco that Bruce from Litchfiled Station recommended. It gave me six very flexible wires in a small package. I used all six wires: 2 motor, 2 headlight, 1 right track, and one chuff cam. Do you have the part number or who makes it? I'm looking for something like that.
The Litchfield Station PNs are:
NEM651F NMRA 6-pin socket
NEM651M NMRA 6-pin plug
397-51951 6-pin NMRA small socket to wire adapter cord
As I understand it these are normally used with N-scale. I tried Minatronics 4-pin and 2-pin cables, but they were too stiff and caused the tender to actually derail.
AlreadyInUseOn mine at least, the hole in the hanger is a bit larger than the bolt. But not so much so that the bolt did not properly secure the valve gear. The bolt is one of the hex head brass ones that are also used to secure the gear to the crossheads. The little bit of extra play was necessary to get the mechanism to run free.... If any one is interested, I can take some photos and post them.
.
Mine's so loose that the bolt in the valve gear actually has fallen out a couple of times while I've been pushing the mechanism around a test track. To get the mechanism to run freely I also found that I needed to back the bolts in the crossheads and on the side rods off a little bit. If I didn't, I got terrible binds. I'm OK with that, but will probably put a small amount of super glue on them when everything is together just to keep them from working loose on their own. The valve gear hanger thing sort of bothers me though, I'm going to have to find a creative way of keeping that bolt in there without getting in the way of the mechanism.
Sounds like you did some great stuff to the tender. In addition to replacing the grabs, I was thinking about cleaning out the spaces between the steps. But I'm getting head of myself, I need to get the basic mechanism track-worthy first.
With respect to pictures, I for one would love to see some. The previous shots looked fantastic, it'd be great to see how the final product came out.
PS Almost forgot, what expoxy did you use to fill the voids on the voiler with? I've got some small issues I need to deal with on mine, but didn't want to have to buy a huge can of Bondo.....
Funny this thread came back to the surface today. Bowser has just announced that they are discontinuing their steam locomotive kits.
Milepost 266.2 Funny this thread came back to the surface today. Bowser has just announced that they are discontinuing their steam locomotive kits.
I keep hearing this. However, when I go to Bowser's websites, the only discontinued kits besides the Big Boy are the locomotive kits where the old standard kit has been replaced by the Deluxe kit (e.g. K-4, I-1s, etc)
Pretty soon, I'm going to refer this urban legend to Snopes.
EDIT:
Whoops. Apparently CNJ831 got an email from Bowser saying it was all over.
OH <insert appropriate scatalogical reference here>.
andrechapelon Milepost 266.2 Funny this thread came back to the surface today. Bowser has just announced that they are discontinuing their steam locomotive kits. I keep hearing this. However, when I go to Bowser's websites, the only discontinued kits besides the Big Boy are the locomotive kits where the old standard kit has been replaced by the Deluxe kit (e.g. K-4, I-1s, etc) Pretty soon, I'm going to refer this urban legend to Snopes. EDIT: Whoops. Apparently CNJ831 got an email from Bowser saying it was all over. OH <insert appropriate scatalogical reference here>. Andre
I subscribed to the Bowser site for news updates. Just received the notice today that they are shutting down their steam engine line. No exceptions all steam will be gone.
don7I subscribed to the Bowser site for news updates. Just received the notice today that they are shutting down their steam engine line. No exceptions all steam will be gone.
Don, did they say how when they are stopping production?
AlreadyInUse, please post photos of the finished product.
dedean: I filled the voids in the boiler and tender with a 2 part metal epoxy made by Super Glue. I think I got it a hardware store or big box store. It's the type with a double plunger. I let let it cure for 24 hours and then just filed and sanded to the contour.
Here are some pictures. I really apologize for the poor quality. I guess I should spend more time and figure out how my camera works. The second two are much brighter, but grainy. I was experimenting with setting the ASA to 400. Not a great idea it seems.
Thanks for the info.
That really looks pretty sharp.
I'm trying to hunt down a superdetail kit, but may wind up doing what you did. Do you happen to still have the parts list you used around?
dwdean Do you happen to still have the parts list you used around? Dan
Do you happen to still have the parts list you used around?
I sent you a PM.
Hi, great job. Did you have to do anything special to install DCC? Isolate the motor? I have a Challenger with the detail kit still in the box (which I took out & looked at 2 nights ago) and don't want to have to undo things when I install DCC. Thanks.
Dennis (retired EMD)