This is my current project a Reading N-1 2-8-8-0 from a proto 2000 2-8-8-2. For the unfamiliar here is the prototype.
My starting point is a N&W style 2-8-8-2, I would have rathered the more USRA style but for what I paid beggers can't be choosers.
I started with changing the valvegears from baker to walsherts. Not having links to use I made some brass one s from a sheet I had using an old roundhouse one as a template.
The original one is on the left.
A little dark but here is the original vs. the replaced valvegear on the rear driver set.
The cylinder heads were replaced to be more rounded on the sides and not be the riveted style. The front set of lower pistons were also made smaller since the later Reading 2-8-8-0 was a simple articulated engine meaning the piston sizes would be the same front to rear. The locomotives were originally compound engines and were converted, they just resized the pistons insted of refitting the rest of the running gear.
The boiler was shortened a little from the front and rear, for consistancy sake I need it to be close to the same size as the Reading 2-10-2 I built from a IHC/Mehano 2-10-2 since the original 10 Reading 2-10-2s were rebuilt 2-8-8-0s using the same boiler.
Also for the same consistancy reason I need to move the steam dome which means I can't use the screw under the dome to keep the shell on. I fit a screw in the smoke stack and since I chandged the backhead from being attached to the bottom half of the shell to the top half I glued styrene to the metal frame to screw the shell to.
Here is where it sits now with a lot of the spacing issues I was worried about solved and updated running gear rolling free. Next will be getting rid of whats left on the shell and then starting to build major styrene structures.
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60361449@N02/
Anthracite Modeler - YouTube
Looks good so far....
You said the rear drivers were replaced........what did you use for the replacements?
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
Sorry not the driver set just the valvegear.
With a long weekend I got a good amount done. The boiler was stripped of everything else that was unneeded and sanded smooth.
The hip joints were made for the firebox. The one was made then traced for the second. The notches toward the bottom were cut off, they were not needed and hindered the removal of the shell.
The rear was made and a bar was put in to steady the pieces.
An over sized piece of .010 was then set.
Then was trimmed and repeated on the other side.
The bottom half of the boiler was then built out to match the made firebox split to allow the shell to come off.
Then I puttied it all up.
While the putty was drying I decided to work on the tender. I don't know the origin of the tender trucks, they were a show find, but they are build like Bethlehem Car Works trucks. I had to add some spacers to allow the trucks to turn and reused the pickups that touch a wiper that comes out of the bottom of the frame. I ended up using new screws too, come Manuta leftovers I had. Screws seem to strip easily on the model.
Leaving the tender frame as is because the length looked good the shell started like all others with the bottom ring. With the wire plug going under the frame I did not need to worry about a hole in the shell for wires which made it a little easier.
The top was placed and coal bunker set.
The upper coal bunker walls were made and placed.
Then the rest was filled in with the coal bunker inside walls, the rear of the bunker on top and doors were made on the front. I think the corners of the tender were sanded round at this point too but it's a little hard to tell from the picture.
This is the newly finished tender matched up with the engine.
After sitting over night I sanded and smoothed everything out and rounded the corner of the firebox.
I then added the ash pans which are .040 spacers top with .040 with the edges rounded up.
Then the smokebox front was started by making a .040, .010, .040 sandwich sanding the edges to a point fitting the .010 circle in the flat part of the bottom later and the top layer a little inside the .010 layer.
Together it looks like this, with door latches, number board and hinges in place. I thought I took a picture with just the layers together but I guess I didn't.
The head light in place always finally starts making it look like what I'm going for.
The cab floor was filled out to fit the cab sides made to T-1 dimensions which I use as the sizing for the really big cabs. I did the same for the K-1. The window is bigger though as it looks in pictures.
Then the front and back of the cab were placed.
And heres how it sits now, ready to start domes.
Great stuff! I always loved the Reading Company look. Wooten fire boxes , arched cab windows, high-perched headlight and compact tenders, fancy lettering on passenger engines, all good.
Excellent work!
VERY nice work so far. I may have to give this a try myself, more fun and cheaper than the only other option - brass.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I borrowed a heat gun from work to do the steam delivery pipes this weekend, but to so I wanted to have the boiler bands set first. To set the boiler bands I wanted to have the domes in place, so I started there.
Here is the dome bases sanded down and ready to be capped. Since the rear sets is not just round I did the base work in .040, the round ones are looped .010 glued on itself and sanded smooth.
Then the open domes were capped loosely with 2 layers of .040 except the rear set which were capped with one layer bent a bit to fit the sloping shape.
The capes were then sanded to shape.
Then the dome bottoms got putty. I felt the rear domes were a little small so I added extra putty to them to fudge it in sanding.
After sanding the boiler bands were placed using .010x.030 strips. I went all the way around the boiler and the strips met at the bottom. Then I cut down the shell seam so the boiler can come back apart.
The steam delivery pipes were done from styrene rods which is why I needed the heat gun. I melted the rod a little and bent them to shape and let it cool. They are done in 3 sections, the base middle on the smoke box, the front short piece which is a smaller diameter and has 2 90 degree bends, and the rear the split being in the putty going to the cylinders. The rods were drilled in the center and I used .025 steel wire, for ridgidness, to connect the pipes and to be a pivot point. Wire ends were also placed going into the cylinders. Now since the engine does not turn like the prototype and the pivot points for the driver sets are different as well I had to leave rather large open holes in the cylinders so the pipes could move with the drivers.
Seen in the picture is the bent pieces for the other side.
I did get it to be able to turn tight enough for 22" radius but I don't really plan on running it that tight. Here is it sitting on 22" curve.
The fireman's side went a little easier, but I knew what I was doing at that point.
So heres where it sits now, I feel the hardest part is done at this point or at least the biggest unknown.
Very nicely-done.
Wayne
Absolutely impressive! I give too!
Your posts are always a treat.
Tom
BTW, Precision Scale makes B&O paired sandboxes very similar to the ones you made for the rear set. But it looks like you did very well on your own.
I'm just seeing this thread for the first time. I must say, this kind of work is not for the faint of heart! Impressive from the design, execution, every aspect of such a project. Dan
ACY Your posts are always a treat. BTW, Precision Scale makes B&O paired sandboxes very similar to the ones you made for the rear set. But it looks like you did very well on your own. Tom
I only worked on this today since last sunday but got quite a bit done. I did a test run before starting any more construction to make sure the steam delivery pipes were working the way I thought they were, rolling it on the track with no motor installed. I need to make a new draw bar to which will require another test run before finishing.
I started with the pilot steps and platform on top of the cylinders. I used brass strips for the vertical frame work to keep it thin yet strong. I added little .040 tabs to the bottom of the platform to keep it up off the cylinders a little.
Then I did the foot boards, all .010.
The markers appear on the front with the wrap around running board to the face installed. The little piece of running board over the pipe was fitted by drilling a hole the size of the pipe and cutting the bottom of the circle out so the piece looked like a U which fit right over. The first air tank was placed as well as the air compressors so I could mark where to repeat the drilling method for the pipe and air compressors. The air tank set the height of the running board since the pipe needs to be able to move around it the running board sits on top of the tank.
With the remainder of the running board in place the other air tank was placed. That air tank is glued with thin connecting strips to the top half of the boiler to make the shell removal less complicated after all the plumbing is installed.
The engineers side has the same basic spacing but no air compressors to work around so it went a little faster. This is where it sits now starting to look rather Reading.
Work this week started with windows in the cab made from mostly .010 scrap then the cab interior got a coat of black.
Then the roof sheet was cut out in .010 for wrapping.
After the roof was glued down the rood detail went on.
Other things were done this weekend too like the safety valve area, sand dome hatches, and some major parts were added like the check valve and the power reverse.
The tender got some work too with the footboards and water hatch made.
I set a new draw bar and did some test running. One I had the draws bar kinks worked out it ran great.
Here is a teaser video from the test run pulling a 30 car train with ease. It was quickly taken with my phone so the quality isn't the best.
It sits as it looks in the last post. I need to order some detail parts to finish it and am waiting on the off chance I find any at a train show next weekend. The holiday travels allowed me to take a break and I got 21 hopper decal sets from family (emailing links to specific ideas is great) to repaint cars that didn't fit. It makes a good interim project, I have 12 done taking about an hour a piece.
This was the first 3 done.
Impressive by any standard. I'm looking forward to more!
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler
Finally got around to ordering parts with no luck at shows. So now the major castings are installed and I built the latter on the rear of the tender and the steps on the on the back of the pilot. Next will be rivets done with micromart decals before doing all the plumbing.
This has been a fatastic read and I look forward to the seeing the final product.
Steve
RDG Casey,
Enjoying how you transform the starting model into that brutish Reading prototype. Looking at this build and the others you have done on your Flickr link, I am struck by how well you have captured the overall proportions of the prototypes. Nothing looks out of place. Nice job taking measurements from drawings and reference pictures to pull off making the main structural parts. Cabs, tenders, and the wonderful buldge of the Wooten firebox all look "right". I especially, like the integrated ashpan that wraps around an internal bearing trailing truck in one of your builds. The K-1 class Mike on the C&O had the same setup (in my signature below). She'll look great after paint!
Joel
Modeling the C&O New River Subdivision circa 1949 for the fun of it!
Thanks for the kind words and the Lehigh Valley N-3 was the first to get the ash pans of that type but won't be the last. I have a couple more Lehigh Valley projects planned.
Believe it or not though I do not use drawings of the engines for projects. I use visual markers mostly based on the drivers. I find that dwelling on super accurate measurements will slow down or deter a project from happening. I try for accurate driver size but in reality the models are not what I am making, thats why I am making it. I go or fitting what I am trying to make to the model then trying to force the model to be a prototype. I measure things to keep it consistent and symmetrical, I also base things on pre exsisting sources like a cab from a bachmann I-10 shell. In short I eyeball it with some guide lines.
RDG Casey Believe it or not though I do not use drawings of the engines for projects. I use visual markers mostly based on the drivers. I find that dwelling on super accurate measurements will slow down or deter a project from happening.
Believe it or not though I do not use drawings of the engines for projects. I use visual markers mostly based on the drivers. I find that dwelling on super accurate measurements will slow down or deter a project from happening.
Then, I'm even more impressed! I'm the opposite--need measurements to move forward. But I must admit, sometimes, for me, finding drawings, etc., can be a fun treasure hunt in itself.
Go figure.
wish to say this with all sincerity,that John Allen would have been impressed!!
I just got around to reading this thread... Really great work! Very impressive!
The decal rivets were finished and the final construction was started. It doesn't look like much but the rivets took over 3 hours to do, while watching hockey.
I ended up getting rid of the number board on the tender headlight I tried to make it looked too clunky and there is a flat spot on the side of the headlight which is a reused spectrum 2-8-0 front headlight.
I jumped around a little starting the finer details starting with the front driver set. The plate on top of the pilot got cut down more too after noticing it was like that in pictures. It makes the lead truck and steps more visible too.
Then I did the dome throttle and injector piping.
Then for no real reason jumped to the tender and got everything on that on.
Where it sits now is the engineers side is all ready. The interesting challenge in this part of the project was figuring out how to apply the layers to interfere with each other the least, and not accidentally gluing the shell together. Getting the main boiler handrail to sit right took lots of tweaking too.
Nice job on getting everything together. Almost there.
Wish I could lay rivets down that quickly! On a future C&O K-3 mike project I will be embossing them one at a time in brass stock using my NWSL sensi-press/riveter combo.
Oh joy!?
This is looking amazing! The level of detail you're putting into this is far beyond what I would ever do! You should seriously enter this into some sort of modeling contest. I really think it could be a winner!
_________________________________________________________________
I didn't think I would get to it today but I managed to get the fireman's side done so it is now ready for paint. It will be taken apart to paint the 2 halves of the shell, the internal weight and the driver sets separately. Also I want to make sure after painting the drivers roll smoothly and did not get gunked up by paint before reassembly.
Can't wait to see it "all dressed up" with a fresh coat of paint.
Joe