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
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
Absolutely impressive! I give too!
Very nicely-done.
Wayne
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.
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60361449@N02/
Anthracite Modeler - YouTube
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.
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!
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.
Sorry not the driver set just the valvegear.
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
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.