It Doesn't Take Much .........

[andrechapelon]

To alter the appearance of a Spectrum locomotive. Or any steam locomotive, for that matter.

I was going to start grinding away at the cast on detail of an old Varney 4-6-0 I scored on Ebay in preparation for making an SP T-23 or T-28 out of it. As it happens, the Varney box was sitting on top of an undecorated Spectrum USRA light 4-8-2 box. Just for a giggle, since the USRA light is going to be re-detailed anyhow, I thought I'd try and see what the bare minimum detailing it might take to give the loco something of an SP look.

Here are the results. NOTE: This is by no means a "finished" project. The brass parts aren't even permanenly attached. In fact, if I turn the loco over, the stack falls off. There are 5 parts that went into this quickie effort, a PSC SP stack, Cal-Scale number boards, a PSC headlight bracket and a PSC headlight.

Full disclosure: I swiped the headlight and bracket off the 2-8-0 I've been working on since it hasn't yet been permanently attached.







To really do this right is going to require a Worthington BL FWH on the fireman's side, new SP style injector piping and maybe Spectrum 16,000 gallon SP 160C tender. That'll give it more of an SP look.

It won't be strictly accurate, but who cares? It's cheaper than brass and SP had a lot of second hand locos. Sneaking in another one won't hurt.

Andre