This review is on Bowser's current version of their New York Central K-11 4-6-2 kit.
Bowser still uses the same boiler, frame, cylinders ,and detail parts that they've been using for this engine since 1951. The tender is now a diecast model instead of the brass 4-8-2 Mountain tender originally used. All the parts look surprisingly good for the age of their molds, but the engine does have a major seem going across the top that takes a lot of work to file off. The tender has a lot of seems around it that need to be filed off, and there was a gap in the front that had to be filled. The building instructions are very detailed and easy to follow. They did accidentily get the drawbar on the wrong side of the spring in step #2 (the spring should be between the drawbar and frame). The mechanism takes some work to build, with the siderods being the hardest part, but it's an excellent mechanism when built properly. The kit now includes a better valve gear than the original models, but the front rods have to be bent to clear the crossheads, and the crosshead guides have to be absolutely straight to clear the siderods. The cast on detail is actually pretty good, and matches pictures of real K-11s very well. Bowser makes a detail kit for it that includes various pumps, two choices of marker lights for the engine and a pair for the tender, a passenger pilot, a better bell, and a turbo generator, but I didn't want to spend the extra $30 on it, so I just used an extra turbo generator I had from another kit, modified the original bell, stuck a dummy coupler on the front, and made two steps for the front of the cylinders out of copper sheet, and it looked fine. I believe the prototypes were all black, so that made painting very simple. For painting and decorating, I first used a spray can of Testors gloss black. After that was dry, I applied Microscale #8778 decals, and set them with Walthers Solvaset. I then finished it with a spray can of Model Master flat lacquer, and then added the headlight jewel and bell. I must say, it turned out to be a pretty nice looking steam engine. Standard height and length Kadee couplers mount at the proper height on the tender, but it would be best to use a plastic Kadee or McHenry, or just replace the Bowser coupler box with a plastic one.
Bowser recommends running their mechanisms for hours in each direction to break them in, but mine actually worked very well after only 15-20 minutes. It runs smoothly at all speeds in both directions, and is actually fairly quiet. The tender tends to tip over a little around curves at high speeds, but it hasn't caused any problems, and I only noticed it while the engine was running free. The maximum speed at 12 volts is about 102 scale MPH, which is fine for passenger service, but a little fast for freight. The minimum speed I could keep it running steadily at was about 5.5 scale MPH, but this should improve as it gets more broken in. The average current draw at 12 volts was about 0.17 amps, and I believe the stall current is close to 2 amps, if you manage to stall it. The motor is a new skewed armature DC-71, which runs as well as a high quality can motor, and is much more powerful. Both brushes are now insulated for easier DCC installation, and there's enough room in the cab or tender for a DCC decoder. I'd recommend using a 2 amp decoder placed in the tender incase the motor ever does stall. The engine picks up electricity from 6 of its 12 wheels, and the tender picks up with 4 wheels. It had no trouble (except an occasional derailment) running through my cheap switches, fast or slow. The engine and tender are all metal, and the engine has an extra weight to make it even heavier. I don't have a big enough layout to test its pulling power, but it can easily pull over 15 cars around the layout, and I'm guessing it could pull over 60 cars. The tender is completely hollow, so there's plenty of room for sound if you ever want it.
Bowser's K-11 4-6-2 is a very nice example of what high quality was in the 1950s. It's pretty well detailed, fun and challenging to build, and a nice runner. I'm very happy with mine, and since they come as kits, they're something you can be proud of when they're done.
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Interesting to think that this model has been in continuous production for over 55 years. For those who are interested, the Bowser catalog has some photos of the prototype.
Dave Nelson
Darth;
Great write up.
This locomotive is also a good staring point for kit bashing a N&W E2/E2a/E2b or a VGN PA.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Darth, I am thinking as well about trying a Bowser kit. Missed on a Hudson by a $1.00 on E-bay. By the way, the Dash 9 lives again. Found 2 more cracked gear in the trucks. They will stay in gauge again so no more shorts.
Let the Thunder again Roll Big Boy Ken
I hate Rust
Thanks everyone for the comments.
R. T. POTEET, you probably did have a diecast tender. I don't think Bowser's original brass 4-8-2 and tender have been made since the early 60s, or late 50s.
So far, I've built 5 metal engine kits. First was a Bowser A-5 0-4-0, and then a Bowser Challenger. Third was a Hobbytown RSD-5, fourth was this one, and most recently was a Bowser T-1 4-4-4-4.
loathar, the drive wheels were all quartered fine, and the motor is definately good enough (not as quiet as a can motor, but much more powerful!).
cudaken, if or when you do try a Bowser kit, just be sure to take your time with it, and you'll have yourself one fine steam engine.
Good to hear the DASH is running again. 2 more cracked gears? Wow, I thought it was supposed to be early P2Ks that had that problem, but I guess Athearn's not perfect either.
Darth, I now feel I am up to a Bowser kit. I have came along way from when you helped me with the Dash 9. I think I proved my metal when I opened a new BLI Ma1 that cracked center gear. Did not feel like waiting 4 months for a repair on a new engine. BLI sent me the parts for free.
I still have along way to catch up to your level but I am getting there.
Do you have any PIC of the Challanger? What did it cost you? I finaly have a Big Boy, but still feel the need for a Challanger.
Your friend Ken
R. T. POTEET wrote:I don't know why but I thought that my tender was die-cast; it has been a long time and I could be thinking of something else.
My recollection is that back in the day the Bowser NYC 4-6-2 came without a NYC tender and you had to get the tender separately, whether from Bowser itself or Penn Line or Varney or Mantua or whatever.
QUOTE: Originally posted by cudakenDo you have any PIC of the Challanger? What did it cost you? I finaly have a Big Boy, but still feel the need for a Challanger.
I've added a couple more details since I took this picture.
Here it is without most of the detail kit. Pretty big difference, isn't it?
Because I used the Con-Cor Big Boy tender and electrical kit for it, I could also make a full interior out of parts from the Big Boy.
I don't remember the exact cost, but it was around $250 with discounts. Bowser has since lowered the price around 25%, so the total with a Con-Cor Big Boy, tender electrical kit and detail kit should be less than $250 at this point without discounts, making it the least expensive Challenger available right now. The only problem is that the boiler is a little too wide, which makes it look a little overweight.
The tender before it was painted. I replaced all the molded on roof railings with wire ones and Bowser stancions, which really improved how it looked.
Darth, very nicely done write-up on this loco, and a nice job of building it, too. Some time back, I built one for my son (who's since lost interest in trains), making it a composite of several that he liked that he had seen in photos. It turned out sorta like CPR G3 meets NYC H-10 , but it's a smooth runner and pulls well. I put a can motor in it, along with a NWSL gearbox. The tender is from Tyco, as it was his choice to match the appearance with a Mikado that I built at the same time.
Wayne
Great review of an old classic. Thanks for taking the time to let us know how the kit is in it's present state.
I think the tender Bowser is including now is a remake of the old Varney "Old Lady/Casey Jones" tender. Varneys were cast frames with plastic body shells. The Bowsers are all cast metal.
Have they changed the cast frame to the fabricated brass type they now use in the ex-Varney and Penn Line engines?
Has anyone used a Helix Humper in a K-11 or any other Bowser kit? How does it compare to the DC-71 for pulling, noise and smoothness?
Has anyone used their Bowsers with DCC? Any problems?
Thanks again for a great review!
Roger
QUOTE: Originally posted by oldline1Have they changed the cast frame to the fabricated brass type they now use in the ex-Varney and Penn Line engines?
Nope. This one still uses the original diecast frame, with a slight modification for the DC-71 motor. You can still see the mounts for the old "Super Motor" in the front of the firebox.
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
MidlandPacific wrote:I have just posted some comments on this model here. Thought you might be interested -
Thanks for posting a link to that. I guess this means I'm sort of famous now, since my name is appearing places other than here.