Put a Smile on Your Face

I had originally thought I might replace the boiler front, or smokebox door.  However, my desire to use as many original parts as possible won the day and I began to work on the factory installed part.  I carefully trimmed away the cast wiring conduit for the former headlight.  A paper punch provided the right diameter styrene circle to fill the opening left by the headlight.  I had a brass number plate casting in my parts box. 

Finally, I used a brass wire and three brass stanchions to make the handrail.  That solved a problem I wasn't sure how to deal with, at first.  The face had three "dimples".  They looked like injector pin marks from the casting process, but it made no sense that they'd be on that side of the casting.  Usually such things are designed to be hidden on the back or inside surface.  I realized they were most likely spots where, on a different model using the same face, a trio of stanchions would be used for a handrail.  So, that's what I did.  Problem solved.

Tender Cuts

I didn't like the long look of the tender as it was, so I decided to chop out a section and shorten the length.  I used the decals that would grace the sides as a gauge of just how much I could cut and still fit "OCALI CREEK".  With this measurement, I determined I could remove about an inch.

Using a hobby saw, I made the cuts as shown below:

After checking with a square, sanding, checking, more sanding, checking again, and still more sanding, I was able to arrive at mostly square and straight cut ends which mated well.

I bonded the joint with Testors liquid cement for plastic and braced it with the plastic modeler's secret scrap; a bit of bread clip.  The tender floor and underframe was secured with the same cement, but braced with small styrene strips along the length.

While I don't have much planned for the locomotive itself apart from a few minor detail changes, the tender modifications are quite extensive.  It will need pads in the shell for screws to attach it to the frame, a soldering board on which the decoder and all the wiring come together, plus details, some of which will be scratchbuilt.  This is shaping up to be a fine project.

Green Steam II

What happens when you strip the Southern Green paint off an IHC Mogul?  You find green plastic underneath that green paint!

Notice the silver smokebox and firebox paint didn't come off completely.  I may have been able to get more to release had I soaked it longer.  What you see here is the result of a couple hours in 91% rubbing alcohol.  I finished removing the silver with a scraper.  The only other green plastic is the cylinders and saddle, not shown here.  The rest - basically the frame - is molded in black plastic, and was unpainted.

Green Steam

I had big plans for my Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0.  Ever since I had purchased it, it was going to be my branch line steamer, hauling a classic mixed train.  But that's the fantasy...the reality is, it never worked right.  I should have exchanged it right after I got it, back when Bachmann was still making it.  Instead, it sat in its box for years before I decided to have a crack at fixing it.  The newer model they've released apparently doesn't have the flaws mine has, though it does not have all the beautiful, separately applied details. 

So when it didn't work I turned to a second option.  A friend had given to me three steamers; vintage models by Aristo-Craft back when they made HO.  These were "New One" models from Japan, thirty years older than the Spectrum engine.  I was disappointed but not surprised when the pretty little 2-8-0 had the same flaw: the drivers were pressed onto the geared axle slightly less than perpendicular.  That means the engine will have a lope; a wobble; a hitch in its getalong.

With both of these options off the table (and considerable time spent fiddling with them to try and make them better) I calmly decided I was going to do the right thing and purchase a reliable, dependable locomotive.  I had watched throughout the Christmas season as a USRA 2-8-2 chugged around the tree hauling a string of hoppers.  This stalwart steamer was made in Slovenia by Mehano for IHC. 

I got on eBay and found that apparently I wasn't the only person looking for great performance at a reasonable price.  But after a while I was able to land a deal on a 2-6-0, an ideal locomotive for hauling a freight or mixed train down a branch.  Sure, the detail wasn't as nice as my Bachmann Spectrum, but it runs (well!) and is a great platform for detailing.  If John Pryke considered it worthy of conversion into a New Haven K-1-B Mogul*, I figured I'd be able to do something with this little green steamer.

Upcoming blog posts will be progress updates on this project.

*see Model Railroader, August 2008, pg. 66

A Sad View from the Rear End

Not sure if the NorthWestern Pacific ever carried paying passengers in their cabeese, but on this day there are a few.  The rear brakeman doesn't seem to mind as he wets his whistle. 

According to the eloquent commentary of Beebe and Clegg, Mixed Train Daily, at a time when short lines were still carrying passengers in their crummies and the practice was still somewhat routine, riders would chat with the crew and enjoy the trip.  It may have been a special occasion that brought country folk into town by rail and people used it as an opportunity to gossip and gab.   But sadly, these poor people on this day are too distracted by their techno-toys to care that they are on a train, in a caboose no less, with other folks. 

 

These parents sat self absorbed in a tiny virtual world while their kids gleefully chattered away in the cupola.  My own youngest son made fast friends with a kiddo he'd never met while I stood down in the aisle below in case the train should rock and he should fall.  After his seat-mate got down mid-ride, I climbed up and joined him.  It was my first ride in a cupola too.  I will have great memories of that ride.  The other adults, well, I suppose they enjoyed whatever it was they were doing....it wasn't making memories to last a lifetime.

Clean Steam?

Recently Trainmasters TV posted a segment on weathering steam locomotives.  The target locomotive chosen was a UP locomotive and the weathering was applied so as to create the impression of a well-maintained and regularly cleaned locomotive at the end of a working day: not too dirty or grimy, and definitely not rusty, with little sign of any accumulation built up over a long period of time.

This approach makes sense and fits the adage that real working steam engines get dirty, but some are kept fairly clean for the purpose of good public relations.  Another thought is like it - tourist railroads, historic societies and theme parks keep their equipment polished and clean and these locos won't show any weathering effects from oil, smoke, grease, etc. except perhaps at the end of a long day's service.

Of course there is often an exception to even these enshrined rules.  I believe I have found it, in Willits, CA.  Not to criticize in any way - this is a fine engine crewed by caring professionals - but simply to show that even locomotives on tourist lines can exhibit more than just a little running dust, I present these images:

Granted, the locomotive as a whole is pretty clean compared to one that has been in regular service hauling copper ore in Nevada, as this one did.  Both tender and cab sides are clean as is the top half of the compressor, and the white rims and trim are still white.  I hope I look this good at 101!  But the grime, dust, and even rust is there, proving once again that there is a prototype for just about anything.  If you model a tourist line or historic society railroad, don't be afraid to be a little more heavy handed with the weathering.

Labor Day Treasure Hunt

I'm catching up on blog posts, since the last few weekends have been pretty eventful and I've not really felt like blogging.  This post isn't model train related, but there is a model, of sorts included. 

Labor Day weekend my family and I traveled over to Fort Bragg to visit the flea market - a really neat market with real fleas (no commercial sales or miracle products, but antiques, handmade jewelry, old tools, etc.).  I was hunting for a box in which to build a micro layout, but alas, one was not to be found.

After lunch we went looking for a beach.  The boys and I came ready to get in the water - the boys by choice and me by necessity, but only if necessary.  That water is cold.  My wife sat under her new sun hat and didn't tan (she doesn't, as a rule).  I got to use an old friend and its new cousin; my metal detector and pinpointer. 

Here's my haul:

The coins are 2003 and 2005 pennies, badly corroded.  The nails...well, my best guess is that they came from campfires in which people burned pallet wood.  The remaining bits and bobs are just that.  The dull silvery one in the upper left is intriguing.  It gave me a good tone, like silver, but I can't tell what it is.  It is not soft and malleable like lead so who knows.

The car is a genuine Hot Wheels, made in 2015 so it hadn't been there that long.  It is a '77 Pontiac Firebird, for those of you like me who are not really "car guys".  I typically hunt with the "trash meter" off for this very reason.  Yes, you get a ton of rust but on the beach I feel like that's a good thing - better me finding a rusty nail than some kid's foot!  You also get oddball things like this car.

Next post I'll be back on track with some steamy pictures.