Mantua/Tyco 2-8-2

[doctorwayne]

For removing cast-on details from the boiler, I prefer a hacksaw and/or a fairly coarse mill file. Cut or file as close as practical, then finish with finer files. Cut-off discs and cutting burrs can be useful, too, but usually not as efficient in Zamac castings. I've even used a cold chisel to remove air tanks from under walkways.

I acquired this kit and lots of additional detailing parts and can motor to turn it into a reasonably good looking and performing loco a few years back. I finally pulled it out of mothballs today to start working on it (talk about procratinating.... :oops: ). As I started to view it with building it in mind, a few questions/doubts popped into my feeble mind...

1. The cast boiler has a large, squareish looking box in front of the smoke stack, which I presume is someone's idea of a feedwater heater. Am I correct in assuming this..?? I would like to do away with it to install a real-looking heater, much like Dr. Wayne's locos have. Where would I find this heater and associated piping..?? I would also need the injector into the boiler as the loco has no indication of it..not even cast on.

Your assumption is correct, Gus: that box is supposed to be a Worthington fwh.
Cal-Scale (part of Bowser) has a good selection of detail parts, and if you intend to do more than just this one loco, a catalogue from Precision Scale Co. will prove very useful. Cal-Scale offers both Elesco and Worthington feedwater heaters (Cary, also part of Bowser, also offers a larger version of the Elesco bundle, too). For a Coffin fwh, you'll need to go to PSC, and they also offer several versions of the Elesco and Worthington fwhs, including several models of the Worthington BL, a vastly different-looking one from the S- or SA-types represented by that "box". All fwhs required a cold water pump to get the water from the tender to the heater, and, except for the BL-types, this was a separate detail. Worthington heaters also had a hot water pump to take the heated water to the boiler: on the S- and SA types, this was another separate appliance, while the huge, usually side-mounted BL type encompassed the cold water pump, heater, and hot water pump in a single unit.
The fitting to get the water into the boiler is a check valve. Many locos had two, usually one on each side of the boiler, but they could also both be on the same side. When a fwh is present, one puts hot water from the heater into the boiler, while the other uses cold water directly from the tender -water is supplied by an injector, a type of non-piston pump working on pressure differences. Other locos use a top feed check valve - this has fitting for both water lines combined in a single unit. With either type, only hot water or cold water would be used as desired, not both together.

Here's a re-worked Tyco with a Cal-Scale Elesco fwh and a few other parts, mostly from Cal-Scale - this one has a can motor and a NWSL gearbox - a smooth runner and powerful puller:


Another Tyco, this time with a Worthington SA:

2. The connecting rods and valve gear are nice, shiny, chromish looking metal. I would like to blacken these. How would I go about doing this..??

Either a chemical blackener or paint can accomplish this. For blackener to work efficiently, the metal needs to have all oxidation and oil removed. Be sure to follow the instructions on the bottle about neutralising the chemical once the blackening has been achieved, too, or it will continue to "work" and could cause damage to the rivets holding things together.
For a painted finish, I like to first wash the running gear in hot water and dish detergent to remove all traces of grease and oil. I then use a suitably-sized brush to paint all reachable surfaces - don't work it into the connecting points of moving parts, but don't be afraid to cover the visible shiny parts. I usually paint the drivers at the same time, also using a brush. Then, with the gearing either disconnected or the loco under power, I like to airbrush the entire running gear - either hold the loco in place and apply power so the drivers turn at a medium speed, or push it back and forth, freewheeling, while you spray. The brush work coupled with the in-motion spraying will ensure that there are no bare areas showing. The following day, after the paint has hardened somewhat but not fully-cured, apply suitable oil, sparingly, to all moveable joints, then run the loco back and forth. This will not only distribute the oil, but will also remove any paint that may have inadvertently gotten into places it shouldn't have.

3. I'll be chopping off the "tube" headlight and installing one on the top of the smokebox door on a bracket. What can I fill in the resulting hole with..??

I prefer the styrene rod (or sprue) method: it's quick and also easy to file or sand, and easy to drill if you need to run wires to the headlight.
If you're adding detail parts, where possible drill the boiler casting and use the mounting pins on the detail parts. For this method, I prefer epoxy to hold things in place, and often add ca after the epoxy has set. If the detail parts don't have mounting pins, drill them and add pins made from brass, steel, or stainless steel wire. If a part is properly pinned in place, ca will usually suffice to hold it.
Another method to add brass details is to drill a hole in the boiler casting, tap it, and then drive a brass screw into the threaded hole. Cut off the screwhead, drill the screw's shank to accept the mounting pin of the detail part, and then solder the part in place.

These are just the first few questions/doubts that arose. I'm sure I'll be getting back to you all for additional help as the need arises...

Thanks for any light you might shed on this....

Here are some examples of feedwater heaters.
This is a Worthington SA. The heater is the squarish box atop the smokebox - these are available in several styles and sizes, but are basically all the same. Right beneath the front end of the high running board is the hot water pump. While most of the piping runs through the smoke box and isn't visible, the hot water line is the fat pipe (lagged with insulation) which enters the bottom of the casting. Coming out of the top of the hot water pump, and passing through the running board, is the hot water pipe to the top-feed check valve. As mentioned previously, there are at least two water delivery systems on all locos - on this one, there's a cold water injector feeding the same check valve from the opposite side. The cold water pump for the fwh is barely visible behind the handrail of the turntable. It's located below the lower front corner of the firebox, and is lower than the tender's water cistern, making it self-priming. The supply pipe from the tender arches over the top profile of the trailing truck and the pipe from the pump to the heater ducks behind the long air tank, snakes along under the running board, then disappears into the smokebox.


I don't have a photo of a BL heater, but here's a LINK. Scroll down to the 7th photo and you'll see CB&Q loco 4961. The all-in-one BL is the gizmo hanging above the rear driver, with several pipes attached.

The Coffin fwh was much more common than many fans realise, as it was often concealed within the loco's smokebox. When exposed, many consider it ugly, but it's one of my favourites.
Here's a photo from the Paterson-George collection of TH&B Berkshire #202. The only clues to the presence of a feedwater heater are the pipes coming from the side of the smokebox (there are several on both sides) and the cold water pump, in a similar position to that in my photo of the 4807:


In this photo, by W.H.N. Rossiter, of DW&P Consolidation 2458, the Coffin fwh is hanging on the front of the smokebox for all the world to see:


I hope to replicate this loco in HO, btw.

Here is a couple of views of a typical Elesco fwh installation. The "bundle", the actual heater, can be overhanging, as shown, or atop the smokebox, partially or almost completely sunken into the smokebox, or placed on the pilot deck. Pipe routing varied from one railroad to the next, or even from loco to loco, but the connections were always the same. There is another, less-common Elesco heater variation known as the coil-type, which also sat atop the smokebox and an earlier smaller version of the water pump which looks quite different from the one shown.
Incidentally, the name Elesco comes from its maker, the Locomotive Superheater Company - LSCo. or Ell-Ess-Co.





Wayne