THE MIKE - IT'S FINISHED...!!!!

[Steamtrains]

It was bound to happen someday....And it did...!!!

My 2-8-2 upgrade is finally finished and pounding the rails..!!

Here's a quick bunch of pictures I took to post ASAP...Let me know your comments...good, bad or indifferent....
















FYI...It runs beautifully...Guess all that hair pulling I went through to get it to run nicely paid off. And it's actually quieter than I expected. I think the paint "muffles" the sound some. And it is HEAVY... I'd been handling the frame and boiler separately all this time, but when I assembled them...WoW...What a brute....!!

A couple of downers...the cowcatcher is too high off the rails...And that screw holding the headlight to the front cover.... :x Gotta do something about that....

Was it worth the pain..?? ... YOU BETCHA...!!!

P.D. All this wouldn't have been possible without your valuable input, and particularly from our good friend Doc Wayne whose help and tips made it possible. Thanks Doc...

[cnw1961]

Gus, you are really expecting some bad comments????? You are kidding, right????????????? I am not an expert on steam engines, but it looks fantastic to me. You must be really proud to have built it yourself.

[Lester Perry]

Having been there myself about all I can say is Feels good don't it?

[Steamtrains]

Good..?? Feels like a million bucks...!!!

Kurt...Yes I'm feeling good about it...Actually, I'm walking on a cloud just about now...

I noticed a couple of "nicks" that need a little touch-up...Funny how you can pick up something like this in a pic. I swear I went over the whole thing with a fine-tooth comb, and did touch up the ones I saw....

[cn nutbar]

Take a bow Gus---you deserve it for a job very well done I have never built a locomotive myself so I can only imagine how proud you must feel when you see something that you have created and seeing it run makes all the effort more gratifying.Just a suggestion---you may want to put a number plate over the screw on your smokebox much like the Canadian National used on their locomotives---again,great work---hopefully you'll post some pictures in the "Is there a Mike in the house" thread

[Sumpter250]

That looks great !!! Nicely done

" A couple of downers...the cowcatcher is too high off the rails...And that screw holding the headlight to the front cover.... :x Gotta do something about that.... "

If you need to be able to remove that screw, cut a circle of masking tape the size of the screw head, apply it to the screw and paint black. If you don't need to remove the screw, fill the slots with putty, and paint black. I wouldn't have noticed it unless you pointed it out.

" the cowcatcher is too high off the rails "

As long as the coupler works......, again, it's not that noticeable.

No matter how long we've been at this, no matter how good we think we are, we need "mistakes", to keep us learning.
I wouldn't post the signature I use if I didn't believe in it, myself.
In the meantime, you've done well, enjoy it !

[iis612]

A work of art!!

Matt

[MasonJar]

Looks great! The extra details and the weathering are awesome!

I have a comment about the front end, as you've already described. I am wondering if there's something preventing the shell from sitting back down properly? See the red circles in your photo below to see what I mean. While the feeds to the cylinders seem correct, there might be something preventing the shell from sitting where it is supposed to be, as evidenced by the high "cowcatcher" and the disconnect between the ladders and running boards.

I think the number board solution to the phillips screw head is a great idea.

Andrew

EDIT - so my sentences make sense!

[nachoman]

Very nice to see the completion! Are you going to attempt more steam loco kits or detailing?

Andrew might be on to something regarding something being installed incorrectly on the front end. I can't recall if you used the stock mantua pilot or not. As for the screw, sometimes I have used a hex head screw on side rods because it is less noticeable than a phillips or slotted screw. I have to file the screw head to about half thickness, though.

[Steamtrains]

Hey guys..!! Thanks for all your comments. They sure are welcome after all I went through getting this baby done. I swore a hundred times I wouldnt do this EVER again, but a couple of weeks ago I kinda started browsing around seeing what I might tackle next....
I ran across my ol' man's Mantua Pacific from waaay back...very early fifties vintage. I'm thinking I just might resucitate it....

For the time being I'm going to concentrate on working on the layout which has been lying idle most of this time. Gotta "get 'er done"....

As for the cowcatcher/steps issue, i double checked to see if the boiler might not be sitting correctly on the frame, but it is firmly seated on the saddle and on the cylinder pipes. It is not the original catcher...The original was a blob of black plastic.... It's one of the many add-ons I purchased , and "dolled" it up with the piping between the tanks and the coupler levers. The front coupler is scale (+/-), from a time before Kadees, so it's essentially just for show....

[Schraddel]

Gus!

You have done a great work!
The cow catcher, the ladders and the pilot deck, is this one singular brass casting?

Lutz

[Steamtrains]

Hi Lutz....

Thanks for your comments, coming from the likes of you and several others is very satisfying.
The catcher, deck, cylinders and steps are all one casting. The coupler and coupler levers are the only modifications to it, and do not interfer with proper "seating" of the boiler. It was advertised as being specifically for the Mantua Mike....

[Russ Bellinis]

It looks like the pipes between the cylinders and the boiler are holding the front of the engine up. I'm thinking that it would probably work to file off the tops of those pipes to allow the boiler to sit down as it should. The other alternative might be to drill holes in the boiler to just allow those pipes to slide up into the boiler and allow it to sit down properly.

[Steamtrains]

Russ....The cylinder tubes are not the sole support of the boiler. The "real" seat for it is a saddle-like post right underneath the smoke stack which is what the boiler screws into. I checked last night and the boiler is seating on this saddle, and the holding screw is well tightened.
I've been thinking of checking the cowcatcher with the original that came with the kit, but that implies disassembling the loco....And that's not gonna happen...Not right now anyway...

Also...the catcher screws directly on the frame making it independent of the boiler. The gap between the steps and the running boards would get larger if I were to lower (if I could...) the catcher....

[Russ Bellinis]

Russ....The cylinder tubes are not the sole support of the boiler. The "real" seat for it is a saddle-like post right underneath the smoke stack which is what the boiler screws into. I checked last night and the boiler is seating on this saddle, and the holding screw is well tightened.
I've been thinking of checking the cowcatcher with the original that came with the kit, but that implies disassembling the loco....And that's not gonna happen...Not right now anyway...

Also...the catcher screws directly on the frame making it independent of the boiler. The gap between the steps and the running boards would get larger if I were to lower (if I could...) the catcher....

I suspect that the post under the smoke stack needs to be shortened slightly and drilled and retapped if necessary. I suspect that kits built in the "good old days" were not always as precise as what we are used to today!

I remember reading a report in MR where they were reviewing either a Cary shell or a Bowser steam engine kit where they were critical of all of the flash that they had to clean off before they could even start on the kit. I suspect that the flash on the Bowser kit would not have even been noticed back when it was Penn Line or Varney because flash was an expected part of any die cast kit in the 1950's, but by the 1980's it was considered to be something that would have been eliminated!