Wyoming valley super Mike kitbash
#1
Well I'm staying out of this years summer structure challenge, I just finished up a large cement plant and I'm a little burnt-out on structure building.
So I'm going to do what I enjoy most,,,, Goldth Building steam power Goldth .
This is one of those I'll get to it one day projects that has been sitting around for years and I'm happy to finally be getting it under way. Here's a few pics of what I'm going for...CNJ #903 M-3s class heavy 2-8-2.

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She is one of a small group of experimental rebuilds done by the Jersey Central to improve performance on heavy grades. They had one purpose,, pull tonnage in and out of Ashley PA over the section of the line known as the Back Track. The Back Track roes 1,013 feet in 13.5 miles with grades over 2.5 % as the norm. Normally this work was done by the Ashley Planes, <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7580">viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7580</a><!-- l --> but a better way was needed. in 1945 The CNJ took a group of Heavy 2-8-2 and rebuilt them with Thermic syphons, Arch Tubes, Twin cross compound air compressors, extra large air reservoirs, and as much weight as they could squeeze into the frame. The Central called them Back-Track Behemoths...There were a bunch more changes made to these hogs that I will get into later, but for now I'll start with the tender.

I started with the tender on this build which is a monster all to itself, 24 tons of coal and 21,000 gallons of water. They were from a special order built by Alco for the long runs from the coal fields in PA. to New York harbor. One of these super mikes could do this run without stopping for coal or water with one of these tenders in tow. They did use several other tenders with these engines but these are the coolest, one of them even survived into Conrail as a fire fighting car. Overland did produce this tender in small amounts and included them behind the wrong class of CNJ 2-8-2's. I wish I could afford to buy one of these overland models, but I don't have the extra $1,000 to spend on toy trains. So lets splice and dice one together.

I started with two of the Model Gram Berkshire tenders, removing all the unnecessary details and grafted them together to get the proper length.
   

   

   

   

You'll notice in the last pic I have a set of scale drawings that are a great help in this build.

In this pic I have added the rim around the cistern and checked my seam with some rattle can primer. I also started playing around with the brackets that seam to hold the water tank to the frame on the prototype. They will need a little tweaking before I am happy with them.
   
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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#2
e-paw Wrote:...
Here's a few pics of what I'm going for...CNJ #903 M-3s class heavy 2-8-2.

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...

What for a heavy Mikado! Wish you success and to see next pixtures.
Cheers, Bernd

Please visit also my website www.us-modelsof1900.de.
You can read some more about my model projects and interests in my chronicle of facebook.
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#3
A few more progress shots...
Here is the underside of the tenders shell. You can see some of the bracing and the brass weight that I added. I have some 2-56 holes tapped into the weight to secure the frame to the shell.    

And here is the beginning of the frame....    

This shot shows the new coal bunker, foot plate, and coal doors that I fabricated from styrene.    

I have also bashed up a water hatch.    
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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#4
Those were some awesome locos. Makes the Reading M-1 I'm picking at look like a sophomore. I'll be watching this with great interest. this "Frankenmike" or assimilated Steam Borg will surely be a beauty. What chassis will you be using?
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#5
I should have posted this earlier. It shows most of the major components that I will be using. I believe the drive is an old brass Heavy 2-8-2 by Gem. It's missing a bunch of parts, and is mostly complete. All the important dimensions like driver size and spacing match up fine, and it's free rolling.

   
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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#6
I have added the mounts for the marker lights and electrical conduit. In the time period that I model, the CNJ had started to phase out the use of marker lights, so this model will carry none.    

At this point I primer the tender shell.    

The white primer gives me a good base to mark out the location for the rivet decals.    

   
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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#7
Trucks are in....
I used Precision scale commonwealth trucks, part #3127 They are the closest things to the prototype that I could find. Although they are about five scale inches too long it is hardly noticeable. This kit is not for the faint of heart, you have to drill out the sideframes to except the axles. This only leaves a paper thin section of the casting before you drill right through the journal box cover. I did this on a drill press, and it was still difficult, because it is very hard to clamp down everything square with the irregular shape of the truck. I also drilled the bolsters for 2-56 screws and not the metric ones supplied with the kit.
   


The other modification that I did was to add electrical pick up to the insulated side of the wheels. Now all the wheels can pick up power from the rails.
   

Now they are installed under the tender and wired with a back up light.
   
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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#8
e-paw Wrote:This kit is not for the faint of heart, you have to drill out the sideframes to except the axles. This only leaves a paper thin section of the casting before you drill right through the journal box cover. I did this on a drill press, and it was still difficult, because it is very hard to clamp down everything square with the irregular shape of the truck.]
Yes, e-paw i agree complete Thumbsup

Lutz
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#9
Always Impressive, everytime!
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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#10
Tank you Sirs... I'll have to bring it up to the next Fallen flags meet. That is if they actually have one this year,, last year it was canceled.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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#11
e-paw Wrote:Tank you Sirs... I'll have to bring it up to the next Fallen flags meet. That is if they actually have one this year,, last year it was canceled.


Thats what I thought, but it was actually rolled into the Layout Design/OpSig thing that happened about the same weekend the Fallen Flags meet usually occurs. It seemed like all the same people were there too. They had lots of tables there and quite a few models on display. I was planning to bring my Reading Company electrified Module to, but I didn't since I didn't think there would be anywhere to put it.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
[Image: logosmall.png]
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#12
I'll be following this build closely...Having built a Mike from an old Mantua kit (except for the motor...) and a few add-ons, I look forward to your updates...
Right off the bat I can see that your build will be far more involved than mine. I hope to learn some tips and pointers in case I get the "urge" to do another "vintage" engine build...

Good luck.. Thumbsup
Gus (LC&P).
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#13
This is looking good e-paw. The rivet job is excellent! It will be a lovely addition to the locomotive.

matt
Proudly modelling Quebec Railway Light & Power Company since 1997.

Hedley-Junction Club Layout: http://www.hedley-junction.blogspot.com/

Erie 149th Street Harlem Station http://www.harlem-station.blogspot.com/
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#14
Cheers Very nicely-done. Thumbsup Thumbsup

Wayne
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#15
Thank you all for the kind words.. Big Grin
With the trucks installed I soldered in a temp bulb in and decided to test the tenders road worthiness by switching it around Easton. The bulb will also let me see how well the pickups work. All those turnouts are #4's, I figure if it can make it through them with 3 axle trucks, it should track well anywhere. Click the link to check out the movie I made of the test.

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 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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