Sitting down looking at my loco fleet, I decided that my J-Class Bachmann will never look "right" in my layout, and without N&W Passenger cars... it just doesn't make sense to own.

It's a fantastic puller being mostly dicast metal, and the tender has room for a sound decoder... and I have a sound decoder kicking around, so I wanted to make something useful out of it.

Since I'm modeling Canadian Roads I did a search for streamlined CN and CP 4-8-4 locomotives and came across the Confederation U4a locos. The most famous would be 6400 which pulled the Royal Train across Canada.

Thus, I started planning in my head the conversion of the J-Class to the U4a.

The Prototype:



Now, I wanted to keep as many details as possible, and the J-Class seems to be pretty dang close to a PERFECT base for this loco. The side-rods and the wheels are out of my league for replacement... the wheels are the wrong "prototype" size and design, but the side rods are also different too... But as long as I can capture the "character" of the prototype that is good enough for me.

Luckily the only modification this loco needs (aside from a Vandy Tender, which won't happen cus I want sound) is paint and a modified nose.

Now I couldn't get the nose "perfect' because of the hand railing and location of the number boards. But like I mentioned, I'm going for the general character....



First, forming the shovel nose.


Like my Heavy 4-8-2 that I've converted into a U1f, I used plasticine that hardens in air. No sticking my locos in a oven to bake the clay! That migth turn out bad... Heres where I placed the clay


After that... paint!




The mostly completed product




oh, and look at that, a video too!

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sorry for the stalling... I need to clean my track I think


now to help solve a question I have...

If this was your project... would you paint the rest of the Tender in the CN Olive? Or would you leave it as is?

Hey..!! Good job...!!

If you're wanting "good 'nuff"...you got it. If you're after a closer "look" to the prototype, I'd paint the tender, AND the stripe on the nose of the engine...Then you'd have a "WoW...That is gorgeous"...!!!

Thanks!

Yea, I forgot about the nose stripe, it's kind of an important feature I think... So I'll be figuring out a way to add that this weekend.

I also need to "white wall" the wheels and I think I will go ahead and paint the tender. I'll leave the gold stripes in though.

I'm trying to decide if I should put in lettering for "Canadian National" across the tender, or just stick with the standard steam era block logo and put the road number in there instead.

Hi Luke---really nice job on the conversion to a cnr u-4-a---here's a shot of my locomotive that was custom painted by Doctor Wayne---I think the nose stripes will make a big difference and don't forget the number plate under the headlight.I think painting the tender green is also a good idea---as far as the lettering on the tender,I don't think CN ever had "Canadian National" on the tender---it was either a square(tilted) or round emblem---looking forward to the finished conversion

I model ho, not n-scale, but I'm wondering if you would have room for a sound decoder under the coal bin of a Vandy tender? You would obviously model it with an always full coal bunker. I think the Bachmann tender for the SP Gs4 would work for your conversion.

Nice job on your conversion, Luke.

While Canadian National (spelled out) did appear on some early tenders, it was supplanted early-on by the "wafer" herald. There were several variations of it, too, with the placement varying from centred on the tender to centred on the coal bunker. Early versions were tilted, then later horizontal, and there were subtle variations in the actual lettering, too. The final version, not applied to all locos, was the circular "maple leaf" herald, as shown on Mister Nutbar's loco. Whichever herald you choose, I think that it will look best centred on the coal bunker, either tilted:
[album]700[/album]

or straight:
[album]699[/album]

Wayne

With this tender I wanna keep the trim lines level with the loco as I think it looks really good like that...

so I'll put the road number inbetween the lines where it used to say "Norfolk and Western" and then put a circular hearld above it...

I might also go the extra step and actually do a whole new nose, it just looks better that way instead of the compromise. I can always readd the details with due care and a steady hand!

The Vandy that Bachmann issues would require a new drawbar arm, not a big deal, but the tenders are WAY to long, something I noticed on my Heavy mountains.

I like the look of this anyways, and I'm not numbering it as part of the 6400 series... its more of a tribute right now than an actual full on kitbash... but that could change.


Thanks for the tips! I'll be finishing paint and hopefuly moving onto decalling tonight.

If you're going to leave the paint scheme of the tender as it is, another idea might be to forego the herald altogether, but use the "CANADIAN NATIONAL" from a passenger car lettering set (as used on heavyweight cars) in the green band. The number could then be placed beneath the cab window, where it normally appeared on CNR steamers. While this wouldn't be strictly prototypical, it would look plausible and also be better organised than also using the logo. If you view it, as you say, as a tribute, it would also be viable "what if?" paint scheme.

Wayne

doctorwayne Wrote:If you're going to leave the paint scheme of the tender as it is, another idea might be to forego the herald altogether, but use the "CANADIAN NATIONAL" from a passenger car lettering set (as used on heavyweight cars) in the green band. The number could then be placed beneath the cab window, where it normally appeared on CNR steamers. While this wouldn't be strictly prototypical, it would look plausible and also be better organised than also using the logo. If you view it, as you say, as a tribute, it would also be viable "what if?" paint scheme.

Wayne

that was my original idea

I got some Testors decal paper, so I can pretty much make any decals I want... so I have the freedom!


I'm definatley gonna revist the nose tonight, the more I look at it, the more I know I can get it closer to the full shovel.

cn nutbar Wrote:Hi Luke---really nice job on the conversion to a cnr u-4-a---here's a shot of my locomotive that was custom painted by Doctor Wayne---I think the nose stripes will make a big difference and don't forget the number plate under the headlight.I think painting the tender green is also a good idea---as far as the lettering on the tender,I don't think CN ever had "Canadian National" on the tender---it was either a square(tilted) or round emblem---looking forward to the finished conversion

That is a gorgeous loco! Very very well done. I kinda wish I woulda started in HO so that I could do work like that... kitbashing in HO looks like it would be a lot easier in ways.... N scale gets really finicky I find... you never know if someting you do would mess up the loco in a bad way!


Whats the loco beside your U4a?

Thanks Luke---Doctor Wayne deserves all the credit---he also painted the locomotive in the background,CNR Hudson #5702---this was one of the first locomotives I purchased and Doctor Wayne did some extensive work on this locomotive to get her operational

I went through your photogallery on photobucket there and I gotta say you got an amazing fleet of CN steam there.

I wish I could get an N-scale fleet of the same quality going. My dream would be to have a N scale 6060 u1f to the same quality that you have....but half the size!

Cool Conversion!!! Really nice job.

FYI... Rapido is supposed to be making the Norfolk & Western passenger cars that match this era, but they won't be out till early next year. Plus, on the Atlas Forum, if I remember right, there was a post that if more orders for this second run of passenger cars doesn't increase, there may not be a second run at all. Check out their website in case you already haven't...I think they've got some Canadian roads of various eras either in production or planned for the second run of cars. Not sure if they'd work for you, but if you got an unpainted, you could fix them the way you need 'em.

(Edit) I just checked the Rapido Trains website and they offer the 1954 CNR passenger cars...good looking too!

thanks Hercdriver.

I got 9 of the CNR 1954 cars on order, they should be hear soon. I'm very very excited.

I've been following the Rapido stuff quite closely. He's still going to be doing the second run, but some paint schemes may not make it.

My heart aches to see a J meet such a fate...but if it makes you happy :cry: then I suppose it's serving a new purpose.

But seriously, changing the tender would go a long way toward better resembling the prototype (a real looker, btw). Nice work on the paint job.

Galen