Bowser Casey Jones Kadee Coupler Questions

[doctorwayne]

....If you manged to couple the excellent Bachmann mechanism with the Varney weight and didn't have to spend $80 on brass detail parts, I'd call that a win.....

I had to check the construction photos to refresh my memory...





Looks like new front steps, class lights, top feed check valves, sand domes, and cross compound air pumps for those locos, plus the plastic headlights and number boards from PSC. Some of the piping is from Bachmann, with the rest bent from wire. The air tanks are lead-filled brass tubing (and there's a block of lead under the cab - I didn't really have anything else to put there, but I didn't want it left open). The whistles and pop valves were from the scrap drawer.
Usually, when I have a locomotive project in mind, I check what I have on-hand, new or used, then pick the rest from the Bowser/Cal-Scale or Precision Scale catalogues.
For an ongoing re-build on another locomotive, I bought a Worthington SA-type feedwater heater system, but used only the cold water pump and the heater unit. The hot water pump needed to be placed in a spot where it wasn't all that visible, so I simply built a stand-in using styrene strip and tubing. I'll find another locomotive for the orphaned hot water pump, and buy or build the other needed parts.

Wayne