08-10-2011, 09:18 AM
Steamtrains Wrote: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!