Thread: 1949 Reading Steam Freight Locomotive

Looking bloody wonderful, Bret. You don't have to get far back for it to look real.
Great job to this point. I'm dying to see it all finished and lined up.

I can't really suggest a finish either, I've only used WOP and wax so far.
Getting into all the fiddly bits will be fun - you might have to spray it. (Or buy lots of cotton tips.)

Looks fantastic. Wish I had the time and skills to knock up something similar, perhaps a Baldwin 2-6-2 tank loco.
Do you plan to raise the cow catcher?

Mate what can i say , beautiful workmanship and attention to detail is amazing you really knocked it out of the ball park, as for the finish im not sure what i would use on it if it was me but what ever you use to finish it, it will look great. And as for the next project its got to be the 32 hot rod for sure i can just picture it how its going to look already.

Thanks guys for the comments. Handyjack I do plan to raise the cowcatcher. I am going to remove about 3/16 from the center part of the cowcatcher, about a 1/16" off the bottom of the cowcatcher, and then about 1/8" off the mount and it should be able to clear the rails about 1/16".

Im going to build a shelf for it to sit on and possibly a plexiglass case with a wooden base. Definately don't want to be dusting this thing every month!

Bret

Words escape me, Fantastic job Bret.. Looking forward to the final glue up and finish.
I think a spray finish is going to be the order of the day as it will be very fiddly to get into all the corners. Lots of very thin coats to avoid runs

Thanks Derek. For the finish I think I have settled on just a coat of Danish Oil. It will pop the grain and seal it. I won't be shiny though.

I made the 2 of the 4 parts I had left I mentioned earlier the expansion tanks.
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I also started gluing the wheel parts together. I then decided to figure out why I had to sand the top of the front bogie assembly to fit upon going through all the chassis part I realized I made the front part of the main frame an 1/8" to thick. It was suppose to be 3/8" not 1/2". So I cut the front part of the frame off as it had been glued already. I then filed the frame down to 3/8" instead of 1/2". I put everything back together and the cowcatcher still didn't clear so I had to file about 3/32" off the center part to make it clear the tracks. But everything fits right now.
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I am officially on vacation for 9 days(holiday I think you guys call it). So I am hoping to get the train glued and finished by the end of the week. Hopefully by the end of the week I will be cutting out the frame for the Mack. I am setting aside one day to clean and detail my Camaro as it is long overdue.

My wife and I are celebrating our 8th anniversay today with dinner and a movie. September 4th is our official date. We had our honeymoon in Jamaica and lived through Hurricane Ivan that struck the island and destroyed everything. Lets just say I will never forget it!


Bret

Congradulations on your anniversay. Hope you both have a great time.
Back to the train. Well at least the adjustments are noticed now look forward to the glue up just don't drop or lose any parts at this stage in the build.
So the next build is the Mack then

Originally Posted by bj383ss

My wife and I are celebrating our 8th anniversay today with dinner and a movie. September 4th is our official date. We had our honeymoon in Jamaica and lived through Hurricane Ivan that struck the island and destroyed everything. Lets just say I will never forget it!
Bret

Your wedding anniversary or Hurricane Ivan?

Does the model have free wheels or are they going to be fixed during the glue up?

Handy jack,

I couldn't forget either. The wheels do spin but I tried them today with all the rods hooked up and didn't work so well. It seems it gets hung up when all the wheels get to the top or the bottom of the rotation

Bret

Are the cranks set at 90 degrees (as prototype) or 180 degrees (typical toy) or other position? As it is a model it is possible that a bearing may be out of round or not in line.

Once it is on the shelf you probably will not require it to "turn a wheel".

Hello Bret ,If you Google Quartering Crank shafts model locomotives You will get all the infomation you will need .All though Handy Jack is correct.



Eddie.

Handy and Eddie the instructions say to have the opposite side of wheels set at 90*. I don't even have the other side hooked up yet. I think Handy is right this being a model not everything is spaced right and put in the right place for everything to move smoothly. Its not matter though as it will just sit on a shelf and look pretty.

Although everyone that has come out to the shop to see it have all for some reason tried to roll it down the tracks. I guess its just human nature. I barely had it mocked up enough to stay together and when they would move pieces would fall off and then they felt bad. And I thought to myself well you shouldn't have touched it without asking.

Well its time to go work on it!

Bret

Sneak Peek!
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Originally Posted by bj383ss

Sneak Peek!
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Wow Bret, That is looking pretty damn special.....Well Done indeed.....Looking forward to the rest of the finished job photos......Cheers, crowie