Finally got my hands on one of these kits!

artfull dodger

artfull dodger

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The stars finally aligned and I got my hands on one of the Riverdale Elke kits for my railway. This has been on my wish list since I first found out about this unique design in coal firing, keeping everything simple for the beginner. But there was one stumbling block, Joep refused to sell to the USA due to various reasons, and by the time I was in place to go thru a "middle man" in the UK, that source got cut off due to Riverdale now only selling within the EU and very limited numbers. Thats all in the past now, my kit will be here shortly and the fun can begin. Going for a jungle/bush railway look with the large Darjeeling spot lights, all black with red frames, shortened Swift Sixteen cow catchers(monkey pushers) and I will add one of the Roundhouse George 2 axle tender kits to give me a place to carry coal. I am super excited and cannot wait to start the build. As you can see the pic, the frame construction was started. But I will partially take that apart to paint everything and fit a SSP Slomo to the engine.
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The fun has begun. This is just set together in the pic, so nothing is aligned or fastened down, so things are a bit cockeyed. This is as far as the original owner got the project. I painted the frame, boiler wrapper, boiler back head and am starting chassis assembly tonight. Going with an all black with red frame Austrian/German look to suit my LGB rolling stock. If profit sharing is good(I had lots of down weeks last year) then I will order one of the 2 axle tender kits from Roundhouse, along with a few other bits and bobs.
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New pic time, progress is being made. By the time the missing parts are shipped to me, I will be ready to light a fire in her.
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view inside the firebox before i put the boiler on the chassis
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Fire door/damper closed
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Damper cracked open to cool the fire
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High temp BBQ grill paint for the boiler, smokebox and smokebox door, then Krylon brand paint for the gloss black and red used on the rest of the model. All in spray cans. Best I can do stateside. Will have plenty of time to cure and harden as I am missing a couple bits that prevent firing it up just yet. I do bake all the painted parts in the oven at 175'F for an hour or so. This helps cure the paint a bit quicker. I have been painting this way since I was enjoying HO brass models in my younger years. I do plan to get another Billy kit that I will paint to look like an LGB Stainz once funds allow buying another engine. Some of the places our live steam group sets up, does not allow coal firing. So, I need me a gas burner to run there and at home when I dont want to mess with coal.
 
Here is the first run on coal of the basic locomotive. No major issues, ran well in both directions. Still lots to do, will paint the inside of the cab after this paint fully cures, wood cab floor, working front light and RC control of everything. I have a Regner whistle kit on order for it, along with Regner lanterns. I will be ordering a tender kit from Roundhouse later this week.
 
artfull dodger said:
Here is the first run on coal of the basic locomotive. No major issues, ran well in both directions. Still lots to do, will paint the inside of the cab after this paint fully cures, wood cab floor, working front light and RC control of everything. I have a Regner whistle kit on order for it, along with Regner lanterns. I will be ordering a tender kit from Roundhouse later this week.
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Looks marvellous! Well done
 
I have plenty of coal on hand, as does both gentleman that bring it in by the metric ton then repackage to sell to all of us. Here is a short video of my first run on the railway. Still getting the hang of the "black art" of coal firing. But I am getting better, learning from my mistakes.
 
artfull dodger said:
I have plenty of coal on hand, as does both gentleman that bring it in by the metric ton then repackage to sell to all of us. Here is a short video of my first run on the railway. Still getting the hang of the "black art" of coal firing. But I am getting better, learning from my mistakes.
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Very nice, will you be fitting RC?
 
artfull dodger said:
I have plenty of coal on hand, as does both gentleman that bring it in by the metric ton then repackage to sell to all of us. Here is a short video of my first run on the railway. Still getting the hang of the "black art" of coal firing. But I am getting better, learning from my mistakes.
Click to expand...
Very nice does it go slower? Always worries me to see trains running fast on your high level line.
 
It will, trains have run much faster on my line, especially my friends gauge one Aster Jumbo. Trying to video in the chilly air and run the throttle on an engine not yet run in is a bit of a challenge. I have a SSP Slomo on order for it. Elke was never in danger of derailment, it would take a much faster speed to cause that. Elke uses a Roundhouse Billy chassis, but it has only an hour of run time on it so far. Needs a few more before its all run in and able to run at a slow and sedate speed on manual control. RC is planning, but I do not have all the parts in my hands yet to do the RC work.
 
artfull dodger said:
It will, trains have run much faster on my line, especially my friends gauge one Aster Jumbo. Trying to video in the chilly air and run the throttle on an engine not yet run in is a bit of a challenge. I have a SSP Slomo on order for it. Elke was never in danger of derailment, it would take a much faster speed to cause that. Elke uses a Roundhouse Billy chassis, but it has only an hour of run time on it so far. Needs a few more before its all run in and able to run at a slow and sedate speed on manual control. RC is planning, but I do not have all the parts in my hands yet to do the RC work.
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The SloMo will certainly tame the beast, if you do like handrolik control you may find RC not required once you get one. Be prepared to possibly have to change the tube run from the Oiler to Cylinders when you fit a SloMo, but with your experience now I doubt that will be an issue.
 
From the pics I have seen, I will only need to modifty the front cab plate that goes under the boiler to clear the top of the Slomo. I cant use the one that comes with the Slomo unless I notch it for the two steam lines(blower and cylinder feed) that go along the bottom of the boiler. We shall see in a few weeks when it comes in. I am holding off on the RC install till the Slomo is fitted as I had one of the earlier models from SSP fited to an engine and it does make RC nearly reduntant. Although RC would also be nice as well for shunting. I have a brand new gas fired Billy on its way to me(Birthday present to myself thanks to my generious profit sharing check I get from my employer each year). With that one being RC, I can decide where the Slomo will go, but both will probably get one eventually.
 
Nice work!
I'm jealous! I've been trying for a couple of years to get an Elke kit sent here to the USA with no luck. I have my UK dealer on the lookout for a used loco, but they are as rare as hen's teeth!
I had built a DJB Robert kit 12-15 years ago, but never liked the way the axle pump made the engine lope along, especially slow speed switching, so I sold it out to California. The Riverdale design eliminates that problem. Congrats on a great build!
 
Here is a new video of Elke. I could be tempted to swap or sell her for the right $$. Really want a USA narrow gauge engine like the Aster C&S Mogul.
 
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