Making a Nonesuch

[Mik]

OK, first -- Yes, I know there weren't any such animal as 1850s narrow gauge 4-4-0s --- that's why it's a "Nonesuch"!

Now that we have THAT out of the way, if there was one, what would it look like? Maybe something like this?

Or this?

Shawn Fields sent me an Aristo Pacific drive. It came this morning, and by lunchtime looked like this. I know the counterweights are wrong for 1855, but it ain't worth replacing 1/3 of the spokes to fix.

I also had an incomplete MPC "General" kit here. While the General IS an 1855 Rogers, the kit is a model of it's 1896 rebuilt configuration... So I decided to backdate it just a bit. The first step was to section the boiler and move the sand dome forward. It will now be a second steam dome.

I recycled the Bachmann pony truck that I shortened for #12, then didn't use. The General kit is 2-1/4" gauge... narrowing things for 45mm required a bit of reconfiguring because the boiler is just a bit too fat. Good thing I wanted inclined cylinders anyway! Yes, in 1:24 those are 66" drivers. It's an express engine!

Narrowing the tender trucks was fairly easy, so was fitting them with Lionel wheelsets... I strengthened them with coffee stirrers so they MIGHT hold up under use.

That stopping point called out of glue blues, the cab is just hanging in mid air to see what it will look like. The motor will be in the tender like a B'mann HO scale 4-4-0... I couldn't figure any other way...

All in all. not bad for a day's work?

 

[royale]

That is going to be a brilliant and unique high-wheeler - well done.

 

[Mik]

Some thoughts for others who may eventually want to try something like this.
1. A REA/Aristo Rogers drive would probably be a better starting point. An Aristo or Lionel 0-4-0 might work as well.

2. The kit plastic is really light flimsy and some of it is just plain brittle. Plan on replacing the siderods, and perhaps using a bit of pvc pipe for the boiler (scavenge the wagontop section, smokebox and sand dome).

3. Building a whole new frame might be easier than trying to narrow the kit one. Maybe even consider soldering one out of brass box for strength.

4. The front truck HAS to be reworked to slide side to side... unless you have really, really broad curves, so you almost HAVE to incline the cylinders for clearance. The plastic rail from the kit actually comes in handy for making a set of guides for the truck to slide in. Z styrene or brass might be even better though

5. In gauge 1 the sides of the cab floor tries to occupy the same space as the rear drive wheels. It might actually be easier to just replace it than to modify it....

Anyway, here's what it looks like this afternoon.... I just HAD to use that cool ball sand dome... it's a wooden bead. A eail historian buddy of mine said my original paint scheme was too obviously Mason for a Rogers/Norris mutt, so I added some Swinburne touches, and he's a bit happier.... go figure.

 

[dragon]

Looks like quite rapid progress. Please keep the pictures coming.

 

[Mik]

It's one step forward, two back today. The glue Kim bought says it works on "most plastics", but doesn't hold very well on styrene.... nothing like stuff falling off when you bump or try to paint it.

 

[themole]

That looks good. Playmobile did a western loco back in the early 1990's my brain cell tells me.

 

[hagen]

Shawn Fields sent me an Aristo Pacific drive. It came this morning, and by lunchtime looked like this. I know the counterweights are wrong for 1855, but it ain't worth replacing 1/3 of the spokes to fix.

On the Aristo wheels I have seen the counterweight is fixed in place by a little screw that you can simply unscrew and remove the counterweights to add your own design weights.

 

[CoggesRailway]

That looks good. Playmobile did a western loco back in the early 1990's my brain cell tells me.

yep we got one for the boys. track powered tender.

 

[Mik]

The counterweights are cast in, and hollow. The covered part of the spoke is not there at all. I'll try something later tonight, but it might be like lipstick on a pig.

All the 4-4-0 models I've seen have been mid-1870s or later. Nice, but not what I wanted. The H-L-W ones are also about 3 times what I can afford, and the B'mann ones are both wrong scale and won't fit on my track... Hence this exercise.

 

[Woderwick]

It takes my breath away.

 

[Mik]

Here is a page I made on North American locomotives of the 1850s era. When I started researching this project, I had no real idea how much locomotive design changed between the late 1840s and the 1870s. I mean, I knew there was evolution, but had no idea there was that much. Not only did locomotives tend to get bigger, stronger, and faster after about 1853, the styling changed to follow the architectural (classical revival) trends of the period. Most builders also eventually followed Mason's lead of simpler. cleaner lines and fewer ornamentations --- which would eventually lead to basic, black and boring by the century's end.
http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/1850s.html

 

[C&S]

Very interesting overview of loco design in the 1840-50s. Particularly liked the little 2-2-2 "Pioneer"; also noted a Canadian built engine lettered GWR - what RR owned that? Nothing to do with Mr Brunel's line, I think!

 

[Mik]

From Wiki -
The Great Western Railway was a historic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada < Link To Canadian railway that operated in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_West < Link To Canada West and later the province of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario < Link To Ontario, following http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Confederation < Link To Confederation. Entrepreneur http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Zimmerman < Link To Samuel Zimmerman was instrumental in promoting its construction and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_Gardinier_Benedict < Link To Roswell Gardinier Benedict, a friend of Zimmermans was the assistant chief engineer and later the chief engineer.
This system stretched 1,371 kilometers (852 mi), running from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls,_Ontario < Link To Niagara Falls to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto,_Ontario < Link To Toronto and connecting lines to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London,_Ontario < Link To London, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor,_Ontario < Link To Windsor and communities in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Peninsula < Link To Bruce Peninsula. Having begun operations in 1853, the company was purchased in August 1882 by the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Railway < Link To Grand Trunk Railway system and fully merged by 1884.

 

[C&S]

Mik, Many thanks for expanding my education.

 

[Mik]

I think the locomotive in question was ........... but I need to double check my sources...

Correction!!!! It was built in England

Adam Brown GWR 55 Canada c. 1856 Ex-Wellington, Grey & Bruce Ry; Rb before 1860 as 4-4-0.
It was even on a stamp in 1983

The pic I used was of the first train in to Niagara Falls, on Dominion Day in 1870... Unfortunately, I'm not finding where she was built or where she ended up.


Route map of the GWR (Canada)

 

[Mik]

Doncha HATE starting over? I tried to modify the counterweights, and Kim's "works on most plastics" glue decided that it didn't like the stress and vibration..... Soooooooo, since I have to redo a bunch of things anyway, I'm going to try to modify the drive block to fit the motor inside the boiler (at about a 45deg angle).... Remind me again that this is "fun"?

 

[Mik]

The reconfigured gearbox....

Is it me or were those Aristo Pacifics geared awful high?

ALMOST back to where we were yesterday morning.........

It only has 4 point pickup at the moment. I need to scrounge a 2 wire modular plug and put skates or something on the tender

 

[Mik]

Foodled with this a bit today. Got the backhead stuff put on... it doesn't look right to me, but that's the way MPC wanted it

And worked on the cylinders