D51-200 Tender Locomotive 2-8-2

[J.L.]

Thanks John.

The sand pipes were a challenge. When viewed first hand, they looked like wires bent in every angle known to geometry.

The first task was to pair them up. Then each pipe had to be fitted to its tap and arranged so that it would follow the curve of the boiler donw to the bottom where it was fasened by a cleer holder. Then each pipe had to be fastened to the boiler with a bracket.

I did not have to bend one pipe. They all were pre-bent to fit in a certain place. The trick was to find where each one went in!

[Chipswitheverything]

Enjoying your excellent write up and photo gallery of this build John. The attention given to the design of this kit is very commendable, and seems very much better than that of many of the smaller scale loco kits that are supplied, ( typically for O gauge ).  I wonder if the kit manufacturer has happened to see your build log, which would certainly be of great interest to prospective customers, and an endorsement of the kit loco's quality  ?     Dave

[J.L.]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the nice comments. This company actually has a forum within it. Customers can ask questions or share comments about their builds. With the D51 for example,there is an official build with comments and photos. Quite extensive.
John

http://forum.us.model-space.com/default.aspx?g=topics&f=127

[J.L.]

Stage 40 of Pack 5 concludes with the addition of a reservoir on the left side of the lower firebox and a bleed valve on lower right firebox.

The whistle and safety valves in brass will be removed for painting. The rust coloured ash pan (lower firebox) will be masked.

[crueby]

Great looking parts - those guys spent some money on good tooling!

[J.L.]

I agree Chris. Here are some details starting on the backhead.

[J.L.]

Making and dressing up the backhead was very interesting work. It is not finished yet. I am finding images of gauges on the internet, printing them out and reducing them to fit into their rims.

Several pictures show the movement of the firebox doors, There are gears at the top just under the air cylinder that mesh together and are operated by the handle.

I really like the triangular sight glasses -  three pieces of flat glass. Metallic silver was all I could find to represent glass.

You know, like the front door that opens to reveal the smokebox spark arrester, the operating lid on the sand dome and now the handle that operates the firebox doors, these parts may never be operated, The finished engine will have its own appeal and such detais will be forgotten. Nevertheless, they are there and can be appreciated by the builder and anyone interested enough to hear me ramble on about them. 

[b.lindsey]

The backhead alone is a work of art John. Please keep the pictures coming.

Bill

[J.L.]

Thanks Bill,

Before I bolt the finished backhead in place I thought I'd take a novelty shot.

Imagine you are inside the boiler looking forward to the smokebox. All the pipes have been removed and all you see are their flanged holes.

Something to remember when all is finished and this image is hidden forever.

John

[J.L.]

The backhhead going into position...

[cnr6400]

Hi John, enjoyed your pictures. That backhead looks terrific!  Liked the "boilermakers' eye view" toward the tubeplate.

[J.L.]

Thanks! That boiler shot was interesting to shoot.

Here is a family shot of some of the parts that make up the two running boards. Each section of the running board on the model  consists of two pieces of metal plate. During the Second World War, these running boards were replaced with wood.

The top one is diamond patterned for tread safety and the sub plate is bolted to the boiler. The sub plate also has a 90 degree bend in it to for a trim strip. On some engines, these was painted white.

To my mind, now is the time to paint those white strips. As I have mentioned earlier, painting suggestions are not mentioned in these kit books until the last book - an error in my judgement. Doing the job now ensures clean, crisp painted edges with no brushwork.

[b.lindsey]

What amazes me John is the investment these guys have made in lost was casting molds and die punch tooling to produce all the parts. They must be selling a lot of these to amortize those costs which makes the cost of the kit all the more reasonable all things considered.

Bill

[J.L.]

Hi Bill,
I was going to hold off on showing one part that simply makes my jaw drop. But since you have brought up the quality of the lost wax castings, I have to show these three pictures of the compressor now.

Tom, I said I would mention you as well when I showed this part.

The amazing thing about this part is that a pipe will come out of it and go to regulator, also cast beautifully.

Wait until I get to the left air reservoir and cooling tubes! 

[b.lindsey]

Wow 

Bill