Upcoming projects: Yet more bargain brass!


Espeefan

Well-Known Member
I ran across a couple of very good buys this week, just couldn't pass them up! First is this little SP 0-6-0. I like the "watter bottle" tender, or Sausage tender as it was called. Designed to give the crew maximum visibility when switching. This model is an old Katsumi. It has the Tyco style drive, unsprung drivers and a worm soldered directly to the motor shaft which meshes with a worm gear on the center driver. Like that little ten wheeler on the other thread. It will get the same treatment, a 28:1 NWSL gearbox and one of those little shorty motors. By today's standards, it's a crude model, but I have plenty of Cal-Scale laying around. She'll get a nice facelift!
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Next up is a Westside Models UP FEF-2 4-8-4. I know...I'm an SP guy till the day I die, but I model the LA area, and the SP shared that with the Santa Fe and UP, so both railroads made appearances alongside the SP. Besides, I happen to think the FEF series was a very handsome design, and for beginning painters, they are very easy to mask for the smokebox and firebox graphite. I may do this one in early Greyhound (white stripes). It's never been run. The Elephant ears, boiler weight, and coupler pockets are still in the factory sealed bags. It has an open frame motor, and that can in the foreground will be going in. Those old open framers sure do smell interesting though!

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I got this one for a song, because of a minor problem, well, minor to me. A nasty stain on the tender. I think many years ago, someone spilled some acid flux and didn't clean up the mess. This is what happens as a result:
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Now for a collector who wants shelf queens, this is a deal breaker. For a guy who is going to paint it and operate it, it's no big deal. A quick trip through the blasting booth and here you go:
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The FEF-2 will be joined by an earlier acquisition, the PFM FEF-1. This is an older PFM model, with the original tender:

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This model is a good example of why I remove the clearcoat on these. Note that it is starting to fail, especially on the tender. It's harmless to the model, but you lose eye appeal if you prefer them unfinished, and why put all that work into a paint job over a bad clear coat? Your paint job is only as good as what it goes on top of! It will be fun to update these, and get them running on the club. Unfortunately they're going to have to wait in line. I did promise that ten wheeler next and I haven't forgotten!
 
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Alan, That little 0-6-0 is a jewel ...the valve gear on that beast if awesome!
The engine and tender are well proportioned to each other.
 
Alan, That little 0-6-0 is a jewel ...the valve gear on that beast if awesome!
The engine and tender are well proportioned to each other.
Thanks Sherrel. This configuration has been one of my favorites. I have two other 0-6-0's in the collection. One has a narrow bunkered Vandy tender, the other has the traditional slopeback. I'm looking at doing this one or the Vandy tendered one as a passenger station switcher. Its fun to bring these things back to life. They've been sitting in closets since they were bought. I've lubed the mechanisms and motors and test run them. Listened to the mechanisms smooth out, and smelled the motors. That motor smell takes me back to my Lionel days! The best part: I got both of these for less than the cost of one plastic steamer! Here's what I plan for them: Photos courtesy of Brass Trains.com again:
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That little SP 0-6-0 would take about an hour to get around my layout one time.
Quite probable. It will get a low RPM motor and gearbox. I try to choose reductions to give these models realistic scale speeds, so by most out of the box standards they're going to seem slow. Then there's always the speed table in the decoder.
 
Alan: Do many of the brass steamers have tender electrical pickup?

My knowledge of brass locomotive is limited to looking at the vast selection at the former Hobby Horse at Capital Court in the 60's and at Russ's hobby shop on Center Street in Milwaukee.

Guess I'm dating myself.

Greg
 
Alan: Do many of the brass steamers have tender electrical pickup?

My knowledge of brass locomotive is limited to looking at the vast selection at the former Hobby Horse at Capital Court in the 60's and at Russ's hobby shop on Center Street in Milwaukee.

Guess I'm dating myself.

Greg
Greg most brass steamers pick up on one rail fro the tender, and the other rail from the drivers.
 



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