No. 3 The small locomotive is so ugly that it is actu- ally handsome. Finishing touches included a wood pole with metal-tipped ends for poling cars, bell and whistle pull, and, of course, Kadee couplers.
No. 9 was equipped with a small tender and simple paint job with only ini- tials and the locomotive number visible. The large headlights and spark arrestor screen on the smokestack add charac- ter to the steam locomo- tive.
and the 0-6-0 weighs 12.6 ounces. Center of gravity on these models should probably be near the cen- ter axle; the 2-6-2 is about right, but the 0-6-0 has a center of grav- ity 4mm behind the center axle. Etched brass pieces in both kits fold easily, and the fit is near perfection. Smaller white-metal cast pieces are of good quality — end-beams, light, backhead, along with the extra-cost optional pump, bell, and air tank. How- ever, casting detail on the larger pieces was not what it might be, so I substituted cast brass stacks from Precision Scale and Wise- man Model Service. I then added figures and most of the smaller details, stuff that was not in the kits: wood roof; front deck-, roof-, and under-cab-mounted toolbox- es; whistle bell-crank; rear lights; pole and poling pockets; tank drain valve; number plates; en- gineer’s half door and water bag; grease pot; and re-rail frogs.
The “shoulda done it right the first time” department
Not wanting to “completely dis- assemble the mechanism” while cutting, grinding, and filing the 0-6-0 frame, I “sealed” the gear- box with masking tape — not well enough. After appearing to pass
bench tests, the completed engine had a slight hesitation in reverse when run on the track. Finally, I traced the problem to a chip of metal in the gear train grease. Un- fortunately, I had to “completely disassemble the mechanism” to find it.
If you try one of these kits, re- sist the urge to attach grabs and handrails until the model is near- ing completion. Stanchions may be soldered in from the back, but leave the handrails themselves off until the end. You know how I know, don’t you?
Backwoods Miniatures named metric drill sizes needed, but I got by with a numbered set and some good reamers. If you get this far, don’t try to use a power drill on ei- ther the white-metal or the brass. A pin vise works fine — a bit slow-
er perhaps, but much more sure, and it seldom breaks bits. Notice the headlight and stack on the 2-6-2. Those out-of-plumb features were not planned. Slow setting epoxy was way too slow. I broke and lost one cylinder
drain valve on each model. I also bent side rods and pickups on each side on several occasions, so be careful when handling any deli- cate mechanism. For the electronics, I used the same liquid flux and soft solder I had used for soldering the brass. Big mistake. Flux got into the cir- cuit on the bottom of one board and caused a short. I had to re- move the PCB and all its “filters.” When adding the domes on the saddle tank, I did not shorten the “spigots” (read sprues) quite enough, so the decoder did not fit
44 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
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