# Tuscarora Railroad #4



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Okay, okay. I admit it. I'm a sucker for siderods. What can I say? When Accucraft brought out their mogul, I thought it was a neat looking engine, very similar to my TRR #2 which I kitbashed from a Bachmann 2-6-0. Not that I needed another loco at the time (and waiting for my EBT mikado, not that I could afford another steamer, either.) But through a convenient happenstance (i.e., trade with a fellow MLSer and live steamer), I found myself in possession of one of these locos. 

Here's the loco as she looked when she arrived. (Palm trees not included, unfortunately.) 











The loco was in good shape, and proved to be a great runner. But way, way too shiny for my tastes, along with some other details that needed to be addressed. So, after a month or so in the shops, she's emerged as Tuscarora Railroad #4.











The specific details are covered on *my blog*, so I'll invite you to go there to read the full account and detailed photos of the locomotive. I'll post a few highlights here just to whet your appetite.











I didn't do much physically to the locomotive, as I liked the looks of it as it was. I did change and add a few details here and there to give it a more prototypical appearance.











I used coal dust as a weathering medium on this loco, both in terms of rubbing it on various surfaces such as the cab roof, and also gluing it in place for this cinder pile around the base of the stack. In this case here, I used paint as a "glue." It's held up well to steaming so far...











In other places, such as along the inside edge of the running boards, I used white glue, and sprinkled the dust on that. I also followed up with weathering powders and acrylic washes. Oil from the loco has been creeping in as well, such as the spot right next to the cab. 











The tender is probably the "most" modified, but even that is probably not noticeable. It got a new floor, as the stock brass one was just too wide for my tastes. Rather than cut it down, I just built a new floor from styrene, scribing and sanding it to give it a proper wood grain that was lacking on the brass plate of the prototype. (And now, I've got a huge brass plate I can use for some other project down the road.)










Speaking of the tender, I found the in-cab butane tank to give me sufficient run time (30 - 35 minutes per fill), so I felt no need to go to a larger tank in the tender. That allowed me to model a "half full" (I'm an optimist) coal load in the tender. I built a false floor for the coal to sit about 1/3 the way down, then poured the crushed coal into that, and glued everything down with dilute white glue.










Under that false floor, a pull-out drawer for the R/C receiver and batteries. 










Push the drawer in, put the fireman back in place, and it blends right in.










The crew is from Scale Humans. So long as Richard keeps pumping these figures out, I'll keep buyin' 'em. 

For more info, head to my blog. 

Later,

K


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Love that green! Perfect color, perfectly weathered


----------



## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks great, Kevin. About those Scale Humans: did you buy them painted or did you paint 'em yourself? They are cool lookin' figures.


----------



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow Kevin! Just amazing. Love the weathering! Like the blog too


----------



## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Sweet!


----------



## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

Another fine looking locomotive Kevin! 

Chris


----------



## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Yup, another excellent job!


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks, guys. I've had the loco out running a few times since "finishing" the weathering, and it gets more and more weathered each time out. This is one darned messy loco! Oil gets everywhere. I gotta do something with the exhaust to catch/deflect it, but my attempts so far keep putting out the fire. A little oil adds to the effect. A lot of oil wipes it out! 

Joe, I painted the figures. I try to paint two or three figures at a time, so I can work on one while the paint on the other is drying. Usually it takes me three or four hours to do two or three figures. Not too bad considering the life they bring to a model. I used to sculpt them myself, but once I found other figures that looked more realistic than what I could do, I figured I'd just work with them instead. It's easy for me to reposition arms and legs. 

Later, 

K


----------



## on30gn15 (May 23, 2009)

Pretty cool; that battery and receiver drawer is a stroke of minor genius.


----------



## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

That really looks great Ken! the tender almost looks like the real thing...Gotta ditch the Bachmann shovel though...look at a full scale Ames Coal scoop...very different shape. As a descendent of the Ames family I have a special interest in their products which were ubiquitous back in the day. They are much more shapely than Mr Bachmann's product.


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Yeah, I know, but no one makes a "proper" coal scoop in 1:20 that I've seen. (Ozark's is very similar to the B'mann scoop.) I bent one out of brass at one point in time; had a pretty decent shape to it, but more trouble than it's worth in terms of the net effect. 

Later, 

K


----------



## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Kevin 

Phil's Narrow Gauge sell castings, I do have some in storage along with Bachmann ones, but they in storage away from where I am right now or I'd take a picture for you. 

Phil's Narrow Gauge Parts

Alan


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Those do look good. Phil's a regular out at the museum steam track. I'll have to bug him next time I see him. 

Later, 

K


----------



## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

K, try a Chuffer in your mogul to clean the stack exhaust. One worked wonders on my 3-cylinder Shay, one of the spittin'est engines around. 

Re: #4--grimy looking beast. On the Raritain River and the Rahway Valley, idle moments for the crews were expected to be spent wiping down their engines. When the RRRR dieselized, cloths and a can of Simonize were stocked in the cabs, I was told. 

Larry


----------

