# Woodland Railway #40 rebuilt



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Yes, I do dabble in the dark side of internal combustion locomotives once in a while. A little history...

Back in 1990, I was leafing through the March/April issue of the _Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette_, and they had a drawing of a 40-ton, center cab Whitcomb diesel. That was during my "misguided youth" period, so I was actually a bit prone to diesels, particularly quirky ones with siderods. (My HO railroad at the time was predominantly diesel due to the simple fact that steam locos that ran worth a darn were well out of my price range.) In the article, the author mentioned that he would love to see someone do a model of it in 1:24. Well, I couldn't let a challenge like that go unmet...So, I bought a pair of Northwest ShortLine power trucks, scratchbuilt some sideframes, and extended the axles for the counterweights. Some acrylic sheet for the frame, and styrene for the cab and hoods, and before too long, the Woodland Railway had a new diesel...










The prototype was built by Whitcomb in 1941 for the US Navy for use in Oahu. There were clearance issues on the line which necessitated the very low cab. 










Dad sculpted a suitable brakeman to watch over the front for switching operations (which also puts the very low height of the cab in perspective). You HAD to watch your head on this loco. The loco ran very well, except that the siderods and counterweights weren't exactly robust. The screws would come out, or they'd lock up, and eventually that part of the loco fell apart. Dad pulled the siderods off and ran the loco with just the counterweights, but it just wasn't the same. Dad's spent the past three years downsizing and restructuring his loco roster (mostly via the TRR's shops). He had all but retired this loco, until a friend of his swapped him a QSI board for some electronics installation. With that, #40 was given a second lease on life. Dad brought the loco out to me with the simple instructions "rebuild it." 










The loco was in rough shape. The trucks worked, but would need new counterweights and siderods--something I wasn't too keen on rebuilding. The cab had seen better days, and the cab roof had a big rip through the middle of it. I procured a set of Bachmann 45-tonner trucks to see if they'd work. They fit, though there wasn't a lot of room to spare and I'd have to re-do the underbody detail. 










I decided since this loco was being rebuilt, that the crews would be pretty darned tired of hitting their heads on the cab roof, and not having any clearance issues, would have insisted a new cab be built. (Coincidentally, the proportions of this cab drew heavily from a 45-ton Whitcomb that is currently running in Hawaii.) So a new cab and cab roof became the order of the day. The hoods remained untouched, though I did remove the shrouding that surrounded the exhaust, and replaced it with proper exhaust pipes. 










There were a few dings and dents in the hoods, which I left in place. A little weathering, and they looked like they were supposed to be there.











Dad wanted the paint scheme to play off of the black and dark green theme we had adopted for the steamers, so he brought out a can of Krylon "Hosta Green" for me to use. It took me a while to come up with a paint scheme that didn't make the loco look like an Army loco. I painted the entire loco green, then took a side shot, loaded that into Photoshop, and played with stripes, colors, and lettering until I came up with this scheme. 












The QSI board was already programmed with a proper-sounding diesel sound (I think from an early EMD loco). Probably prototypically a bit overkill for a loco of this size, but when I compared it to the sound of the 45-ton Whitcomb I found on YouTube, it wasn't too far off, so I ran with it. The speaker is in the fuel tank. I found it sounded better without any "air holes" so it's actually sealed in a closed box. 


I have to admit, I kinda liked the looks of the center cab running around the TRR. It has me looking at the Accucraft loco, though at nearly $1,000, I think I'll build my own. Now, who else has some B'mann trucks they'd like to trade...

Later,

K


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

That looks great! The new cab is perfect. 

I'm amazed how close those counterweights come to the frame--it looks like you filed a 1/4 moon out of the undercarriage? Or is that just the angle?


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

No filing necessary, but literally, just barely. The airtanks had to be replaced with shorter ones because they got in the way. The wheelbase of the Bachmann trucks is similar to the NWSL trucks, but the wheels are a larger diameter, so the counterweights are larger diameter and closer to the frame than the old ones. 

Later, 

K


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

I think we just now are seeing the depths of Kevin's modeling talents. Pretty neat--for a dismal.


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## jonathanj (Jan 24, 2008)

Posted By East Broad Top on 10 Jun 2012 11:52 PM 

It has me looking at the Accucraft loco, though at nearly $1,000, I think I'll build my own. Now, who else has some B'mann trucks they'd like to trade...

Later,

K

Does that mean you know where there are drawings for the Accucraft loco?... I fancy one too, and I don't have a $1000 to spare either, but I do have a pair of unallocated trucks...

Jonathan


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

I also have a "thing" for small centercab diesels.  That's a nice looking machine there! 
My personal favorite centercab is the "war baby" that Whitcomb made toward the end of WW2 with the low cab. Lots of them were sent to Europe to rebuild the war torn railroads there, and some of them were sent back to the states after that was done. There was one in N.E. Wisconsin until a few years ago when it was scrapped.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Jonathan, I do not. The plans I used were for the low-cab version, and published in the March/April Gazette. I just visually guesstimated the proportions of the taller cab to fit the frame of this one. If I were to completely rebuild it, frame and all, to 1:20, I'd use those plans and photos of the 45-tonner running in Hawaii. 

Amber, what was the gauge of the ones shipped overseas? 

Later, 

K


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

The "War babies" were all standard gauge, according to the information that I have.


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## Jim Petropulos (Dec 27, 2007)

The Accucraft Whitcomb 45 T looks pretty wide at 9 feet for a narrow gage engine, with most narrow gage rolling stock around 7.5 and 8 feet wide. Wouldn't it look out of scale?? How wide were the Oahu railway cars? I like this engine too, but it seems to large compared to everything else in 1:20 scale...?


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Depends, really. Locomotives--especially those built after the 1900s--tended to be built to larger loading gauges (overall size) than the rolling stock. When you look at the outside frame locos (C-21, C-25, and K-series) on the D&RGW, they push or exceed 10' wide. The Uintah mallets were likewise 10'+. Diesels varied. You had everything from small critters to the large Alcos used on the White Pass, which also came in at 10'+ wide. You also had some locos (like the prototype for the Bachmann 45-tonner) which were essentially standard gauge locos riding on narrow gauge trucks. 

A 9' width isn't overpowering in its own right. The overall size (particularly the cab) tends to influence how one judges size more than just width. The aforementioned Bachmann 45-tonner was criticized for being "too big" by many modelers because it was built to standard gauge sizes, and coupled to narrow gauge rolling stock, which was typically around 3/4 the physical size as standard gauge. (Combine that with folks pulling 1:22 and 1:24 equipment, and the size difference is even more pronounced!) 

Following up to Jonathan's post, I ended up buying a 45-tonner and cutting it down to do a 1:20.3 version of this Whitcomb center cab. 

Before:










After (but unpainted, so you can see the size reduction):









With paint:










Later,

K


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## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

To add to the ones shipped overseas, Australia recieved 4 x GE 44 Tonners during WW2 under the lend lease scheme. These were standard gauge (4' 8 1/2") with I believe the phase 4 hood window arrangement. Post war they remained with 2 working for the NSW railways and 2 for Commonwealth railways.


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