# My new goat? camel? mutt?



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

This was my New Year'schallenge scratchbuild project. The only out of pocket expenses were for a bit less than $4 a mono audio jack and a stick of Plastruct for the siderods.... everything else was leftovers from other projects or scrounged.

I knew I wanted to do a locomotive. Kim has decided that Mother Hubbards are 'cute', and she has a birthday in Feb, so I decided to humor her. 


All I had parts for was an 0-4-0, but I just didn't care for the bell or dome locations on the Reading A-4s or A-5s, or that mailbox headlight, either









so I decided to make the front section more like a Lehigh Valley 0-6-0 










Jan 2. The brick is Kalamazoo, I think. It was bought for another project, but the wheels were too big. The cylinders are Delton, left over from the Stainz Mallet project.










Jan 3... Or techically very late the night of the 2nd. Coffee stirrers! (what else? lol)and that 99c piece of styrene box.










Jan 3. after work the following evening. The cab is Delton, the boiler is sections of Delton mixed with a the leftovers chunks of Scientific cheeser that I was going to throw away, but missed the trash can...










Then I spent the next few days looking at pictures, rooting through junk boxes, and generally trying to decide how I was going to do stuff. 

Jan 6. Sand dome is a cut down pvc pipe cap, steam dome is Delton, rear half cab is the rear part of an Aristo 0-4-0 cab









Jan 8. A homemade air pump (2 tiny spools)










Jan 8 part II, Those injector lines were a pain in the butt! (all I had was steel wire)












Jan 11, Early morning. Finally bit the bullet and found a broken number from the old price sign at work. Tender frame












Jan 11 part II, a bit after lunch. Plexi sure STINKS when you cut it with a Dremel.... Yes, those are old auto wheel weights inside it.











Jan 12, Mid-morning.... fresh from the paint shop. Too bad it's not going to stay pretty!









Jan 12, Just after work. A little 3 part spray bomb weathering...










Jan 12, Evening, actually only 98% done (still need to solder the tender pick-ups and fit a rear pilot step), but good enough to show.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Really looks the part Mik. Great work. BTW, I am out....DNF.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

So what IS an anthracite road switcher doing in Western Pa? I decided on this plausible backstory....
In the Fall of 1942 traffic almost doubled on the AV, mostly due to increased demands by the government for coal. A heavier locomotive was needed to handle switching chores at the mines... Except, due to the wartime motive shortage, this rather 'goofy looking' thing was the only one available from the Philadelphia secondhand dealer that was short and nimble enough to stay on the old wobbly rails of the mine spur. It's oversized firebox made it easy to fire on cannel, boney and tailings, which made it cheap to feed. So even after the war, when traffic slowed down to previous levels, it was kept on.


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## Ted_Roy (Jan 2, 2008)

Beauty! What would you have changed if there was no restrictions? I think it is a sure winner! 

Ted.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Spule 4 on 12 Jan 2010 09:53 PM 
Really looks the part Mik. Great work. BTW, I am out....DNF. 




Aww, but you still HAVE 3 whole days...


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Ted_Roy on 12 Jan 2010 10:35 PM 
Beauty! What would you have changed if there was no restrictions? I think it is a sure winner! 

Ted. 
If I'd had another week, and a larger budget? It probably would have been an Atlantic, something along the lines of a Reading P2. All I really needed was the pony truck and a second firedoor.










But then I'd need a heavyweight combine, and broader curves, plus it would be harder to rationalize....so maybe not


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Very cool Mik, love the way that came out.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

very cool! 
I love it! 

Concerning Reading Atlantics, here is another one: 










IMO, this was the prettiest camelback ever built.. 
Its hard to make a camelback look good, but Reading pulled it off with that one.. 

Scot


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Mik on 12 Jan 2010 10:36 PM 
Posted By Spule 4 on 12 Jan 2010 09:53 PM 
Really looks the part Mik. Great work. BTW, I am out....DNF. 




Aww, but you still HAVE 3 whole days... 

Yes, but had a medical and weather curve ball thrown at me. Time will tell tho.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Nice work!!!!!!! I must ask the question, although I am sure I must have known the answer in some past life; What was the reason for the Camel Back design?


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Madman on 13 Jan 2010 07:20 PM 
Nice work!!!!!!! I must ask the question, although I am sure I must have known the answer in some past life; What was the reason for the Camel Back design? 




I believe the "Camel Back" (everything (cab and controls) above the boiler) was originally like an "inspection car". It had more seats than necessary for just the crew as it carried the road foreman and others to inspect the track and lineside structures.

The Mother Hubard was designed with a VERY wide firebox and there was no way for an engineer behind the firebox to see around it, so the Engineers space was moved ahead of the firebox. This also left the Fireman alone on the footplate of the engine. This made for difficulties in communication between the Fireman and the Engineer, but they seldom actually spoke to each other anyway as both knew what to do and when to do it.


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

It's a strange looking locomotive....* SO I LOVE IT!* 
Great (and fast!) build Mik. This must surely be an appriciated birthday present!!!!


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