# 1.5" scale Narrow Gauge O.S Krauss Bash



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hello Folks, 


Some of you who scour around some other boards may have seen this before but I finally decided to post this recent project here on MLS since a few larger scale postings have crept in lately. 


This O.S. bash started years ago when I traded an Accucraft C-16 for a used 3.5" gauge O.S. Krauss. The Krauss was bright blue like Thomas the Tank (yikes!) and it had been crudely converted to gas firing. It came with a 4 3/4" riding car and 1.5 gallon propane tank. I later had to chuck that tank because it wasn't equipped with an OPD. The Krauss proved to be a sweet little engine though. I have run it on some less than forgiving track and up at GGLS I just managed to haul myself, an adult woman and a teenage girl around the high track-- pretty impressive if you ask me, considering that track is not all that level.







Initially I completed a basic Americanization by changing a few details and building a crude tender. This is the state that the loco was in for many years. Finally I decided it was time to convert it to a real tender loco and properly remove the side tanks. My plan was to build a nice wood cab and give this loco the character of a narrow gauge North American logging locomotive. This would be a fantasy creation, not something for so called rivet counters but something that "could have been". The scale of the Krauss in stock form is 1:10. I would be rebuilding my locomotive in the popular 1 1/2" scale. The gauge works out to be 28" which is sort of odd but it is close to 30" which was a well known industrial gauge. Now for some pictures to share how far I have come on this project. To get started I removed the side tanks and stock cab. 




















I purchased a laser cut wood cab kit for the Bachmann On30 Porter to use as reference for my 1 1/2" scale cab. From that I made cardboard templates.






















I began assembling the cab, board by board, from weathered poplar planks.











I scored a neat bell casting set on eBay. Some grinding, filing, drilling, polishing and paint finished it off.











Dennis Mead machined this dome for me on his larger lathe.











I made a new pilot beam from a nice chunk of VG Fir.











Here are some of the new parts mocked up on the loco. Lots more to share. Stay tuned.


Thanks for looking.


 Regards,


----------



## Ray Cadd (Dec 30, 2008)

I've been following this on the 7/8 forum- really dig it. Keep 'em coming!


----------



## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Another Critter--great! 

Larry


----------



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

She's looking great Eric! Far different and way better imho. Actually, she's what got me into ride-on scale when you introduced me to GGLS and let me take the throttle - my first experience operating a steam locomotive bigger than 1:20. Thanks to you and your Krauss, I'm thousands of dollars poorer and way better off, not to mention far happier. hehehe Sincere Thanks bud!


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Ray. Once I get the MLSers up to speed I'll have a new post to put up on my latest progress. Dwight it is always a pleasure sharing the thrill of driving a steam loco with folks such as yourself. While it is not really my goal to proselytize the larger scales, I do believe that ride on steam is a more attainable hobby than many realize.


Here is one of those interesting "projects within a project". I knew that I needed a good spark arrester for this locomotive to help communicate the scale of the loco. As you can see in that previous post I experimented by mocking up a cone shaped arrester in paper. This, like the cab, helped me dial in the proportions before cutting any metal. Once I had it worked out in paper I transferred the design to annealed brass sheet.









Here is the cone and ring that will make up the funnel shaped spark arrester. The cone has been silver soldered.









The cone is a decent fit inside the ring. I put some brass bolts through the tabs on the cone to hold the assembly together during soldering.









I used this MDF former which I turned to help shape the screen and it's support bars that fit in the top of the cone.




















Here is the screen bolted in place.











Henner machined this little clamp collar that also acts as an adapter to the stock Krauss stack











As viewed from the outside. This will literally drop right on the Krauss stack.











After bead blasting and paint.











And one more quickie mock up to show how the spark arrestor looks.


Thanks for looking.


 More to follow...


----------



## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Eric, the engine has such a well used, in-service look. Are you going to paint everything? 

Larry


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Larry,

I will have more to update on the paint situation later. In the mean time the short answer is yes, I actually have already painted the boiler jacket. The cab is still raw as well. Even though the wood has been stained for a weathered look my plan is to apply some satin clear coat to all the wood when I am finished with it. My plan is to use Minwax Wipe on Poly in satin which has a mild sheen but will give the cab the look of a hand rubbed finish. I may do a little mild weathering to the metal parts to give the loco a used but well maintained look.


Regards,


----------



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

The stack looks great Eric. I assume you also intend to make some running boards and handrails?


----------



## Shay Gear Head (Jan 3, 2008)

Some new cylinder covers and inside valve gear and you'll have an Americanised it thoroughly.


----------



## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Sweet job Eric. More great ideas for the shop notebook too. Outside Stephenson gearing. Don't see that often.

Bob


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks for the comments guys. Dwight, running boards have already been made I'll get some pictures up soon. Bruce, messing with the valve gear would simply be too ambitious a project for me to tackle. There is a solid piece of iron between the frames where inside valve gear would need to go. That is partly what makes the O.S. Krauss such a great loco because it has so much weight on the drivers. But the critical phrase as I mentioned above: "fantasy creation, not something for so called rivet counters". Early on in this project I came to grips with the fact that I am Americanizing a German locomotive and there would be some things I simply cannot change without essentially building a new locomotive. Some of these include the outside valve gear, the plate frame, and the fact that the steam dome is in the wrong location for an American loco. I decided that there was enough things that COULD be changed to convey an overall sense of North American atmosphere so I forged ahead. Nitpickers need not apply. I am giving the locomotive a fictitious back story to explain away these sorts of details and it will be getting a set of builders plates that say "Maschwitz Locomotive Works U.S.A." no doubt a German entrepreneur by the name "Maschwitz" started his company in the USA and brought over some design cues from the homeland. ;-) 

I have more to report on and I have found that the more details I add the better it continues to look. In the end I think most will agree that the result is pleasing. Stay tuned...


----------



## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Eric, 

In the spirit of your locomotive's fantasy genesis, please remember the motto of the nearby Anypenny Pump and Steam Traction Company: "We copy the best and build in the West!" West of the Rockies, that is. 

The Krauss is looking good. I have a photocopy of a photo from a George Abdill book that shows a cabless British quarry tank-type loco that worked in British Columbia logging a hundred years ago or so. I've often wondered whether any British-made locomotives that shipped out for Australia or New Zealand wound up on the west coasts of the US or Canada because unfortunate weather or bad luck forced the sailing ships that carried them to terminate their voyages here. So far no pictorial evidence has appeared except for maybe the Abdill photo. 

Steve


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Steve, the Anypenny Pump and Steam Traction Company sounds like my sort of place. No doubt Mr. Maschwitz and Mr. Anypenny have met up in the local bar ;-). I know there were a few british locos in Hawaii. I can't say I have heard of any that made it to the continental US but I suppose it is possible. I know there is a tourist line on the east coast that has a German Koppel or something like that that is currently in active service.


Anyways lots of details to add and ground to cover.









Original tender frames I fabricated nine years ago for the first generation of the bash. Henner (or David-- I can't remember) helped out by machining the Reeves axle boxes to accept some small ball bearings.









Henner also machined these Reeves iron wheel castings. I locktited them onto 3 1/2" gauge axles machined from steel drill rod.









The original wood tender frame was widened to be a more appropriate width for a 30" gauge loco. The new side sills are made from poplar. The end beam is VG Fir to match the pilot beam.










The water tank is solvent welded from ABS plastic. It will be clad in steel that has rivet details added.











Last mockup with the tender before disassembling the boiler from the chassis for paint and plumbing.











And with a standard 12 oz. soda can so you can get an impression of the size.




Thanks for looking.


 More to follow...


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi All,


Some time has passed and the holidays are over so I managed to sit back down with the Ameri-Krauss project on Saturday and work a bit on the tender. Before I get to that I have to get this thread up to speed on some of the other previous progress. Below you will see my pictures the boiler painting process. I removed it from the chassis and wet sanded it down. The BBQ black paint that I hurriedly applied ten years ago came off quickly revealing the Thomas blue beneath. If you value your life you will not say that the blue looks good. ;-) As you will see in the last pic, the boiler jacket is now a respectable and stately gloss black.





























As a side note you can also spot the original Bill Harris 1 1/2" scale Shay sitting on a stand in the background of the above picture. 

When the boiler was off I modified the chassis to accommodate some new running boards. Below is a pic of the modified chassis top plate with running board supports and a couple snaps of the freshly painted drivers now in glossy black. 





























That does it for this installment. I will try to photograph my progress on the tender soon. Thanks for checking in.


 Regards,


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Isn't there a Koppel 0-4-4-0 engine operating a tourist line near Victor and Cripple Creek, Colorado? I remember reading something about that a few years ago.


----------



## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

An Americanized Orenstein & Koppel 2-foot gauge 0-4-0 runs between the lodge and the lift at the Loon Mountain ski resort in New Hampshire.


----------



## weaverc (Jan 2, 2008)

Amber, 
You are correct. Cripple Creek 2-foot Rail Road has 4 locomotives. The Number 1 is a Orenstein and Koppel built in 1902 0-4-4-0 articulated mallet. The Number 2 engine is a Henschel built in 1936 0-4-0, built in Germany. The Number 3 is a Porter built in 1927 0-4-0 tank engine. The Number 4 engine is the Bagnall built in 1947 0-4-4-0T, this engine is currently being restored.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

SAWEET


----------



## Ray Cadd (Dec 30, 2008)

Eric- your machine just gets better and better. Did I ever send you pics of the 7/8" scale westernized Decauville I built? Same back story- imported from Europe to Australia, several owners, several wrecks, several rebuilds.....ended up sold by an equipment broker to a mining outfit near Death valley, Ca. All good.


----------



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

I think the blue boiler looked good.


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi All,


Nice to see some of those prototype "Germerican" locos that exist out there. Ray I did see your extremely excellent bash. You did a fantastic job on that. Dwight you are such a goofball ;-)


Furter progress to report on. I have been working on the tender There are two water feed lines for the two different pumps, one return line for the axle pump bypass and the fuel line which carries the propane to the burner. Additionally I am placing my fuel control valve and hand water pump on the tender instead of in the cab. Firstly I give you an overall shot of the tender. There are still coal boards to be fabricated and installed and many parts to be painted but you get the idea:










I decided to conceal the fuel control valve as a brake stand. Since this bash represents an extremely diminutive narrow gauge locomotive I used 1" scale (standard gauge) brake parts because most of the 1 1/2" scale parts are too big. The brake staff passes through the deck and is connected to a small fuel valve underneath:










I needed a slick way of hiding the hand pump when it was not in use so I made a tender toolbox that flips open to access it. I had to make a special hinge similar to a cab roof hinge on a gauge one loco, to give enough clearance for the pump lever:










There is another toolbox for the other side. I had to make it shorter because of the placement of the bypass valve. My research indicates that anything goes with these toolboxes particularly on industrial locomotives so the two sizes don't bother me. All the valves piping and handwheels will be painted black. Unlike the toolbox that hides the water pump-- this one is just a toolbox. Should be handy for coupler links and pins-- stuff like that:



















A peek underneath shows the stub-outs for the various water lines. The fuel pipe stub-out can be seen just above the axle. All this plumbing needs to be bracketed to the underframe for strength. I will be using a high pressure hose with a woven fiber jacket and miniature quick connects for all the water connections. The fuel line will be black neoprene hose:










This is the tender water hatch. Fabricated from brass:










I also have a bit of locomotive jewlery to show off. The AmeriKrauss will wear these lovely builders plates on her smokebox. Belive it or not, they were machined in brass with tiny engravers bits by this guy.  He did a great job and the plates have more relief than an etched version but his process really won't work for anything smaller than 1 1/2" scale:



















I also hauled the engine out of the shop into the daylight so I could snap a few pics of it with the shiny new paint job on the boiler jacket. As you can see the boiler has been re-united with the chassis and the plumbing has been reworked. Sorry for the blue tape on the cab but it is still only mocked up. Construction on the cab should re-commence soon.




























Thanks for checking in!


 Regards,


----------



## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Eric, that looks great. Inspirational as well as humbling! 

Steve


----------



## Shay Gear Head (Jan 3, 2008)

The only thing not looking American is the cylinder tops. These could be disguised too.

Great job!


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Everybody,

Lots of time has passed and lots of progress has been made. Here is what has been going on.









Structural framing are added to the roof of the cab. There will be a removable section so I have an unobstructed view of the backhead while driving the locomotive.









I have decided to employ a few "tricks" in the cab construction. I wanted to simulate a plank and canvas roof but have the structural advantage of single piece construction. So the roof is fabricated from a material called Diabond which is basically a composite sandwich of aluminum and HDPE plastic. The Diabond was formed to the arch of the roof. I "planked" the inside of the roof with strips of self adhesive walnut veneer. Then everything was given a few coats of satin polyurethane.









The canvas was done by taking some fabric and brushing it down with epoxy resin. This was then painted with some artists acrylics that I mixed up to be tar colored. 









I fabricated an opening roof vent from brass and steel.









Dwight Ennis was kind enough to loan me his glass cutting tools. He also generously donated some pieces of his nice thin glass to my project. I cheated again here and framed the glass by applying self adhesive walnut veneer strips to simulate framing They are installed in the window openings with small strips of wood that are screwed in place. This way if I ever break a window, I can easily replace it.


















Here is the glass and new cab roof installed.









The windows can be opened by sliding in little tracks.









The doors that open out to the running boards latch in the open or closed position thanks to some small rare earth magnets.









The removable roof section. It secures in place with small rare earth magnets.









I have also been finishing up all the plumbing and getting this thing steamable. The new pressure gauge is installed in the fancy bracket that I whittled out of some brass bar stock.


More to come...

Regards,


----------



## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

It's looking excellent Eric.  That is one roomy cab.


----------



## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Gorgeous work Eric!! Where did you get the "Diabond" material??

vr Bob


----------



## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks guys for the comments. It's always nice to know that there are some other weirdos (I mean that as the highest compliment) who can appreciate a quirky project like this. ;-) 
Bob, the Diabond was a small scrap that I salvaged from the scrap heap of one of my previous employers. I literally had JUST enough to make the roof. We used to buy it by the 4 x 8 sheet. It is a pretty neat material. The scrap I had is 1/8" thick. It is really rigid because of the laminated construction but lightweight because it is mostly plastic. It made great roof material because it can be easily cut and formed into the curve.  If I had to guess where you could get it, I would say from your local plastics vendor-- a place where you could also get acrylic, polycarbonate and the like. A google search for Diabond might yield some results.

Regards,


----------



## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

It's actually Dibond, no "a" in it. Laird Plastics is a place you can find it at, they have offices throughout North America. E-panel is also the same thing but a different brand.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Amazing work on the backhead detail Eric. I love the oil lamp (still waiting on the dimensions of the glass), What a looker,,, can't wait to see her steaming.


----------



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Eric, that is a really sweet little loco and you are doing afantastic job of detailing it. I don't mind the Stevenson valve gear at all. It does appear to me that it could be converted to Walsharts without too much trouble. Thanks for posting. By the way I have no problem at all with people posting larger scales on this forum!


----------

