First Ten Wheeler

The Bachmann Anniversary Edition is a 10 Wheeler built to a scale of 1:22.5.

I needed a larger looking locomotive to haul my 50’ passenger cars and I needed it to be a lot closer to 1:20 scale.

I have a number of drawings and I printed these out to full size in 1:20 scale to allow me to make the necessary modifications.

I decided I could NOT hope to replicate this to a full 1:20.  For one thing, I decided to leave the wheels and chassis as is, thus making them a bit smaller than needed.   Also, I really didn’t want to try to replicate that shape of the ET&WNC boiler.

So, I’d just use the ET&WNC as inspiration - but I’d freelance a new 10 wheeler in a larger scale.

Some modifications appear to be straight forward, but experience teaches us that first impressions are not always correct.  

I first print out a scale plan of the tender and notice that the tender just needs to be widened about 1/4 inch on either side.  (It also had to be lengthened about 1 1/4”).  

However, you can also see that the step on the back is just about dead on for width.  The supports are a bit narrow, and the step itself has an extra notch or two, but it’s proabably worth leaving as is!

After all, this is not about making an exact replica - I’m just trying to create a heftier looking locomotive.

I used Evergreen styrene strips to lengthen and widen the tender.   There’s also a couple of pieces on the bottom, which don’t look as nice, but I really don’t plan on turning it over!

I built a new boiler by wrapping thin styrene sheets around a couple of paint cans, but it did not turn out round enough for me.  It wasn’t really noticeable until I put the smokebox front on.  

I bought some K-27 domes from Accucraft - and they fit almost perfectly.

I’ll be using the bell and the light fixture from the original model/

I found some screws to attach the Accucraft domes and it doesn’t look like I’ll have to sand anything - the fit is that close with my new tube.

The tender will be covered with a thin plastic sheet - and I’ll be adding some rivets.

Boiler and Pilot

I bought a Ruby Pilot Kit from Vance Bass.   It assembles very nicely and I bolted it in place.  

I had to widen everything else as well.  I left the coupler lift bar.

I also added some brass steps from Trackside Details.

The smoke box front is done with NBW from Grandt while other rivets are cut from .040" Evergreen rod.

I used the NWSL Chopper and cut thin slices...ten at a time. I finally figured out it was a LOT easier to use a knife instead of tweezers to try and place these.   Stick the piece with the sharp end, dip it in glue, then apply to the right place.   Repeat.

Tender

The steps, ladder and braces are all new commercial parts.   I kept the grab irons and light from the original tender, though I did build the  tender body from styrene.  

I’ll use the plastic coal as a base for the real coal that will be added after the final coat of paint.

Hard to see, but I did add some diamond tread on the front tender deck.

Click on the large picture below to enlarge it an step through the rest of the pictures.