Look what followed me home!


Espeefan

Well-Known Member
I done did it again. Found this on Brass Trains website. Couldn't resist. Pulled the trigger. There were only 100 made and this one is pristine. Never run. It arrived today, and I just about couldn't stand waiting until after work to get it to the work bench.

So I opened her up and had an adventure. These all shipped dry so it needed lubed and a .005" shim in the gearbox which got done. I replaced the 35 year old neoprene tubing with silicone fuel line. Fired her up and Ka Boom! The valve gear was out of time, or maybe the crank pin was loose in the main driver. It unwound enough to bang the eccentric into the crosshead guide and bend the hell out of the little rod. Much swearing occurred. Strange because it passed the roll test when I had the gearbox out. Note to self: The roll test won't betray a loose crank pin. First time that has ever happened to me with one of these models. They're usually pretty bullet proof. The can motor that came in these sure has a bunch of torque! The new tubing slipped a little, so I thought it would function as a safety of sorts. Second note to self: A shock load can happen fast enough to cause damage, safety or not, just like in larger industrial drives! One for the war stories book. She's all back together and running properly. Phew!
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Wow she sure is pretty!
Good to hear you got the problem fixed.
So how do they get the access hatches on the side being brass and all, stamped from behind I'd guess?
 
I'm going to do the pilot striping. I was going to move the number boards forward to just behind the class lights as they were before the GS-4's arrived, but a little research has changed my mind and they'll stay where they are. It will get lettered and numbered, drivers and wheels painted black. That's about it. I may do white tires, but I have to go through the photo library first and make sure they are correct for when I'm going portray the model (1940-1941). This one is special, as it was one of the last models Westside brought in before ceasing operations. They did the GS-2, 3, and 5 along with the Western Pacific version of the GS-6 plus a couple of NYC Hudsons never previously done as a last hurrah. I also happen to have the 3 and the 5, so this one completes the set for the SP.
 
Wow she sure is pretty!
Good to hear you got the problem fixed.
So how do they get the access hatches on the side being brass and all, stamped from behind I'd guess?
Either that or coined. I've never looked from behind. I'll have to check. I've seen some really good brass smiths open these up and make them functional. Not me! Three foot rule!
 
Very nice find, Alan! Sorry to learn of the immediate problems, but sound as if your skills corrected them fast?
That's pretty ... It's just that I have never been a "great" fan of streamlined steam; I'm just a "plain jane" locomotive fan.
I have an old RMC that has a 4-5 page article on SP steam showing several of the class before all the shrouds were added - they are just "big and brutish good looking"!
Just my opinion which is probably in the minority - ---
I do like the painting and colors of the Daylight.
 
Very nice find, Alan! Sorry to learn of the immediate problems, but sound as if your skills corrected them fast?
That's pretty ... It's just that I have never been a "great" fan of streamlined steam; I'm just a "plain jane" locomotive fan.
I have an old RMC that has a 4-5 page article on SP steam showing several of the class before all the shrouds were added - they are just "big and brutish good looking"!
Just my opinion which is probably in the minority - ---
I do like the painting and colors of the Daylight.
The twos through sixes were all built with streamlining Sherrel. The sixes never had skirts above the drivers but they did get skyline casings which kept smoke out of the cabs. You must have been reading about the GS-1 which was the forerunner of the class. I have one of those too :). It is a good looking locomotive.
 
Oh and yes the issues are fixed. Not the first time I’ve had to take an essentially “new” model that’s never been run out of the box and fix something. These were all hand assembled. Things happened. A friend once told me that a brass model was the most expensive thing you’ll ever buy that’s only 90% finished. Tuning and tweaking to the layout is the rule, not the exception.
 
Interesting observation, Alan ... Now you are going to make me go and search for that article again. I'm sure that you are correct, and that I have misremembered, but I have to satisfy myself. :)
 
Maybe it's due to seeing overly large couplers (Kadee, McHenry) on everything, but, the top photo coupler looks overly small as if it's N scale ..No ?
 
That one has a scale dummy coupler on it. They all came with those. I’ve removed most of them and replaced them with Kadees.
 



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