trailrider
Well-Known Member
It's nice to be committed to your hobby. OTOH too much could be cause for being committed! I need another Mantua steam locomotive kitbashing project like I need a fox in my backyard (which happens occasionally)! Several weeks ago, I happened to have a spare five minutes to look on ebay for something Mantua steam. Unfortunately, I found a chassis that had been kitbashed from a 2-8-0 to a 2-10-0, with a large open-frame motor and a gearbox. I bid on it and won (???), about $52.00 including shipping. In figuring out what sort of superstructure might work, I dug around in my scrap parts box and found an unfinished boiler for a Mantua Mike, and tentatively fitted it on the chassis. Oops, not enough clearance for the fifth set of drivers under the firebox. Oh, I could have made it fit, but it would have entailed either gouging out a lot of zamac on the inside of the firebox. So, back to ebay, and I found a Pacific boiler, complete with cab. Bid on it and won (???) again.
In the meantime, I decided I better test the running qualities of the chassis, which I did by holding it and connecting it to a powerpack I use for testing. It did run...for a while, until it started hanging up. Hmm, that added set of drivers slightly out of quarter? I do have a re-quartering jig, but I thought it simpler to swap drivers out of my spares I have from previous projects creating 2-10-2's (2ea.) and 2-10-4's (2 each). To do that, I had to remove the extension cover plate the previous owner had installed. That seemed to do the trick...for a while. I also wanted to do the modification that I have done successfully on those four ten-coupled locomotives, which is to shim the flanged end drivers down by .008-.010", and the blind center drivers up by the same amount. This prevents the center drivers from catching on the rail heads when the engine comes out of 18" radius curves. Only problem is this chassis came from Mantua's 2-8-0, which has the cover plate one piece with the cylinder support, instead of the cover plate simply being a single flat part. Well, the chassis has a gearbox, which also supports for the valve gear guides. In turn, the cylinder the other guy used has "allegator" guides rather than the type used by Mantua on the Mikes and Pacifics. Remove the cylinder block and the guides come out with it. Reassembling the cylinder involves inserting the square brass guides in the hanger, at the same time inserting the piston rod and the valve rod in the cylinder holes, with the position on the opposite sides one quarter turn out from the other!
Tried running the mechanism again, and something is hanging up every once in a while. Now on my other projects it is a simple matter to remove the gearbox so the wheel set with the main "bull" gear can turn freely. Then I would just push the chassis over a smooth surface and get everything rolling freely before reassembling everything. Can't do that on this beast!
Frustration! 
Now, as it happens, I found a frame that came from a Mantua 2-2-0 Decapod. Great! Just take all the parts off the beast, right? Except that I don't have a cover plate for a Mikado or a Decapod. Push comes to shove, I could make a cover plate, although that involves removing material so the main gear projects through the plate, plus matching the pre-drilled holes in the frame. Not difficult, just time-consuming.
I do need this locomotive...to go with the ten other Mikes, Pacifics, and some others that are sitting on a shelf in my basement, not to mention the four five-coupled M-2/E-4 (Q/C&S)and the two M-4's (Q Colorado types) mentioned above and the B-1 4-8-2 Mountain that I do run on my layout. Oh, yeah, I need this...thing! Anybody have a spare cover plate for a Mantua Mike or Decapod they don't need? I will take a break from this project...before they haul me off to the laughing academy!
In the meantime, I decided I better test the running qualities of the chassis, which I did by holding it and connecting it to a powerpack I use for testing. It did run...for a while, until it started hanging up. Hmm, that added set of drivers slightly out of quarter? I do have a re-quartering jig, but I thought it simpler to swap drivers out of my spares I have from previous projects creating 2-10-2's (2ea.) and 2-10-4's (2 each). To do that, I had to remove the extension cover plate the previous owner had installed. That seemed to do the trick...for a while. I also wanted to do the modification that I have done successfully on those four ten-coupled locomotives, which is to shim the flanged end drivers down by .008-.010", and the blind center drivers up by the same amount. This prevents the center drivers from catching on the rail heads when the engine comes out of 18" radius curves. Only problem is this chassis came from Mantua's 2-8-0, which has the cover plate one piece with the cylinder support, instead of the cover plate simply being a single flat part. Well, the chassis has a gearbox, which also supports for the valve gear guides. In turn, the cylinder the other guy used has "allegator" guides rather than the type used by Mantua on the Mikes and Pacifics. Remove the cylinder block and the guides come out with it. Reassembling the cylinder involves inserting the square brass guides in the hanger, at the same time inserting the piston rod and the valve rod in the cylinder holes, with the position on the opposite sides one quarter turn out from the other!
Tried running the mechanism again, and something is hanging up every once in a while. Now on my other projects it is a simple matter to remove the gearbox so the wheel set with the main "bull" gear can turn freely. Then I would just push the chassis over a smooth surface and get everything rolling freely before reassembling everything. Can't do that on this beast!
Frustration! Now, as it happens, I found a frame that came from a Mantua 2-2-0 Decapod. Great! Just take all the parts off the beast, right? Except that I don't have a cover plate for a Mikado or a Decapod. Push comes to shove, I could make a cover plate, although that involves removing material so the main gear projects through the plate, plus matching the pre-drilled holes in the frame. Not difficult, just time-consuming.
I do need this locomotive...to go with the ten other Mikes, Pacifics, and some others that are sitting on a shelf in my basement, not to mention the four five-coupled M-2/E-4 (Q/C&S)and the two M-4's (Q Colorado types) mentioned above and the B-1 4-8-2 Mountain that I do run on my layout. Oh, yeah, I need this...thing! Anybody have a spare cover plate for a Mantua Mike or Decapod they don't need? I will take a break from this project...before they haul me off to the laughing academy!
