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1.) I finally purchased the 0-4-0 Tea Kettle from life - like. I was wondering if anyone knows the prototype for this little engine.
2.) I was at a Model Train show yesterday and I saw an interesting engine. I believe it was model power but I cant tell. It was short and tall. 0-4-0. Defidently a tank engine. Could anyone help me out?
The 0-4-0 Teakettle doesn't really have a prototype. It's a fantasy engine loosely based on small switch engines from the 1880's but there's no spsecific engine it's modeled after.
Not sure on the other engine without a picture. The most popular 0-4-0 tank engine ever made was the Dockside. It was (and is) made be several companies, including Life-Like. The prototype was a B&O engine especially constructed to switch the tight curves of the docks in Baltimore, hence the name. Here's a picture:
Post a picture or 2 of what? Without pictures of both engines, we don't have much of a chance but pure guessing, especially about about #2. "Extraordinarily unusual" doesn't give us much to go on. As for the Life-Like Tea Kettle, none of the details match any real steam engine, from the ridiculously large wood cowcatcher on the front of a switch engine, the nonsensical steam chests and valve gear to the cab that's almost as large as the entire engine. This engine was designed in mid-60's when it common to make up fantasy engines, with no regard to a proptotype, so the company would have something to put in train sets. This is the Tea Kettle I'm thinking of. Unless you have a different one, it's pure make-believe.
Sorry If I was vague.
I meant post some pics of old switchers. I cant find them. I guess since its fantasy Im going to really mod it.
Also, I made a mistake. Its not a tank engine. Its a tender engine. 0-4-0 Old time engine. Was what the Ebay post said it was. I lost the pic. Sorry.
Hope this clears it up a little.
Joe, do a Yahoo or Google search for "steam switch engines" and you'll get thousands of hits. See if any of the ones you see match up with what you saw on the e-bay ad. It's pointless for me to post hundreds of 0-4-0 pictures and hope I get the one you saw. Life-Like made several 0-4-0 switchers that were much more accurate models but your description of the one you saw as "Extraordinarily unusual" is throwing me off, since I can't think of anything but a Camelback that I would describe in such a manner.
If you want to do some practice kitbashing an engine, the Tea Kettle is a good one since it's cheap and pretty poor running engine to begin with. The good thing is you can't make it much worse than it already is.
