From brass USRA 2-8-2 into brass Seaboard Q3 Class 2-8-2

[ACL1504]

Many years prior to any of the forums we all did our own thing without the forums to share our ideas. This is the case with the loco I converted in this thread. The pictures are lacking as back then I didn't see a need to photograph each step in the process.  I only have the finished product. Now; however, it seems I docuement everything I do in the train room.

Back in the 70's to early 80's when brass steam was king, many builders and importers had a huge variety of road names in brass. However, none imported the Seaboard Air Line Q3 class Mikado 2-8-2!

I loved the SAL Q3 as it had the "flying pumps" on the front of the smokebox.  It also had a Vandy tender which was unusual for southern railroads. Refer to the two photos below.





Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

I started with a United/PFM brass USRA 2-8-2. This model came out in 1976 at a cost of $325.00.





I knew going in that I wouldn't be able to change everything on the loco. But, I decided to move forward with the understanding I could make enough changes to make it look close enough or at least much different than the standard USRA 2-8-2.

The changes would be -
1. Adding pumps to the front of the smoke box with the proper piping.
2. Removing and moving the headlight and bell.
3. Removing and moving the marker lights.
4. Replacing the whistle to a SAL style whistle.
5. Adding whistle and bell cords.
6. Replacing the USRA tender with a Vandy tender.

Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

The most extreme change would be grinding down the bubble on the front of the smokebox. After removing the bell and headlight, I needed to grind the front smooth in order to attach the air pumps and piping. The next photo is a repeat for your convenience to see what needs to be done.



The bell and bracket, the headlight and bracket, marker lights, and lower hand rails needed to be removed.

Continued in a few.

[ACL1504]

I painted one of the USRA 2-8-2 locos in the ACL paint scheme. This loco has the ACL hearld and the white tender striping. I have it weathered for medium to heavy. I still have DC PFM analog sound it this one. One day I'll convert it to DCC.







I'll stop here for now and get back to layout work.

Tom

[GPdemayo]

Looks like fun.....I'll be watching. 

[BandOGuy]

What a fantastic way to start the New Year. Brass from Retiree #1!
Tom, were those locos akin to any of the C&O machines of the same wheel sets? Believe they also had dual, front mounted air pumps and Vandy tenders.
Waiting on this one!!

[gnatshop]

Aww, chit!
Catch my attention and now I've gotta wait for layout work!
L'il Tommy is keepin' my ittty-bitty mind too active - to me, he is the king
of brass locos!!

[ACL1504]

Looks like fun.....I'll be watching. 

Thanks for following along. Although you've seen the finished loco I should have the final photos up later this afternoon.

Tom

[ACL1504]

What a fantastic way to start the New Year. Brass from Retiree #1!
Tom, were those locos akin to any of the C&O machines of the same wheel sets? Believe they also had dual, front mounted air pumps and Vandy tenders.
Waiting on this one!!

Chip,

Thanks for stopping by and checking the conversion. Yes, the C&O had several of the front mounted air pumps.

The C&O Alleghany, 2-6-6-6 was regarded as their "Big Boy" of the East. They also had the 2-8-2's and 2-8-4's with the front mounted pumps and a majority of the K3 Class 2-8-2's also had an Elesco FWH over the two pumps. The C&O locos all had 6 wheel tenders. The SAL vandy tenders were all 4 wheel tenders.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Aww, chit!
Catch my attention and now I've gotta wait for layout work!
L'il Tommy is keepin' my ittty-bitty mind too active - to me, he is the king
of brass locos!!

Gman,

And, let me say, "Gee man, give me a little slack here"!

Thanks for stopping by, much appreciated. I'll have the final photos up later this afternoon.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I used my Dremel to grind the front of the smokebox flat. I then soldered the two air pumps to the top half of the smokebox front. I bent the piping to fit the pumps and the curve of the smokebox. I then soldered the piping in place. I drilled a hole in the lower half of the smokebox front and soldered the headlight and bracket in place.

I drilled holes in each side of the smokebox and soldered the marker lights in place. I used brass wire to make the top brace and lower brace for the pumps. You can this this detail above the pumps and across and down from the headlight.

I drilled a hole in the top of the boiler between the steam and sand domes and then soldered the bell bracket in place. I replace the whistle as well adding the bell and whistle cords. These were made from thin brass wire and soldered in place.

The Vandy tender was a no brainer. After a few years searching various hobby shops I found a two truck, two wheel C&O Vandy tender in Laurel, MD. The loco was painted and decaled for the SAL. The following pictures show you the finished work. I've placed the standard USRA 2-8-2 along with the Seaboard Q3 for comparison.

[ACL1504]

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[ACL1504]

When I converted the loco from DC analog sound to DCC, I continued to use the PFM wiper on the driver.



I used the PFM small edge port 8 ohm speaker (great deep/base sound) in the tender.





I previously cut the hole in the bottom of the tender for the speaker. I needed to file just a little more off the sides of the underframe in order to get the Tsunami Decoder in the tender.



I wish I had photos of the conversion but as I mentioned, this was done long before the forums and I didn't record such changes. Thanks for following along.

Tom