C&O H-5 2-6-6-2 Articulated Painting

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The Judge, AKA: the A&S RR Ticket Agent, made a request to the A&S Paint Shop to paint the Chesapeake & Ohio H-5 articulated 2-6-6-2 loco. This H-5 is the USRA version.

This loco is a Key import made by Samhongsa. This particular model was released in 1981 at a retail cost of $557.00 On the current secondary brass market they can sell anywhere from $500.00 to 850.00. Only 75 of this model were made and imported. Key also imported 35 H-4 and 130 H-6 versions.

For this thread, my plan is to show the before and after photos and address any issues that come up. I see a couple issues already which I'll get to when the time is right.

We installed TCS DCC WOW sound and it will have to be removed.






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[Judge]

This is one of my favorite locos.  The H-5 was of USRA design and had drivers a little larger than the more famous H-6, the last of which is in the B&O Museum in Baltimore.  This old hog could really pull those coal hoppers up and down the mountains.  The painted, finished model ought to be an outstanding addition to the A&S as another example of a Central Florida railroad using lease agreements to obtain needed steam power to lug heavy trains up the Ovalix.  Four miles an hour, five miles an hour, who cares!  Greg will have to keep his hands off of this one!

[ACL1504]

This is one of my favorite locos.   Greg will have to keep his hands off of this one!

Judge,

As much as we love and respect Greg's throttle abilities, he won't be able to sit in the engineer's seat. It will require great patience to run this one at notch 1 or 2 up the Ovalix.

Just saying.

Tom

[GPdemayo]

What's with Bill's hands off policy with this and the B&O??? 

[ACL1504]

What's with Bill's hands off policy with this and the B&O??? 

Greg,

Don't jump out of the saddle here. The Judge was referring to the articulated loco and not the B&O. You can run the B&O all the way up to 20.

Tom 

[GPdemayo]

What's with Bill's hands off policy with this and the B&O??? 

Greg,

Don't jump out of the saddle here. The Judge was referring to the articulated loco and not the B&O. You can run the B&O all the way up to 20.

Tom 

Oh boy.....fun fun fun till dad took the T-Bird away.....

[tct855]

What's with Bill's hands off policy with this and the B&O??? 

Greg,

Don't jump out of the saddle here. The Judge was referring to the articulated loco and not the B&O. You can run the B&O all the way up to 20.

Tom 

Oh boy.....fun fun fun till dad took the T-Bird away.....

Lol... 👍 

[Judge]

C&O H-5 2-6-6-2.

A bit of railroad lore & trivia - The C&O H-4 was the design used by the government planners when the USRA 2-6-6-2 was designed.  It became the H-5.  The H-5 was slightly heavier than the more famous H-6.  The H-5's were numbered 1520-1599.  Some were manufactured by Baldwin and some by Alco.  All of the H-5's were manufactured in 1919.  They had boiler pressure of 200psi and exerted 75,650 tractive effort when running compound.  Cylinder horsepower was 2636.  Baker valve gear drove 59" drivers.  (H-6 had 561/4" drivers.)  These engines were very large for the time and were used hauling coal in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia.

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Today I spent several hours taking the H-5 apart so the parts can be cleaned in preparation for painting.

This was a "tricksie" little sucker to get apart. I'll share some of the fun.

I first needed to remove the front engine. Both the front and rear engines are connected to the motor by way of two universal joints and two gear boxes.

The ends of the universal joints are soldered so the T shaft won't come out while the loco is running. Photo below -



Each end has a very small set screw that tightens against the shaft. Photo below -



I only loosened the set crew to free the end from the shaft. Once removed, I tightened the set screw so I doesn't fall out and get lost.

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I then removed the two screws that hold the cab end of the boiler section on the frame.



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I then removed these two screws from the front of the rear engine so the main boiler and cab could be removed.



The next step in removing the boiler is to carefully removed it so the two steam pipes aren't bent during the removal. These two pipes fit into the front of the rear engine steam chest.



More in a few. I need a Diet Pepsi.

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It appears to me the engineer and fireman seats are to far forward. However, when looking at them in relation to the window arm rests, they are centered. When cab crew are installed, I'll need to cut the off at the waist.





More in a few.