In your face, PCM! Lots of pics...

[Dave V]

Some of you have been following my PRR M1 kitbash in other forums, but I thought I'd share here too.  It's only in its beginning stages, so what you see is rough...  but it's probably farther along than PCM hs gotten!!!

I've been working on building a PRR M1 4-8-2 in N scale (because PCM is delaying their release of this engine indefinitely) using a bunch of different models (including 2 Minitrix K4s, their tenders, a Bachmann Spectrum 4-8-2, a ConCor J3a tender frame, and lots of other parts:



The plan is for those parts to become PRR M1 #6811 seen here on the Middle Division in 1953 (Photo by Harold K. Vollrath):



I had to fiddle with the Spectrum engine to get it to pull well by shimming the third driver bearing blocks.

I've milled out the shell and the frame so they fit.  I spliced the fireboxes together as well.  The loco hangs a bit far off the end, but M1s were like that.  Hopefully the longer KW training truck frame will compensate for the 1.5 scale foot "shortness" of the existing truck.

The model looks like it's sitiing a bit too high (a consequence of fitting the too-naroow Minitrix shell, but railhead to stack height matches PRR plans to within about 6").  Also, overall length is within a foot.

I probably only romoved less than 10%of the weight in the milling of the frame, so I don't expact her newly-improved pulling power to suffer noticably.  I also have't yet installed the decoder.  The higher firebox makes a natural conduit for the DCC wires to run back to the tender.

I've started reshaping the running boards to match the prototype PRR #6811.  I also swapped the Minitrix air pump for the Spectrum cross-compound pump.  This is the fun part to me.  That's a GHQ toolbox.

[Mark5]

Dave,

Man you are moving fast on this! Great stuff.

Hehe, I reserved my H2a hopper back in June 2005. I might as well have reserved a N&W class A 2-6-6-4 while I was at it.

Mark

[wm3798]

Desperate times demand desperate measures...  Great work.
Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

What's with you, Max and those big a$$ tenders?

Please tell me you're not going to make it one of those uglied up post-war "face lifts" too, right? Right?

I'm actually quite in awe. Great stuff Dave.

[Bob Bufkin]

What's with you, Max and those big a$$ tenders?

Please tell me you're not going to make it one of those uglied up post-war "face lifts" too, right? Right?

I'm actually quite in awe. Great stuff Dave.

You mean like this:

I kinda like the modernized look.
Bob

[Dave V]

Yep, I'm doing the "face lift."  It's going to be a challenge to do the ol' fiber-optic headlight trick; it'll need a very sharp bend in the fiber to get to the top-mounted headlight.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Sad, sad sad...

Anyway, if you're going to make it fugly like that, I'd suggest just drilling the bottom of the headlight out and popping the bulb up that way. This way you don't have to worry about the fiber optic.

[Dave V]

Ed,

The "bulb" is an LED soldered to a board that's mounted in the frame.  I'd have to do too much cutting (including cutting the LED from the board) to do that.  I think I can do the fiber thing.  If not, a new LED is Plan B.

[amato1969]

Dave, great work.  That huge tender just screams PRR!

  Frank

[Zox]

Yep, I'm doing the "face lift."  It's going to be a challenge to do the ol' fiber-optic headlight trick; it'll need a very sharp bend in the fiber to get to the top-mounted headlight.

Instead of trying to make a nigh-impossible bend in the fiber, why not run the fiber in vertically, and put a teeny 45-degree mirror/reflector at the end of it to send the light toward the front?

[Chris333]

Why not try to find a photo of one of these with the lights on, then realize that the head light being lit is a bad idea? 

[Dave V]

Interesting point...!  The headlight seems to be off in most of the pictures.

[Chris333]

Dave,

Don't mind me, I'm an odd-ball    I pull the lights out of everything I own and use MV lens or something similar, but I do it because I model the 1950's. If I was a modern guy I would NEED lights.

Light or not it looks like it will be a winner and have everyone with a PCM pre-order jealous!

[up1950s]

Wonderful workmanship . You're another one of the few that doesn't need a manufacturer to round-out a roster Dave .

[Dave V]

Thanks for the kind words!  I probably will do the headlight thing.  For me, more than anything, it's a great way to check if my engine's getting power.  I have toggle switches in my staging yard so I don't keep my decoders humming.  It's good to see the headlight pop on as I throw the toggle to confirm that she's ready to go.