Western Maryland J-1 1403 in N scale

[PiperguyUMD]

This fall I am planning on building a second Western Maryland J-1 4-8-4 - called Potomacs on the road. The first one involved so much tinkering and took so long that I hardly documented the project at all. This time I would like to attempt to share the process no matter how long it takes!

Like 1409, I’ll be using the most recent run of the Bachmann 4-8-4 for a starting point. These are surprisingly good runners, and I was able to pick one up at a train show for a reasonable price. The overall wheelbase is a bit long, but the driver wheel base is only slightly oversize for the Potomac’s footprint. The Potomacs had 70” drivers, and the Bachmann 4-8-4 drivers are 74” across the tire. The Boxpox drivers are also a plus.

So far I have collected all parts with the exception of the decoder, and LEDs. All the 3D printed parts have been completed with he exception of the tender frame and the tender shell. I will be using different tender trucks than on 1409 so I’ll need to double check the bolsters before I print the frame. On 1409’s tender shell I used Archer Rivet decals for the rivets, this time I will add them to the drawing. It will be time consuming, but more accurate and less frustrating than the decals. Once these parts are printed, all parts will be on hand.

Western Maryland J1 4-8-4 1403 Parts List

• Mechanism
• Bachmann 4-8-4 (Most recent run) ✓
• Bachmann Class J Lead Truck 8215X-82102✓
• Kato GS-4 Trailing Truck 941052 ✓
• Bachmann Commonwealth Tender Trucks (powered from heavy mountain Vanderbilt Tender)✓
• Kato GS-4 Valve Gear 939015 ✓
• 3d Printed Parts
• Tender Frame
• Tender Shell
• Lead truck drawbar ✓
• Boiler Shell ✓
• Pilot ✓
• Cylinders ✓
• Headlight ✓
• Cab Diaphragm ✓
• Electronics
• Soundtraxx TSU-1100
• LEDs
• Headlight
• Tender
• Detail Parts
• True Scale Couplers MTL-001 02 300 ✓
• Marker Lights DET-8016 ✓
• FEF-3 Whistle, Bell and Bracket Kato 934017 ✓
• Power Reverse GHQ ✓
• Dynamo GHQ ✓
• .008” Phosphor Bronze wire TIC-1100✓
• sand lines
• air piping
• grab irons
• .015” Phosphor Bronze wire TIC-1102✓
• handrails
• misc plumbing
• .020” Phosphor Bronze Wire TIC-1103✓
• misc plumbing
• Feedwater Heater DET-8024✓
• Cross Compound Air Pumps Bachmann 811XX-00D04✓
• Tender Stirrup Steps GMM-160-48 ✓
• Steam Detail Set GMM-160-42✓
• stanchions
• ladders on boiler
• brake rigging for drivers
• number plate
• Coupler Cut Bars BLM-11✓
• front ✓
• tender ✓
• Wire mesh for pilot deck radiator✓
• Paint
• Tru Color Black TCP -010✓
• Tru Color Flat Weathered Black TCP-171 ✓
• Tru Color White TCP-005 ✓
• Tru Color Iron Oxide TCP -168 ✓
• Decals
• Northeast Decals WM Steam ✓

Hopefully having this thread will hold me accountable for slow and steady progress! Here we go!

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[johnb]

I am following this, and wondering if you plan on selling that Vandy

[PiperguyUMD]

I am following this, and wondering if you plan on selling that Vandy

I have more than one! But I need the trucks off of both of them for future projects. Still interested?

[johnb]

I have more than one! But I need the trucks off of both of them for future projects. Still interested?

I might be

[PiperguyUMD]

A quick bit of progress this afternoon

The wheel spacing on the 4-8-4 lead truck is too wide, so I swap it out for the lead truck from the Bachmann N&W J. I 3d printed a drawbar that brings the new truck closer to the drivers and centers them under the new cylinders. This is a simple switch and attaches to the pilot truck using the screw from the J lead truck, and the frame using the original screw from the 4-8-4.

Bachmann 4-8-4 lead truck top, replacement pilot truck bottom.




Finished lead truck assembly


Another quick project is mounting the coupler on the pilot and mounting the pilot on the mechanism. The opening for the coupler box was originally designed for a Micro Trains 905 box, so I need to file down the sides of the True Scale box to fit. While I’m at it, I also ream out the hole in the bottom of the coupler box so that the head of the screw is flush with the bottom of the box to ensure that there are no clearance issues. Once I’m happy with the fit, I mark where the screw needs to go and drill a No. 65 through the pilot deck and tap it for 00-90 threads. I use flat head brass screws because it’s easy to file them flush with the pilot deck.

Modified coupler box


Coupler box mounted to pilot deck


Screw filed flush with pilot deck


The original pilot from the 4-8-4 is held on a large metal tab by a screw, and is simple to remove. The new pilot has a pocket on the back that slides over this tab. Its a snug fit, and friction will suffice to hold it in place.

Front of the Bachmann Mechanism


Back of the Potomac Pilot


Checking the coupler height. Its a great feeling to stick it on the first try!


Thats all for today, hopefully more soon!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This makes me miss doing the NTRAK Steam Book.

[wm3798]

I'm afraid there needs to be a click-through tab on this thread to protect immature audiences from its highly erotic adult content.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need a cold shower.

Lee

[PiperguyUMD]

A few small projects on the Potomac this week.

First up, replacing the cylinders.

The stock cylinders are held in place by a single screw, which is accessed by removing the pilot.



With this removed they will fall out of place, but are still attached to the model via the valve gear. Everything except the side rods will be replaced, so popping the main crank pin out with a small screwdriver will free the whole assembly.





Here is the frame less cylinders and valve gear. The stock cylinders slide around this square bar, but I have designed the new cylinders to slide directly onto it. The fit is a friction fit and can be adjusted with painters tape if needed. I’ve found this makes it far less likely that I’ll damage something should they ever have to be removed for maintenance or fine tuning.







The steam inlet pipes will have to be filed down to clear the boiler. It doesn’t have to be a pretty job, as there will be appliances along the running boards on both sides. Enough material needs to be removed to let the running boards rest on the pilot steps.



The final fit - here we can see how the new pilot truck and shortened pilot truck beam tuck the lead wheel set in behind the new pilot, and center the pilot truck on the cylinders.



While I was at it, drilled out all of the whole for grab irons and hand rail stanchions. I use .008” wire for most grabs and drill .0091” holes. No exciting pictures of that, but a tedious job checked off the list.
 
Hopefully it won’t be 30+ days until the next post! 

[chessie system fan]

Looking good!  How much peer pressure would it take to design the piping on the steam chest with a smaller radius curve with a sharper bend? 

[PiperguyUMD]

I’m pretty sure I did at some point, I just printed the wrong files by mistake. Because I didn’t draw up the frame in sketchup, it’s hard to measure just how much of an adjustment I need to make. Since it’s would require some trial and error, I just play with some sand paper instead 

[chessie system fan]

Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, I'm talking about that loop pipe thing on top of the steam chest.  The Mainline Modeler plans show it doesn't have quite that gentle, large radius curve at each end.

[PiperguyUMD]

I had a chance to a do a little work on the Potomac this week! I pack a tool box with model railroad projects when I have to travel for work, and actually had some down time to mess with this one!

First up is replacing the stock trailing truck with the one from the Kato GS4. It’s not perfect, but its much closer than the one from the factory, and it isn’t too difficult to attach. Speaking of, I remember fabricating a new linkage for this job on the first Potomac I built, but this one actually seems to work without any modification! I did have to open up the inside of the hole just a bit, and also clean up some flashing that was on the top and outside.





Lastly, I added some tungsten putty inside the opening on the bottom of the booster engine. I should probably figure out some way to add a spring that would press down on the truck, but for now, the putty does the trick. I’ll dial it in later if I need to.



I was really bummed to hear about the closing of Gold Medal Models! Thier steam loco detail kit is essential to all of my builds. Fortunately I have two partially used sets and three unopened, hope that’s enough to last!

I use 3 No. 7 brake hangers and one No. 5 from this kit. I clean up any flashing left from removing the from the sheet, and carefully bend them square.





Next, I lay them in place between each driver and mark their location. While we’re here, take a look at the area between the last driver and the trailing truck. This will require some filler to mount the brake hanger for the 4th driver - but more on that in a moment.




After marking all the locations, I come back with a file to make the notch for the brake hangers. I like to use JB Weld to mount these, so I make this notch a little bit deeper than the brass. The cure time gives me a chance to install all of the brake hangers, and make sure that they are evenly spaced front to back between each driver, and centered left to right on the frame



Speaking of JB Weld, I used styrene to square up the end of the base plate on the last Potomac, but I didn’t have anything suitable for this task in my tool box. I dabbed enough left over JB Weld on tail of the baseplate to square it off. I made sure that it cleared the drivers and let it cure over night.



The next day and cleaned everything up with a file. This will make a suitable mounting point for the final brake hanger, which I’ll get to in the next installment!





I had to pack up in a hurry and didn't get an overall progress shot. I'll try to post one later this week.

[PiperguyUMD]

A long overdue update on this thread. I’ve been traveling a lot for work and this has been an easy project to box up and take along.

First up, electronics and getting the tender in working order.

The WM 4-8-4s had 6 wheel Commonwealth trucks on their tenders. I have the set that came off of Bachmann 4-8-4 but those don’t have electrical pickups. I had a set of Commonwealth trucks off of a Spectrum Vanderbilt tender that I used on another project that has sense been scavenged for parts. Fortunately I still have the trucks, but one of them is missing the contact insert, so I need to make a new one.

I took the pickups out of a set of Kato caboose trucks, cut them into thirds and soldered an extra axle cup into the middle. It fits perfectly into the side frame, but because the center axle cup sits inside of the surrounding frame, its too narrow for the original Bachmann axle. After a fiddling with it for a few minutes, I discovered that the Kato wheel set is the same diameter of the Bachmann wheels but with a shorter axle. Perfect!









I added pickup strips to the tender floor, and added a TCS 2 pin micro connector. While working on the tender floor, I added grab irons, coupler cut bar, and N-possible coupler.





Moving on to electronics. Using what I learned on the Russian Decapod, I used a strip of PC board as a pad to connect the wiring harness from the decoder and the 6 pin connector coming from the loco. Since I have acres of space on this instal compared to the Dec, I’m going to try to get additional track power from the loco. Also taking advantage of the space to try out a big honking speaker enclosure.









On my previous Potomac, I routed the connections from the loco to the tender under the cab and below the footplate on the tender. However on this one, since I’m using a different draw bar, the gap between the loco and tender is much less. So I think it will be easier to route the connection through the coal doors and into the back of the cab.



With the diaphragm added between the tender and the all-weather cab, this will be barely noticeable. While working on the tender shell, I added the grab irons on the rear, and ladder between the deck of the tender and coal bunker





With the tender in working order, I turned my attention to the remaining details on the loco. I printed a new pilot to accept N-possible couplers, so I needed to add details. The coupler cut bar uses mounting rings from a BLMA early coupler lift bar. The lift bar itself won’t work here so I bent a new one out of .010” wire. I used a lift ring glued into the center to represent the linkage to the coupler. The train air line is .015” wire bent to order. The grill over the radiator is cut from a piece of brass wire mesh. The bolts are HO scale NBW castings from Detail Associates. Air compressors are from Bachmann. I ordered 10 of them a while ago and half of them were Southern Green lol.



Finally Handrails. The engineer side was completed some time ago, so just one side to go. I’ve been putting this off for a long time. It's a trial and error process for me and I usually break things in the process. Fortunately this go around, I was happy with the results first try. These are CAed in place, but I leave them long in the front so that they slip into holes in the pilot floor. No glue here, so that the loco can be disassembled for service. The only thing left here are the ladders from the running board to the domes.





Only a few details left, but since they’re so fragile I think I’ll hold off on them until after paint. Pop valves, bell, and front and rear headlights. Now that the electronics and tender are done, I can turn my attention to getting the chassis rolling on its own power. It rolls very freely on its own (gears in place but no motor) so it should be a quick project, but with the new valve gear, I want to make sure its smooth as silk before final assembly.

[PiperguyUMD]

Back to the Potomac this week. I made the headlight and tender deck lights, both of which are 3d printed. I add these after painting to make masking a little bit easier, so that means they’ll need to be painted before installation. I paint the outside black, and give the inside two coats of PollyScale Stainless Steel in an effort to reduce light bleed. Once the paint dries, I add 603 surface mount LEDs. I put a dab of CA on the back to hold it in place while I add the lens. To make the lenses, I place drops of clear resin on the LED, curing between each drop, until I have a slight dome on the front. It looks great when lit, even if less than ideal when off.



Don’t worry - fuzz was removed before the lens was added!



Rinse and repeat!



I added class lights from Detail Associates and ladders between the running boards and handrails. These are from the GMM steam detail set, and are soldered to the handrails at the top. With that, the only remaining details on the boiler are the safety valves, which I will add after final assembly because they’ll break!





The shell is held in place by two 00-90 machine screws that go through the frame and into the cab floor. I installed the shell on the mechanism and drilled through the frame into the cab floor with a #56 drill bit. I then removed the shell and tapped the holes in the cab floor. Next I enlarged the holes in the frame to clear the screws. While I had the upside down, I added weight to cavities above the boiler. The domes, turret, and even the space behind the smokebox door have ample room to add ballast. I used Cerrobend alloy melted with a soldering iron and dripped directly into the openings. The latest iteration of the Bachmann 4-8-4 is already a decent puller, but this should get me north of 25 cars.



I realize I skipped over the valve gear, but I’ll do a post about it when I reassemble everything after painting. There are surprisingly few modifications, so it should be pretty clear even without in-process pics.

Everything got a scrub with warm water and dish soap. Despite the cold temps in the garage, all parts have been primed with Mr. Surfacer 1000, the cab roof and tender deck have been shot with NKP Freight Car Red, and the smokebox front has been hit with my custom mix of “Graphite”. Today I’ll mask everything that shouldn’t be black and, if temps cooperate, I’ll get that coat of paint on too.



Once that’s done there are only a few small projects left - headlight, tender light, and safety valves. Then I hit an impasse, as I’m out of WM steam decals. I hear that some may be in the works 🤞but there isn’t a whole lot more I can do. I told the source of this rumor that I'd be good for 20 sets up front, maybe that will speed up their manifestation!

[bbussey]

Outstanding.