|
| May 30, 2004 |
| Added photos of the mountains I painted on the backdrop at the engine terminal. |
| April 25, 2004 |
| Added photos of the newly primed backdrop behind the engine terminal. |
| April 25, 2004 |
| Added photos of the newly painted lighting valence above the engine terminal. |
| April 21, 2004 |
| Added information on the Cascade Section House. |
| April 21, 2004 |
| Added information on the Thurmont Freight House. |
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Scratch-Built Western Maryland I2 Decapod
| Prototype Locomotive Manufacturer |
Baldwin |
| Model Manufacturer |
ScratchBuilt by Me |
| Scale |
Proto:87 (HO) |
| Date Started |
Around December 2002 |
This is a long project I started in late 2002. I hope to have this done
by July 2003, but that is almost certainly an overly optimistic date. The
model is being scratchbuilt using styrene sheet and strip, butyl
tubes and some brass bits. The scale and guage is Proto:87.
Proto:87 is the Finescale HO standard, and is much closer to the "real thing"
than standard HO. It requires special wheels and trackwork in order to
work reliably. The visual effect really is worth the trouble, or so I say
right now. We'll see once I get a small Proto:87 layout working :-)
This is the first thing I've completely scratch-built, and I've only recently
(2002) gotten back into model-building, so I thought I'd start with the
tender. The tender isn't much more complex than building a boxcar from
scratch.
If you go to the
WM Steam Roster site (opens in new window) and scroll down to the I2
Decapod (2-10-0) section you will see several reasonable photos of the Heavy
Decapod. Please note that it is quite a bit larger than the I1
"Russian" Decapod. I am modeling the I2 Decapod as it appeared late in
its life, as it was being "replaced" by the Challenger 4-6-6-4.
The plans I'm using are from Model Railroader, the June
1985 issue. Back issues are available from
www.trains.com. For those of you who haven't seen them, here is a
shrunk-down version (shrunken so it can't be easily used, I don't want to
violate copyrights, so if you want to use the diagrams, please get a copy of
this excellent issue of the magazine. The plan in the magazine is
1:1 with HO, so it is easy to use)
Update July 2003
This model is on hold temporarily while I consider resizing it with casting
copies in mind. As a pilot project for the casting, I started a
conversion of the Bachmann Consolidation. For information on that, choose
the H7b Consolidation from the roster menu.
As of August 9, 2004, I had taken a different approach for locomotive
construction. I am converting my Sherline mill to a CNC mill. That will enable
me to create the profiles in 3ds Max (which I have) or Rhino (which I may get)
and then machine them in Freeman machinable wax for casting or directly into
brass for items like frames. More updates to follow.
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