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It will be this coming April since I posted any progress in detailing my LTI Chessie Steam Special. As we all know winter is here, so work on my Chevelle has ground to a halt, and now the inside toys come out.

When I left off, I had put on a Worthington feedwater pump, feedwater heater and one of the Pyle dynos.  Since then I have also added the second Pyle dyno, grab handles on the sand dome, and a wire for the supply steam pipe to the forward dyno. Now mind you, I'm looking at almost 45 year old photos, which were taken from a distance. I still have work to do...

I have detailed the feedwater heater as best I could. I have one coat of paint on it, but the whole boiler front needs repainting 'cause I was sloppy in painting the blue.

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After painting the B&O blue I painted the dynos black and the whistle silver and black.

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This is the photo I'm working off of...

2101 Top

I still need to paint the area under the cab windows blue, But I'm holding off to make sure I have the correct font to replicate the numbers and lettering. I still need to repaint the lower half of the boiler, but I have some detailing that needs to be completed first. The LED lighting in my work room makes the blue look purple.

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Until next time...

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Last edited by Jayhawk500

Chris,

Here is what I used to update my T-1 linkage.

For the Radius Bar, I used a rod from Lionel parts 690700E216 and 690700E217 (shown below).  However, 217 is not available, but you should be able to use 216 and flip it around as it is not tapered.  Note that these have a jog in them, so I had to straighten them out using a clamp/pliers.  Based on where it is, it did not look bad once done.  To attach to the Expansion Link, I clipped open the larger circle end and expanded it to fit around the existing pin.  Then I squeezed the ends back together.

Radius Bar

For the Crosshead Arm, Union Link, and Combination Lever, I used MTH parts EC-1110007 and EC-1120007.  I'm sure you could also use Lionel's versions 6208029238 and 6208029239.  The pics below show where to cut (straight lines) and what to not use (X's).  On the upper cut, I just ground down the rivets to remove the Radius Bar and the Valve Stem.

Crosshead Arm LeftCrosshead Arm Right

Here is the close-up of the completed running gear:

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Pat and Allan, Thank you!  More to follow soon. I'm waiting for my Precision Scale order and some paint to arrive. I also have an order into Lionel now...But screwed it up, so now I'm going to have to wait to order what I need, cause I don't want to spend $10 on shipping for a $3 part. Anybody have a spare -239 RH Main Rod assy they'd be willing to part with? I ordered 2 - LH -238 by accident.

Allan, have you seen the CSS Aux Tender in the new catalog? One of the members was posting pictures of passenger cars and it was in there. But that's okay, I'll keep my Aux tender...it means more to me... It probably works better too.

Last edited by Jayhawk500
@harmonyards posted:

Chris, did you ever get the valve & oiler linkages installed on yours?..

Pat

Funny you ask...I'm working on that right now. I went ahead and ordered the right side Big Boy linkage yesterday. It'll look something like C&O Allies linkage, but with a small twist. More to follow....

Also, in your picture above...the upper half of the lower steam chest is different than the upper one. Is that the MTH part? If so, you remember what it came off of?

Last edited by Jayhawk500
@Jayhawk500 posted:

Funny you ask...I'm working on that right now. I went ahead and ordered the right side Big Boy linkage yesterday. It'll look something like C&O Allies linkage, but with a small twist. More to follow....

Also, in your picture above...the upper half of the lower steam chest is different than the upper one. Is that the MTH part? If so, you remember what it came off of?

That’s the Mohawk’s OE steam chest, ....I’ve cut off the Lionel valve guides, and installed MTH valve guides, .....MTH’s valve guides are bolt on and actually have an inserted guide for the stem to ride on. The Lionel guides were just too narrow to accept a valve stem. ...I have a pic of that process, let me find it right quick,...I’ll pop it up on your thread after this reply,...

Pat

I have a little update on my CSS. I keep getting into the weeds with this engine. I need to stop and enjoy it. But I just cant help myself.

I did purchase the linkage that C&O Allie suggesting I use. I followed his way of mounting it...Sort of...  Instead of lopping off the parts indicated in his post above, I kept everything but the main rod and the upper 2 rods. I put a brass pin in the steam chest to support the vertical link. You can see it in the second picture.  This is removable if needed.  Then I had to figure out how I was going to support the valve gear rod going to the right. (Forgive me as I don't know all the nomenclatures for the parts on a steam engine). I made a slip link that goes over the pin boss for reverse link. The arrow is pointing to it. This allows the linkage to move without any binding. I painted the end black to hide it. Also in the second and third picture I added the support plate for a Nathan DV-4 Lubricator, since I ground off the lump that was on the boiler. Precision Scale sent me the wrong part, so now I'm having to wait on that. I hand formed the lower brace out of a pair of brass angles soldered together. Yes, it clears the drive linkage. I'm using old photos of the 2100 and 2101 for these mods.

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Next I finished the boiler for the time being. I'm still up in the air on painting the B&O blue under the cab. I'm afraid I'll screw up the lettering. So until that time comes it'll stay black.  I added some plumbing for the "air tanks" on the side of the engine. I copied this off of a brass O gauge engine I found on line. (Wish I had $1250, I'd buy it). I repainted the smoke box since I got blue paint on it. Then I put the finishing touches on the top of the boiler like adding the steam whistle and cord, and painting the steam pipe to the Pyle dyno. Pay no attention to the scratch in the blue paint, I ooops there.

Also, can anyone tell me if the boiler relief valves were painted the main boiler color or some other color. Its hard to tell in the photos.

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As I said above, I'm starting to get into the weeds on this project. I'm going to put the Nathan DV-4 and DV-7 on the chassis and call it quits for the time being. Once I get the right side linkage installed I'll do a quick test run to ensure everything is working before I reassemble the engine.

Until next time...

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Last edited by Jayhawk500

Chris, did you try rotating the flywheel by hand first to make sure your new linkage won’t jam up?......I usually remove the worm shaft all together so I can roll the chassis like a hot wheels car to verify I’m not binding things up,....that big ol Pittman sure will be indiscriminate if it don’t like things!....tiny linkage like that is a tasty snack,....😆😆😆.....beautiful work BTW, very cool build!..

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

Chris, did you try rotating the flywheel by hand first to make sure your new linkage won’t jam up?......I usually remove the worm shaft all together so I can roll the chassis like a hot wheels car to verify I’m not binding things up,....that big ol Pittman sure will be indiscriminate if it don’t like things!....tiny linkage like that is a tasty snack,....😆😆😆.....beautiful work BTW, very cool build!..

Pat

A short answer is "Yes" on rotating the flywheel.

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