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Reply to "Building a Brass Locomotive Workshop E9 Kit"

Update March 5th, finishing the LWS kit.

Having gone this far trying to build my first brass locomotive kit I didn’t want to fail now.  Those early OSR magazines kept encouraging builders of every skill level to “do the best you can”.  Now I was at the point where I had to select how many exterior details to install on this model.  All along this adventure I have been studying old photos of Union Pacific E8 and E9 locomotives and was ordering small brass details online.   I began with digging through the part numbers shown on Precision Scale’s website.

Precision Scale had windshield wipers part# 5654, door handles part# 5639.  Grab irons part# 5623 were installed after 1959 to meet the ICC-mandated access steps and handholds on the engineers side of the nose casting.   Precision Scale MU hose connector’s part# 5650 are found on several Union Pacific E8A/E9A locomotives like 942, 949 and 951.  The brass rods that were used to make the ladder rest grab irons and hand railing were K&S precision metals part# 4873.  Note: during assembly a piece of 1/32th inch basswood was used underneath all hand railing to help maintain an exact distance between railing and the locomotives surface.

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Precision Scale also offered 48” fan blades part# 5653, 36” fan blades part# 5682 and brass lift rings part# 48279 (you will needed two packs of these for an E9).  I couldn’t locate E9 roof mounted cooling pipes in brass so I ended up ordering part# 48-051 from Scale City Design and modifying them to fit this application. To get the look of heavy duty dual-wall exhaust stacks on the roof I used 2 different size round brass tubes from K&S precision metals and mounted one pipe inside the other.  The outer pipe was 9/32” part# 8132 and the inner pipe ¼” part# 8131.  The small 3/32” pipe next to the exhaust stack is K&S part# 8126.

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Then, from the American Scale Models website I ordered left and right side mirrors part# 3066 and the duel diesel headlight insert part# 911.7.  The 13 ½” long stainless steel vertical slot Farr style air intake grills and front number board housings came from the K-Line donor shell.   The window sun shades and oval builder’s plates were created from strips of 2mm x 1 mm flat brass.  In my opinion the perfect way to create that definitive look of a classic polished brass locomotive was to not install windows in the cab.

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Originally, I purchased 4 EMD rotary knob style sand box covers.   Then while researching online I discovered EMD switched to a newer type after 1954 because the previous rotary style dropped down against the sides of the E8 locomotives and caused damage.  Luckily, American Scale Models offers these newer E9 improved journal type sand box covers part# 923.4.  To hide all the wires, electronics, smoke unit and motors inside the shell six clear windows were cut from a sheet of .010” thick Styrene.  These windows were then painted glossy black only on the Styrene’s backside.  Then, they were attached inside the shell over the porthole openings with the clear side facing out.  The clear window thickness gives my visitors the impression of depth, like they are looking through a glass window and into a darkened engine room.

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Also, from American Scale Models was this brass striker plate (now discreetly being used as my external TMCC antenna) part# 995-8 and back-up light housing part # 9287.09.  The brass light housing was drilled out and a 2mm warm white tower LED was placed inside.  The 2mm LED is wired to the TMCC board and it only illuminates while the locomotive is in reverse.  The flexible diaphragm is from Scale City Design part# 48-225.

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The brass rear ladder part# 816-3 was from American Scale Models.  Bow-tie vents over the battery compartments and steam generator exhaust stack came from the K-Line donor shell.  The brass shell and nose was lightly gone over one last time with 0000 steel wool to remove any leftover oxidation.  Then I applied two glossy coats of Tamiya clear spray paint part# TS-13 to seal-in the shiny brass finish from oxidation.

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I wanted to say thank you to all the OGR forum members for the great advice during this building adventure.  In an effort to help other forum members who find this thread in the future I have listed all the part numbers used to complete this Locomotive Workshops kit.  Not having a complete parts list of exterior details was like rummaging thru unmarked cardboard parts boxes at a train meet.  Some websites carried a few parts… then I had to search other websites for other parts.  It felt like I was on an online treasure hunt.  But hey, it looks like I got a Golden E9 locomotive at the end of this treasure hunt!  Also, one last fun fact:  I drilled 128 different holes/openings into the shell & nose casting for all those little brass details.   

In closing, I did the best I could building my first brass locomotive kit.   When visitors ask questions about this polished E9 running around the layout, I can proudly say “I built it”.   



Thank you for following this thread.

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Images (6)
  • LWS nose
  • LWS top
  • LWS front
  • LWS side
  • LWS rear
  • LWS rear top
Last edited by T.Albers

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