Or for about $60 you could get a Harbor Freight cast iron drill press and convert it to a rivet machine. Well, it helps to have an x-y table, too, but those are nowhere near as expensive as they used to be.
Here I am having to relearn how to build a simple All-Nation passenger car kit, but would love to do a steam locomotive. I did a decent job on my HO Bowser K4 including the super detail kit at 16. Who knows?
Now to down to the brass tacks. Who's bidding on this from the forum? I'd love to make a run at it, but I won't compete against my fellow forum friends.
These are a dime a dozen. I admire your non-compete, and try to do that myself. Put an ad somewhere; you will get offers. I have never missed with MRR ads, although expensive and maybe now out of date.
Jonathan
I say " go for it". You never know, you just might get it for a decent price...but only if you post your build here so we can watch it! 🙂
Mark in Oregon
Mark,
If I decide to go for it, I will definitely post the build here. I'm trying to figure out what road I want to do it in as I'll likely add lots of detail parts to it for the fun of it. It would be my first O locomotive kit build. I've done plenty in HO during my teens and 20's.
I recall earlier in this thread it is based on a B&O prototype?
You have little choice. It is a dead ringer for one specific B&O class. With a lot of work, you could make it look like a very specific SP locomotive - T37 #s 2105/2106.
They came from EPSW, which terminated about 75 miles southeast of you.
@GG1 4877 posted:Mark,
If I decide to go for it, I will definitely post the build here. I'm trying to figure out what road I want to do it in as I'll likely add lots of detail parts to it for the fun of it. It would be my first O locomotive kit build. I've done plenty in HO during my teens and 20's.
I recall earlier in this thread it is based on a B&O prototype?
Did you ever end up getting this?
Mark in Oregon
Speaking of the "B&O Ten Wheeler"...
...I happened upon this photo on the Railwire Forum...
Is this the prototype for the original Varney model?
Mark in Oregon
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Very similar, but judging by the cab number, that's a B-19, where the Varney prototype is a B-18. I can't see much difference between the two, though the air compressor seems to be in a different spot on the B-19's. Just going off of a B&O roster I found online.
Varney's B&O 4-6-0 kit was modeled after the locomotive assigned to President Daniel Willard's official inspection train as it looked in the late 1920's. It was B&O 2024, Class B-18ca, which during a conversion was given a B-19 Class boiler. It was one of three B-18's so equipped. The other two were Numbers 2000 and 2003. Three B-19 Class locomotives were reclassed as B-18ca as well, numbers 2039, 2040 and 2065.
In that assignment, it also wore the same deep green livery with red and gold striping as the new P-7 Class "President" 4-6-2's B&O was putting into service between New York (Jersey City) and Washington DC.
By 1932, as the Depression deepened, President Willard ordered the 2024 to be returned to pool service as having a dedicated locomotive for official use was deemed an excess expense. He also took a cut in his presidential salary.
The 2024 was dropped from the B&O roster in 1942 and likely scrapped for the war effort.
The Varney kit for this model was made to be easily assembled and sold for a moderate cost. It did not have the level of precise detailing modelers demand these days. But it was rugged, ran well and lasted long with basic maintenance.
General Models continued the kit after Varney sold it. All Nation took over this General Models kit, which set a pattern for following All Nation steam locomotive kits from 4-4-0's to 2-6-6-4's in sharing common parts and some basic tooling. The steam kit line went to Babbitt, which produced the kits with improvements including frames modified for sprung drivers, new transmissions and modern motors. Babbitt sold the steam locomotive kit line, but it has not been produced since then.
Here is B&O 2024 in its green with red and gold stripe livery as the locomotive for President Willard's official train.
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@S. Islander posted:Varney's B&O 4-6-0 kit was modeled after the locomotive assigned to President Daniel Willard's official inspection train as it looked in the late 1920's. It was B&O 2024, Class B-18ca, which during a conversion was given a B-19 Class boiler. It was one of three B-18's so equipped. The other two were Numbers 2000 and 2003. Three B-19 Class locomotives were reclassed as B-18ca as well, numbers 2039, 2040 and 2065.
In that assignment, it also wore the same deep green livery with red and gold striping as the new P-7 Class "President" 4-6-2's B&O was putting into service between New York (Jersey City) and Washington DC.
By 1932, as the Depression deepened, President Willard ordered the 2024 to be returned to pool service as having a dedicated locomotive for official use was deemed an excess expense. He also took a cut in his presidential salary.
The 2024 was dropped from the B&O roster in 1942 and likely scrapped for the war effort.
The Varney kit for this model was made to be easily assembled and sold for a moderate cost. It did not have the level of precise detailing modelers demand these days. But it was rugged, ran well and lasted long with basic maintenance.
General Models continued the kit after Varney sold it. All Nation took over this General Models kit, which set a pattern for following All Nation steam locomotive kits from 4-4-0's to 2-6-6-4's in sharing common parts and some basic tooling. The steam kit line went to Babbitt, which produced the kits with improvements including frames modified for sprung drivers, new transmissions and modern motors. Babbitt sold the steam locomotive kit line, but it has not been produced since then.
Here is B&O 2024 in its green with red and gold stripe livery as the locomotive for President Willard's official train.
Thanks for all that info; very interesting stuff. Looks like a slight difference in the valve gear "hangers".
In both the picture I posted and the one above, you can see the rather odd-looking "looped" piping, just to the front of the cab, on the top of the boiler. I've often wondered what that's all about... 
Mark in Oregon
Air cooling
Looped piping allows a pipe carrying hot water or steam to expand without an increase in thermal stress due to heating. If both ends of a straight pipe are constrained and it is heated internally, the pipe cannot expand and an internal (compressive) thermal stress will develop. With a loop, the looped part of the pipe is free to expand away from the constrained ends and no compressive stress is developed.
MELGAR
Mark--I really enjoyed reading this thread and the dedication you took to bring a model back to life. Well done! How is she running 1 1/2 years later?
Thanks Andy
Both this one (and the rather beat-up second example I got the following year) are smooth, strong and quiet runners. Sometimes I (almost) wonder why newer types of models were developed...these old, simple engines are really very nice. 🙂
Mark in Oregon
I just got one of the 4-6-0 locos (finally). It is a Babbit kit I got on the bay. It has never been started and it has no tender. I think I will scratchbuilt a tender for it. I have several photos and I think ALL Nation had a drawing available years ago. Looking forward to getting it and I’m sure i will be back for help when assembly begins.
My father who is a Varney collector just picked up his first O-Scale Varney locomotive with this model and typical of all his model work, he is doing a very high quality restoration of it to original condition. He sent me a few photos of it last week and it was in much better condition than many I've seen so I am looking forward to seeing it in the near future in person.
In the past, I have done his painting but I must say my airbrush is buried under lots of other boxes and it has been many years since I've actually done any painting with it. Seeing the as delivered photo though is some inspiration on how to paint it.
@Strummer posted:Did you ever end up getting this?
Mark in Oregon
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I passed on it. After reviewing the condition of the parts I decided it would have been too much work for my limited time to make into a viable project.
@Brother_Love posted:I just got one of the 4-6-0 locos (finally). It is a Babbit kit I got on the bay. It has never been started and it has no tender. I think I will scratchbuilt a tender for it. I have several photos and I think ALL Nation had a drawing available years ago. Looking forward to getting it and I’m sure i will be back for help when assembly begins.
Yay... that's awesome. 🙂
Mark in Oregon
