Since Skookum's return to steam, I've been kicking around the idea of building a small articulated, probably from Mantua/Tyco parts. Some years ago, I got a whole box of Tyco Chattanooga consolidations for $25. Most of them had made the long trip to the floor at least once, but the power units (located in the tenders) seemed to run fine and tests I ran on a complete locomotive showed that they pull unbelievably well. So here's the question: Would I be asking for trouble by trying to build a truly tender driven articulated locomotive? What do you guys think? It would be a straight boilered engine like Skookum, probably with a boiler turned from brass. Weight could be controlled by drilling the boiler as needed.
It has been many years now, but there was an RTR 2-4-4-2 released. I want to say about early 1990's? Skookum was one of them. I wonder if you could find one of these?
The Bachmann 2-4-4-2 is a On30 model, but there have been some HO brass ones too. The hard part about making a scratchbuilt articulated is powering the front engine, but since you are doing a tender-driven model, it definitely sounds doable. The frame consists of axles bearings, the cylinders, and the pilot. A boiler with a firebox sits on top. Steam scratchbuilding sounds like a daunting task, but I think breaking a model into components makes it much more approachable. If you are using Tyco running gear, all you need is a boiler, cab, and some detail parts. Are you building a Skookum model or more of a freelance-type locomotive? Finding drawings for steam locomotives is hard because so much has already been lost. It seems like builders photos have survived, but documentation for more obscure designs is next to non-existent. You may not have much to work with, but if you are coming up with your own design, that may not matter to you.
I remember the brass version. That was far enough in the past so there was no evidence of its existence on Ebay and frankly, any remaining examples would be way out of my price range anyway. Although I am not setting out to build a literal model of Skookum, I did find pictures of a set of drawings online. These would only be a guide as I envision this engine being a somewhat beefier version with 51" drivers. I would probably start with a pair of junk 0-4-0's, possibly a cab and front cylinder block from a ten wheeler along with a combination of fabricated, 3D printed and machined scratch parts.
Many many years ago , when in my teens , I tried building 2-8-8-0 out of two Tyco 2-8-0s. I removed the smoke arm off one driver set and pressed on a gear and used a shortened Monogram BigBoy Boiler for it, Only powered the back driver set . Never ran right,gear mesh problems. I tried tender power,but with a short diesel frame , did not work out. This was due to my lack of tools and experience with fabrication and no ebay to get parts from. I think tender power would work good , maybe use a SW1 or similar under a tender shell with kitbashed side frame on the trucks. please send phots as you work on this project
I've already got the tender power handled. I've got several of the old Tyco Chattanooga powered tenders. At least a couple of them run well, so getting the mechanism to run well and stay on the rails while being pushed is the biggest concern.
