DONE:::: MORE NEW PROGRESS/PICS & VIDEO ADDED 3/29/15

I don't have any suggestions to offer, but I can't wait to see what you do!

I've been slowly working on a non-realistic car for my armed forces train - watching all you posts gave me the confidence to try something a little more challenging.

That seems to demand flipping through the Locomotive Cyclopedia, or, if confined to

ATSF, books on their steamers. (I don't have one, but would be surprised if there are

not some out there..my specific steam loco books are for D&RGW, CB&Q, and C,RI,&P.)

C&O, too, but hardly in ATSF territory.  Since I am waiting on parts for a mild project

like that, with possible future ones, I would enjoy following your progress closely

here on the forum.  (I should be, but am not, set up to record my effort)

I've been going through Worleys book Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail, and steamloc database.  I will look through other books if I can . . . 

In general, the only x-6-x steamers I have found so far that the LC+ Hudson "fits" as scale are either early Prairies - and there were tons of slightly different ones, all fairly undistinguished, and several tank engines.  I'm looking into a the "CentraL RR or New Jersey's" H-1 class of 2-6-4 tank engine (1923) that is called "surprisingly modern and well-proportioned . . . " in the steamlocomotive database.  I don't have a photo and I am not sure I want another tank engine, but . . . so far it appears to be the best candidate unless I want to do another ATSF Prairie, which, maybe . . . 

May not fit your bill, but why not get another one and make a 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garrett?  This one has drivers about the size you are looking for.

Must it be a 2-6-2 or are you just concerned about the driving wheels?

This 2-6-0 would be nice.  Especially if you were lucky enough to get the Strasburg Coaches MTH made several years back.

Ron

Just get 6 more wheels

Thank you everyone for the comments and suggestions.

Comments:

I don't like the look of Garrett locos.  Interesting but, well, ugly.  I sure would like to see someone do that project, though.

To make a 2-6-0, or a 4-6-0 for that matter, and make it look realistic, I would have to trim back (i.e., cut off) a good deal of the metal body over the present rear truck.  I can gtrim about an inch but not quite enough.  Still, this may be an option . . . 

I have a nice UP 4-12-2, so I don't want to make one.  

I have thought of buying two and making a Mallet - 4-6-6-4.  But to date, I have done all my converisons without removing the body, etc.  I could not do that conversion without removing and modifying inside, which someday I may try.  

I also plan to scour my parts bin and see if I don't have an extra driver axle of the right size, and if perhaps I could add it as just a free-running set to lengthed the loco in to a 2-8-2 or such.  Not sure I do, or that it would be feasible to do . . . but I am still thinking about this.  

yes...

Thanks,

Mario

I still have no decided what to bash it into, but "it" arrived on Monday.  However, I did not get to open it until this morning: as usual it works perfectly.  All six LC+ steamers I've bought were.

The delay in even checking it, m uch less getting to the project (not yet) is because this has been a rather intense week with my employment (normally I work only one day a week but this is actually going to be the equivalent about four or even five) and a domestic project  (adding the elevator shaft to our house required removing eight feet of my wife's favorite built- in cabinets and counter from our hallway, and I promised her I would move them to our breakfast room - Ugh).

Anyway, my research found a slew of interesting tank engines that this LC+ engine could match to scale in driver size and wheelbase, etc, including 2-6-2, 2-6-4, and 4-6-4 tanks, but I'm thinking of trying to lengthen it about 1 to 1 /12 inch.  I will not get to start this until the weekend, and have to drive six hours Friday to a meeting and back: this will give me something fun to think about then . . .

Here is it out of the box while I tested it.  It's upstairs now doing a four-hour run-in. 

This comparison is essentially before and after.  My LC+ tank engine was a NYC LC+ Hudson when I got it.  Beyond the conversion to a tank engine, note how far forward I "moved" the cab, and that its roof is a scale 16 inches higher overall and that the boiler I added is scale one foot larger in diameter.  On this next project I am thinking of moving the cab rearward about half an inch, and making it longer by 1/2 inch (thereby getting me an inch in total length) and installing a larger boiler and extending it forward 1/2 inch.  Have to relocate the stack though - have to think about that . . . anyway, a fun project to think about until I get to it, then even more fun.  

(normally I work only one day a week but this is actually going to be the equivalent about four or even five)

A 4 or 5 day work week?  Oh the humanity!

Can't wait to see the "bash".  Keep us posted.

Ron

I've started this:

The conversion will be to a fantasy loco, a Santa Fe Pacific, in the style of 5001/3751/3460 classes, but one stage smaller: as if the "Santa Fe Big Three" were, instead, Four.  

I am going to stretch the loco 1 1/4 inches overall, making it the same length as a scale Southern Crescent (a small Pacific, its about 3/4 inch shorter than the Alton Pacifics, etc.).  I will add half an inch at the front of the boiler, half an inch at the rear of the boiler, and 1/4 inch in the longer, scale-sized cab.  The boiler will be a scale 16 inches more diameter the the original LC+ steamer.  

This is a more ambitious conversion than my previous four, in both the addition of so much length to the loco and in esthetics: I have no doubt I camn make a good looking loco body for it, but it will have a driver wheelbase quite short for its length, and that may make it look weird.

I removed the body of the steamer this time - the first time I did.  I posted that separately with a title that should bring the posting up if people ever search for pictures inside an LC+ steamer.  I was delighted that, unlike LC+ diesels, no wires and antenna, lights, etc., were attached to the inside of the body which would have complicated things.

I THOUGHT BRIEFLY about mounting another body entirely on it.  I have the complete body from a Legacy ATSF Northern 3751 (long story, another time) and it fits over the chassis.  But I could see no feasible way to trim it so short that it would look good.  Down the road, I have some ideas for that approach - I think the Lionel scale small Pacific (Southern Crescent) would slip right on.  But I don't have that body unless I remove if from my perfectly good Legacy loco, so  . . . but I decided to go ahead and modify the existing LC+ body to be 'scale' and my new loco.

With the body off the loco, I could "very aggressively" take a saw to it (at least compared to how gently I did on the previous four conversions, and I did, as the photo below shows.  I removd portions of the cab so that the bigger boiler will slip on back another 1/2 inch and other obstructions, etc. and made a new boiler shell out of polycarbonate tube to fit.

I know that I will move the stack forward between 1/4 to 1/2 inch.  I do not know yet if I will do this by leaving the smoke unit where it is on the chassis and routing an S shaped pipe up and out the new, more forward stack (that will work if I only move the stack forward bu just 1/4 inch) or if I will relocate it first.  I may do both.  Note in the photo below, the smoke unit is held in place by two screws (red arrows point to the), 1/4 in apart.  It appears that if I remove those screws, and move the unit forward a quarter inch (yellow arrow) I can screw the rearmost hole in the smoke unit's bracket to the forward most of the two holes in the chassis, moving the unit forward 1/4 inch.  An S pipe would then take care of the other 1/4 inch I need.  It appears that the wires will stretch that far and that the chassis will accomodate the relocation: in fact it looks like the whole thing has been made so that this could be done at the factory.

More as I get to it. 

I do believe if I was as this point in such a project I would panic at the looks of that shell in its current condition.  I can't wait to see how you progress through this.

Ron

Even more progress this morning, so I updated by earlier posting on what I've done.

It will be an Adriatic (2-6-4).  Why?  Purely based on aesthetics.  I tried 4-6-4, 2-6-2, and 2-6-4 configurations, and rare as it was in real life, the Adriatic form looked best.  Rear truck is a three-axle truck modified to two axles, in order to get a slightly longer wheelbase than any two-axle trucks I had in my parts bin, and the front, as you can see from the white styrene, is scratch built.  Cowcatcher and all is not from the LC+ Hudson but a scale ATSF Northern, and was about 12% larger in all dimensions so it gives a nice "scale" look to the front on the loco.  Cab, of course, is scratch built and modeled after (copied in dimensions exactly) on that of the Lionel ATSF 3751 and 3759 Northerns. 

Bashing modifications.  Boiler is 5/16 inch (scale 16 inches) great diameter and 1 1/8 inches (scale four and a half feet) longer.  Cab is scale one foot taller and half a foot longer.  In addition, the entire original loco body over which I added everything, has been  raised 1/8 inch (6 inches) on the LC+ chassis.  This loco will be slightly taller than but a scale foot shorter than the Legacy Southern Crescent.  I will make it ATSF.  The tender shown (still unmodified) will be replaced with a more scale-sized fantasy tender, using the 'box" from a Legacy 3751 made into a type of centipede tender with, I think, seven axles.  

Hopefully I will get some serious time on this this afternoon, but here it is as of this morning, with some "separately applied detail" added now, but a lot more to come.  Have not yet started on its tender. 

Looking good Lee.  What do you use to fill in the gaps and cracks?  Are you just hand sanding using sand paper to make it smooth?

Ron

That's coming along great, you sure work fast!

Cinco De Mayo Party ?

Wow

Suggestion only, LEE:  consider editing the title since you've decided on, and are well along with, the bash.

Work on the loco and tender is done.  There is a lot of small cosmetic work and painting, etc., yet to do, but the loco and tender are complete and run splendidly.

- I lengthened the tender 1 1/10 inch and converted it to a "centripede" by adding a third 3-wheel truck.  I added a center pickup to one truck (LC+ tenders had none)

- I added a tether between loco and tender so they share electrical pickup (LC+ locos have only two center pickups) and also added a wire so the loco benefits from the outer rail pickup of the tender's wheels).

I am very pleased with this loco.  It is a particularly handosme locomotive - ev erything I did to make it was bashed almost entirely on esthetics, so it should be, and much bigger than an LC+, roughly the size of the scale Southern Crescent, bigger in all dimensions than the scale Atlantic, etc., slotting it at the size an Adriatic (2-6-4 should be, and absolutely scale looking, with a bit of gravitas and mass to it, and alot of eye candy in the form of pipes, values, tanks, etc., and a cab modeled exactly after the wartime ATSF cabs (their Northern 3751, etc) - what I think is the handsomest steamer cab.  

And it smokes like a fiend through the the re-located smokestack and the S pipe I built from smoke unit to stake (leaking here a bit since it is not yet glued and sealed on). 

 Here is a short video of it pulling a dozen scale reefers and caboose.

Looks absolutely amazing, Lee! The video, unfortunately, is not showing up for me. 

It's shaping up Lee but there is no video.

Looks great Lee, love the treatment on the tender with the extra truck.   Can't wait to see the finished product.

WOW!!!  What a transformation!  Hope you will try to repost the video.

And thanks for including a date in the edited thread title.

Pretty slick, Lee. 

I have tried to re-post the video.  There were problems this morning, but after they upgraded their bionics the site is, hopefully working.  I posted the video as a test on the main forum. 

Working fine.

Thanks for the video, Lee.  Looks great!

Video looks good now. 

Not sure how I missed this thread!  I love seeing projects like this.

Wow nice work.

Hmmm, that's an interesting bash project.  I dunno about a single front pilot truck though; that's an awful lot of open space between that and the first set of driving wheels; doesn't give it a good symmetrical look to me, but it's your locomotive, have at it! 

I made a two-axle front truck and it didn't look good. Almost no US railroads had Adriatics - a few tank engines, etc. . . . but it looks good to me.  I have some equipment that will go in that gap.

Painted now . . .

Here is is at around 5AM this morning in primer, after drying and hardening 24 hours.  Locos always look so good and detailed when in primer.  It is somewhat the same effect as the pilot (unpainted) locos Lionel sells: the grey shade brings out all the details.  Quite a nice effect.  

Here it is now, painted flat black, still a bit shiny because the paint is still a tad wet.  it will sit right there for at least a day before I do any more work on it.  

DONE. This new loco is 1.5 inches longer, 3/8 inches taller, and has a boiler 5/16 inches inches great diameter than the stock LC+ loco I started with.  

As bashed/converted, it is an Adriatic, a 2-6-4, a type of locomotive that was rarely built and used in the US but nonetheless looks handsome here, I think.  

The design is pure fantasy, but based heavily on the very handson ATSF 3460 Hudsons and 3751 class Northerns, only a bit smaller than those . . . 

Here it is with Lionel's scale Atlantic.   This loco is bigger all around . . . 

In fact, it looks larger than the Legacy Southern Crescent (this one has been repainted):Iit is taller and wider and much bulkier, but the same length. 

I had fun, and took time, adding a lot of "separately applied details." Most of the pipes are made from wire coathangers, etc. Various bits and pieces were taken from locos in my spare parts boxes.

I lengthened the tender by 1 1/8 inches and made it into a type of centipede . . . and oil, not coal.

Here is a video -- I hope: fhe forum has been squirrel-ly lately about taking videos - the upload and say they are attached then somehow disappear within a few minutes, but I hope this sticks . . . 

That's a great job Lee, it does compare very well with the scale locomotives!

Very nice.