Building a Locomotive From Scratch

Anything is possible....all depends on the amount of time and money you want to spend. There is a guy the runs 1/32 scale trains (on G ) that builds almost everything....and it's hard not to think photos are of real trains. But it often means having a lathe, casting skills, a number of power cutting tools, painting skills and the ability to make your own decals.

If you have that....it just takes time....

Time . . . it always comes down to time, doesn't it?  

As Steven Wright said: "Everything is within walking distance if you have the time."

Or, as Michelangelo once said when asked how he had sculpted an elephant (or something)

so realistically: "Easy; just remove anything that doesn't look like an elephant".

This may not be an exact quote. Anyway, start small. Don't sculpt an elephant

at first - you won't get one, and you'll quit. I "scratch" build, and much of what I know to do is from having done it - and the wrong things - many times.

Again, start small; modify a simple loco. Get a feel for wallowing in the whole

thing. And pick your battles; there are things that I would love to have, but they

are beyond me. And you'll find materials in the darndest places - the Coffin FWH on my

Baldwin Heavy Decapod smokebox front is part of a 35-cent PVC plumbing connector

that was the right diameter and thickness - I took the smokebox front to Ace Hardware

and started looking at plumbing.

That's great advice.

When I was younger, I built hundreds of model airplanes and learned something new from each one.  I had to start somewhere and applied what I learned from each one to make the next one better.  Eventually placed in several national meets.

Now, I'm collecting information to scratch build a steam engine.  I've been doing a lot of research and several members of this forum have been very helpful with information.  I've found accurate modeling requires more research time than the actual building process.

Good luck, keep us posted.  

Oh It's possible. Just not sure if it can be better than they make them.