Difficulty in having a 3 rail Weaver engine converted to 2 rail?

Mike, I only know of two guys who do this sort of work. They both charge $75 per set (Last time I checked) of drivers and a M1a has four sets of drivers so the conversion will cost you $300. I know it sounds expensive but it is a very labor intensive job. And of course converting the trailing and leading trucks and the tender will cost extra money not included in the $300. You could save your self some bucks by converting the rest of the locomotive yourself. That's what I have done in the past but I am not a machinist and I always paid a professional to do the drivers. I converted 4 locomotives. If I got a locomotive real cheap I would go the conversion route. Or else (IMHO) it pays to save your money for the 2 rail version. If the 2 rail version doesn't exist then that is another problem.

Remember if the person who does the conversion puts flanges where there wasn't any on the 3 rail version this will increase your minimum radius.

If I were you and I couldn't get the price I wanted for the M1a I would save up to get it converted.

Joe Foehrkolb does the drivers.  I am not aware of the other machinist, although we used to do it.  Could not keep the lights on with twice the price.

Joe is plenty busy - your best bet with this kind of model is to sell it and buy the 2-rail version - or offer to trade.  There are folks out there with 2-rail locomotives who want 3-rail.  I promise - I just converted a Lobaugh Berk to 3-rail.

Doing lead/trail/tender trucks is sort of trivial.  What is not trivial is making sure you have no short circuits.  Get the Weaver 2-rail version.

Artful,

I have converted many Weaver 3 rail steam models to 2 rail over the past ten years.  The price quoted by Hudson is higher than my charges.  you can contact me directly if you want a price to convert the M-1.  There seems to be plenty of 2 rail Weaver M-1 models out there so that may be a better option as Bob2 suggests.

Joe Foehrkolb

Is the Bellpaire boiler extension a soldered-on piece to the top of the boiler or is it one piece of brass?  I've been looking for a 4-8-2 to convert to a Seaboard Mountain, but I'm not in the mood to do a lot of hacking to have it.  A soldered-on piece would make things easier!

The belpair fire box is a complete boiler piece top to bottom, it is then soldered to the next boiler (round) piece forward.  So there is not a round boiler under the hounched shoulder belpair piece.

My apologies Joe. I could have sworn that was the price the last time I inquired.

US Hobbies PRR M1 locomotives usually seem to go for around $600 at 2 rail shows. The pilot deck on the USH version is made for 2 rail and looks much better than the extended  Weaver one

That is the price we would charge twenty years ago.  We no longer offer the service at any price.

On the Belpaire - it is actually easier to fabricate an entire new firebox than it would be to remove humps.  But once you see the beauty of a PRR steamer, you will lose the desire to cut one up.  Trust me - I once thought PRR steam was the ugliest, and now I have a collection that is missing ony the J1 and Q2.  I even started to like the T1, and when I was a kid I thout it was the most hideous thing ever to see a rail.

So who does conversions the other way....converting two rail to three?...and some I'd

like done, not steam locos, but McKeen, and other gas electrics,  and Mack railcars and buses, should be easier to do than steam locos.  I kitbash some stuff but am leery of

hacking up an expensive piece of brass.  Since I want no electronics, it wouldn't, I'd

guess, be second mortgage.

FWIW, I normally charge around $75.00 an axle.  There are certain variables that can influence the price.  These could be new driver castings requiring more machining or some other issue.

Obviously, I can't speak for Joe, or anybody else, but I prefer doing the whole conversion.  Costs the customer more but cuts down on other issues.

Jay

Jay,

If requested, I will just machine drivers for a loco conversion but it is with the understanding that I am not responsible for the performance of the model.  Doing the remainder of the work involved is not difficult but it takes time and a bit of knowledge to get it right.  I have seen some less than workmanlike things done to models.

Joe Foehrkolb

Joe,

Yep.  From what I've observed there should be some kind of certification required before someone should be allowed to do any of this.  Obviously, I'm sort of joking. 

Having said that, trying to correct some of the things we've observed usually requires more work than the actual conversion.  I also suppose we could compare "War Stories" and have a ball sharing the things we've seen.

Your point goes precisely with my desire to just do the whole thing.  This is especially true with P48 conversions.

Jay

I have a quote to do the drivers, which is something I probably could afford in the near future.  And he can leave the middle two blind so the min radius wont really be affected much.  What do others use for tender/pilot/trailing truck wheel sets, NWSL?  That would be my first thought.  Pulling and changing wheels/gauging them isnt a problem, done plenty on Lionel and HO scale brass(when I could still see it!).  If the engine does not sell, atleast I have an option.  I don't have a problem with the 3rd rail, but the opportunity to go 2 rail has presented itself and I dont have an exhisting layout to modify.  So lets do it 2 rail from the start.   Chances are the M1, if converted would be mostly a staged/static engine parked on a short section of main line, only getting run at the shows were a layout large enough for her to run is there. I have very little in this engine, so even with the costs of changeover, I am still much better off than buying one that is 2 rail right now.  Thanks for all the replies.  Mike

Artfull,

I have responded to your questions directly via email.

Joe Foehrkolb

Thanks Joe, got it.  Mike

I suspect that it would be mainly psychological in nature.

Re-quartering, installing rods, making sure nothing hits anything else, short circuits on brake beams, lead trucks, trailing trucks - experience is the certification.  Without it, you are on a steep learning curve.

But like all learning curves, it can be a very satisfying progression.

Now here is my opinion - the real M1 had no flanges on the center drivers, but in O Scale, with our giant flanges, it really looks like crap.  Proto-48 might be a better bet for appearance, but not sure I could get a large steamer to stay on the track with Proto wheelsets.

Joe will return perfect wheelsets.  I have seen his work.  Do the rest, and get on that learning curve - and forget about O-72 - it is a toy-like radius for this beautiful machine.

Bob, I so wish I had the room for larger radius as your right that such a beautiful machine needs them.  Mike

Here is perhaps a different perspective to consider.

The Weaver M1a was a relatively early 3 rail/2rail brass offering and detail wise it doesn't come up to today's standards.  The issues are not just the deep 3 rail flanges. The front end needs a lot of work to look like the prototype.   With an significant investment in time and money you could fix the pilot location, leading truck spacing, air tank details, markers, bell, formed bent walks, markers, etc. and add castings and piping.  An alternative to consider is to aggressively price the 3 rail locomotive so it will sell and use the proceeds to save up for a small brass steamer that fits your layout constraints and prototype interests. 

On the plus side for keeping and 2 railing the locomotive is that Joe Foehrkolb does a great job at a very fair price.  The Weaver/Samhongsa model has a solid drive and the basic boiler, cab, and tender dimensions are good.  The boiler and tender are well assembled and can provide a good starting point for a first up-detailing project.  I had a Weaver 2 rail M1a and enjoyed running it for several years until I could afford (after the kids left home) replacing it with a better detailed M1a.

Ed Rappe