Kitbashed Postwar Locomotives

midnightwrecking posted:

Berkshire and 225E. Post-war and pre-war.

Mind to share how you made the 2317? They look spectacular! You could email me at MasonRascona@gmail.com

well, not exactly kit-bashed, but modified. I repainted a Lionel 2018 for my first 3 grand kids. The first initials E, R & C are on the tender. The tender has been modified to accept a modern air whistle and a real coal load added. some crew figures added with a "picture" of a locomotive backhead included. The locomotive number "709" representing the years of there births (2007 and 2009)...

made from two junk 1666 shells

several 2-4-2 locomotives that I added 224/675 type motors

1664

1689E

1668

junk 1615 Postwar switcher, got a Prewar 0-6-0 motor,moved the headlight

I made a NYC style PT tender out of two smaller PW tenders that will still do O-27 curves. My son wanted a doghouse on it, so we put one too.

G3750 posted:

Cool thread.  I recall someone at York around the turn of the century who kitbashed post-war Lionel engines.  He took 2 locomotives and turned them into a fairly accurate PRR K4.  This had to have been 2001-2002.  The memory is vague.  I believe he was located in one of the member halls.

 

Anybody else recall this?

 

George

I bought one at my first York. They were his specialty.

I think the fellow's name might have been Bob Gale(?).  I've seen a Reading T1 and a Big Boy that were both built by him, and powered by extended 2056-type parallel plate motors.  Interesting, and unfortunately kind of a lost art when the major brands started tooling up new scale designs.  

If I recall correctly (Rich, Ed will know), in OGR the video (16 issues 94-97) had 2 segments on a man called Bill Roberts who kit-bashed Lionel locomotives....maybe we'll see these one day as they convert some of the old videos to the digital format.

Peter

I don't have that video, but I have the two issues that featured Bill Roberts, I've often wondered what became of his collection. He had some really great stuff. The story was called something like Bill Roberts Permanent Rug Layout

Pretty neat thread and ideas. I have kicked some ideas around but never did anything. Might try.

buy some junk and have at it Jim!

Great thread! Am currently attempting a New Haven EP3 on a GG1 chassis (KLine not Lionel though). Have been seriously planning a SAR Beyer Garratt using some PW Lionel loco pieces.

I got rid of a lot of my excess when I moved(twice) and at present have no good work shop. I am considering putting a prewar  boxcab O gauge under a Standard gauge #33 shell I have. That would make it an NStandard gauge  plus cars converted with O gauge trucks. O gauge track is equivalent to 36" narrow gauge  with Standard gauge being 4+ ft. How cool is that ??  EBT in Std. N gauge ??

I haven't been to York in many years but back in the seventies when I went often I would likely spend more time looking through junk boxes under the tables than looking at what was on top. I sold most of my bashed locos but have two left one a 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler shown here and a 2-8-0  made from a 1615 and a 671 turbine frame. Never finished it but  I'll make photos of it some other time.  The ten wheeler shown here is a MPC 8506 0-4-0 body with steam chests and pilot from a 2037. The pilot truck was fashioned from sheet brass and 4 flyer plastic wheels.  The tender is also a Flyer tender cut down the middle and widened about half an inch. It has an MPC sound of steam board and speaker in the tender and one wire between the tender and loco to trigger the chuff with the valve gear. It was having a little trouble pulling 6 of the MPC madison cars up my steep grades so I cast a lead weight to fit in the cab. I took it to York several years after I made it and pitched Mike Wolf and can't remember who was President of Lionel back in 1990 but I pitched them both on the concept of scale sized models of small locos such as Ten wheelers and Consolidations  that would look more appropriate with large Hudsons, Reading T1, and NYC Mohawks than things like 2037s and 671s but could be more affordable than the large locos and operate on O-31 track,

yet bear a more scale like appearance. Both men seemed intrigued with my little Ten wheeler and called associates over to have a look. One of them was Lenny Dean and we talked nearly twenty minutes about smaller scale sized locos. She's a little dusty now been sitting on the shelf over twenty five  years.                 j

beautiful work!

Mark,nice idea using a picture for the backhead detail.

Ducting and the body at the rear beyond the wheels is extendended with heat bent, layered, styrene. About 3/16" thick in spots for the body; strong too.

JohnActon posted:

 

Now that's really nice!  The proportions are perfect.

Rusty

Adriatic posted:

Ducting and the body at the rear beyond the wheels is extendended with heat bent, layered, styrene. About 3/16" thick in spots for the body; strong too.

Cool, what was the function of this " G-1" ? Thanks, Scott.

  The cooling air was redirected to melt yard ice & snow. Searches for "GG-½", Half a GG-1, etc, brings up more tidbits on it.

Low rider.... under construction, but mine

"The Happy Miser"

Compared to an unmolested version

There was a series of articles in OGR runs 96 - 98 in the late 80's on building a PRR T1 from a Berkshire body and 2 2046 motors. I had never done anything like this before and decided to give it a try. I managed to get the parts from a dealer named Allison Cox. It came out OK for a first try but there is a lot I would do differently now.

Mark Wags posted:

There was a series of articles in OGR runs 96 - 98 in the late 80's on building a PRR T1 from a Berkshire body and 2 2046 motors. I had never done anything like this before and decided to give it a try. I managed to get the parts from a dealer named Allison Cox. It came out OK for a first try but there is a lot I would do differently now.

Mark, now that's spectacular.   Why do I have this irresistible urge to run grab a hacksaw ?  j

do it!

Mark that looks great!

I Like that JohnActon ten wheeler.  I bought a couple of conventional low price set Lionel 0-8-0's  off the net to bash.  They have Belpaire fire boxes so the first, to make into a Great Western 2-8-0, demanded much much filing and filling, and brass boiler appliances, as well as a front truck.  I consider it passable with its custom GW decals.  I have shown it on here.  The second will be filed into a small Mikado for my freelance road.

Great looking T-1 Mark, appreciate the pictures here and on the "lens" subject.

scott5011 posted:

Adriatic posted:

Ducting and the body at the rear beyond the wheels is extendended with heat bent, layered, styrene. About 3/16" thick in spots for the body; strong too.

Cool, what was the function of this " G-1" ? Thanks, Scott.

It was used at Wilmington yards to clear snow off the switches.

What a great topic!

I have a question please.  I've always wanted to make  Frisco Firefly.  What engine would you start 

I'd say a Postwar 2-6-2 or maybe a Hudson like a 2046

scott5011 posted:

Adriatic posted:

Ducting and the body at the rear beyond the wheels is extendended with heat bent, layered, styrene. About 3/16" thick in spots for the body; strong too.

Cool, what was the function of this " G-1" ? Thanks, Scott.

Nice work - I built one of these in HO when I was a kid (from a Penn Line). Saw the real thing down in Wilmington - a long time ago.

Jim

Steamer posted:

I'd say a Postwar 2-6-2 or maybe a Hudson like a 2046

since American Flyer made a Royal Blue on an O gauge chassis I'd just use that but hey, that's my two cents

forgot all about the Blue...that would be better yet

Bought this off eBay some years back.  Have no info.

colorado hirailer posted:

I Like that JohnActon ten wheeler.  I bought a couple of conventional low price set Lionel 0-8-0's  off the net to bash.  They have Belpaire fire boxes so the first, to make into a Great Western 2-8-0, demanded much much filing and filling, and brass boiler appliances, as well as a front truck.  I consider it passable with its custom GW decals.  I have shown it on here.  The second will be filed into a small Mikado for my freelance road.

Great Northern had a bunch of 2-8-0s  that had Belpaire fireboxes. Do a Google search for Great Northern F8  a Pennsy 0-8-0 might make a fair starting point.  One of my favorite locos is the GN H4 pacific that would be a great small Pacific for Lionel ,MTH someone, to make.

Mason Rascona posted:

Steamer posted:

I'd say a Postwar 2-6-2 or maybe a Hudson like a 2046

since American Flyer made a Royal Blue on an O gauge chassis I'd just use that but hey, that's my two cents

Mason, is that not called the Firefly ?  I think a Flyer Blue might be perfect.  Just bring the  ( I hesitate to call that a boiler front )  so why not NOSE to a point with Bondo and form that Shark Fin in front of the stack and ya got it. I got some Flyer.   I think I gotta try that.    J

I think someone was selling this on eBay a few years ago. I thought it looked good and kept the photo. Turbine switcher?