Was looking through the parts bin and saw a 490 shell. It looked like this one, for those who have never seen a 490 before, but the cab was broken, so I thought, "why not make a 0-4-0T out of it?" This is the start of that project, just finished cutting the boiler. Going to have to fabricate a cab, bunker, and mechanism for it, as well as figure out how to add couplers.
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Made this one from a 401 a long time ago.
Steve
Bought this one at a show. Made from a Marx battery toy. Actually a Forney type I think.
Steve
Yours has a good look to it... I can only hope mine turns out well, since I plan to screatchbuild a mechanism for it, rather than track down a Marx one.
my kinda project...great idea.
El Classico, sounds like a fun project, I look forward to seeing the finished locomotive.
I haven't made a Marx locomotive into a saddletanker, but I did trim down a 401 Marx into something that looks a bit more like a switch engine:
...and then there is the Lionel 8200 project. Started with the bare shell, machined a new smokebox door and smokestack out of brass, then added a Marx Riser Gear windup motor so it could run around my clockwork layout. Just for fun, I put the coupler on the front of the locomotive, and installed the windup motor so the engine runs around backward. To my mind, it makes it look like the engine is in the process of switching cars.
Well, I cut a boiler front for the Dockside. Need to shave the outer rivets off, shaved off the 490 and will finish reducing the letterboard. It look fairly good so far, right?
be right back...gotta make some popcorn, this is gettin good.
Shaved off those rivets, and the number board. Will need to fill the gaps I noticed between the boiler and the smoke box door, and some gouges I accidentally put in the door.
El Classico posted:Yours has a good look to it... I can only hope mine turns out well, since I plan to screatchbuild a mechanism for it, rather than track down a Marx one.
I'll have to check, but I recently bought a 490 because I needed the front motor mount part (the piece the side rods go through at the steamchest) If the motor works, which I didn't check it before I bought it or since I've had it, you are welcome to it. For that matter, you can have the boiler too if you need more parts for this project.
Shoot me an email if you're interested,
J White
Sent you that email. Probably will salvage a cab and wheels from it.
Well, I will probably have the body and motor offered so kindly by Mr. White to continue the work to the superstructure in the next week or two. Until then, I will probably move to the frame, as I plan to make one of a similar style to the switcher frames used by MDC, and a spur gear can motor made by RadioShack.
Damaged the 490 smoke box door pretty badly. Going to have to start that part over. Grgh
Gosh! You guys are gonna have all the "Marxists" crying in their beers. Actually, I'm not really one of those types and I admire all of your creative work here. Good use of your old beaters and of your imagination.
I have an old snow plow that I made out of a Lionel plastic caboose that had one end's platform roof broken off. That, too, was a fun project.
Paul Fischer
Well, I have good news and bad news:
Good news: Jason's 490 arrived, and can provide the rest of the material I need to finish the dockside.
Bad news: I burned both hands over the weekend, and will have to wait for them to heal before I can resume work on it.
Hands are healing nicely, should have some progress to reporting the next few days yall
Back in town, hands are healed. Cut a new boiler front and a cab for it, going to have to make a bunker and frame later
Found a bunker, it's gonna be an oil burner. Cut it from parts of a broken Lionel whistle chamber. Will post photos when I'm done glueing the pieces back together.
Photos of the bunker. It will be attached to the cab in the morning, then the cab to the boiler.
Interesting projects. The cheap commonplace broken items are good kitbash material. What do you have to lose?
Time, but I have more of that than anything else lol
Oh boy, a new bashing project!
Glue set enough that I could set it down... This is the shell for the dockside. I plan to use Lionel wheels and a wooden frame, with a RadioShack motor, to make it run. But tomorrow, if anyone wants to see it on a set of wheels, I will drop the shell onto the original Marx mechanism, just to show how high it sits on that mech.
It looks melted and gangly on the Marx frame; definitely NOT posting a picture of it. Going to wait until I get a proper MDC type frame built for it.
Btw, anyone know where I can get a set of Marx 333 type wheels? The MPC wheels I was going to use are going to be too big.
Grossmans?
El Classico posted:It looks melted and gangly on the Marx frame; definitely NOT posting a picture of it. Going to wait until I get a proper MDC type frame built for it.
Is it totally impractical to modify the shell to fit better on the Marx chassis? Maybe the e-unit can be removed for more clearance (I favor manual reversing switches for some locos). Or maybe adapt a Lionel MPC-era 4-driver steam loco chassis. What is your idea for wheel arrangement, 0-4-0T or maybe 0-4-2T ?
Would like to see it on the Marx chassis anyway, just to see how the wheel positions line up with the body. This is giving me ideas for another project using some of my "junk" items ...
0-4-0T. The original frame sat too high resting on the stationary field, and the wheels were too far out, bumping into the body. Thinking smaller wheels and a DC motor, with a flat MDC type frame, should fix it.
Like I said, a low-to-ground frame will work better.
I see what you mean.....
Just for ideas, this shows a Marx double-reduction motor I fit into a prewar American Flyer Minnehaha loco, which has a fairly small body shell. The motor has to pivot inside the shell so I improvised a hanger bracket. Part of the E-unit frame is cut away for clearance. Point being, this is a fairly compact motor unit which can be adapted to other small locos.
Another idea, a prewar motor which I put in a Lionel #259 loco has smaller drivers which would look right on a switcher loco, and it fits into a somewhat smaller body shell. I removed the E-unit on this one and installed a manual switch instead.
Doesn't look like a bad idea
Almost tempted to resin cast my own drivers, and use the steps for ground pickup.
I took a cheapo DC powered Lionel 8905 dock switcher, added a bridge rectifier and operate it, in forward only, on my typical AC transformer layout. A dollar and 30 minutes is about all it is worth.
Install a DPDT mini slide switch and it can be manually reversed by throwing the switch.
Charlie
Haven't been able to find one locally, but found my parts lol
Bought a pair of prewar drivers, should get here soon. Will use them to cast from resin a new set, and then use sheet brass for the steps/outside rail contacts
Got my drivers today. WAY bigger than expected, which sucks cause I paid about $25 for them. Anyone out there that could use some 261/262 Lionel drivers?
So it has been a while since I have made any updates on my progress. I took a break for a while, and returned the oversized wheels. I sat around for a while, uncertain of how to progress, before I remembered I had some of the oversized Marx plastic wheels from a 4 wheel caboose hanging around. Those will be attached to postwar Lionel axles to get my wheelsets.
Project was abandoned due to a lack of a suitable motor
Such a shame the project had to be abandoned, did you ever attempt to use a kline plymouth chassis?
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