McCoy Steamchests

That works for me. Nice job Steve.

That's a great fit Steve, can't argue with it... not only that, but I do believe that plated cap qualifies as piece of, um, Tinplate!

On one of mine, not only the steam chests but also the big yellow yoke were all crumbled.  I had just finished a project putting an old #5 motor and frame into a Cohen #5 repro, and had the black tin yoke and chests left over from the Lionel, so they went on the McCoy.

I like your idea of the copper coupler.  don't know if you noticed in the pictures of the Bob Thon Challenger, but the two copper smoke stacks are 1/2" copper sweat caps.  Parts is parts!

Looks good Steve. You also have to check the saddle that holds the steam chests, they also will craze and crack. In fact there is one that just got posted on ebay and claimed to never of been out of the box, look at the picture of the bottom of the front truck and you can see the cracking of the steam saddle. These yellow and brown locos are prone to the zinc pest and, much like circus wagon wheels of the era, there are few that have survived intact.

I'll post info about my buddy who makes replacements for these when I get it.

ARNO

Here is a coupler with the caps in it. Needs to be shortened and also see if the guides can be mounted to the rear cap.

Also, does anyone know if any of the Lionel or??? pilot wheels will work on these.

Steve

George Tebolt carries a #6 pilot truck complete for $20.  I would imagine Joe Mania would have these pilot wheels as well since he makes the locos.

What Arno is calling the saddle is the same piece I called the yoke - big chunk of diecast, crumbled. The one on the Lionel 5 is not diecast, it's bent out of tinplate, fit the McCoy perfectly.  Don't usually have a #5 around to cannibalize, though...