Recommendations for ways of how to kitbash MTH 0-8-0 switcher

Dumb question, isn't there a 2-8-0 that would be a closer match to start and be less work?

It appears to be an awful lot of work, especially when starting out on a wrong wheelbase... unless you need The smaller 0-8-0 wheels for the look you are trying to achieve. I'm with Gunrunner in your better off starting with the correct 2-8-0 wheelbase, steam chest, and valve gear.

I agree with the above comments. Sorry, your loco just is not a good candidate.

Ron

I will answer these in the order in which they came:

@gunrunnerjohn

No, and especially not on the budget that I have. The closest match is the Lionel Legacy 2-8-0 which goes for about $700 on average. I do not have that kind of money at the moment for just the basis of this project plusthe additional funds to modify it from there. Also, the Legacy 2-8-0 is devoid of a crank on the siderod, so that messes up the aesthetic and would take more finicky work to guarantee proper fitting modification than just adding a leading truck and making some aesthetic changes. It's boiler is also slightly (and noticeably for a local train enthusiast like me) narrower than the B&LE 2-8-0, at least to my eyes and the members of my local O scale club i chatted with about this, with the MTH consolidation having the opposite issue of it being just a tad too fat since that one is modelled off of WM #734, an SC-1 of the LS&I modified to look like an H-9. Not to mention that the MTH models also tend to fetch almost identical prices to the legacy engine, hence the cost barrier. As far as I'm concerned I got this thing dirt cheap for having a fully working PS-3 upgrade, albeit without a box, hence the reason I'm even considering this project.

@prrhorseshoecurve

Something that I actually had not considered, so thank you! The MTH 2-8-0 wheelbase (after looking at my NYC version) looks to be closest because the wheels are closer together like the engine I want to recreate, unlike the Lionel one which spreads out the drivers a bit from one another. However, the absence of a crank is still my biggest complaint with that, as well as the strange looking gearing of the siderods that actually looks more like something off of the postwar box set 4-4-2's and 2-4-2's than anything else I can think of.

@Ron H

Well, thanks for the honesty I suppose, but regardless it is what I have and so what I will be using once I get started, especially since I don't have the liberty to buy something closer even if it did exist (see my 1st response). It would also be a waste to not use it since I have to do some minor touching up on it anyhow and plan to do some weathering in addition to that. Also the fact that it was bought cheap and therefore is not something I would mind having a few screw-ups with is one of the main reasons I'm giving this a shot.

To summarize, this is what I've got. No alternative options and with little ability to be particular about what I would have preferred to start from, and I am absolutely fine with making that work.

Now that that's all out of the way, would anybody have a suggestion as to a good way to secure leading wheels in front of the drivers? I have seen several parts I believe would look and function nicely as far as the main piece and wheels themselves, but I'm a little lost at how to best attach them.

Well...for starters, it looks like you will probably have to extend the front of the frame some; just to gain enough space between the pilot and the cylinders to put a lead truck. Back in the day, when I was doing HO, I had to do that to a Roundhouse 0-6-0 I was turning into a Mogul: after cutting off the frame in front of the cylinders, I epoxied a hunk of brass to gain that needed space. Turned out to be my best running little logging engine...🙂

Looks like a fair bit of work will be needed on the boiler as well; you may have to remove the domes,etc and replace them with some closer matches.

Best of luck and please keep us posted...a fairly major project in the making. 🙂

Mark in Oregon

I already figured as much regarding the domes. The trouble so far is that I don't want to extend the frame so much as to make the rock-knocker cowcatcher look out of place...If so I will have to ad some additional details to cover the extension, which granted might be the best route. The other is getting a scale couple and coupler base, fixing them to the front of the frame by some means, likely a combination of glue and drilling into the front of the frame, which then frees up the drill point under the chassis previously used for the larger MTH coupler for use as the anchor for the leading wheels. I might also have to take any wheel set I get and shorten it a bit for fear of it being too long and getting caught on the front of the frame when going around corners.

Okay.

After reading your response, I went back to your initial photos and I see what you're saying about the existing coupler mount. That might work, but I still think you'll need to extend the frame some.

Judging by the prototype photo, that front deck is pretty uncluttered, so maybe some "grid"-type material would work for covering that area to hide the extension.

In spite of the somewhat daunting task(s) ahead, I think it might be a fun project. 👍

Mark in Oregon

On that popular website, there was a Premier 2-8-0 boiler shell that I’d think would be a better starting off point for you project, and reasonably priced too,….my quick glimpse says Connie on a switcher frame……I have a spare Connie shell here at the shop too,….you can contact me via profile for pics if something like that might be up your alley,…..

Pat

@harmonyards I couldn't find the Premier Connie shell you speak of - found a Railking on Ebay but that would take probably just as much modification by the looks of it. What would the process likely be for fitting the drive wheels, motor, electronics, etc into such a shell if I were to get one? I take it the screw points don't align right so I'd have to jerry rig my own somehow

@P&LE_Consolidation posted:

@harmonyards I couldn't find the Premier Connie shell you speak of - found a Railking on Ebay but that would take probably just as much modification by the looks of it. What would the process likely be for fitting the drive wheels, motor, electronics, etc into such a shell if I were to get one? I take it the screw points don't align right so I'd have to jerry rig my own somehow

Of course the mounts are not going to line just right up,…..but that’s part of the fun for some of us…..creating models that haven’t been seen in 3 rail O ……..not sure I’d call it jerry rigging as much as I’d call it modeling……..to do these kinds of swaps, you will need some tools, and some knowledge of the material you’re working with,…it can be a lot of fun and rewarding,….especially if it’s off the walls crazy,…..but done right, and you’ve become more than just an operator, you’ve become a modeler…..I can’t tell you how to build the model you seek, cause I haven’t built one,……but as far as body swaps, and chassis swaps go, skies the limit with a little common sense, some descent tools, and plenty of original pictures, drawings and measurements…..this latest body swap of mine is a brass NYC Mikado ( former 2 rail)  mounted on a MTH Mikado chassis,……electronics and all,…..

Pat

Pat

You dah man! 👍 🙂

Mark in Oregon

I used a Lionel starter set Belpaire firebox 0-8-0 to approximate a Great Western #60 2-8-0, once stablemate of #90 now on the Strasburg.  This involved modifying and extending the pilot plate and installing a wheel set mounted in a heavy wire fabricated "truck" held in alignment by a tube slipped on the axle.  Much grinding and filing removed firebox "hump" and one dome, and reshaped cab roof.  l still need to locate an appropriate tender.

@colorado hirailer you wouldn't happen to have reference photos of the before and after would you?

@P&LE_Consolidation posted:

@colorado hirailer you wouldn't happen to have reference photos of the before and after would you?

I would like to see them too...

Mark in Oregon

I would like to see how this project turned out.  I have an old Railking 0-8-0 that did a header on the floor many years ago.  it wasn't a quick fix but it remained functional, so it was consigned to the kids trains.  I've often thought it might be a candidate for a conversion.

@P&LE_Consolidation posted:

...how to convert it into a 2-8-0 matching the attached photoso thank you!

The MTH 2-8-0 wheelbase (after looking at my NYC version) looks to be closest because the wheels are closer together like the engine I want to recreate, unlike the Lionel one which spreads out the drivers a bit from one another. However,the absence of a crank is still my biggest complaint with that, as well as the strange looking gearing of the siderods that actually looks more like something off of the postwar box set 4-4-2's and 2-4-2's than anything else I can think of.

Being as the loco that you want to emulate has Stephenson Valve Gear (no visible crank), why are you insisting on a crank?

@Big Jim it's a rather loose interpretation of this exact loco, I'm mainly using this as a reference bc it is the most high def photo I could find and still had the same boiler, cab, and wheel size I am looking for. Also, the end of the piston stroke has that vertical piece like some of the lower end Lionel 0-8-0's, but I have one of those lionel models and the drive gear on that loco is very loose and actually make a metallic clanking noise very noticeably like that of a toy. From those I've talked to this a problem with many of Lionel's 0-8-0's (many of which with Stephenson Valve Gear do not have sound effects or fan driven smoke units).

The other issue is that the only comparable loco, Lionel's Legacy 2-8-0, would still require many of the same modifications, seems to have a slightly smaller boiler measurement, and of course comes at a much higher price tag (700-1100 depending on where you look) in addition to the costs of modification and what I have already spent on this other loco.