Ted McCormack's 0-4-2T.....Huh, that's an 0-6-0!!!
I got an email one day....innocent enough, I thought....asking if I could assemble an RLW 0-6-0 kit an what my price would be. I informed the gentleman that I would be glad to assemble his little tea kettle for a nominal fee of $40.00, as I was feeling really generous that day(that feeling would go away quickly!!). Little did I know that this gentleman, we'll call him 'Ted', was a super sharp negotiator and had roped me into the experience of a lifetime. (I'm a sucker, you knew that.)
I wrote back to this gentleman instructing him to send some assembly specs regarding paint, decals, cab style, stack style and any personal detailing requests along with the loco chassis and kit to me and I'd whip her out, or so I thought. Well that was it. The can was open and the worms were wigglin'. The kit arrived along with some spare parts to add onto this loco to meet Ted's requirements. Still dazed and confused, I wrote back to 'Ted'( I know that this is an alias and 'Ted' is really a CIA negotiator, but I played along) and requested more information as to how and where to put these parts. Ted obliged(why Ted, why?) and sent me this print of an 0-4-2T along with this photo page showing the SS&SR #11 hard at work.
After the EMT's revived me, I started wondering, just how in the hell am I going to make an eastern prototype 0-4-2T out of a Colorado prototype 0-6-0 saddle tanker kit. For days I wandered around in a stuper muttering things like, cut off two drivers and add a trailing truck, I think I can, I think I can.(whoops, wrong story) I finally decided that modifying the 0-6-0 into a 0-4-2 arrangement was more than I could do with the time that I had available, so my plan evolved to make the loco look as much like SS&SR without changing the wheel arrangement or fabricating too many custom parts. Besides the wheel arrangement, the cab was the biggest difference. The problem here was that I had the cab soldered up before these drawings arrived. (whew, got out of fabricating a new cab!) The rest of the loco had yet to be assembled, so I concentrated my time here.
Ted had sent along a stack and some extra parts, but after seeing the drawing and receiving my new sherline lathe, I decided that I could make some more accurate parts. (remember that part about me being a sucker and 'Ted' being a master negotiator?) Well, I turned out a new stack, some domes, a whistle, water hatch, number plate and the round housing to make the headlamp. Not perfect, but much closer to the eastern prototype than the western kit. I spent approximately 80 hours(60 were spent pulling my hair out, so don't feel bad, Ted) on this little loco trying to make it look a little more like Ted's idea of #11, and I hope it's well received when Ted and his CIA friends open the package and put her on the tracks. Here are a few shots of Ted's new motive power......
Ted's new loco... The other side... An open roof hatch... Fuel for the fire....
A workout for a beginner machinist.... All finished, fueled and headin' east for the SS&SR
