Sean McGillicuddy said:

Do you have a photo of what your looking to achieve  ?

The front will end up looking something like this but I'll use the original buffer beam and there will be no buffers basically the cowcatcher is no longer attached and the length is reduced so the buffer beam does not swing out as wide as it does now.

I don't think I'll have to shorten the buffer beam to reduce the overhang as it appears to be the same width as the cylinders.

 Same as length as Ken's and buffer beam similar to Rick Marty's (page 1) sans board although that may be an option as my Shay has similar boards.

Do you have a photo of what your looking to achieve  ?

I got mine just before a dear friend and fellow G Scaler passed away a bit over two years ago, he said to me that is wasn't working but as he had no use for it so maybe I could get it going again,

Turned out to have a split gear which I have replaced with a new brass one, I did not have the layout to run it properly so the new one should do it justice.

I am planning to Australianise it a bit so the front has to be shortened and maybe the cowcatcher has to go as well.

Your welcome, Graeme. 

I bought that loco not long after it came out and did the mods to it shortly after that. So how long ago was that? 

And now you want my rusty brain to remember what I did...........

Thanks Ken,

With the pictures and the description in the post above I should be able to do something like that.  Here's hoping anyway

I'm trying to reduce the overhang so that when I put a guard on my trestle the loco does not foul it.

The original pictures are long gone. But I did take some more, so maybe it'll help you out. After I removed the plastic deck part that holds the pilot beam and coupler, 

I cut the metal frame that holds the front deck on about an inch from the front of the cylinders. 

The metal deck has four openings in it. I cut along the front of the forward opening.

Then I believe I had to shorten up the deck to get it to fit. (It's been awhile)

The pilot truck had to be rebuilt. Took me a couple of tries to get it the way I liked it. It also helps to add a bit of weight to it, too. 

It goes back where it came off from.

Kind of hard to see, but with the cylinders on the outside of the frame, there's quite a bit of room for the truck to swivel.

The only reason I shortened it was I didn't like the looks of that long front deck. 

Hope this helps you out Graeme. Got any questions about it, just ask. I'll try to remember..............

Ken Brunt said:

Actually Graeme, it wasn't all that difficult or involved. The biggest PITA was refrabricating the front pilot truck. 

First thing you have to do is remove those support arms. I had to rebend them and shorten them too.

Those are attached to the plate that holds the buffer beam and pilot. That unscrews from the bottom. 

That will expose the metal chassis. I cut the chassis just behind the pilot buffer beam in that picture above (about an inch back from it's original length). Then all you have to do is cut the top plate to fit. 

Then it's just a matter of shortening the pilot truck and making a new mount for it. I left it loose and floppy so it tracks better. Reattach the top plate and shorten the support arms. Rebend them to fit the existing holes and screw them back on the top plate. 

Those other holes on the side of the smokebox and on the pilot plate are for the snowplow. It's a K-27 plow from B'mann. I also added a Kadee coupler to the front and back. While I was at it, I moved the headlight to the top of the smokebox and added marker lights. 

I did all this about 10-12 years ago, so I may have forgotten a thing or 2 that I had to do, but that should get you started. I didn't like that long front end on the Connie, but shortening it was all that difficult. 

I am resurrecting this thread in the hope that I can see the pictures. 

Ken is it possible to get the pictures re posted please as I want to modify my Connie.

Rick,

He apparently doesn't like my questions because his first reply was very gruff as well. I'm just hoping that he donated records to the Redmond Historical Society about the feed mill so that I can try and access it. I'm kind of hesitant to ask him what was donated in fear that he would tell the historical society to give it back. Apparently asking about railroad cars and car numbers isn't modeling... Um isn't that the definition of a model railroad?

Craig Townsend said:

Craig Townsend said:

So I was able to get in contact with the former feed mill manager. Hopefully he can answer some of my pressing questions about operations at the mill. One more small project to cross off the list and I can get started working on this building again.

Well that was a long walk for nothing.

I got one set of questions answered and then when I attempted to ask more I got the following reply:

 

"This latest set of questions hardly seems like modeling to me. I think you have enough information to proceed with your model."

 

What did I ask? Oh just general questions about how feed mills operate and if there was any record of railroad car movements, and a question about how many cars fit past the dump pit...

 

 

Yea, live interviews for historical information can be a real crap shoot.  One guy will talk ya to death and give you information on stuff you don't even care about and the next guy it is like pulling teeth to get even a little bit.   Sometimes  a little of both

 

 

Ray Dunakin said:

Very awesome project! 

Thanks Ray. Hoping to make forward progress on this soon. 

Craig Townsend said:

So I was able to get in contact with the former feed mill manager. Hopefully he can answer some of my pressing questions about operations at the mill. One more small project to cross off the list and I can get started working on this building again.

Well that was a long walk for nothing.

I got one set of questions answered and then when I attempted to ask more I got the following reply:

"This latest set of questions hardly seems like modeling to me. I think you have enough information to proceed with your model."

What did I ask? Oh just general questions about how feed mills operate and if there was any record of railroad car movements, and a question about how many cars fit past the dump pit...

Very awesome project! 

Looking good!

The technical challenges that must be solved to create a working model, certainly make it an interesting build!

Thanks Eric!

[edit]

OK, that was a lame response to a nice reply. 

But, thanks Eric!

Ric,

 I'm still trying to figure out how too make it fit !

The connectors look great .....perhaps you can push about 3 or 4 ......... 22 gauge wires through those connectors instead of the tubing for a bit more detail?

This post has been edited by :Rooster .....Just saying ?

There are a ton of electrical cables connecting the battery box to each cab.  I've printed half of the connectors, and test fit some of the tubing.

 A face only a mother (or a rooster) could love.

The crew is gonna love them cushy seats....Looking good!

Some more work on the mining loco this weekend.  Have the battery box just about done, just need the cable connectors, but I did print the lifting loops.

Here's a test print of the center console.  Looks like the size is about right.

And a test fit of the seats.  I need to scale them up a bit.