Large Scale Central

D&RGW C-48 #1151

Hi guys,

I began this project last winter at the other place but traffic over there seems to have largely died off, so I thought I’d share an update here. I only model in the winter, so progress has been slow. Still, I hope to have this done by the end of January so I can move on to the next one.

My goal is to end up with a model of this - it was the last standard gauge steam locomotive operated by the Rio Grande:

I began with an Aristo 2-8-0 I bought on eBay in September of 2017. As of today I am this far:

Its tender was largely completed last winter:

My son has been most helpful (and most patient!) in creating 3D printed parts for me on Shapeways. 3D parts include the Pyle headlights, sand dome, stack, generator, smokebox front, and the air compressor. He works in Chama, so he’s conveniently located to measure and draw up the various parts. The nice thing about printed parts is that once they’ve been drawn up, they can be printed in any scale. You can see these and other parts here:

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/highcountryhobbies

The whistle, bell, injector check valves and smokebox inspection ports are 3D printed by Mihai Dumitru:

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/railway-mechanics?section=1%3A32+Scale%2C+Gauge+%231&s=0

Lettering is custom dry transfers - I do the artwork and a place in Vancouver makes them for me. Never been a decal person, myself. The air brake hoses and valves are by Burl Rice. I built the brakeman’s cupola on the tender from Rio Grande plans.

Cheers,

Matt

I built the brakeman’s cupola on the tender from Rio Grande plans.

Gee, and here I thought those were outhouses. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

(Yes Rooster, I am just kidding)

That is incredible.

Great work … However … the coupler looks …what the word …toy like…

I wonder if there is a better option…

It is shaping up to be a right fine model.

Thanks, guys. And especially thank you, Sean - sometimes I get tunnel vision when doing a build and miss the obvious. I ordered some quality couplers from Burl.

Cheers,

Matt

Really like where this build is going! I have often wondered why few people model this prototype. You are doing great in replicating it!

Hi all,

I made a lot of progress this weekend. Running boards are finished (except for the stairs over the air compressor) and the boiler and smokebox have been painted.

I even sent it out on one of the branch lines for a flanger turn (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif):

I still have lots of piping to add and other small details, a crew, then weathering. Last week somebody asked me what it looked like before I began - here’s a shot of the donor:

Cheers,

Matt

Hey Sean!

New coupler from Burl Rice arrived on Friday:

Cheers,

Matt

Ooh, that looks good, Matt. Much better than the original one. Burl does a great job.

This is fantastic! Great job!

Hi guys,

I am finally getting back to this project, much delayed by my 44 ton switcher, building track, life, etc.

Since my last update I have added builder’s plates, air compressor exhaust along the stack, steps up and over the air compressor (made from brass), air compressor piping (still some more to go), and some injector piping. I still need to add handrails, whistle pull, bell rope, some more sander pipe, mud ring valve actuator, class lights, and then weathering.

Cheers,

Matt

Hi all,

This project has resumed with the onset of winter. I have added Phoenix sound and Airwire in the past few week. I have also added more handrails, piping, sand pipes, and some weathering. Still more piping and conduit to do. She went out on the mainline this morning.

http://www.largescalecentral.com/filesharing/file/view/14480/20191123-124820-1-jpg

Cheers,
Matt

Thanks for fixing my pic, Ken! I have been offline for so long I forgot how.

Cheers,

Matt

Your welcome, Matt.

What you posted was the page the image was on. Just copy the image address and place that in the photo square.

Joe Zullo has a tutorial on it at the bottom of the Forum.

What a beautiful photo of a beautiful model!

Sure is, Cliff.

You’ve created a 3-D portrait from a picture. Really nice job.

Happy New Year! Here’s an update on my project.

Since my last post, I have added electrical conduit, more sander pipes, headlight number plates, rear cab railings, and injector piping.

I decided to add a plow to the locomotive for winter operations. Last summer I found a sheet of thin, rusty steel at the Pennsylvania mine near Breckenridge, Colorado and brought it home. Last week I made a pattern for the plow in AutoCAD and printed it out to scale. I then traced the pattern onto the steel plate and cut it out with my Dremel. You can see the paper pattern in the right foreground of this pic, along with a pic of the prototype plow in the middle right:

The plow steel was then cleaned down to bare metal with a wire brush. I cut the middle of the plow out along the curves outlined in the middle. I bent the blades over some 1" pipe for curvature, then glued the two sides together with JB Weld (the overnight kind, not the five minute kind). I then painted the plow with Krylon flat black. Any dings will rust naturally, which is the effect I’m after.

I drilled eight holes in the plow and the locomotive pilot. I used eight small nails to connect the plow to the pilot and re-attached the air brake hose:

Later this morning, off we went:

Sorry for the backlit image, but it was the best I got today. The plow works great!

I still need to add a whistle cord, a bell cord, tender waterlines, class lights, some more air brake and air compressor piping, and a headlight sunshade. Then I can move on to my scratchbuild of D&RGW caboose #01157.

Cheers,
Matt

Liking the look of that plow!

Jason