WOW is an understatement. That is truely awesome!!! Plausability Factor easily achieved with this one. Great job!!
Joe, the attention to detail and craftsmanship are simply not to be believed. You have got to be an engineer or scientist of some kind in real life.
I did work as a factory electrician/electronics tech for a company named ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) Metallurgy, we made large high frequency induction furnaces for the foundry industry, Large DC power supplies for traction systems like BART, CTA, and many other heavy electrical components for manufacturing. Way back when I was in HS, I was in a school/work program and worked half a day for an Aerospace Company and help build the guidance and telemetry system for the first Lunar Lander, but when ABB moved their operation back to Europe in early 2000 I fell back on a part time businness I had of being a carpenter/contractor but thats all the science and engineering I’ve had although I have been building various models for 55 + years now. This model took almost a year with my limited time for working on it and my other Connie bash took me about 1 1/2 year from start to finish. I did research the various mechanical systems of steam locomotives on the “Net” and tried to reproduce the components and piping to them as best as I could I know it’s detail others may not see when the locomotive is operating but I do enjoy building these models. I do not have a layout yet still working out the details for and indoor Fn3 one started clearing space in the basement having to move some heat ducts, a water heater and related piping, have to get moving not getting any younger.
Just begging for a little weathering … I do love it!
Joe Augustine said:
The cab is removable, actually I cut it in half just aft of the windows at the top so I could remove the back half to open the back head and get to the electronics which are in the boiler just aft of the motor, both sections of the cab are held on with screws from under the cab floor, there are also two small 0-80 screws just above the door ways that are tapped into brass angles reinforce the opening at the top. The sound unit is located in the oil tank and its’ top is also removable the speaker is in the ash pan. The scale was not changed and was kept as Fn3 (1:20.3 3 foot narrow gauge) The brass tube representing an electrical conduit on the cab roof actually is one of the conductors to the rear LED light, there is a length of #30 teflon coated wire in the tube that makes the other conductor. The wire going to the head light from the electrical junction box on the front is a small 2 conductor wire salvaged from a ear bud headset. Inside on the cab roof are the cab light, a small bridge rectifier, and limiting resistors for the LEDs, connected to the electronics in the boiler via a small ribbon cable
Thanks! To me, figuring out how to put it all together so that everything’s accessible is the trickiest part of building a locomotive, so I’m always interested in seeing how other solve it.
This is awesome! And I’m glad someone finally did this to a connie in G! I plan to do something similar but in a 2-8-2 configuration one day, but hard finding connies these days