If you have a drill press, you could get a milling table and just mill a bit down the middle to create a recess. I thought the ends could be made with just a washer attached to the rod.
I guess filing it to shap on say a belt sander and then soldering on a couple of brass strips would be too easy?
Check Special Shapes for C channel, find some where the ID of the channel matches the thickness of the rod, then solder/epoxy/duct tape the channel to the top and bottom.
Later,
K
I’ve made tapered fluted rods in 7mm and 15mm scales by cutting the shape roughly from nickel silver strip then soldering wire to the top and bottom,on the surface to outline the finished shape.Finally finish the rod by putting in a vise and filing down the metal outside the wired outline and flattening the wire on the face surface.
Hope this helps.
Bunny
The black paint is sounding strangely appealing. 
Bruce Chandler said:Sounds like a winner to me. If you don't like it, you can always change it later. Ralph
The black paint is sounding strangely appealing. ;)
Bruce Chandler said:If Shadows and lines are all your trying to capture then Jon R's insight will certainly capture this while the loco is in motion or from the correct angle, blah blah blah many varibles... IMO?
The black paint is sounding strangely appealing. ;)
However one must always prepare for an elephant invasion of the peanut factory. Statistics say this is impossible but has anyone ever asked a pissed off elephant for his/her insight?
I’m calling for an official deadline/decision for the side rod debate by this weekend!
I really don’t know what the heck I’m talkin’ about but would like to see this loco in paint and in action.
Mr Barnes stated on page one I believe “be prepared for change” or something to that nature.
The weekend is here!!
Paint. And thicker. I added some 1/32" brass strips on the side, with a 1/32" spacer at one end to give a taper. Cover that with some .015 x .080 strips of styrene.
That works - Nice 
Holy crip - that looks fantastic.
Looks like that did it for you. Nice work.
Gary told me he saw it, Bruce,that looks much better…it needed some “Beef”
The picture is kind of dark on my monitor but it looks 100% better.
Jon.
Dude!
Thanks for egging me on to a better solution. 
Here’s how I did it. Brass strips soldered in place, with 1/32" spacers at one end.
Then, I added some .015 x .080" styrene to cover the gaps. I filled the back side with some JB Weld. That’s a piece of the original above this, just for comparison.
Much better!
-Brian
I like it a lot
Looks darn good Bruce!
We now have the “Egged One”
and the “Goaded One”
Big thumbs up
Ralph