East Broad Top #1 was the original engine bought to lay the track in the 1880s. It survived, and was given a new boiler when The Big Cheese bought a Business Car (#20, Orbisonia.) It spent its final days pulling him around the railroad.
This is my modified Aster JNR 8550 that I built from a kit. I managed to lose some parts - notably the gasket set, but I soldiered on to get a steam-tight model.
It has a new stack, but I haven’t done any painting yet to get rid of the JNR red or touch up the bolts. The copper top came from Roundhouse (very inexpensive.) The cab is a Bronson-Tate Forney kit from The Train Dept, and I made wooden walkways to match EBT #1. It needs earlier domes, but I haven’t done them.
The tender came from an Accucraft 4-4-0, I think, acquired because it was the right size and had the butane tank. I was determined to convert it to butane, and I bought a 30mm Regner ceramic burner that just fit with a bit of bending. I re-used bits of the Aster tender as #1 had a strange 6-wheel arrangement.
The conversion isn’t particularly successful, as you can’t see what is going on. I need to run a suction fan until there is enough steam for the blower, just like an alky, as there isn’t enough room for the gas to escape? It does run on rollers, so more experimentation is needed on the track.
In any case, I can’t spend any more time on it so it will soon be For Sale. If anyone wants to return it back to alcohol I have all the tender parts and the burner. I don’t think I did anything that isn’t reversible. (PM me if you have any interest.)
