I came across this somewhere a while back. Don’t think I’d seen it posted here
Its supposed to be a rail motor coach from the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. And the front end is a dead ringer for Dora aside from the valve gear. Close enough that if I had all giant radius curves, I’d totally try to bash this. But it’s unbelievably long.
Make a shorty version. It could lend itself nicely to being about half that length.
Devon Sinsley said:
Make a shorty version. It could lend itself nicely to being about half that length.
Good point.
It doesn’t appear to be that hard of a thing to bash… the prototype looks like a Dora with an LGB coach attached to the back
Eric Schade has built a rather nice one that looks like all in 1 piece but actually the engine is separate and pivots in front of the car, have also see one that the drive was articulated , very neat, Bill
Here’s one I built a while back. It consists of a Bachmann combine kit and a NENG Porter kit. The engine is articulated.
(http://largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2849/My%20Trains/Steamcoach-1.jpg)
Doc Watson
Yep that’s the one I was thinking of, very nice
Don Watson said:
Here’s one I built a while back. It consists of a Bachmann combine kit and a NENG Porter kit. The engine is articulated.
(http://largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2849/My%20Trains/Steamcoach-1.jpg)
Doc Watson
Very nice Doc. Honestly, that looks a lot less like a kit-bash than the prototype pic in my first post 
Dan Hall said:
I came across this somewhere a while back. Don’t think I’d seen it posted here
Its supposed to be a rail motor coach from the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. And the front end is a dead ringer for Dora aside from the valve gear. Close enough that if I had all giant radius curves, I’d totally try to bash this. But it’s unbelievably long.
Build it then badge it Amtrak and call it done …
This Railcar has a “Dora” inside.
And for valve gear, there was a series of articles in “Steam in the Garden” by Marc Horowitz on various mods to the Dora, including how to fit outside cylinders and a connecting rod. We could ask Marc if he has a copy with the photos?
if I had all giant radius curves, I’d totally try to bash this. But it’s unbelievably long.
Dan, it’s just a matter of how much you let the coach swing. No reason even a coach as long as that can’t go around the R1s. Look how long the Aristocraft heavyweights are.
Pete Thornton said:
if I had all giant radius curves, I’d totally try to bash this. But it’s unbelievably long.
Dan, it’s just a matter of how much you let the coach swing. No reason even a coach as long as that can’t go around the R1s. Look how long the Aristocraft heavyweights are.
That’s true Pete… but I think it would look a little funny. I imagine a top-down view where the front and back of this are on the straights at either end of the curve and the body is a chord across it 
If that were a Dora at the front, I could see it easily being more than two feet long. Dora’s a smidge over 6" and that thing on the back looks like three Dora’s worth of coach
I might still try it. I have an extra Newquida coach that would work for the back end.
Don, how does that car take a curve? Looks like the front driving wheels would grind in a curve due to the rear end of the coach not swinging out enough.
So, just for kicks I put the coach behind Dora. I can kind of see it…
I can see it also. I can’t wait to watch this come alive.
Ron,
Below are a couple of pictures that might help explain the way I was able to articulate the engine and combine. First of all I made a new chassis out of fiberglass so I could include a pivot pin and a slot at the rear of the chassis.
(http://largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2849/My%20Trains/Steamcoach_artfront.jpg)
(http://largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2849/My%20Trains/Steamcoach_artfront2.jpg)
I hope this helps.
Doc
Dan Hall said:
So, just for kicks I put the coach behind Dora. I can kind of see it…
Yes, it does look like the combination will work. But live steamers get very hot - especially the bits near the burner so you won’t be able to pick it up when it has been running. (Ask me how I know.) I would pivot the coach on something like a wooden block that won’t conduct heat - not on the metal floor.
I also set up my Doodlebug so that if it stalled I could grab the body and lift it clear whle the Dora continued to stew/spew/burn.
Another thing to consider about the Dora is whether you still want to allow for the roof to flip open so you can access controls, add butane, and cylinder oil. This locomotive is tiny as well as manually controlled, and most of us have big, ham-fisted hands – NOT a good combination when trying to marry the locomotive to a piece of coaching stock. Don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade, just think those points need serious consideration.
My Dora (named Dori, as in Ori, Dori, and Nori from The Hobbit) is more comfortable to run as a separate locomotive, but that is just me.
Have fun, David Meashey
Dave Meashey said:
Another thing to consider about the Dora is whether you still want to allow for the roof to flip open so you can access controls, add butane, and cylinder oil. This locomotive is tiny as well as manually controlled, and most of us have big, ham-fisted hands – NOT a good combination when trying to marry the locomotive to a piece of coaching stock. Don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade, just think those points need serious consideration.
My Dora (named Dori, as in Ori, Dori, and Nori from The Hobbit) is more comfortable to run as a separate locomotive, but that is just me.
Have fun, David Meashey
Good point, Dave. I was thinking that I’d have to plan this out so that either the coach’s roof was removable (if it wound up over Dora–probably the easiest way to get a one-piece roof) or figure out how to match Dora’s roof on the coach. I’m in the middle of sourcing/making parts to switch Dora to RC, but even then I t think you need access to the butane and water fillers in the cab.
Another question for those more widely experienced than I… What trucks fit the Bachmann 24.5mm wheel sets? Looking at Dora and the coach together, it’s clear to me that I need to lower the coach a smidge. The easiest way I can think of to do that is to put a different set of trucks an smaller wheels under the back end. Right now the coach sits about 1/4-1/2 inch too high. have a couple leftovers of those Bachmann wheel sets from a different project I’m working on, but the trucks I have for that are the cheesy plastic ones out of a $10 Christmas train, because that project isn’t intended to be run often. I think if I’m going to do this, I need “real” trucks. But I’m not sure which Bachmann cars come/came with those tiny wheels.
But I’m not sure which Bachmann cars come/came with those tiny wheels.
The Spectrum 20ft cars had small trucks and wheels, and they are available from B’mann Parts very cheaply. I bought a couple for a UK coach project.
20’ Complete Truck (G Universal) $8.40 (with metal wheels.)
