Large Scale Central

More Shay kitbashing madness!

Modeling
#1

So the last couple months have been a little hectic, but finally have a little spare time, so time for another project! Last year I took a 36 ton shay and build a backdated 40 ton out of it. Now while the shop crew is deciding what to do with the other 36 tonner, they decided its time to pull the 55 into the shop. Here 55 tonner #1 is being checked out by the shop crew

after an inspection, 40 ton #14 and crummy #7 are brought down to pull it into the shops for rebuilding

for those of whom don’t like to see a razor saw massacre, you may want to stop here. after 1 hour in the shop, it looked like this

then the shop crews brought in a second locomotive from the rip track, this one being an old 10 wheeler

This shay will be put on a high iron diet, adding about 20 tons to it. Here is is in mockup stage. behind it is a picture of Westside Lumber 70 tonner #9, the inspiration behind this kitbash

and here is how it is looking this morning. I have taken the 10 wheeler boiler and shortened the smokebox by half, and cut about 1" from the back. I will now be filling in the holes on the boiler and then start cutting up a couple 10 wheeler cabs, shortening them a bit and increasing the height by maybe 1/2" or so. this may not be the most accurate version of a 70 ton, but a quicker bash based on parts on hand

one of the next steps will be lengthening the frame a little bit. more to follow…

#2

I love razor saws, rasps and nippers! :slight_smile:

#3

Aaron??? turning it into a diesel??? :slight_smile:

#4

Off to a great start Arron, waiting for more info and pictures.

Will be watching to see how you lengthen the frame.

#5

Andy Clarke said:

Aaron??? turning it into a diesel??? :slight_smile:

Looking good Aron, not sure what’s wrong with that water in Illinois (cough cough Andy…)

#6

Cool project!

#7

Oh yeah, I’ll be watching you on this one!

#8

Thanks everyone! This project has been rattling around in my mind since I bought it a few years ago. It was starting to hurt my head, so thought I better get it out and work on it!

@John, you are in luck, there will be many of each in this bash!

@Andy, have you been in the southern illinois happy juice again? I think you need to go lay down and sleep it off lol

Been busy the last few days with National Train Day at St. Louis Union Station, but now that it is in the books, time to get back to it. Started by cutting the frame a few days ago.

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I was originally going to splice in 1 1/2" of frame from my other 36 ton shay that will later be shortened to a 2 cylinder, but seemed a little much work to make it work, so I decided to use styrene beam instead. Here it is 1 1/2" longer. I used some leftover code 250 rail running the frame on the inside for reinforcement.

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Next I will reinforce from the front by “riveting” a piece on the front to cover the seams.

Here is how it is looking with the boiler and a cab sitting in place. Next I will fill in the bare spots on the boiler, then hack up a couple 10 wheeler cabs. more to come

#9

I love watching surgery… where’s the blood?

#10

Update: last night the hacksaw seemed a little small, so i introduced my 10 wheeler frame to the bandsaw. I cut the lower boiler off and reunited it with the rest of the boiler

then as long as the bandsaw was fired up, I took out the 2 steel cabs and done some surgical cutting

As the dawn of a new day is upon us, it was decided to take the companies new critter for a spin, the first assignment was to pull out #9 for a few pictures, and to show the shop foreman what they have been up too. Here is the critter leaving Mik’s Salvage

and here it is seen pulling #9 out to the sawmill track. The cab has been pieced together and put in place. there may need to be a little more modification including a front wall to come.

the shop forman is seen here resting under the engine, dreaming of what his new creation will look like. However he fell asleep. It is unclear as to whether he got into that jug of juice known around these parts, but he says that he seen this in his “nightmare”

he then ran off saying that Andy made him do it? unclear as to what he meant, but I dont think any of the crew has ever seen him run like that lol

more to follow soon…

#11

Crackin up… Love it Aaron… :slight_smile:

#12

That cab is pretty sweet looking…come to think of it, I did something similar only with a scratchbuilt boiler for my three truck Shay No7 waaaaaay back in 2000 or so…

#13

Aaron

Andy(Dad) is the Devil stay away from him!

Love the scenes with Miks and the sawmill!