I am also a member of ‘myLargescale.com’, mentioned as being in that webgroup made possible this loco building; – a long while ago now David Fletcher ran a ‘Masterclass’ there on Mason Bogies, which are my favorite loco, and some were built – of which mine is called ‘Como’ – that is one of the 2 6 6 versions.In effect he taught me how to build locos in FN3 scale, in spite of living half way round the world from me. These locos would not have been possible without the internet which always came up trumps when required. Included in the Masterclass were some drawings for the largest versions that the Wm. Mason factory made for the DSP&PRR; these were 4 locos, that were 2 8 6’s; a lot of the main Masterclass detail could be used and the drawings that were done covered the rest. However there would understandably be a lot of work. Way back whilst building ‘Como’ I decided that some time I would make one of the 2 8 6 versions so the ‘bought in’ parts were ordered at the same time as those for ‘Como’; a number of years past (making other ‘stuff’ for the railroad). Last year I started to build what was to become ‘Denver’, the chassis was built from 2 layers of 5mm Sintra board, and I found someone to buy and fit a motor and gearbox for me. The wheels came via Barry of Barry’s Big Trains who had kept them for me for a long time – they were cast brass and stainless steel I think made in China, via Rich Schiffman of Texas. Thanks are due to both for their help in building this loco. When I had my motorized chassis back (and a thinner wallet), I made the valve gear – full outside Walschaerts gear– again I had a second set from the smaller loco but extra parts had to be made. The connecting rods are made from K&S telescoping brass rectangular tubes and there is a joint on axle 3 from the front. Work progressed and the boiler etc., was added; the cab was one of the ex Vance Bass laser cut ones that is now sold by Doug Bronson and it is very good and saves a lot of time, The cab roof is removable so the complicated ‘bits & pieces’ on the firebox can be seen; living in the UK your cabs are very different to ours! In addition one of Doug’s laser cut wooden pilot kits was also used at the front. The domes on the boiler (3 of them though the rear one seems to have been removed quite quickly in ‘real life’), came from Hartland Loco Works – again being timesavers though I have built the ‘ringed’ domes – and yes, they took a time – lots of layers of styrene! These large locos, but with a very short wheelbase for their size were said to be built for banking of Boreas and Fremont passes, so I decided that I would paint mine a somewhat somber color of chocolate brown; though there would be a full decal set(must do the job properly!) in due course. When the decal set was needed David Fletcher went through his collection of designs (in his CAD program) and produced a quite superb set in red and gold; these when checked (nothing wrong) they were sent (having come from Australia, to Stan Cedarleaf in Arizona, who also worked his magic – there were 4 letter size sheets! Then they cam back across the Atlantic to me. I studied them and was somewhat overwhelmed at the work that was needed to fit them (yes, they were seen on the computer and in the (B&W) flesh) but in color - Wow! The sheer size and amount of them, was going to need a lot of time to apply them: when I had finished my hotel building, I plucked up courage and started – it took quite a while to get them all on the loco! But the result – superb! Stan’s work was very good indeed; the backing paper allowed the decal to ‘free off’ easily (the ones on the sides of the tender are 7” long and 2” deep, lots of water assisted here, but the decal film is strong and they slid off beautifully. Varnishing was done for protection all round, and when the weather allowed some photos were taken as they are much better than mere words for descriptive purposes. Here are some of them.
A couple of views of the engineer’s side of the loco
a view of the fireman’s side
The loco looks better with something to do - here is is placed in position, with 3 of my scratchbuilt freight cars behind it, on my short trestle which is also scratchbuilt. Extra - The ‘wonky’ stack which I didn’t see till the photos were viewed has since been ‘fixed’! Enjoy! Yours Peter