Chaps, the Porter Masterclass was run in 2007 and was the last Masterclass for that site as people lost interest after that. There was to be two chapters - the first was to build this neat Porter Bell 2-6-0 based on the Colorado Central Porters (and others), and the 2nd chapter was to build the smaller Matha’s Vinyard and Santa Cruz Porters. At the time of the class, only something like 5 or 6 people built the engine during the class, so I never bothered to write Chapter 2 (people do ask from time to time).
I looked on the MLS web site, and I’d be darned, the finished model page is still there and working! Here are some of the finished models from the Chapter 1 class. Dave A’s recent Porter is up with the best of them in my opinion! There are some more finished that I’ve seen that are not in this link. As weight goes, the model in this rebuilt format makes for a much better runner than its out-of-the box design, plus is pretty close to scale for 1:20.3 in our Porter rebuilt state. As for the original industrial 2-6-0 from Bachmann, I’d have to say it was freelance. They used a 22.5 scale 2-4-2 and put a new chassis under it, calling it 1:20.3 Its freelance. It was a good drive for the money. Did they make further runs on these?
Here’s the link to some of the finished models from the 2007 Masterclass:
http://forums.mylargescale.com/27-masterclass-articles/1706-masterclass-2007-finished-porter-models.html
David.
