Locomotives Of The W&A

 THE TEXAS

This is my fifth (and hopefully final) incarnation of the W&A RR's #49, the Texas. The champion of the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862. Here, the locomotive sits after a rebuilt in 1889, with the addition of injectors, and an air compressor, but painted in a more subdued version of the chocolate brown paint scheme she wore during the war.

This incarnation is built atop one of the New Tool 4-4-0s produced by Bachmenn. It started out life as a stock “Texas”, the running boards where cut short and the stack and pilot beam where cut off. A brass horizontal strap pilot beam was applied, and a new stack was built from a Mantua “General” with a new cap from the top of a Bachmenn On30 Porter stack. Piping was made out of brass stock, and an air-compressor from Keystone was added to the fireman's side. The Texas is equipped with crosshead pumps on the engineer's side, and an injector on the fireman's. Like most of my 4-4-0s, the Texas is “barefoot”, having air-brakes only on the tender. A new coal load made from crushed coal finished the model. The nameplates are decals applied atop styrine sheet, then cut to size and applied to the boiler.

The locomotive has an advanced logic control that can be manipulated in programming mode to simulate the weight of a train under different conditions. Think of it like a “hyper” momentum. Rather then “dumb” momentum which just acts like a giant resister, the hyper momentum can be controlled via manipulation of the locomotive's controls. IE: applying the brakes on an air-braked train will stop the train faster then just shutting the throttle and letting her coast. You can also manipulate the Johnson bar cut off to both improve performance while running, as well as brake. For example, you can stop the locomotive by closing the throttle, swinging the Johnson bar into reverse, opening the cylinder cocks, and cracking the throttle until there is enough back pressure to bring the locomotive to a stop. All with accompanying sound effects.

The goal was to emulate a 19^th century steam locomotive in fine detail. This is not a locomotive for the weak. You're not going to just turn the dial and it goes. Running this locomotive is like running a full size steam locomotive. You actually have to operate it.

THE DISPATCH  

The Dispatch is a locomotive that has been with me in one form or another since I graduated high school. Whenever I doodled a locomotive or write about one, it would inevitably be a 4-4-0 with the number 97. I'm not sure if she was numbered after the 97 of folklore, or just happenstance. The truth is probably somewhere in-between. The Dispatch appeared in a number of fictional stories I wrote, as well as a few online articles.

This incarnation is built atop one of the New Tool 4-4-0s produced by Bachmenn. It started out life as a stock “York”, and is the most stock of the 4-4-0 bashes I have done. I swapped cabs and tenders with a donor “Texas” model, re-lettered her, and cut off the stack and pilot beam.

A brass horizontal strap pilot beam was applied, and a new stack was built from a Mantua “General” with a new cap from the top of a Bachmenn On30 Porter stack. Piping was made out of brass stock, and an air-compressor from Keystone was added to the fireman's side. Like most of my 4-4-0s, the Dispatch is “barefoot”, having air-brakes only on the tender. A new coal load made from crushed coal finished the model. The nameplates are decals applied atop styrine sheet, then cut to size and applied to the boiler.

The locomotive is DCC equipped and has the standard sound system as supplied by Bachmenn. Soon to be replaced by a Loksound ESU 4.0

THE NICOLE WATTERSON 

Everyone should have at least one good switch locomotive. Some old yard goat that's been demoted from mainline service, or a little saddletanker who spends her life in the yard.

The Nicole Watterson is intended to represent an older locomotive that was rebuilt into a yard engine. The model started out life as a Bachmann saddletank 0-6-0. It was stripped to the frame, and only the chassis and the saddetank was retained. She carries a boiler from a New Tool 4-4-0, the stack from the Old Tool 4-4-0 (The one part of the NTs that I dislike is the fact that they went from having a mesh metal screen in the stacks to just a plastic bubble) with domes and detail parts from Keystone.

The cab is an MDC cab, and the bunker was cut from an MDC tender. Piping was made out of brass stock, and an air-compressor from Keystone was added to the fireman's side.

The loco is equipped with a LokSound ESU V0.4 decoder.

THE PALLA 

 

Just put the final touches on this one. Other then the addition of a few small details later on, such as a rack of deer antlers on the lamp, she is more or less finished.

This incarnation is built atop one of the New Tool 4-4-0s produced by Bachmenn. It started out life as a stock “AT&SF loco”. I swapped tender shells with a donor “York” model, re-lettered her, and cut off the stack and old pilot beam. A new pilot beam was built from styrene and balsa wood, with a brass vertical slate pilot attached to the new beam. The domes where replaced with Baldwin domes from a set of spares for the Bachmenn Richmond 4-4-0. New piping made from brass stock, with the new check valves and cross-head pumps obtained from Kemtron. Brake-piping was made out of brass stock, and an air-compressor from Keystone was added to the fireman's side.

The cab was repainted to a color that was more representative of polished wood, and an engineer and fireman figure from P.K.'s 1800's range placed in the cab. A new whistle and new stack and a new coal load made from crushed coal rounded out this build completing the conversion to a coal burner. Like all my 4-4-0's she has a set of switchmen steps on the rear of the tender. The nameplates are decals applied atop styrine sheet, then cut to size and applied to the boiler. Like most of my 4-4-0s, the Palla is “barefoot”, having air-brakes only on the tender.

The locomotive is DCC equipped and has the standard sound system as supplied by Bachmenn, with the “Crosby” whistle activated. 

THE SCAMP

The Scamp was one of my first bashes. Built from a high boiler Bachmann 4-6-0, I wanted a high driver ten wheeler evocative of the mid to late 1890s. The B-mann offering was pretty close, but was a bit too modern. I backdated the locomotive by removing a few appliances such as the dynamo and removing the Walsherts valve gear to make the locomotive have inside Stevenson. I disliked the tender the model came with and unable to find a suitable replacement, I ended up making my own. 

The tender tank is from a tyco 4-6-0, while the frame is one of the smaller tender frames supplied by B-mann.

The locomotive is completed with brass boiler bands, a crisp all black paint scheme, and a switchmen's pilot as she mostly finds herself in priority freight service. A new coal load made from crushed coal finished the model. She carries a Tsunami “Medium steam” sound decoder, and is one of my more reliable runners.