After All, It Is A TRAIN Set-up
Let's not forget about the train.
If you liked the treatment I did on the Pullman Cars (post in here somewhere... oh well), you ought to dig this. I hope, anyway.
I've said before that we are copying a fallen flag known as The Chicago Great Western. It is the late steam era, just pre-diesel, so the kinds of locomotives would be specific and traceable. Traceable because the records of what types of rolling stock and equipment still exist, and there are legions of train buffs who can sit around and talk the talk all night long. Mostly with their engineer hats on too. Don't laugh.
Our story is made just a touch more complicated in that we've picked 1919 as our year. It's a log story, but during the First World War there was an attempt to try to standardize the rail lines. The effort was known as the USRA - the United States Railroad Administration. The federal government put certain locomotives into operation, and the Chicago Great Western got was was called a 2-8-2 Mikado Heavy.
Now you're going to find out something very simple and you can use it to look like an expert any time. You'll see steam-era locomotives referred to as 2-8-2 or a 4-4-0 or a 2-10-2. It's nothing mysterious. That's the wheels. A 2-8-2 has a set of two guide wheels in the front, 8 large drivers under the main section, and 2 more small wheels under the cab. A 4-4-0 has 4 small wheels in the front, 4 large wheels under the main, and nothing under the cab. Simple as that. Now you can stand in front of any steam-era locomative and get women to jump all over you - fingers in your suspenders saying "why, sonny, that's a 2-10-2". Well, if nothing else works anyhow.
Here's a picture of an actual 2-8-2 Mikado in the service of the Chicago Great Western. I took it out of a book I'm using for reference and you can just make out the logo on the coal tender.
It's also important to understand that certain types of locomotives existed within a set series of numbers. We're looking at the old 740 in the picture, and another picture in the same book shows it pulling some Pullman passenger cars. So we would be railroadically correct to assume that we could use a USRA 2-8-2 Mikado for passenger service. Because, think about it, the last thing I'd want is to show my set up to some old timer and have him say "The CGW 740 was never used for passenger service ya twit!". I mean that would be devastating! I'd have to kill myself then!
So you may recall that a while back I found a crazy guy in Kansas who makes decals for fallen flags (rail companies that are defunct), and that I ordered some from him. I think I showed you the use of some on the passenger cars. That post is around here somewheres...
Well the time has come to get the locomotive up to snuff. First problem is, if ever you get a chance to go through all the catalogs and search it out, most locomotives for sale are already decorated with a certain line. So NOW not only do we have to find a replica of a 2-8-2 Mikado, we have to find one undecorated!
Luckily there's an international model company not ten miles from where I am typing this right now called KATO who make exactly just that sort of thing don't you know.
So I'm looking over the decals and looking and looking and.... HOLY CRAP! It's the 740!! A USRA 2-8-2 Mikado Heavy to pull my Pullman cars up to the town.
What do you know!
We'll have to add a little touch-up to weather the thing, especially that use-wear on the bottom half of the tender. And a spray of Dullcoat will make the decal stick forever and cover over the obviousness of the application. But check it out.
Now before you go thinking I am either lucky or compulsive or both - just remember that I'm right here the beneficiary of railroad fanatics who have come before me. It's nothing I did that was so special.
These railroad people are OBSESSED. I'm just standing here with a bucket catching the rain.
Labels: Christmas Train
posted by RW @ 7:19 PM
7 Comments
Links to this post
