Varney Dockside Switcher

[jonathan]

Motor works very fine!  Thanks again, Tim!

Regards,

Jonathan

[Woody Elmore]

John: Nice work again! So what is the current price tag - or aren't you keeping count?

I never thought about doing a Varney train or Penn Line train. There are lots of Varney cars floating around. If I remember correctly the originals had really sharp, deep, plastic flanges. You might want to convert to better trucks.

When I started in HO I always wanted a Varney bay window caboose but I never could get one in any of the hobby shops in the NY metro area. This was before mail order or the internet. They turn up on Ebay and most sell for about $10. Not bad for a kit that originally sold for about $2 fifty years ago.

You could get completely bonkers and get all Varney B&O cars to put behind the dockside. Just a thought.

[jonathan]

Woody,

I had to buy some dullcote, so I'm up to about $60 US so far.  Tried the semigloss and she's still a little too shiny.  Oh well, I tried.

I'm discovering more Varney cars in my Grandfather's old collection.  None are B&O, but there is an undecorated caboose (can't recall the body style; center cupola?), to which I have added B&O decals.  Prototypical?  Doubtful.  But I have taken a little license here and there with the switcher, too.

I'm always on the lookout for B&O equipment (Varney or otherwise).  Recently, I Picked up a bunch of B&O hoppers for cheap (blue box kits already assembled).  Oh and yes, I re-truck and recouple everything I want to run on the layout.  Learned that lesson...  I'm joining a club in January, and I know they must require the proper trucks and couplers to run on their layout.

Merry Christmas!

Jonathan

PS Gotta get back to cookin'.  The whole family is coming over for Xmas Eve, and I'm in charge of the Lasgna!

[RAM]

The blue box have good trucks if you just change out the wheels.

[jonathan]

I still have a lot of work to do... but she's to the point where she will run all in one piece.  And, at nearly 63 years old, she needed a little work out, anyway. I couldn't help but put her on the test loop, with a few Varney cars in tow.  Grabbed a few pics while I was at it:

Enjoy:












The headlights are big drops of craft glue.  Still looking for lenses that will fit.  The craft glue lenses pop right out when pushed from the back.  I need to replace the bulbs, too.  The new motor is so efficient, I can't run her past 35% power.  Will have to put in 1.5v bulbs so you can see them.

Regards,

Jonathan

[full maxx]

really looking good , thats amazing work

[BestSnowman]

Looks nice put back together, ready for another lifetime of service.

[CNE Runner]

Jonathan, a tribute to your excellent craftsmanship is the fact that this thread is rapidly growing longer than the engine and train pictured!

Kudos! I am bowing in the general direction of Minnesota.

Ray

[pipefitter]

Jonathan, I have enjoyed your project very much. Adding the two Varney hoppers to the most recent photos is perfect. Thanks for your "documentary" 

Robert

[full maxx]

hey J where did you get the lettering for the engine

[jonathan]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.  She's progressing along.  Still have a list of things to do (bell, whistle, valve gear, etc, etc).

I got the decals from Yardbird.  However they are a Champ  Product, "B&O Steam Loco Decals".  The color is actually "Bronze/Gold".  B&O Decals are near impossible to find.  Microscale only had passenger car and F Unit decals for B&O.  I couldn't find the Champ decals on line, either, but Yardbird had 'em.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Woody Elmore]

Jon: I think you win the prize for longest string of postings. It is a pleasure to see positive comments. I'm sure that you have stimulated the kit building centers in some people's brains!

Now that you have the dockside ready to go you need to work on that diorama of the downtown Baltimore dock area. That would give you the added incentive to do another dockside since the Beano had two of the things!

[jonathan]

Well... I think it's time to let this thread go.  Wasn't intending to set any kind of record.  But I had such good input/help/encouragement from so many of you, it kept driving me on to complete as much as possible.  Can't thank you enough.  When I finally get all the rest of the parts, I'll start a new thread, just to post a completed shot or, too.  This has been a world of fun.

As far as the Baltimore docks go,  I have enough scenery that I'll never finish the way it is. 

Thanks a million to all of you!

Sincerely,

Jonathan

[J3a-614]

Had to contribute something to the "record" thread, especially since you commented that you will be adding the valve gear.

The prototypes were built by Baldwin in 1912 specifically for switching in tight quarters in Baltimore, often working into industries reached from street trackage.  These engines were pretty heavy for 0-4-0Ts, 66 tons, with a 33-ton axle load; that axle load would be respectable into the Superpower era.  There were four engines originally, fitted up as oil-burners.  Two would later be rebuilt as coal-burning tender engines, and be reassigned to Philadelphia, again working in tight places there, in situations like those for which the Pennsylvania built its A5s 0-4-0s.

Some photos and comments, photos courtesy of Northeast Railfan:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/

We start by going into the B&O steam roster:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/bo_steam1.html

Scrolling down the page, we go to the class C-16, the Docksides.  Clicking on engine numbers brings up photos, like these:

The first is a builder's photo at Baldwin.  Notable details to note on the engines as delivered include the older lettering style, accetyline headlights, the whistle mounted on the right side of the steam dome, the ladder that's visible on the rear of the oil bunker through the cabwindows, what looks like a wooden cab, and the lack of a platform around the stack for a man to stand on while filling the water tank at the filler ahead of the stack.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bo99s.jpg

In 1938, the lettering is changed, the platform for the water filler is in place, the water filler itself is now taller and square, the headlights are electric, there are additional grabirons in certain places, the whistle looks to have been moved (but its pipe is still visible), and there are additional items added, like those towing chains for working in places where cars can't negotiate curves when they are coupled together.  On this section of the B&O, there are curves that would be more apropriate on a trolley line!

http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00002395

No. 97's most notable detail variation is the much smaller platform at the water filler in 1947:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bo97sa.jpg

The engines were renumbered into the 890 series inthe early 1950s to clear their numbers for new diesels.  What stands out in this photo is the B&O Capitol dome emblem on the front of the engine.  This was a cast item, done in the late 1940's as a way to make sure the image of the B&O would be made plain in published photos.  The Docksides got the treatment of a road engine!

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bo898s.jpg

Just for the record, photos of one of the rebuilt engines in Philadelphia:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bo99sa.jpg

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bo99sc.jpg

Enjoy.  And just to contemplate, can you imagine a model railroad built on this theme, with lots of ancient industrial buidings, street trackage, and perhaps ships and Bachmann Peter Witts, too?

[jonathan]

J3a-614,

You have found some excellent photos I never ran across.  Makes me want to strip my Varney down and start adding some more doodads.

Still waiting on the Yardbird valve gear... and a brass whistle that's been on backorder for about 6 months now. 

I have fashioned a small switcher headlight that goes just below the front of the smoke box.  Made it from a leftover piece of brass tubing.  I also found two old headlight lenses from MV products (must be ancient).  I sanded off the silver backing so the bulbs will shine through.  They fit in the lower headlight and the the rear light.  Still need a proper lens for the upper front headlight.  I have an engineer and firemam for the cab. 

Will start the finishing touches as soon as the valve gear gets here.  The drive mechanism is going to get neolubed.  The whole thing should be really nice looking after the final stage is complete.

By the way, The Dockside will pull more cars than the Bowser G5 and the Mantua Mikado.  Weird...

Regards,

Jonathan