A Small Mikado?

[Dakota7820]

Does anyone know how a person would model a small 2-8-2 like Magma Arizona RR #7? To me, the USRA Light Mikados just look way too big and don't really capture the look of a small shortline 2-8-2. I want to model a 1950s railroad in western Texas that will capture the flavor and feel of the Magma, and a Mikado like the #7 is a almost a must for me....but no RTR models that I've seen do the trick. Suggestions?  

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/magma7-wessel3.jpg

http://www.rgusrail.com/txtsr.html

[Trainman203]

http://www.brasstrains.com/classic/Product/Detail/064721/HO-Brass-Model-Train-NWSL-Toby-Baldwin-2-8-2-70-Ton-Logging-Mikado-White-River-Lumber-Co-Custom

There were dozens of prototype engines like this.  They ran on short lines as much as for lumber companies.  Light axle loading for lightly laid poor track was the name of the game, that's why a MacArthur no larger than a lot of moguls.

I almost bought one of these models  51 years ago, still kicking myself.

[jonathan]

Those small Mikes look exactly like a consolidation with a tiny trailing truck added.

If it were me, I would start with a Bachmann 2-8-0.  Then finagle a way to add one of those tiny trucks off of the old 2-6-2s... which were 0-6-0 with some tiny trucks added.  I happen to have kept a couple of those tiny pony and trailing trucks from an old project.

The B&O actually had a Consolidation to which they added a small trailing truck.  Looked odd to me, until I considered a small road needing good power, like logging.

Then it's just a matter of shrinking the stock tender, or adding a smaller tender from a smaller locomotive.

I considered such a project once, then changed my mind.  I hope you try it and let us see it.

Regards,

Jonathan

[ebtnut]

The issue for me here is that the driver size on the Connie is about the same as on the Mike.  Most of these vest-pocket Mikes had drivers in the 52 - 56 inch range.  For me a better start might be one of the old MDC/Roundhouse Old-Time 2-8-0 kits.  You would need to do some work with rear frame extensions and stretch the boiler, but that would be one approach. 

[Trainman203]

The Bachmann consolidation is a HUGE locomotive , it dwarfs the USRA light MacArthur when standing next to it.  The boiler diameter is noticeably larger.  I don't think that adding a trailing truck to it would give you the light engine look that you want.

[J3a-614]

Bachmann has or had a Chinese SY 2-8-2 that could be a good starting point, and would be quite appropriate in a way, too--the prototype has an ancestry that goes back to a smallish Alco design built for export, and also is close in appearance to a number of Alcos built for domestic service as well, including some for shortlines in the South. 

One road that had such small 2-8-2s was the Mississippi Central:

http://www.msrailroads.com/MSC.htm

http://hawkinsrails.net/steam/msc/msc_steam.htm

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4002850

[J3a-614]

The Chinese SY 2-8-2:

http://www.kurogane-rail.com/kurogane-images/zh2/sy.jpg

http://www.chinesemodeltrains.com/encyclopedia_sy.html

http://www.hattons.co.uk/62137/Bachmann_China_CS00204_SY_Class_2_8_2_steam_locomotive_1530_tender/StockDetail.aspx

[Trainman203]

I forgot about those great looking MCRR 120-class light Macarthurs .  One still exists at the bottom of a deep pond that used to be a gravel pit near Franklinton , LA.

[J3a-614]

I forgot about those great looking MCRR 120-class light Macarthurs .  One still exists at the bottom of a deep pond that used to be a gravel pit near Franklinton , LA.

Tickling my brain cells. . .

Reminded me of another Alco light 2-8-2 that's still around, Elk River Coal & Lumber No. 10, originally built as Toledo, Angola & Western No. 100, and on display at Huntington, W.Va.:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk_River_Coal_and_Lumber_Company_No._10

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1612/23551605974_5e3c39596f_b.jpg

A bunch of other light 2-8-2s here.  Aberdeen & Rockfish No. 40 is still around and operational (or at least stored serviceable or nearly so) on the Valley Railroad of Connecticut, and McCloud River 18 is around, too, though I forget where at the moment.  The latter engine had a bit of Hollywood glory in the film "Emperor of the North Pole," with costars Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin:

https://sites.google.com/site/mikado282typesteamlocomotives/small-2-8-2

A number of those engines, including McCloud 18, Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade 15, and Georgia-Pacific  3 (which has a weird, apparently home made sand dome!), were marketed and sold by Baldwin as a standard logging engine, along with the small 2-6-2s and small Mallets that company built.

Mentioning Elk River Coal & Lumber in turn reminded me of its common carrier side, the very fondly remembered Buffalo Creek & Gauley, one the last steam shortlines anywhere, running steam into 1965:

(Turn on your speakers for the home page below.    )

http://www.buffalocreekandgauley.com/

[Dakota7820]

Those are some great pictures, and exactly the type I have in mind. That Bachmann Chinese Mikado is super sharp as well. Looks like someone could take the Susquehanna version, swap out the tender and cab, and rearrange the front handrails to make a decent representation of an ALCO 2-8-2. I'm not all that knowledgeable on detailing steam locomotives, but looks like they have quite a bit of good factory detailing. I assume it wouldn't be an easy task to switch cabs, though. A small Vanderbilt or a small standard tender with an oil bunker would look great coupled behind in my opinion.

[J3a-614]

Turns out Valley Railroad of Connecticut has done just such a conversion in 1:1 scale to represent a long gone New Haven class:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/84073/NH%203025%201.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Railroad-Photos/Valley-Railroad-Photos/i-bLp272j/0/XL/IMG_9985-XL.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iAIpdbwak4

[J3a-614]

Something I've kicked around mentally is the idea of using a Bachmann SY to make up a Virginian MB:

http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=92324

http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=61852

http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=79122

[Trainman203]

The former Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern No. 300 is still in Hattiesburg, although in pretty bad shape.

http://www.rgusrail.com/msbhs300.html

[Dakota7820]

Dierks Lumber & Coal Company #227. This one is on display about an hour north from me and across the state line in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Number 360, a 4-6-0 from the same company, is on display at Queen Wilhelmina State Park not far from it.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/dierks227-wessel1.jpg

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/dierks227-wessel2.jpg

[Trainman203]

The 227 bears somewhat of a family resemblance to the Bach Man's mogul.