Apparently inside cylinder mogul locomotives were not particularly common on the British mainland, thus 'James' is an oddball choice. That aside, when released I purchased a few examples with the intention of making a 2-6-0 Mogul plantation/export locomotive. Lack of inertia/enthusiasm dulled my project until today.
I had some Aristo-Craft Porter cylinders and decided to fit them. As they say, alls well that ends well, however, the perils of the journey can certainly get one a little annoyed. Why would an assembly line worker superglue the drive rod retention screws into the wheel boss? At some point disassembly would have to be a consideration. This point obviously was overlooked on the production line. Fortunately, one screw was able to be coaxed out intact but alas a little roadkill on the way when one screw sheared off its head while attempting removal. I simply cannot understand the use of superglue to retain a screw, especially one that one day WILL need to be removed.
Well, idiots aside, the project proceeded. I was able to drill out the broken screw and fortunately coaxed a new thread with a bit of perseverence. Some time ago, I purchased a bag of Lionel largescale drive rod mount screws. These are the same thread pitch as the stock Bachmann machine screw and allowed a 'standoff' mounting for the centre axle to mount a connecting rod.
The cylinders needed a little alteration to fit and piston stroke is the same as the Bachmann wheel so no alteration was needed to the connecting rod. Clearance with the front axle requires the lateral movement of the axle to be limited to avoid contact with the crosshead slidebars. Ideally, the pilot truck mount arm will need lengthening to allow more axle swing for tighter radii track.
Eventually I may paint the loco black, but for the moment I need to cool off my temperment over those superglued machine screws. This does dampen any further mods as I am not inclined to tempt fate and remove any more screws.
I had some Aristo-Craft Porter cylinders and decided to fit them. As they say, alls well that ends well, however, the perils of the journey can certainly get one a little annoyed. Why would an assembly line worker superglue the drive rod retention screws into the wheel boss? At some point disassembly would have to be a consideration. This point obviously was overlooked on the production line. Fortunately, one screw was able to be coaxed out intact but alas a little roadkill on the way when one screw sheared off its head while attempting removal. I simply cannot understand the use of superglue to retain a screw, especially one that one day WILL need to be removed.
Well, idiots aside, the project proceeded. I was able to drill out the broken screw and fortunately coaxed a new thread with a bit of perseverence. Some time ago, I purchased a bag of Lionel largescale drive rod mount screws. These are the same thread pitch as the stock Bachmann machine screw and allowed a 'standoff' mounting for the centre axle to mount a connecting rod.
The cylinders needed a little alteration to fit and piston stroke is the same as the Bachmann wheel so no alteration was needed to the connecting rod. Clearance with the front axle requires the lateral movement of the axle to be limited to avoid contact with the crosshead slidebars. Ideally, the pilot truck mount arm will need lengthening to allow more axle swing for tighter radii track.
Eventually I may paint the loco black, but for the moment I need to cool off my temperment over those superglued machine screws. This does dampen any further mods as I am not inclined to tempt fate and remove any more screws.