Yet ANOTHER project, a late 1860's 2-2-0

M

Mik

Steam tractors, good books, scratchbuilding models
It's all Vic Smith's fault! (Even if it isn't, we're gonna blame him anyway!) I offered him some stuff for free and he didn't take it.
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Then this came in a box of misc junk in the mail the other day
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So I rooted through my junk boxes and came up with this...
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And contacted the NOS parts guy on fleabay about these....
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Here's where we are headed. This one ran near Los Angeles Cali in the late 1860s
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I'll post progress pix when I make any... lol!
 
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Good luck with that, looks like fun.
 
Can't wait for the outcome! Great lateral thinking - from one wheelset!

Mick
 
The prototype locomotive's history, as far as I could piece together:

From the CPRR Discussion Group: "What we know (or think we know) is as follows.... Vulcan produced three 2-2-0 locomotives to Charles W. Stevens designs. The first was delivered to the San Francisco & Oakland RR. The other two were subsequently delivered as kits to the San Francisco & Alameda shops and assembled by Andrew J. Stevens (younger brother of C. W.). By the mid 1860s both the SF&O and the SF&A were under common ownership of Alfred Cohen, with A. J. Stevens as Master Mechanic, and later General Manager. By the end of the 1860s Cohen was in the process of selling his lines to the owners of the Central Pacific, and was acquiring larger 4-4-0 locos (both home built and from Schenectady). Two of the three Vulcan 2-2-0s were sold ? we suspect the two SF&A engines. The remaining one (we think the SF&O engine) remained as the Oakland switcher and was scrapped by the SP in the early 1870s (although there is one source suggesting this scrapped engine might have actually been a steam car originally from the Market Street RR).

Anyway, one of the sold 2-2-0s went to the Los Angeles and San Pedro as the "San Gabriel". The other was sold to the San Rafael & San Quintin..... "

John H White Jr. lists the build date as 1864 (in his book on American built Singles), and I read somewhere but can't find it (probably on the CPRR Group page), that the drivers on these were about 60" with 9x18 cylinders. Allegedly it was too light for the SF&A, so the LA&SP got it in 1868 and used it to build the line - I haven't found any reference to exactly when it was scrapped. And the one photo shown is the only one I've ever seen.

This photo is of a sister engine sold to the Vaca Valley Railroad, and named 'Vacaville' (prior to the 1870 names were more common than numbers for US locomotives)
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From what I can tell, there were a total of 6 or so Vulcan 2-2-0 locomotives manufactured before they went bankrupt. 3 were 2-2-0 with tenders the rest were assembled with (Henry Casebolt?) coach bodies as 2-2-4 steam cars.
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At least one of those, the 'Calistoga' was later converted into a 2-2-0 with tender in 1875.
 
The Los Angeles & San Pedro RR later soon became the Los Angeles Terminal RR that was later reformed into the Los Angeles and Salt Lake RR and was LA's first RR to link to the Continental Rwy at Salt lake City Utah, later the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe merged with the LA&SL RR giving LA direct connection to the east coast markets.

Early on, the Los Angeles Terminal RR absorbed a small line called the Pasadena & Altadena RR, part of which became the mainline for the LA&SL and later AT&SF mainline into LA, remnant parts of this ROW still exist about a block away from my home so its possible this engine chugged its way by there so many decades ago.
 
Certainly an interesting looking prototype locomotive and not a wheel arrangement for US locos that springs to mind for that time period.

Will be interested to see how your model turns out.
 
I decided to butcher a c-16 frame today, just to see if it would work. I think it actually looks OK. And I should be able to mount the motor inside it.
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The jury is still out on whether the cylinders are simply too fat
 
Best of luck with this one Mik - always interested to see the more quirky stock - will follow your thread with great interest!

p.s. Have been thinking about trying to scratch-up a genuine looking 'General' / 'Texas' with those large driving wheels.

Regards
Rob
 
robsmorgan said:
p.s. Have been thinking about trying to scratch-up a genuine looking 'General' / 'Texas' with those large driving wheels.
Click to expand...
Don't do it like I did... it's twice the work, and some yahoo will STILL say "That looks just like my NewBright!"http://www.gscalecentral.net/m110473 < Link To 1850s 4-4-0 build

This may also help? http://www.gscalecentral.net/m110473 < Link To 1850s locomotive pictures

A better (and probably more easily acquired) starting point than the Pacific drive would be Aristo's 2-4-2 Rogers brick. At least you wouldn't have to deal with the motor hanging off the back, in the way.
 
Well, a bit of progress today....
The motor is in, but I wish I'd had a flywheel...
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My rail historian buddy in Cali suggested gold AND creme striping with the 2-tone green. Sometimes I really hate it when he's right!
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This is what it looks like tonight (sorry, the camera doesn't always focus right when the batteries are low!).... I still need to put the gold points at the tips of the sunburst on the wheels, build valve rockers and wire the motor.... after that I need to wait for some spare cash for the Kalamazoo boiler and cab. I tried a test fit c-16 boiler parts... entirely too fat!
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I even started on a backstory.... tho I'm not real sure about it yet. What do you all think?
http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/shamrock.html
 
Interesting looking loco very nice work so far Mik :thumbup:
 
Well some parts arrived yesterday, so I just HAD to play with this for a bit. The front half of the boiler is Kalamazoo 0-4-0, the back half Delton c-16. I decided that the summat cartoon-y oversize steamdome was simply a must, and I had a Bug Mauler one here, so......
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And with a little paint.... Yes, I'm backdating the cab with a pointed roof from a Kalamazoo 4-4-0...
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I think I have most of the parts to finish, but I still need a bell.
 
Despite having other, more pressing projects, I just had to foodle with this a bit today

The engineer is a Muella conductor re-posed, I decided not to superdetail the backhead (for now), but it still had to have a throttle and reverse lever.
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Kim found this old boy while going through a box of misc junk. Says he should be the fireman. I just didn't have the heart to tell her yet that it's gonna be WOOD fired.
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Headlight installed, and more #$%& pinstripes
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Finally, an update!

I decided to do a little bit more with the backhead since the cab is mostly open. The feed pipes for the injectors are Kalamazoo sand lines with snaps for handles. I also shortened the reverser so it wasn't so much of an apehanger.
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I bought big plain plastic buttons for the cylinder heads, then realized that Danforth was using a dished style in the mid 1860s....
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So, I got an odd idea, I turned them over and shaved the loop off. Not perfect, but worked well enough for $1.19.
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I thought I'd try this Muella GAR guy as a fireman. I also went with a Delton drawbar. It looks too short but it will go around r-1s this way.... just.
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Yet to do:
Fancy headlight bracket - if I can find a pair of those filigree LGB coach roof supports
Bell
Motor cover to keep out the magnetic grit
Metal wheels for the tender? - they're tiny, about the size of New Blight or the B'mann dump car...
sand lines
check vales and feedwater lines
decorative dome stripes
wheel counterweights
fall plate
L&P coupler for the front. I have the drawbar, but not the pocket
handrails and grabs
 
I like your seated Engineer - very nattily suited; has a good period feel about him.

Have you had a chance for any haulage tests yet? I wondered how many cars the loco can tackle? ?That big driver looks as if the engine might be speedy - was the original used for light passenger work?
 
Original was light passenger.
It runs like a scalded cat with 2 coaches in tow, and didn't overturn on the r-1s on the overhead loop in the livingroom.

But it could use more pickups, as it stutters on even slightly dirty track -- and I may yet change out the motor if I can't find the intermittent short elsewhere in the wiring.

And the engineer is the #230 'conductor' from Muella Scale Models with his legs sawed off and re-posed. The fireman is their #231
 
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