c21

The following narrative has been describes the construction of the 1.22.5 D&RG C-21 loco from a Bachmann 1.20.3 Consolidation or "Connie" as it's widely known .

The conversion is one of my latest projects. Again I hope the following article will be of some use to any one who decides upon a similar venture.

My thanks go to Jack Thompson for the pictures of his # 86 which helped enormously in the construction of this loco.

Rod Hayward Dec 2006

Here we go again I am making my own C-21 from, surprise surprise, another Connie. This has to be my last Connie bash, surely ?I have had several conversations with those more knowledgeable than I in matters Colorado and the consensus was that it might just work.That said I am going for the look and due to some of the things I'm not going to change, like the wheel spacing's on axles 3 & 4.

Here is a side shot showing the new cab scratched out of styrene and all the running board holes filled in. If ever you are thinking about moving boards, here's a tip. When you cut off the lugs from the board, keep them and use them to plug the holes, a perfect fit and little or no filler required.

Already the new cab, shorter pilot and loss of the baker gear is steering the loco to "the look.Here is a shot of the top with all the holes filled and waiting for the new stack and the repositioned domes and generator and the the back end.

Now on to the cab, usual dual layer styrene as used in the K-27 bashes. Cant beat this method for a sturdy construction. You really do have to be super critical and work on getting the window openings/corners square and even, but it's worth it I think. See David Fletchers K-27 articles for details if required.On the back end and you can make out the idiosyncratic door hinges which are both placed
on the left for the driver and fireman's convenience. Rivet detailing is stamped from the rear on a 20 thou card and overlaid. Shows up well here.

Glazed and painted cab and new dome positions set out the and a new stack. Filled in the old makers plate with a circle of 30 thou styrene and narrowed the back end around the cab. Also narrowed and repositioned the footboards. A new boiler band covers the slot where the old cab used to fit. Front end is yet to be done, so it looks a bit odd.

Breathing a bit easier. Sawed off the cranks and then gingerly "tickled " them with a bench grinder. The pilot has had the treatment. First I cut out two 8mm sections at each end and shortened the under beam cover thing. In the past I've cut them in the middle, but here another trick .The C-21 does n't have pole pockets so I decided to scrape off the detail on the Connie beam and then swap ends with the bits I cut off over. This means that you have a nice flat surface on the front for the steps/wood grain detail and the scraped bit is at the back.
The last picture is a view from the back, the under beam cover thing helps to align the new ends and adds strength.

This area is a prime candidate for whacking rocks etc.The top view, no paint as yet, but the joins are n't going to take much hiding .Lastly, here it is offered up, should look ok with all the trimmings on. I was concerned about the "outrigger effect" that the K-27 bash suffered from to a limited extent. That is the chassis remains the same size, so that the cylinders are pretty much stuck where they are.

Here is the next bit. The Connie dome is quite different from the C-21.(and I need to to the same on the K-27) the original sand dome does nt sit right, both on terms of dimensions and profile.

I just re- profiled an Annie Steam Dome and it seems to be about the right size.

No prizes for guessing where it came from. Its now flatter on the top and I have raised the sides a touch. If you look at the pictures the sand dome is not a great deal smaller than the steam dome.

I used to bitch about how square the back of an Annie tender was, just right for a 21 though. These tenders are big, here is an Annie tender with a 30mm plug. I had to check numerous times, but the relationship is ok. Looks bit strange as I have n't increased the vertical as yet.Here is pic with the loco. I think it's going to work

Each side cladding is 15" long, should make even the most ardent rivet counter give up though :) Well here we, printed off a paper template first, styrene is getting expensive round here.tuck it on side with some tape and it needed a couple of corrections, but its mostly there were no real problems. From this I marked the rivet positions.

This is just a sanity check to see if the proportions work. The tender with the rivet detail, and if any one is interested there were 1620 punches in all., I did not count them all, I just selected the points with my AutoCAD and it told me.

I have not gone completely mad yet, but it was close. Whilst waiting for my laser man to come back and finish the crossheads and slides.So here is a recap. First the loco so far with the counter-balances modified and the new sand dome. Lastly the tender so far, the rivets were maddening.

Its stopped raining for a bit, so here are some outside shots. A new stack made from a poly plumb steel insert with a wrapper sitting on the base of the old connie stack.

Some comparison shots with a 1.22.5 K-27 also bashed from a connie. It's not too far out although I think it may be nearer 1.21.5. Sorry bout the blurred one.

At last my crossheads and guides have arrived. The slides are 3 mm stainless and the crosshead sides 1 mm thick. Everytime I get some of these it convinces me that the day of the etch for items like this is long gone.Here are a few shots, 1st up the assembled new bits with the cut down connie motion bracket.Here it is on the loco, sorry about the flare from the stainless steel . I did a test run with the tender connected and it runs smooth just like the Connie, no binding at all.

Finally all the work on the motion is now finished , this is good because it means I can start putting the loco back together and tidy away all the things like PC boards that were hanging out of the cab. Tender is now painted and a tank knocked up.Also some shots of the inside and outside wobbly bits and the back of the cylinders showing the chopping marks and the modified motion bracket.

Oh and you need to file off that nut on the con rod. I turned the flanges off some old plastic wheels to make a couple of eccentrics and pinned/glued them to centre of the second driving axle. I then made a couple of straps out of brass and connected them to external steam chest cranks with bent brass wire.

There are only two pivots, one where the wire meets the eccentrics and one at the other end where the crank passes though the supports on the chassis.This in itself is not a big deal, what you have to do though is spend a bit of time bending a shape that clears the wheel bosses and the break gear. Here it is and now you can see it it looks obvious, took a bit of fiddling.

The neat thing is its all underneath so you don't have to worry about anything snagging the boiler. Handy if you do want to lower it. Hopefully if anyone decides to have a go it this at least this will save you a bit of time.

This last shot is where I chopped away a piece of the chassis in front of the motor, did not need to in the end. You can see how low the eccentrics sit. You can also see that the chest cranks stick out a bit farther than the prototype but that's because the cylinders and chests do. Its the old 1.22.5 chassis on metre track syndrome we experienced with the K-27 bashes.

Still at least it all works and there is absolutely no sticking or binding, the whole set up runs as smooth as the original connie chassis, very gratifying.

Up into the foothills

The pilot. I knocked this up from some brass stock, nice and strong.The foot steps are cut from the spare fall plate that comes with the Connie.

Anything around the front and low I try to avoid making from white styrene. One slight tap and the white shows though the paint. Here is a view from the other side. I have added the pump,

pipe work, sand lines, toolbox, brake hose and front coupler. Nearly there now, I have to add some piper work and a ladder to the tender next. I am also thinking of moving the springs on the pilot bogie to the outside.

A closer look at the pipe work and you can make out the cladding fasteners either side of the bell and in front the generator.

All in all although its still bash and a few inconsistencies are unavoidable. I do think it captures the "feel" though.

Some things that you should be aware of.

1. As has been said before the bash will never match the accuracy of a 1.20.3 version because of the incorrect gauge/body relationship.

2. The dimensions are not quite right even for 1.22.5, but not so as to cause too much heartburn. I have n't measured them exactly because I happy with the overall result. I guess its about 1.22.0 maybe.

3. Because of 2 and the fact the boiler sits a little high, some parts, such as the cab have been "massaged" (but not a lot) to maintain the overall proportions. I am sure that you could lower the boiler about 4mm, but its more work than I care to invest as it involves hacking that off the chunky firebox mold on at the back. Did that for the K-27, not going there again.

Also if you go down that route to would have to re mount the motor gearbox assembly as the top of the motor bumps against the boiler if lowered. There is not enough space to incline the motor to the front or rear, so really you would have to alter the gear train.

4 Connie has a chassis built for outside motion and does not have the correct wheel spacing.

5. The drawings I have made have been done without reference to any plans. I used lots and lots of photos and measured here and there and scaled using the Mk1 eyeball. Be cautious if you follow them, you may well find that I goofed somewhere, although as the model progressed I got the feeling that they worked for me.

The roundhouse donkey pumps are all I could find and two Connie pumps would have been better, these are a little too tall. If I moved them up a bit it would have looked odd, consequently leaving them as is meant that some creative carving in the foot boards was necessary.

The boards have to go where they are to maintain the over deception, especially their relationship with the cab. guess the bottom line is which of these two would I rather have.

What I have not done is mentioned small details like how much I shortened the pilot, etc, etc., but there should be enough here to help you along your way if you feel so inclined.

Alternatively you could wait until Bachmann might decide they could sell a few C21s if they made them, but it looks like they are now committed to 1.20.3. Considering DRG only had two of these locos it nothing short of astonishing the amount of interest they generate. Nearly finished. Here she is now lettered on the last run of August. Just a few few pipes for the tender and some coal and we're done.

Here are some general shots of the C21 in the garden. The tender has now been coaled with some leftovers the local 5" gauge mob no longer needed. It's stuck down with a 50/50 PVA solution. All that's needed now are some re-railers, bell and whistle chords and a few pipes here and there. Runs very well at slow speeds, the motion is very smooth, there no drag from the extra internal workings at all.

I did say that this was going to be my last Connie bash, but now its over and done I would like to do a C-21. The 2-8-0s can be had for £200 or less these days and it does n't take rocket science to convert these (what I consider) ugly ducklings into something I find a little more aesthetically pleasing.