#36, a poor man's T-19 from a Bachmann 4-6-0. A key to the changes

The following is list of the changes I made to a Bachmann "Anniversary" 4-6-0 in order to resemble something a little more "Colorado" like

I have had a number of these Anniversary locos and I wanted something that more closely fitted in to our part of the world. It has been said that modelling Colorado based stuff is just a case of taking something out of a box and sticking on the track. Well the only T-19 I have seen is a Berlyn version and last time I looked they were about $2000 US. So that was n't really an option for me. That said they are wonderful.

What follows then is a description of what I did to convert the Bachmann loco and while it is based on DRGs #20 it is for our fictional railroad and there are differences. I have subsequently found a few errors as better photo's and pictures have come to light. The most noticeable being the roof hatch which appears to be a slider on the prototype and not as I have made it, a hinged job. Also the water boiler feed pipe has been altered to the correct profile

There are a few other discrepancies, but given that there are some underlying differences that cant be changed without major work. I can live with them though, especially how inexpensive it is compared to the off the shelf option.

The Loco is named George F. Dean after my late Father-in-law. It was our first large scale engine.

So just to recap, the following is really to demonstrate how versatile bashing can be and also I should add that no workshop machinery was used to create the parts. (with the exception of the smoke box door which I spun up in the lathe, but in reality you could do this in a drill chuck with a screw though the centre. Oh and the laser bits of course, but again I have made these out of brass with a saw and file in the past.)

I hope this is some use to you, but bear in mind this #36, fictitious and it does differ from the prototypes.

Thanks go to Jack Thompson for the gift of the headlight and David Fletcher for the inperation and assistance.

These two pictures detail the changes that were made to the Bachmann loco.

Part One, the Loco Zipped Cab PDFs
1. Brake pipe added, 2mm mains cable with sleeve and detailed.
2. Modified pilot bottom with added rivet detail.
3. Widened pilot beam by 8mm.
4. New cut bar and lift arm from brass stock, cheap jewelry chain added.
5. Tool box added, made from styrene and detailed
6. Holes drilled in side of pilot as per #20
7. New smoke box door from 2 layers of 2mm styrene. Original outer ring retained and the old handrail holes
filled, these were then drilled and 3 14 BA bolts added to fill the gap. I consider this to be one of the
key areas that is worth changing as the Bachmann smokebox is so distinctive. It improves the appearance
8. Plate added
9. Pilot deck shortened ( I think it was 8mm).
10. Pilot truck shortened by 8mm.
11. Marker lights added, styrene tube and clear tubing from wire packaging.
12. New headlight from Berlyn T-19 donated by Jack Thompson.
13. Headlight bracket cut from 10 thou brass sheet.
14. New stack made from a poly-plumb steel insert. These are 22m steel tubes that slide in the to ends
of flexible plastic piping so compression joints can be tightened on them.
15. New handrail, these were taken from the old Anniversary cab.
16. Section removed from smokebox and the front end glued back on.
17. Makers plate made from 10thou brass sheet with CAD dry print added.
18. Re-routed pipe to steam chest.
19. New sand dome made from a container a cheap toy came in. A button was glued to the top and a piece
of wire added.
20. Boiler cladding clasps made from scrap tube and wire.
21. New sand lines added, electrical wire and sleeving again.
22. Two holes were drilled in the cylinder assembly as per #20
23. New running boards from 2mm styrene.
24. New cylinder back ends from 2mm styrene. The old cast metal ones will pull out and you can remove
the gland covers with care.
25. Step added over clack valve, left hand side only.
26. New crossheads and slides from 3 and 1mm laser cut stainless steel.
27. Steam dome modified, whistle and valve relocated.
28. Valve rod added. This is driven from inside by an eccentric mounted on the front axle, the chuff
drum being removed. Not a big deal. it was made from a thick button that had a slot cut in the edge.
A hole was drilled off centre and it was glued to the axle.A piece of wire fits around it in the slot and is connected
to the rod cranks. No friction at all.
29. Generator repositioned as per #20.
30. Plumbing modified as per #20 (well mostly).
31. New cab from 2 and 1mm styrene designed on a CAD
32. Ugly thick genny pipe replaced with smaller brass tube.
33. Water feed pipes from tender added. 2mm mains cable sleeving, nice and bendy.
34. Fall plate added.
35. Additional pipe work added (blow down?)
36. Bell actuator mechanism removed and plated over.
37. Bell and whistle chords from twisted fine wire.
38. Roof hatch, should slide.
39. Roof wiring, also not as per #20
40. Screen window.
41. Arm rest.
42. Number plate, not as per #20 as I wanted to keep a common appearance with my other locos.
43. New smokebox handrail. If the original Anniversary smokebox is retained there is no room for it. .Part 2, The Tender
A. New Cut bar, chain and lift arm.
B. New ladder, 1 mm stainless laser cut sides.
C. Coupler now body mounted.
D. New hatch.
E. Tanks made from 3/4 inch waste pipe, #20 has one big one, so we differ here.
F. New steps made from 1mm brass sheet cut in to strips and twisted halfway down and then bent
at right angles outwards at the bottom. 1mm brass sheet was then soldered to this. They are bolted to the tender
with 10 BA nuts and bolts. The steps on the C-21 are similar, but they have an additional step half way down.
G. Built up the beams with some additional styrene so as to provide some "meat" for the steps to bolt onto.
also glued a piece of 20 thou styrene on to the end with a quartersawn grain scraped into
it from the edge of a razor saw.
H. Grafted the bottom of spare Annie tender onto the bottom.
I. Added a pair of rerailers. Laser cut from 3mm stainless steel.
J. Glued down a a coal load with diluted PVA.
K. Added rivet detail to the chassis using some 00 track pins
L. Built up the hungry boards.
M. Added some plumbing and cocks using wire and sleeving again.

That's it I think. Let me know If I missed out any numbers.