Re: CB&Q #537's asymmetrical Handrail.

Posted by Mike Trent on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/CB-Q-537-tp550p8832.html

Hi Chris, I got a pretty good chuckle out of this.

My philosophy on this sort of thing is that as modelers we always should feel some level of comfort in knowing that if we can score a near miss now and then, we will probably end up with similar results as the prototype. All anyone really needs to do is not just look at, but actually study any real locomotive up close and you will be amazed how crude many details are. Running boards are shaped out of sheet iron with cutting torches, rarely straight, many surfaces have a mottled appearance from rust and who knows what else, etc. There are parts that have been repaired or replaced with odd or mismatched results and the list goes on and on.

So I've always tried to strike close to the mark so it "feels" right and not worry too much about making sure It's perfect, because in almost every case, the prototype wasn't perfect either, whether you can see it in photographs or not.

My practice is generally not to strive for modeling prototype mistakes like this one, because I'd be doubling imperfections and that can't be good. Why look for trouble?

One detail on 537 that I did take on is an odd thing with one of the air pumps. One of them appears to have a home made look to it in that the lower half seems to have been rebuilt from what would actually have been an upper half casting, as it has no cooling fins. So I had to chop up two perfectly good 9 1/2" pumps to make that one. No one ever notices this, but its just as it should be.

I always study every photograph I can get my hands on with the idea that if I can't find something  I can learn from it, I'm not looking hard enough. Even if it is a same photograph I've seen before, the contrast or cropping may be different. Thats how I found this. Another photograph had a perfect view of the backhead which showed me how to do that.

Photographs of the wreck on Boreas showed me details of #75's tender that would otherwise had to have been guessed at. There is always something there.

I'll post a detail picture of the airpumps shortly. Another thing I just remembered is that the steam delivery piping to the pumps from the split are a smaller diameter than the delivery pipe to the split to maintain pressure.

You can be rewarded in knowing you have done all this stuff, but don't expect anyone else to ever see it, or even care.

Good eye, Chris, to find that crooked grabiron. Mine is probably off too, but it wouldn't be off on purpose. Like I said, why look for trouble?