Bachmann USRA 0-6-0 Prairie

[wazzou]

The nice thing about the HO one, other than the seemingly more appropriate tender, is the boiler being snugged down lower.
I know @Chris333 had modified his to accomplish this and it made a big difference, for me at least, and probably Chris. 
I also like that the running board doesn't have a hump over the air tank, but perhaps it does on the other side?


Edited to add, I'd like something like this.   

[nickelplate759]

The length of the slope-back tender is just about right, but of course the body is all wrong.  Also, like nearly all the Bachmann 8-wheel tenders, it has those weird trucks.  I wish someone would make a replacement Andrews-style truck for these tenders.

Bachmann did (does?) make a drop-equalizer truck frame for these as well (it was on the original run of the USRA light 4-8-2 for example), but they are awfully hard to find.

[Dave V]

The nice thing about the HO one, other than the seemingly more appropriate tender, is the boiler being snugged down lower.
I know @Chris333 had modified his to accomplish this and it made a big difference, for me at least, and probably Chris. 
I also like that the running board doesn't have a hump over the air tank, but perhaps it does on the other side?

I'm now the proud owner of @Chris333 's lowered Bachmann 4-6-0.  I finished it to represent a CMRy class 102:



In addition to lowering the boiler, Chris also spliced on a shorter-wheelbased tender from a Model Power engine and lowered the tender tank even further.

[wazzou]

Yeah, I thought I recalled someone ended up with it.
It looks good on you.

[JMaurer1]

wazzou: I'd take one of those as well. At least the cab, domes and proportions all look right and with very little effort make it look like an SP engine (just add numberboards and maybe a vandy tender).

[Chris333]

Here are a few photos of the lowered 4-6-0
https://goo.gl/photos/BdLW1TEFNUvwnpki6

[sd45elect2000]

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I was looking at a very nice little Prairie today.

[Dave V]

A more proportionate model Prairie would really be nice.  The AT&SF was a big fan of that wheel arrangement and they showed up on countless shortlines.  But, like anything else in this hobby, if the modeler demand isn't sufficient to fund the development and production (which is likely in this case), we won't see it.  It seems more profitable to plow over the same ground with manufacturers releasing models already produced by others.

I would love one in N scale I could letter for the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railway, a.k.a. "The Cripple Creek Short Line," to wit:

[sd45elect2000]

Last time I bought one of these Bachmann engines it was $24.00. It looks like those days are long gone. I'm not paying over 100.00 for this. The caveat is, since I model the Milwaukee, I'll need an entirely different type of locomotive. The Milwaukee engines were delivered between 1907 and 1909. Not a USRA type hence I will be paying substantially more than 100 bucks for a correct locomotive. I can use a BUNCH of K-1 engines..

[Lemosteam]

The length of the slope-back tender is just about right, but of course the body is all wrong.  Also, like nearly all the Bachmann 8-wheel tenders, it has those weird trucks.  I wish someone would make a replacement Andrews-style truck for these tenders.

Bachmann did (does?) make a drop-equalizer truck frame for these as well (it was on the original run of the USRA light 4-8-2 for example), but they are awfully hard to find.

Piece o cake, I already have at Keystone Details a PRR class 2DT4 that use the axles and electrical pickups, send me a nice flat side view of a common truck style on these USRA tenders at keystonedetails@gmail.com, or use the Kestone Details suggest a product web page.

[nickelplate759]

Piece o cake, I already have at Keystone Details a PRR class 2DT4 that use the axles and electrical pickups, send me a nice flat side view of a common truck style on these USRA tenders at keystonedetails@gmail.com, or use the Kestone Details suggest a product web page.

Is this clear enough?  If not I'll keep looking.  This is from a "USRA Medium" tender.



By the way, what is the prototype for those odd Bachmann trucks anyway?

[nickelplate759]

Here's another shot, this time of an as-delivered tender:

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I think it's just the tender that throws me off. The HO version looks really nice (I haven't really looked at it before now):



the N scale tender is...bigger than the engine...the proportions are all thrown off:



Maybe I'll have to dig one of mine out and try it with a smaller tender...Switching thread back to the mainline now.

http://conrail1285.com/fitting-a-minitrix-old-timer-tender-to-a-bachmann-4-6-0/

[ncbqguy]

Well it's really their USRA 0-6-0 model with a bogus pony and trailing truck added, so of course it looks funny.    That said, I still think it's too long for its wheelbase .  The front isn't too bad, but  cab, boiler and especially the firebox seem to have been extended to hide the motor.

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I would agree- the firebox has been extended to hide the motor.   Otherwise the proportions aren’t bad.  Maybe the ash pan part could include the piping behind the real end of the firebox and allow the modeler to cut the firebox back to where it should be.
Charlie Vlk

[SkipGear]

I think the size of the drivers are what might be throwing off the proportions. I think for the first time, the drivers might look too big, instead of too small.