B&O Light Mike

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I was just reading the thread about the Rivarassi shells on Kato drives, and because talking about doing something pushes many of the same buttons as actually doing it, I wanted to talk about making a B&O light Mike out of the Model Power one.

From what I understand, you'd want to start with an undec version because the B&O version with the Vanderbilt tender is wrong.
I know you'd have to move the headlight to the top of the smokebox.

Is there anything that's not a pretty straight shot?

[Bill H]

Ed:
From my perspective, moving the light to the upper front of the smoke box, and modeling it in the style that the B&O did, will be the biggest issue. Most of the light Mikes (and many other B&O steam) used an odd shape headlight and I do wonder, even if you can duplicate it, how long it will stay mounted after moderate handling.

Anybody got some ideas as to how to model and mount the headlight B&O style?

Best,
Bill

[chessie system fan]

If I recall correctly, MP used the same shell as their pacific, which means the large dome is in the wrong spot (albeit slightly).  The only truly correct mike shell in N scale is the old Atlas one, if you care that much about it.

I don't know if all the B&O standard USRA mikes had them, but at least a good many of the cabs had an extension added to them on the left side (fireman's side?)  I took detailed measurements of the one at the B&O museum and I can dig up my notes if I need too. 

And remember B&O was constantly making changes to their locomotives, so photographs are imperative.

I haven't studied it in detail, but the vanderbilt tender might work for a Q4, but you'd have to change the trailing truck.

[brokemoto]

The first USRA locomotive was a light Mikado built for the B&O.  It still exists.  Take a trippy to the B&O Museum.  It is there.  It does not run.  I do not know if there is a photograph of it on the B&O Museum site.  B&O had one-hundred of these things, class Q-3.  The railroad was very happy with them.  They lasted until the end of steam, 1957 or 1958, or so.  Funny, B&O never built any copies of these things.

B&O was also assigned thirty USRA light Pacifics.  They built twenty more copies, with Vanderbilt tenders.

The MP appears to be an attempt to imitate the class Q-4, which was a heavier Mikado.  These things had sixty-four inch drivers and were equipped with steam lines and signalling devices so that they could be pressed into passenger service, if necessary.  The Q-4 had a Vanderbilt, but the RR is closer to it than is the MP.  The  MP appears to be based on a Vanderbilt that SP ran on 2-8-0 and smaller locomotives.

Off the top of my head, it seems that the major spotting difference would be the headlight.  The railroad rebuilt these things several times, over the years, so there may have been some dome alterations.  Some of them may have had their compressors and air tanks moved, as well.  I have not looked at many photographs, lately.

There is a rather well known photograph, taken sometime between 1955 and 1958, I forget the exact year.  It shows a USRA light 2-8-2 with an El-Huge-O Vanderbilt taken from a scrapped 2-8-8-0.

[mmagliaro]

Here's a photo of the headlight on the one from the B&O museum that I swiped off the internet.


Why is this unusual?  Am I missing something?   It just looks like a pretty standard headlight casing to me.
If you need to buy one, I would think one of the GHQ casings from the PRR L1s kit would work, and you could then
cut out some small triangular shaped pieces to add to the sides for those flared numberboards.

The GHQ headlights are easy to work with because you can easily drill a small hole down through the lower back of the soft metal,
allowing you to snake a piece of fiber optic tube, up in there to be illuminated by an LED from inside, or you can put an
SMD LED right in the headlight after you drill it out a little, and snake the magnet wires down through a hole into the boiler.

[Bill H]

Max:
Most of the B&O steam had a headlight that looked very much like the headlights on a '32 Ford or on a bicycle, not tubular, but a flat lens in front, and half round in the back. The tubular variant, as in your photo, is easy enough, such as this one on a Q4 by Phil Soyring - all credit to Northeast Railfan.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bo4426s.jpg

Ideas Max?

Best,
Bill

[mmagliaro]

Max:
Most of the B&O steam had a headlight that looked very much like the headlights on a '32 Ford or on a bicycle, not tubular, but a flat lens in front, and half round in the back. The tubular variant, as in your photo, is easy enough, such as this one on a Q4 by Phil Soyring - all credit to Northeast Railfan.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bo4426s.jpg

Ideas Max?

Best,
Bill

Oh!  I think I know what you mean.  The "Pyle" type?  Is it like this?


There is a Detail Associates white metal casting of a headlight like this, but admittedly, DA detail parts are pretty blobbish
by today's standards.   I think I would just cobble something up by drilling a hole partly into a little block of styrene or brass, and then file the backside into that rounded shape.  As for lighting it, I think an SMD LED is the only way.  A piece of fiber optic tube running into the back of that thing would really show, especially when it's on top of the boiler (as opposed to the front like in this picture).
But the little LED could sit in there with the magnet wires running out the back, and there are actually wires going into it that you can see on the prototype, so it would okay.

That's about all I've got.  This type of headlight is a toughie.