Should I make a Potomac...GS4's for $99.99

[sizemore]

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/KATO_N_1260302_4_8_4_Lima_Locomotive_Works_GS_4_p/kat-1260302.htm

Tempting, very tempting. I beleive I'd need to grab a LL Berk tender though...which would be pricey and or tough. Although the drivers would be the wrong size, its a great mechanism and it has the correct valve train, driver type and arrangement.

The S

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Why yes, yes you should.

[wm3798]

Can you have it done in time for my next deadline?

And again, I'll answer yes.  The shell of the Bachmann Northern is a good place to start.  Not perfect, but plausibly close.  You'll need to make some mods to the nose and cab, but the stuff in between doesn't look wrong.  A tender from a Berk would complete the picture.

Just in case, you better make 2!

G. Leilich

[Mark5]

What kind of spokes are those?

Man, they only lasted 7 years.

[3rdrail]

Personally, I think you'll find the difference in driver diameter to be a killer. IIRC GS-4's had 80" drivers while WM "Potomacs" had 69" drivers. You're talking about almost a four foot difference in fixed wheelbase.  Many years ago, Kalmbach published a book Steam's Finest Hour comprised of entirely post World War II steam locomotives. There was an action photo (whole page), a builder's photo and an elevation (half-page each). Both locomoives were in the book, IIRC. Sold mine almost 30 years ago, dammit...

[Puddington]

I've always wanted to build a Canadian National 4-8-4 Northern identical to 6213, which is being re-located to the Toronto Railway Historical Museum...

http://www.trha.ca/uploaded_images/6213sidwaysx2-771634.jpg

I have always been fearful of bashing a Con Cor Northern due to inconsistant drive issues that I have seen and been told of; the Kato drive is well respected and the GS 4 has the right style of drivers; 80" vs 78" that 6200 series had ( I believe 78") wouldn't be a game breaker here. The shell would be useless as i would need a Con Cor shell to bash but I thought an older model Noerhern shell would do (and might be cheaper) The tender would be a modified Vanderbilt.

The question is; could a Con Cor Northern shell be modifed to fit the Kato frame and drive, even after adding a Kaslo All weather Canadian cab ?

Any opinions ?

[tom mann]

I would like the black war version of that!!

[wm3798]

Sorry, Tom... The Potomacs were delivered AFTER the war...  1948, I believe.  They were among the last of the big super powered steam. 
Lee

[chessie system fan]

I've thought about making one of these myself oneday. The Bachmann 4-8-4 drivers are pretty close to the right size. I guess you have the Mainline Modeler plans?

If you do decide to use the GS4, why not get a cheapo MRC 2-8-4 and swap out the trucks for the Kato ones?  That seems like a much less expensive option if all you need is the tender.

[SkipGear]

Wouldn't the Bachmann Heavy (or light for that matter) Mountain be a better starting point for this? It has closer to the right size drivers, is a decent chassis to start with, and is geared a lot better than the Kato. Light Mountains can be had much cheaper than the Kato.

Just add a 2 axle trailing truck from the GS-4 or other Northern and build a cab to suit. The tender would best come from an old MRC/Rivarossi Berk as Aaron suggested.

[sizemore]

The tender from the Wally-world Berk is better detailed, but yes still pricey. The reason I'd go with the GS-4 mechanism is the boxpock drivers and mechanism are much better.

Anyone know what size drivers the Reading 2100 series had? Thats another one I was throwing around....

[chessie system fan]

Another one on my list to do!  The T-1 had 70" drivers.  http://www.steamlocomotive.com/northern/reading/

Really, the issue here is that in N scale there are only two options for 4-8-4s with boxpock drivers right now: the Bachmann and the GS4 (either Kato or Con Cor).  The Bachmann has ~72" drivers and an OK to poor mechanism depending on the version while the Kato GS4 has the larger 80" drivers and great mechanism.  If you want a northern with small drivers whatever you do is going to have compromises.  I hadn't thought about skipgear's idea.  I guess making boxpock sides wouldn't be too hard. 

In addition to the T-1 and the WM northern I'd like to make C&O 614 which has 74" drivers so I've mulled over this problem on and off for a while.

[squirrelhunter]

skipgear, aren't the drivers of the Bachmann Light and Heavy 4-8-2's only 63" scale inches?

It seems to me that it would be better to have drivers that are oversize than undersize. I think the Bachmann Heavy 4-8-2's drivers look too small as it is under the boiler. I would think a boiler big enough to reasonably pass as a Potomac would make the drivers look even smaller.

[SkipGear]

The Heavy/Light Mtn are 63 at the tire, 68.6 at the flange. The USRA Mountains that they represent had 69" drivers. It might be a bit small but smaller drivers are easier to deal with than larger. I look more at the wheel base than the driver size to try to keep the overall length of the loco correct. The wheelbase on the Mountains is 216.8".

The next closest driver is on the LL Berkshires at 65.5 and 71" respectively with a 215" wheelbase. After that you go back to some older loco's with the RR Pacifics to jump up to 67" tread with a 78" flange.

[sizemore]

I think I can live with the longer wheelbase, I mean if we had superscale loco's we wouldnt be able to run them on the layouts that we do now  

I guess I'll pick up a mechanism or three, looks like I need to sell some more B&O RDC decals and get the C&O passenger car sets complete!

Engine	Driver	D-Whlb	Cylinder	Length
GS-4	80	21'-6"	25.5"x32"	101'-5"
Greenbriar	72	19'-4"	27.5"x30"	112'-3"
Potomac	69	19'-4"	26.5"x32"	unk
Northern (RDG)	70	19'-4"	27"x32"	110'-6"
Berkshire	69	18'-3"	26"x34"	101'-8"

I picked up the above data from www.steamlocomotive.com, I dont trust the Driver Wheelbase numbers to much.