I really like the Athearn Big Boys and Challengers. They run like Swiss watches, and with TSU-4664N decoders in 'em, they sound pretty good too.
But, being the slobbering Big Boy and Challenger fanatic that I am, there are certain things about the models that need fixin'.
Since I will actually be using these models (I have 5 BB's and 5 Challengers so far) as a vital part of my operations scheme, I think it'd be a good idea to both add some details and individualize 'em...as well as make them more accurate for my time period (1949 thru 1956).
After looking them over for a long time, I've decided that there are some easy mods, some not-so-easy mods and one modification I'm not so sure is even possible without a total chassis rebuild.
Here's a list of the easy Big Boy mods in no particular order:
(1) Improve the screw-in-the-stack appearance
(2) Drill out the second stack
(3) Convert ALL Big Boys to the modern aftercoolers (no handrail mounted aftercoolers on the pilot and, if necessary, buy and install the Athearn behind-the-pilot aftercooler part)
(4) Shorten the drawbar
(5) Since my time of the year on my layout is early/mid Summer, I gotta do something about the cab windows, which are very seldom closed while running in warm weather.
(6) Remove the poorly positioned "UNION PACIFIC" on the tenders and use Micro-Scale UP aluminum decals to put it where it should be.
(7) Replace the McHenry coupler with an MT Z-scale coupler
(8.) Replace that horrid yellow back-up light with a better color LED
(9) Cover up the coal load with a real coal load.
Here's a list of more difficult mods that require a bit of precise cutting and filing:
(1) Make the vent hatch on the cab roof in open position. All the pics and videos I see of Big Boys has this open, even in the dead of a Wyoming Winter.
(2) Find or make wind deflectors for the side cab windows
(3) Open the vents on the sides of the cab (at least one)
(4) Hollow out the steam generator bracket so it's not a solid piece but has legs.
Here's a list of things to do that require fabrication/replacement/addition of parts:
(1) Make brake cylinders for the trailing trucks, along with their respective mounting protocols.
(2) Make grabs for the domes, which includes shaving off the cast-on POS's.
(3) Detail the stack/whistle/bell area, which will include shaving off some piping and replacing it, fabricating tiny grabs and shaving off the cast-on ones, making valve handles for three valves on top, making electrical junction boxes and adding conduit from hand rails to number boards, and conduit from number boards to classification lights. Air line from top of bell to wherever it's supposed to go...there may be more once I get really into it
(4) Replace steam generator with a Precision Scale lost wax brass piece, and add the three or four lines going into and out of it, as well as at least one junction box.
(5) Add piping wherever appropriate of the right size and location along either side of the boiler.
(6) Make drip pans for the cross-compound air pumps, which go under them.
(7) Add the 45 deg. braces to the handrails on the pilot (six of 'em)
(8.) Add both steam line and dual air hoses to be back of the tender.
(9) See if I can do something about the warning light mounting bracket on top of the rear of the tender.
(10) Fabricate and attach the three "hooks" that are on the backside and engineer-side of the tender.
(11) Replace all the dump wheels near the smokebox with etched parts
(12) Detail up the cab interior a bit by painting the backhead, adding a few fabricated brass parts, make and install four seats, and add a crew.
(13) Add canvas curtains, and the associated hardware, to the back of the cab.
(14) Shave off the throttle linkages and replace them with brass, stand-off counterparts
Here's a list of difficult part fabrication and additions:
(1) Research and build a smoke box "bottom" that extends downward and gets rid of the empty space between the smokebox and the trailing truck.
(2) Research and build a "pedestal" that prototypically is what the boiler sits on at the rear engine's cylinders. This would have to be made so the rear engine still articulates, and it would get rid of the big airy space that shouldn't be there between the rear engine and the bottom of the boiler.
(3) Research and build the stoker and a representation of the prototype's dual drawbar, and add flexible "hose" between the tender as well as add grabs on the front of the tender.
(4) Develop a boiler attachment scheme that will completely eliminate the screw-in-the-stack, but be almost as easy to remove. This is going to involve modifying the chassis and the plastic boiler.
Here's a modification that would require the most work:
(1) Articulate the locomotive properly. This would involve securing the rear engine perfectly centered and at the right angle and height, then fabricating a hinge for the front engine so it would articulate there instead of halfway through its length as it does now. If I elect to simply un-power the front engine after doing some research to see if that drastically limits the pulling power of the locomotive...and find it doesn't (I have trains that are a maximum length of 9' 5"...about 30ea. 40' cars, a Big Boy and a caboose), then this will be a pretty easy mod. HOWEVER, if I have to power the front engine, it will involve a lot of work and extensive front engine and chassis re-design and machining. I don't know if it's worth it.
(2) Second possibility would be to articulate the big steam pipes on the sides of the locomotive so they're inconspicuously jointed, and join the rear of them up with the rear set of cylinders. It would get rid of that big gap between the tops of the rear cylinders and the end of the steam pipes that is presently the way it is.
Last but not least is paint:
(1) Smokebox and firebox have gotta be painted SP Lettering Gray. The silver color that most manufacturer's paint UP steamers is totally wrong. I learned this trick from subscribing to "The Streamliner" which is the UP Historical Society's quarterly magazine.
(2) Certain parts gotta be painted black, such as the bell, the piping back by the firebox and the shiny paint on the tender pedestal (can't figure that one out???). Drivers and wheel faces need to be airbrushed black too as a base-coat.
(3) Roller bearing journal lids need to be painted aluminum as per prototype practice.
(4) Then, I gotta weather all of my BB's up. Some will be ready for paintshop, some will have just come out of the paintshop, some will need the Oakite-water spray cleaning UP did very often on these engines and some will be just plain dirty. Each one different. Fun!!
So, I actually got started on this project this evening, and I'll post some photos tomorrow or Saturday depending on time. It's not all going to happen at once, but eventually I want all of my engines to be at the same level of detail and accuracy. Some fabrications will be used as masters after I see if they work, then I'll make molds and cast some parts.
Challengers get the same treatment, except only one of mine is coal-powered, so I need to fabricate a 50's oil bunker top for four of 'em, and a big toolbox for the engineer's side of the tender for all five. You can bet I'll be making castings to cut down on the labor and time.
Big Boys and Challengers awaiting modifications at Echo Yard:
