More about the tender behind part 3 and other projects

I just found this unpublished draft of more tender behind work....

I have been sidelined from active work on the Port Costa layout for the last 7 months by medical issues that prevent standing for even short periods of time to work on the layout. These same issues have also slowed me at the workbench. Hopefully I am getting better but it is a slow long haul. 

The 90-R-7 tender bash from the Bachmann 2-8-0 tender has finally reached the stage where the only thing left is the wiring for a LocoFi Wifi receiver and stay/keep alive and installation of a backup light.

This is my current 2-8-0 Collection

The brass tender, not connected, behind the unmodified Bachmann 2-8-0 numbered for a fictional engine is a Sunset tender I was given.  It still needs to be insulated and wired for LocoFi. It also needs to be repainted and decalled. I have been assured that the brass shell will not be a barrier to WiFi signal reception. 

The left tender on the front row is a simple bash of the Bachmann 2-8-0 tender with a simple scratch bunker. The dimensions and wheelbase do not match any of the 70-R or 90-R tenders in my SP tender diagrams book. It has the look of the smaller 70-R-1 tenders. It will pass as a stand-in. 

The tender on the right is an early 3D print version of a 73-SC-1 based on the Lomita preserved tender. There are two developers working on versions of this tender that will fit over the Bachmann 2-8-0 underframe/chassis. There is a very long topic on the SP280HO.groups.io groups about the development of this specific tender which was common behind the C-8,9,10 engines in the 1950's. 

The 90-R-7 tender is shown here in the center with 3 other tender options for eventual running with a 2-8-0 that will be modified with parts from Owl Mountain Models to resemble an SP Consolidation (C-8, C-9, or C-10).    Research has shown that in the 1950's the 90-R-7 tender was not assigned to many C-9 consolidations. I have photo evidence of only 3 instances. I don't have postwar photos for about 20% if the C-9's and am still working on the C-8's and C-10's. The results are being made available in a spreadsheet format file available to subscribers to the SP280HO.groups.io group (Subscription is free.)  Hopefully and updated version will be available by the end of April 2024. 

These are photo closeups of the completed 90-R-7 tender after decaling and adding the rear ladder. I still need to find and add a backup light. 

The decals that I have applied are from Microscale's 87-65 set. Mine are dated from 2014 and I have not checked for updates. The lettering appears to be very white but is slightly grey on the backing sheet but then even if it is not "lettering grey" it matches what I see in B/W and color photos from the period. 

I am uncertain but the 90-R-7 may wind up behind one of the IHC 2-6-0 M-4's I own. They were more common behind the M and TW classes. 

I have another topic on modeling yard trackage and turnouts to look as if they were buried in dirt rather than ballast. But this has gone on long enough and I want to do a bit more work on modeling the turnouts before I publish. 

My best to all who have read this far.

This blog is pretty much in temporary hiatus due to medical problems. Hopefully it will return when I can type a simple sentence without 10 or more corrections. 

I still have hopes that the Owl Mountain parts to complete the SP C-9 stand in from a Bachmann HO 2-8-0 will come and I can convert the 3 engines I have waiting to make them available for helper and local freight duty on the ready line at Port Costa. Jason Hill has had medical issues as well. 

My attempts to build a replica in HO of the SP station and engine facilities at Port Costa and the mainline trains running through on the Martinez Subdivision of the Western Division 1950-1955 remains unfinished. It still needs replacement of most of the mockup structures, the turntable and water tank, finishing the mainline track and the rebuild of the east end of the yard with the oil track. 

I started a PA-1 6009 rebuild of a P2K 1998 vintage engine and have progressed to getting the LocoFi installation working and recognizing both the PA-1 and an earlier F-7 installation as active. Both need LED headlights an MARS lights installed but I have not researched the way to add them. For the PA-1 the goal was to model one of the short Oakland-Sacramento services that ran several times a day like the current Capitol services. Now if I can just get that promised Oxford Miniatures HO 1950 Studebaker to add the parking lot between the freight house and roundhouse.

The English railways modeling in 4mm Scale is now just a memory and boxes of OO/4mm equipment  that will probably never run again. I have sold off all the GWR stuff associated with the Brixham branch and Dartmouth/Kingswear line. I still have all of the Southern Railway (1945-47) equipment and structures. Probably the SR N-1 Moguls are the only running locomotives. They have basic DCC installed. All of the tiny 0-4-4 and 2-4-0 DJM locomotives have failed. I never spent the $300 for the recent LSWR Cross Country sets which would have also been used to Padstow in the late SR period.  I still follow the products made for the UK market for the Southern Railway. One of my great grandfathers on my fathers side was the signalman at Sydenham Hill station just the other end of the Penge tunnel in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. 

I had planned to only write the first line of this blog post.  I ramble. It has been difficult as my hands are having a hard time staying on the home keys of the keyboard...

The Tender Behind...An SP 90-R-7 tender for a Bachmann HO 2-8-0 Part 2

I finally have this little tender to the point I need to prep and decal.  

Adding the Archer rivets to the bunker tank was more of a pain than I expected as previously added rows kept getting disturbed when I added a new row. I finally gave up. I sprayed the tender Tamiya ST-82 Rubber Black.  It's a great color for steam engines and tank cars. Thanks to Tony Thompson for the tip. It now needs Pledge (I still have a bottle) for glossing on the center panel of the tender body for post 1946 SOUTHERN PACIFIC decaling. 

I am waiting for a PSC ladder casting on order for the rear 4 rung ladder. I am also looking for an SP style small engine backup light. I haven't found one on the American Scale models list of steam engine parts or the Prantles list from their hobby store in Pasco, WA. The backup light looks like the older larger diameter SP headlights used prior to the headlight that became standard in the 1940's.   

Bunker Rivet rows were based on photos of the 90-R-7 preserved at the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield, CA Thanks to Robert O. Donley for his shots of the top of the tender, bunker top and ends.  I now have photos of the engine facing end of the tender while it was being moved with no loco in the way.  I can fill in the gaps from the Arnold Menke drawings.  Were I to rebuild or build another 90-R-7 I would make some changes.  As it is, this version is not a 100% accurate model. But then the Bachmann tender dimensions are not exact and that is the base for the model. 

I am also getting to the wiring changes in the tender needed to add the LocoFi receiver and speaker. My hands are not as flexible as when I last wired a LocoFi F7 diesel a couple of years ago. 

The tender in Bakersfield is behind 4-8-0 2914. The 90-R-7 tender was not as common behind SP C-8,9,10 engines as the 90-C-1 and 100-C-1 or 73-SC -1 tenders.  However they were used if available at Port Costa for engines in helper service for the eastbound grade up to the Suisun Bridge. east of Martinez.  The helper engines cut off from behind the steel underframe caboose at Bahia crossed over to the westbound main.  

The helper then backed down through Martinez to Port Costa and then crossed over to the ready track in Port Costa to do it again for the next eastbound steam powered freight. The 90-R-7 and whaleback tenders made it  easier for crews to see when backing down the 5-6 miles to Port Costa. 

The Tender Behind...An SP 90-R-7 tender for a Bachmann HO 2-8-0

I have been forced to do very little these past few months due to medical issues. I resurrected a project started in 2022 to build an SP 90-R-7 tender on the chassis of a Bachmann 2-8-0 tender.  I am pretty satisfied with the current construction.  I used drawings from Arnold Menke published in the SPH&TS Southern Pacific 4-8-0 Locomotives.  Arnold kindly sent me a scan of his original drawing for the 90-R-7 tender based on the preserved tender in Bakersfield. From photos I gathered there was some variation in the front platform and I used other photos for a different approach that was frankly easier to model. 

This is the model as it stands on December 14, 2023. 

The next step is to add Archer rivets to the bunker.  I also need to bend the tender handrails and add a rear ladder.  I am looking for help to set up a working backup light on the tender. 

The bunker is built from plastic shapes and sheet material from Evergreen and Plastruct. The tough part was getting the rounded front end to the main body and then the water filler hatch behind the bunker. 

 These are some of the late construction photos before the Tamiya grey primer was sprayed on the tender body and bunker.  I scanned the Menke drawings so I could print working copies during the build process. 

The engine in the first two photos is a my yet mostly unmodified Bachmann 2-8-0. The number is fictitious.  I have another 2-8-0 that is being used to test bed the parts from Owl Mountain Models for conversion into a "stand in" for a Harriman Baldwin 2-8-0 of the C9 or C10 class. It is in disassembled state while I work on a more accurate version of the SP boiler running boards. 

I am looking for a third used but working Bachmann 2-8-0 DCC ready (not the latest sound version) with most parts including the tender intact to complete the SP 2-8-0 fleet for the little Port Costa layout. I have a brass 90-C-1 or 2 Vanderbilt tender to adapt and restore with either DCC or LocoFi control and re-paint and decal. I have a working factory painted Sunset C-9 with a 73-SC-1 tender. 

Owl Mountain Models has announced a 3D bunker print that will drop in to the Bachmann tender. I had already started this project and was interested in a much more accurate version requiring a slightly different approach.  And I just like to fiddle with plastic on my workbench. 

There is also a project by a couple of 3D printers to build HO 73-SC-1 tenders commonly known as Whaleback Tenders for the same 2-8-0 tender chassis. I have had early samples but the final versions do not yet seem to be available.

Status Report as of November, 2023 - Not much ado about adobe

All about nothing.  I am somewhat disabled at the moment and don't know how long it will last. Prolonged sitting or standing is painful which limits both time at the layout and workbench/desk. 

I have the following projects sort of in hiatus.

• Rebuilding the east end of the Port Costa layout.  
• I have revised the track plan for the east end yard turnouts to include the exit from the eastbound main, a short stretch of track that includes enough trackage for  a 2-8-0 to clear the exit from the main.
•  a non-switchable turnout to a short siding for unloading bunker fuel oil for locomotives into the below ground storage bunker.
• The east end turnouts are being relaid on .020 inch thick plastic sheet elevated for the last 18 inches to the height of the mainline trackage to facilitate an easy transition to the main line. The turnouts are being imbedded in 1/8 thick craft foam sheet to represent track in dirt up to the top of the tie level. 
• The foam is being painted with acrylic raw titanium oxide paint to represent the dried very light colored adobe clay soil of Port Costa in daytime sunlight. It extends about 1 1/2 to 2 inches either side of the track end tie line.
• Turnouts are being modified to SP standard configuration with only one long head tie on which the high stand throw is bolted. Additional turnout detail from P87 stores has been ordered to better resemble the SP throw hardware

• While the work on the trackage has been going on all buildings and details east of the turntable have been removed to allow free access. 

• Additional LocoFi installs are being planned. I have 3 of the DLLHB Version 3 receivers to install. At the moment I am trying to get the receiver test facility to work but it requires new leads be soldered to the tender side connection for the dismounted 2-8-0 engine block. I am having some difficulty with this as the original leads were factory soldered very close together in the tender side terminal block. 

• I started building the yard crane that goes between the locomotive ready track (YT3) and the east turntable lead track TTA2. I have created a spreadsheet that has a code that identifies every turnout and section of track for concise reference.  I still haven't been able to draw a new track diagram for the layout.  I may resort to an annotated aerial photo instead of a drawn plan.

• The only new piece of rolling stock since the bashed Accurail PFE R-40-26 is a new Tangent SP B-50-28 that was truly RTR. This was acquired 8-10-23 just before I started the rebuilding of the east end. 

• 

• I have additional SP and other RR equipment on order as Rapido continues to spoil SP addicts. Included are:
• The SP 3/4 height Dome car in daylight for a 1955 Shasta Daylight. This stretches my timeframe a bit. Expected sometime in 2024.  Not sure how to display it or get more cars for the 1950's Shasta Daylight.  Not to mention a set of Daylight PA's probably without plows (unsure of the date they were added.)
• A Rapido SP C-40-1 steel cupola caboose. Expected sometime in 2024.
• I think I have a UP B-50-39 on order at Just Trains.  They are apparently arriving now so I will have to check.

Something will soon appear here...

Working on a new blog...a coming attraction...

I've almost completed several projects related to the US Port Costa in HO side of things and done nothing on the English 4mm side. 

Summer heat has distracted me along with ailments that go with aging.  

An Interesting Odyssey

Last week, my friend Dick Spotswood sent me an email asking if I wanted to join him and other members of the Sacramento Seminar political salon of which is now the past president on the private car Redwood Empire of which he is one of the owners for a move of the car from Oakland to Los Angeles where it is based. It had been hired for a trip to Denver from LA and the party who hired it was covering the costs or returning it to LA. In spite of my hand, I jumped at the chance. I had done this twice before and those trips are recorded in the 2017 messages on this blog. This however was not Amtrak and UP's finest hour or many hours.  

The Redwood Empire is now 100 years old, having been built for the Santa Fe railroad as the private business car for their Los Angeles area division superintendent (are vice president.) Unlike other Santa Fe business cars it was not gutted and modernized in the 1950's so is still wood paneled throughout. The operating part of the car has been modernized with retention toilets and all the electrical gear needed to be attached to Amtrak trains. It is rated for speeds up to 110 miles per hour however Amtrak has a 79 mph speed limit outside of the NE Washington to Boston corridor.

My trip Thursday (4/20/2023) to LA riding on Dick Spotswood's Redwood Empire private car started with a classic Amtrak timekeeping failure.  We arrived at LA Union Station shortly after 1 AM instead of the scheduled 9:10 PM. It was 2 AM by the time my head hit the pillow at the hotel

This was an hour and a half late Train #11 arriving at Oakland, Jack London Amtrak Station after the Redwood Empire car was attached at the Oakland Amtrak yard.

We were rushing to get our stuff to the car as it usually would be stopping by the garage in the previous picture.

We were 90 minutes late out of Oakland as the Amtrak switching crew seemed to have forgotten how to attach a private car.  It should take 15 minutes at most but they took over an hour.  We were scheduled to make up most of the delay but on the trackage going through Gilroy a truck driver hauling a load of 5 new truck cabs didn't realize his load was so heavy his flat bed was now too low and it grounded the flat bed trailer hung up on an ungated grade crossing. Fortunately the railroad was notified and we were stopped before our train could hit it. Unfortunately it took over 3 hours to get cranes in place to remove the truck cabs so the flat bed trailer could rise far enough to be removed from the grade crossing. Then UP had to certify the track had not been damaged. This made the southbound Coast Starlight so far out of sync with all the northbound trains it was scheduled to meet for the rest of the trip causing further delay. 

This was leaving Oakland. We can no longer ride on the observation platform while the train is moving as Amtrak has determined it would be liable for any injuries that could (unlikely) happen to private car passengers.  There is a substantial penalty against the private car owners for violations.  We had to shut the door right after this picture was taken. In 2017 it was great fun to ride outside. 

The only other picture I took was about 7 PM as we were sitting down to dinner. We were only about Paso Robles when the dinner chime was sounded for the first seating. We split into two seatings as the table could not seat all 12 of the passengers. 

After this it was nightfall and I took no more photos. 

Dick had arranged for a catering staff on the train. The main course was a very good lamb chop.  We also had a breakfast snack and lunch buffet along with an open bar that was needed as the delays lengthened the trip and darkness shrouded the best parts of the route such as the hidden coast by Vandenberg and south to Goleta State Park where we were joined again by highway 101. .  

Coming home, yesterday (Friday 4/21), I had a 1:55 PM flight scheduled from Burbank to Oakland. LA Metro was free in honor of Earth Day. I took the LA underground B line from Pershing Square (formerly the Red Line) to North Hollywood (now known as "NoHo"), caught a Burbank City Bus to the Burbank Airport (nobody calls it the Bob Hope airport anymore) area for $1.00 where the driver kindly dropped me at an airport parking lot as his bus could not actually enter the airport road to the terminals so I could take a free parking lot shuttle into Burbank Terminal A. It was 85 degrees F outside in NoHo. I wasn't taking any chances with this method of getting to Burbank Airport and wound up 2 hours ahead of my scheduled boarding time.

Anyway Southwest was over 30 minutes late.  At Oakland I took the Bart Connector to Coliseum station and then BART to Walnut Creek where I just missed the hourly Contra Costa County Connection bus to near my house. At this point I was so exhausted, I took a cab the 2 miles home. Surprise, the Antioch/Walnut Creek line had standing room only as it was about 4:30 PM but someone kindly vacated a senior seat for me. 

Anyway, it was a unique experience and one I will probably never enjoy again as my friend and his fellow owners are in a length process of selling the car.