Now it is time to move to the chassis that came from the Bachmann 4 6 0: this was very much a case of ‘fumblin' my way forwards with the cutting disc, accompanied by much muttering to myself and sending e-mails back & forth to David Fletcher - thanks are due for him taking the time to point me in the right directions. The wonders of the internet were and are a godsend for work like this!

Here are some photos of the stripped down Bachmann chassis before any work was done to it

One of the 'snarl ups' that occured was that the wires to the motor decided to part company from their brass connection tags – Cor! are they are in a difficult place, and yes, the first to part company was the ‘totally hidden’ one at the bottom of the motor! Not helped of course by the amazing fineness of the wires themselves; I would have expected a larger size to say the least. Both were resoldered and the now work after some quick trials.

To add to my difficulties at this time I also bought a new camera. This meant there was a learning curve on that as well - I do not know which learning curve was steeper - I suspect the 'cutting up' one is by far the steeper one! I seem to be more use as a 'builder/repairer' than a 'surgeon' from the way it has gone so far, and I have certainly not finished yet either!

Stripped down, and cut up! This is the reduction that I have done, the new cylinders are shown in position, better, and more close-up shots follow. The stay bolt heads have all been shaved off the firebox sides, and added to the new firebox sides: the cross rod that holds the motor smoothed off to be flush; one of the new firebox sides is below, and almost ready to be fixed in position. After the firebox sides are fixed on, it is time to sort out some fixing points inside the original frame of the locomotive. This frame will be epoxy glued to the underside of the stepboards in due course and MUST be strong. What I did was to build a ladder frame with half joints from (grey) SHS square tube that I had in stock; it is not available locally now, as my local model shop has closed. This is fitted into ‘U’ shaped slots cut into the top of the firebox sides, with the inside of the sides being slimmed down (more work with the cutters) to allow this frame to be seated down level with the top of the original firebox sides.

Under the cab is a crosspiece of SHS that has been half jointed into the two pieces of SHS that will be fixed inside the firebox sides, the crosspiece has also had a steel rod fitted through it as the other, with the exception of the 3rd crosspiece from the front - this is at the location of the motor, thus the SHS is glued in position, and a small piece of steel rod fitted on each side. Onto the ‘under cab’ crosspiece (when fixed into the chassis) the stepboards are to be screwed, with the cab being screwed the to the stepboards first.

The stepboards (the shape is shown in the MLS ‘Masterclass’ of the Baldwin; this was built to 1/24th scale so there needs to be some minor adjustments and re-sizing as well. The stepboard unit (basically it is ‘U’ shaped with the lower and widest part being where the cab fits; there is also amn additional cross pice in the long slot), is made from 2mm plasticard, the top surface of which has been ‘grained’ with a piece of hacksaw blade held in a hand vice – draw it across the surface to give a grain to the piece. It was cut with a jewelers saw to the shape required. At the wider part glue a couple of pieces of Plastruct SHS square tube to fit inside the boiler and firebox, and allow this unit to slide on them, they will locate the rear end of the boiler in the cab Around the outer edge I fitted an edging piece of 1/2mm plasticard, with some fixing rivets added to that (I used the rivets/bolt heads from the Cambrian Models 16mm Narrow Gauge range) which was later painted to represent a brass edging.Here are a couple of photos and a drawing of the stepboard fixings and stepboards when being built. They are actually from the Baldwin 2 6 0 that was built by David Fletcher and are his photo’s, and drawing; he has given permission for their use.

On top of the stepboard and at the firebox end I have added a couple of pieces of the grey SHS tube to keep the boiler in position here, they are close against the inner edge where it is cut out to fit over the stepboard. Their length is not critical, as they are a positioning aid, 3" is about right, centred on the space for them. Due to my boiler (made of grey plastic drainpipe in two layers) being quite thick it was impossible to feed the SHS through the boiler as shown on the drawing - the steel rod that I have fitted inside the SHS tube is just visible inside the boiler and runs in a groove on the inside face of the drainpipe. These steel rods extend into the SHS tubes on both sides and the complete stepboard unit is glued to the boiler barrel. This MUST be a strong, and stable unit, use an epoxy resin as the glue here, and use screws as well if possible. Don't forget a slot needs to be cut for the reversing rod crank to go through. The ends of the SHS tubes that run across the loco are cut off at an angle, and the ends are then filled to make a smooth finish. The stepboard unit can be painted, the top is a slightly lighter color than the tender interior it is the same style of paint due to the ‘wear and tear’ this area would get. The underside is black. Leave the painting of the edge till later.

Whilst cutting the redundant bits off the chassis, I used some tissues to block off the holes in the top of the chassis to stop bits of the plastic falling into both the motor and gears, and also the contacts and bearing for the front driving wheel axle. Be careful that they do not get caught by the slitting saw.

The first photo is a 'close up shot' of the rear end. This been cut down, and the twin plugs and the switch has been lowered as well, There is more to be taken off here, it is not yet fully worked out at this stage, in fact I changed this whole area later on.The second ‘close up’ photo shows where the largest amount of work was performed in the removing of the two large pegs that did hold the (1 kilogram) weight in position, the second and third photos show the two pegs that were totally removed, the last photo having the towers previous location marked with a white line. The rear one being to the rear of the motor, this is the gold coloured tube between the towers. The front one - the subject of the first photo has in front of it a hollow, when the front tower was removed the front of this was also removed (& will be replaced with 1mm thick plasticard) to add some extra gluing area for the rear cylinder slidebar yoke; this is set deeper in than the original, in front of this was the front peg, and its associated buttresses - all were removed, there were bits of black plastic everywhere! Also cut down at the back of the front driving wheel springs to allow the yoke to ‘sit down’. These photo were taken very early in the building so all, the wires are still in position, most were eventually removed.

The cylinder assembly has been made with the assistance of the PDF's from David Fletcher - again thanks Dave. They are made from white PVC water pipe for the cylinders and plasticard for the detail. where the entire unit fits onto the Baxchmann chassis plasticard packing pieces are added to the depth of the front and rear cross pieces. This area will accept one of the fixing screws for the boiler/cab unit so it must be strong and able to accept a fixing screw. To add some strength there are 4 small bolts fitted into the top surface that hold the cylinders assembly together; these are hidden by the valve chests when they is fitted.

Here are the cylinders in their intended position, the front of the Bachmann chassis has been cut off at the rear of the step-up which did accept the swing pin for the 4 wheel bogie truck. It will be modified to accept the front part of the cut-off bit - which is the underside of the pilot deck, itself to be modified as well.

My loco needed a new crosshead, slidebar and main rod from the cylinders to the( retained) Bachmann coupling rods. The original main rod was sufficiently long to be reduced in size – after measuring twice, the rods were cut to size and re-drilled for the new pivot at the bottom of the crosshead. All the other detail was made from plasticard, the single slidebar is from the white styrene (Plastruct) tube, strengthened with a bicycle spoke through the centre of it, and the crossheads, are built from layers of plasticard ensuring that there is clearance for them on the slidebar. The main rod fits into a recess, and is held with a small brass nut and bolt, a touch of glue ensures that it is held tight but can also be removed if necessary. Check all your work here by trying the chassis with the motor slowly turning. Paint the new items with a good silver paint and add some weathering to show the detail. When it has dried add a hard varnish for protection.

The rear of the cylinders showing where the rear yoke will be fixed the bottom of the cross plate sits on top of the chassis, with the previously cut slot (at the rear of the front driving wheels spring allowing the rear yoke to sit down. The black plate at the back is the Bachmann chassis location for the Walschaerts vale gear if fitted (mine was Stephenson gear), this has also had its front face removed to allow the yoke into position (inside & between the frames it did project forwards, a small piece of plastic card will be added to replicate the front piece but further back.The two red wires that are shown disappearing downwards are the location of the hollow & downwards facing tower – at the bottom of this hole the two wipers that activate the (simple) sound system are visible, these are on the front axle, these wipers also assist in holding the front coupled axle onto the rails. There is a couple of wires that are left after cutting off the front bogie truck, I have found these very useful as a source of allowing power into the motor, whilst testing everything: again these are very fine wires.

This loco, without the front bogie which also assisted in current collection is a 0-4-0 in collection terms; for this reason for I wanted to retain the plugs assembly at the back end of the chassis. This gave me a way for the two tender bogie trucks to be also used for current collection, as a replacement for the (removed)front bogie. They will need a current collection system adding to them as they are not fitted with any.

What do you think of the color coordinated balance weights? Pity they and the wheels have to be painted black, it was just that I had some pale blue 1/2mm plastic card that was available! Regarding the slide rails - here in the UK, & at my local model shop, we do not appear to have the ABS (grey) 3.2mm SHS, This is the styrene version which is not as strong, and the internal hole is slightly larger as well(meaning that it is not so strong!). I have used some (steel) bicycle spoke slid inside, these spokes are 1.9mm diameter and therefore need to be filed down to be a very tight fit - this is to give it the needed strength I believe is needed here. When filed to fit it is then glued in position to make the tube & spoke assembly one; it must be tight though, to gain the needed strength. The spoke projects at the front, and is does not extend to the rear of the slidebar; this is to allow for the screw that fixes the rear of the slidebar to the yoke. The round styrene piston rod is fitted with a brass rod that is (epoxy) glued inside the tube.