Thought Process

I am modeling the Illinois Central in the mid 1950's, specifically the "Grubber Line", or the charter line that ran from Centralia IL north though Patoka, Vandalia, Ramsey, Pana, Decatur, Clinton, and on to Freeport.  Right now, I am just modeling Vandalia, IL, as it is my hometown.  Later on, I hope to build a layout that runs from Centralia to Decatur, though Vandalia, Ramsey, and Pana.  I chose that time period as it is the transition era from steam engines to diesel engines.  The IC was one of the last railroads to switch as coal was plentiful along the line.  By this time, the charter line was in effect a branch line as mainline service was from Centralia to Chicago via Effingham, Champaign, etc.  As a branch line, the line would have had older locos, namely the 2-8-2 mike, along with 2-8-0 consolidations and towards the end, an occasional 4-8-2 mountain.  The Illinois central at one time owned around 600 2-8-2, third only to the NYC and B&O.  (More on this can be found here http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/?page=ic)  As there is currently not an accurate model of the IC 2-8-2's, and I would like to have some for operating sessions, I have set out to model my own.  It has been suggested to me to start with the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 as the running gear is nearly identical to the 2-8-2, and all that needs to be added to the running mechanism is a trailing truck.  A new boiler and firebox will be created along with new detailing of the appliances on the outside of the locomotive.  It also seems that there were many different tenders behind 2-8-2's a lot of which were built at Paducah, KY.  I am going to model the long tender.

Here are some pictures of 2-8-2's that I am shooting for. 

IC 1362

IC 1651

Things to note: Note the distinctive "Paducah sand dome" which will have to be scratch built as no close copy seems to be on the market.  Also, these beauties are relatively "plain" on the outside, which I think gives them an uncluttered, kind of classy look.  I have purchased a USRA spectrum long tender to accompany the steam locomotive. 

The beginning

I purchased this Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 off of eBay for a few bucks.  It didn't include a tender.

This is the tender I got off of eBay for a few more bucks. 

And here they are together.

The disappointing part was that both the engine and the tender had female plugs.  So, to test and make sure the loco ran, I disassembled it to this. 

The pilot has been removed and the wiring exposed.  The red and brown wire of the four bundle set run to the motor.  The red and black wire of the two bundle set are the right and left rail pickup, respectively.  The other two wires of the four bundle set go to the head light, which will eventually be replaced with an LED.  To determine if it actually ran, I first oiled up the running mechanism.  Then I put it on my Bachrus test stand, and clipped the wires to the track power to see if it could run.  The good news is that it ran really well. 

Video of loco on test stand.

This is a video (sorry for the poor quality, this is the first video I have uploaded) of my Bachmann 2-8-0 minus the leading truck running on my Bachrus test stand.  I have to say I am very happy with how well it runs.

It will probably be a bit before I get back to working on it as I need to obtain some more hobby bucks.  But the next order of business will be getting the trailing truck installed along with a decoder in the tender, and then make sure it negotiates the layout okay.  After that, it will be rebuilding the boiler and firebox, and adding details, many details.  Feel free to let me know what you think.  This is my first steam locomotive project, so we shall see how it goes. 

Cool project, how are you

Cool project, how are you going to model the Paducah sand dome?

Dave

One to follow

I'll definitely be following this thread.  It looks like it will be an interesting project.

This looks like a great

This looks like a great project. I also will be following it. I am also modeling the "Gruber", from Freeport to Woosung in 1955.

Pictures

The pictures are not showing up in the second reply on my end. any suggestions?

Pictures

They're showing up for me Don, but taking an extremely long time to load.  Strangely enough, they're rendering from the bottom up rather than the top down.

DCForbes, I don't even model steam and I find your project fascinating.  Those are really pretty prototypes.  That pic of the 1806 looks like it could be a B&W model photo.  It reminds me a lot of the Doug Leffler pics of HO scale NYC steam in his RMC article in about Jan. or Feb. 1981.

I'm getting the same thing as

I'm getting the same thing as Joe. Worse than the old 1200 baud modem ??? 

Looks to me like the aduca dome could be modeled easily.

I would make a 1/2 round from styrene for the ends and then bend a few thin pieces of styrene over the top and laminate them to get the correct thickness to make it strong enough.  Then just file away the notches at the bottom of the dome to clear the lines.  It also looks like one of the 2 domes on the Bachmann could be used for the steam dome on the 2-8-2.

Harriman 2-8-2 a stretched Harriman 2-8-0

The IC Mikes were of Harriman design and used the same diameter boiler as the Harriman 2-8-0 (a la Bachmann) All you really need to do is stretch the boiler and make the appropriate changes in the firebox area. This was a similar concept to what the NYC did with their G-46 2-8-0's when they converted them to H-5's, although the Harriman mikes came out of the factory as 2-8-2's.

IC's Paducah shops did a lot of locomotive kitbashing including making 4-8-2's out of 2-10-2's. 2-10-0's out of Harriman 2-8-2's ( http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/IC3616.JPG  0-8-2's out of 2-8-2's http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/IC3678.JPG and even a 4-6-4 out of a 2-8-4 http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/IC01.JPG.

Change your screen name to "Pa" Ducah and have at it.

Mike

Diagrams

This site http://illinois-central.net/1955LocomotiveDiagrams.php has locomotive diagrams of IC engines.  It should be very helpful in this process.  The one below is for some of the 2-8-2's. 

Also, a friend has sent me a copy of the drawings of the Paducah sand dome.  This one was found on 2-8-0 consolidations #900 to 911, but should be helpful in recreating a sand dome for the 2-8-2.  My thoughts on it are to use some thicker wall styrene to build the front and back, cut it to shape and fit, and then use thinner walled styrene on the sides and top, and then sand it to round off the edges. 

Cool project.  I grew up on

Cool project.  I grew up on the gruber line just south of Dixon in a small town called Eldena.  I look forward to seeing your progress on this.  Jeff Otto (icgaholic) 

Progress

Aren't snow days nice!

I managed to get the trailing truck onto my 2-8-0 to make it into a 2-8-2.  Here I show where I have cut into the plastic to get to the metal so that the height of the trailing truck will be at the correct height and be level. 

Here it is with the plastic removed.  I made sure not to cut away the plastic brake shoes which are off to the side. 

I also was very careful not to cut the wires, which are the right and left rail pickups.  The hole has also been drilled and tapped, which is kind of hard to see.  I am using a 2-56 screw. 

Here it is against the drawings that were in an edition of MR back in the 80's I think.  While not exact, the wheel base is pretty close. 

Here it is on the track.  I filed just a little bit off of the bar of the trailing truck.  As it is sitting now, the rear drivers is about a mil off of the track.  After filing, there seems to be free swing of the trailing truck. 

Next Question: I am going to use the drawings to make styrene frame extensions to mount onto the metal Bachmann frame.  What is the best way to glue the frame extensions so that the tender and 20 car train won't pull the styrene free from the metal?  Is gorilla supper glue okay or should I use epoxy?  I've not done that before and am looking for advice. 

Doug

MODERATOR NOTE: Doug, these images are missing ... can you correct this, please?

Glue

I would not recommend using any kind of super glue for the purpose.  While it might work with enough surface area, I have had poor results.  I would use epoxy for any joint where strength is important.  Even better would be a mechanical joint of some kind, either with screws (or at least pins) through the face (covered up afterward), or using the original drawbar attachment.

Illinois Central

Keep the pictures of the project coming.   I grew up watching the IC in Illinois and those 1500 and 1600 class Mikes were always a welcome sight to see.

This is an old ALCO models of an IC 2-8-2.

AF

  http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy345/Trainsforyou/Model%20Train/Other%20models/zzzc2IMG_8641_zps26b09aec.jpg

  http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy345/Trainsforyou/Model%20Train/Other%20models/zzzc2IMG_8642_zps3586bd56.jpg

Cypox Glue

Here's a glue that looks like it'll glue anything together, even Delerin plastic.

http://www.mrhobby.com/store.php/MikeRoseHobbies/pg10120/cypox_tips__techniques

Bernd

Suggestion for you

There is a guy we(IC modelers) know who has done your conversion among others.   His name is Ray Breyer and he is primarily an NKP fan, but does IC steam era as well.  Excellent modeler.   Would suggest you join the IC modelers list on yahoo groups to contact him.   I will see if I can get his email for you as well.

You may already know this, but don't make your boiler or cab interior of brass or other metal.  The Bachman 2-8-0(and maybe the others as well) use the N-scale format for power....i.e. the two halves of the engine weight carry the polarity of the rail on that side.   If you put metal that touches both sides, you have a dead short.  Was looking at repowering one of my brass 2-8-0s with that mechanism....but too much work.

One other thing....the paducah sand domes were different sizes based on the engine class they went on.  Check dimensions carefully on all drawings you have.

good luck.    nice start so far.

Loren Casey

(grew up in Decatur on the old line)

emailed Ray

Turns out he actually hasn't done this exact conversion, but helped on others.   He is also producing some IC steamer parts.   He said no problem that you could email him with what he's done.

Ray Breyer < rtbsvrr69@yahoo.com>

Draw Bar work

I re-attached the original draw bar back into its stock location and have made a temporary (?) draw bar add on out of styrene to attach them at the prototypical length. 

Here is a close up of the lengthened drawbar. 

I cut apart the plans I had resized to HO scale and taped them together to get the approximate length between the tender and the engine. 

I think the next step will be to hook up the Digitrax decoder and put it through some paces and see how it handles.  I have ordered a six pin micro connector to connect the lines running between the tender and engine.  The tender and engine both had male plugs and wouldn't have worked.  Must have been from different runs.  If that goes well, everything thing else should be cosmetic, realizing that there is still a long way to go, but will be nice to have it running.  Also, at some point I will need to pick a specific prototype and go with it. 

Feel free to through some suggestions my way as this is the first time I have done anything like this. 

Trailing Truck

My question is where did you get the trailing truck?

Tim

Hey Tim

I hope to get back to this project some day, but I found it on eBay.  It's precision scale I think.  I just typed in trailing truck or something like that and looked at pictures till I found one that seemed to be the closest to the prototype. 

Doug

Interesting project

 I lived near the area you are modeling for many years and watched the IC run steam.  Keep up the work and keep us informed of the progress.

IC Power on the Clinton District

While this thread started seven years ago now, I just came across it. The Gruber in the 1940's and 50's had a couple of trains each way on it. By the 1960's, it was down to one freight each way between Decatur and Centralia.

There was significant coal traffic out of Pana so three northbounds from Pana wasn't terribly uncommon in the 1930's-1940's. The last mine opened in the late 1950's and was located along the IC tracks south of town. A spur from the C&EI and NYC also serviced the mine from the NW. Pana also had an oil refinery and a soy bean mill which added to traffic.The smaller elevator in downtown Pana was part of the mill. The elevator was in use until the late 1980s early 1990s long after the IC abandoned the route.

Before the end of passenger service on the line in 1934, IC used Atlantics pulling 2 car trains. Freight power was mostly Mikes and an occasional 2-8-0. 1300, 1500, and 1600 series 2-8-2s would all be appropriate. Vandalia had a lot of industry. In the diesel era, they had a switcher pocket (track) for the small yard north of the PRR interchange. I don't know if IC had an enginehouse in Vandalia during the steam era.

Diesels came in 1957 or 1958.

I have a couple older 2-8-0 wrecks that I picked up cheap. I need to do one or two 900 class Consolidateds first. If those turn out okay, I plan to try my hand with 3-D printing Paducah sand domes. 

Hope your project turned out well.