Love it.

I have had a shell squirreled away for years with the thought of converting it into some sort of 0-4-4 Forney type loco. Perhaps as the last of the last for my el rapid transit line or converted for use down on the Brooklyn waterfront.

I'm just too darn reluctant to start hacking something up that isn't made any more (does MDC/Roundhouse still make them?). It's the sort of item that takes you back to your youth, despite the fact that maybe the detailing isn't quite up to snuff by today's standards. Although I really don't care for the wooden slats holding up the boiler and the thick frame, overall I just love the silhouette of this beastie. If I had the Gomez Addams living room side table, I'd pull out a few stacks of cash and make them an offer for the tooling!

Anyway, I look forward to following this project.

Cheers.

Class A Climaxes and "front wall" wood "boiler supports"?

Dear Jeff,

MDC/Roundhouse have not made either the HO "Climax" (with HO coffee grinder mech) or the HO/HOn3 "Battle Mountain Climax" glider kit for decades. That said, they regularly pop up on eBay at varying price points (sublime to rediculous).

Strongly recommend reading thru the original instructions from the 3-in-1 "Glider" kit.

http://kitbash.ourpage.com/3in1/1510a.pdf 

From an era when "kitbash" and "scratchbuild" were words that had real meaning to most modellers,
these instructions showed how to turn an "ugly, non prototypical" one-piece body casting into a quite-plausible steel-framed NG Class A, which in contemporary era we can now power quite effectively with various commonly-available mechs.
(NB the kit and base kitbash instructions also give the fodder to build up a _very_accurate_ Class A, if the modeller is willing to do the required research! HINT! Class A steel framed climaxes were generally < =25' long overall).

The "Wood holding up the boiler" front wall is typical of many Class As, although it was not actually _supporting_ the boiler, just happened to be "built up high enough so it looked that way",
The smokebox was still supported by a "traditional" smokebox boiler support type casting.

(Apologies for the poor pic, but you may recognize the core donor of this one?
Mech is a LL N scale SW1200).

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Reluctant to hack, also

I was also quite reluctant to hack into it, but not all the parts are there anyway, and I plan to make something really nice out of it, if my skills are sufficient.  I actually have one of the old boxcabs with the original mechanism, as well as one that I put onto a 44 tonner mechanism.  (At one point, I scored a half-dozen of the 44 tonners with DCC, so there's going to be an assortment of different locos built on them...I might even keep one as a 44 tonner...)

They are nice little locos

Here is my attempt so far.

Looks good Irishrover. I hope you're a faster worker than I am. Started this over a year ago. It's on a 44 mechanism and runs well. The log load lights up at the moment, so I'll cut the LED off the decoder and put it in the big ole carbide headlight (when I find it).

Thanks, Prof.  Your points

Thanks, Prof.  Your points are (as always) well taken vis a vis the accuracy of the detailing. My comments on those were just my opinion on they way they look to my eye.  I actually got the kit off of eBay as well. I think I might attempt casting a multi-part mold of the shell, if for no other reason than to see if I can do it! 

And if I win Lotto, I'll buy the tooling and it'll' be Climaxes for everybody!

Cheers.

Climax redux

Hmmm, 3D Printing is an option, especially with the missing parts (on mine).

-D

Climax Narrow Gauge Version

irishRover, you might want to check an article I wrote in the November 2011 issue of NMRA Magazine, for alternative ideas.  I built an HOn30 version using an N scale Atlas diesel mechanism.

Phil

MDC Climax Shells

"River City Railroad" is selling a lot of the pre-Horizon MDC/Roundhouse kits/parts on ebay.  I assume this is old MDC/Roundhouse remaining stock, but some items seem to have an infinite stock. These are all new  although with some modifications, i.e. frames are plastic instead of metal and/or with some other modification.  The "project cars"  are sold in sets of 2 to 5 and starting bids run from about $6 to $30+.  Occasionally they have the Climax shells (with roof, smokebox front and other details) which I got 5 for $20, although I think the prices recently have gone up.  Since their recent move to Oregon from California they have promised to release a number of new items.  Also their service is great.  I've usually gotten their packages in 2 days - and that was from California to North Carolina!

My plan is to mate the climax shell with the Bachmann 45 Tonner as I like the side rods, but it's going to require some shortening. I just haven't decided where I'm going to cut it yet. The Forney idea is intriguing.  I'd like to see your thoughts on how you plan to do it.

Andy

Cut what?

Dear Andy,

Um, are you talking about cutting the MDC "Climax" shell, or the 45-tonner mech?

Both a 44 and 45 tonner will fit inside a stock "Climax" shell with no mods,
(the 44 tonner frame may cause the Climax shell to sit a bit high in perspective?)

a 45 tonner could possibly suggest shortening the shell,
but that would only bring it back down to the aforementioned prototypical 22-25' long in HO.
(IE ref the above Battle-Mountain "3 in 1" kitbash instructions PDF)

...and of course, no-one said it had to stay HO scale...

http://on30center.com/on30/library/articles/cg/climax.html

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Photographs

"It's HARD to get a decent photo of something that's all black!"

First suggestion that I have for that is use "GREY LIGHT"  that is weak sunlight from a overcast sky.  It takes the harshness out of the photograph. 

Second is to use a neutral background that is not all one color.

Third is practice, practice, practice 

Otherwise it's a great looking project

Dan

Here's my version, built in the 90's

I too am planning to convert to a Bachmann 44 ton chassis; the MDC one runs OK, nice and slow, but is unbelievably noisy.

Thanks for the info and feedback, and Progress

Thanks all for the info and pics of Climax locos, model and real.  I did some painting on mine, and hope to get the rest of the main shell painted today.  Also on the agenda--digging theough the parts box for bells and whistles, and a headlight.  Since she'll occasonally be out on the main, I'll need to get my paws on marker lights also.

I hope to have her ready for at least a demonstration run on Tuesday night.

MDC Shell

I meant to get to this earlier, but a back injury kind of laid me out for a few days.  I do need to revise one item in my previous post - on the River City Railroad site (http://stores.ebay.com/RIVER-CITY-RAILROAD-RCR?_rdc=1) the "Other" link in the menu takes you to the section where they list the Cabs, boiler and tender shells, 36' OT car parts, etc.they are selling.  The only loco shell they are selling right now is the 0-6-0T.

Prof, you are correct about fitting on either the 44 or 45 Tonners, and even the 70 tonner could be used (but is slightly longer than the 44T)..  However, one of the problems with using the 45T is the width of the climax shell and the width of the 45T frame are about the same.  So I can narrow the metal frame a bit (which I'm not overly enthused about) or lower the shell.  Additionally, the shell is about 5/8" too long and would need to be shortened to look right ( in my eyes anyway).  In the picture below I spread the steps out so I could seen how it fit.

The 45T wheelbase is about the same (or a little more) 5/8" shorter than the 44T wheelbase:

As I've had some time to think about this while recovering, I might scrap the idea of using the climax shell, since I'm essentially building a pseudo Heisler, and look into 3D printing.  I've bought items from Shapeways, but haven't designed anything for printing yet.

Below are two projects I started a number of years ago, but got packed up in one of my many moves and just recently have seen the light of day. 

The one on the right is, I believe, based on the Battle Mountain 3-in-one instructions which I have yet to rediscover.  The one on the left is based on a Julian Cavalier article in Tall Timbers Short Lines - April 1987 if I recall.  When my back allows me to start lifting things, I'll look to see if I can find the article if anyone is interested.  I've got to find the article Phil wrote too.

Book

jlwitt, back about 7 or 8 years ago, a Ron LaFever put out a book (Tuning for Beginners, Building the LaFever Climax) on building the MDC Climax so it runs better and quieter.  If you see one at a train show, that is cheap, you might want to look at it.  I haven't seen one in a while, but when they do come up on ebay, they seem to get a bit pricey. Not a quick and easy project, but you won't have to modify your shell, which you obviously put some time into, or figure out what to do with the old chassis.

Interested indeed

I'm interested in any of the MDC links info; they have some good ideas.  I don't have any need to get the book on the MDC Climax chassis; I only have one old chassis, that would need a decoder anyway, and have 5 44 tonners sitting around waiting for projects. 

Project 1:  The Climax.

Project 2:  A second boxcab

Project 3?:  Boulder Valley end door centercab in On30?

Progress

I neglected to take many pictures since my last update, but Climax # 9 is ready to roll out of the restoration shop.  The restoration folks decided to use as much of the original, well weathered wood as possible, keeping her looking like she was a working engine rather than shiny new.  The metal, and the new cab, are painted fresh, though they will show their age with time (and when I feel confident enough to weather it.)

She's seen here next to B&M Boxcab 3517, another Roundhouse kitbash on a Bachmann 44 tonner.  The work is far from complete--for one thing, there's no bell or headlight, nor are there piles of rope, chain, saws, rerailing frogs, and all that on board.  But, Engine 9 is ready to take to the rails for some test running...

I've learned a lot from this build, and might make some changes on the second one.  Shaving off the flatcar frame and scratch-building a new one, or kitbashing an existing flat, would make it easy to lengthen her a little; I don't like the excessive boiler overhang.  She'd also look better if her helf-sister has the same black boiler, but the cab and bunker in a different color--perhaps a dark green?

What might make her look better?

Second Climax

Even before I’ve finished the first Climax, I’ve learned some things that should make the half-sister look even better.  I’m going to remove the flatcar base from the loco shell, and use some real wood—that way, it can be a bit longer without an awkward break in the look of the frame.  No boiler overhanging the coupler on this one.

Red lines deliniate where I intend to cut.

Also, I think it will look better if the cab and water tank are a different color from the boiler—probably a nice dark green, so the loco isn’t a solid mass of black.

I might make her coal fired instead of wood…though wood has the advantage of being able to burn whatever scrap there is lying around.  Maine has PLENTY of wood, but no coal or oil.  (So far, my logging assortment has 1 coal fired loco and 1 wood fired loco—the Bachmann 3 truck Shay and the first Roundhouse Climax.)  Either that, or I’ll make her oil fired as a trial for the line—don’t test new concepts on your most important locos, after all.  I’m leaning towards wood fuel.  I’m leaning towards wood fired at the moment.

Progress on the first one is awaiting a trip to the store, where I can get bells and headlights.