Greetings, Has anyone tried to break up the 2-6-6-2 power train to make a mechanism for a six coupled loco such as a 2-6-0 or 2-6-2 ?
I broke up my 2-6-6-2 power train when I dropped it about a
month ago. The led mechanism came off but still hangs
loosely by the pick-up wires.
I haven't returned it to B'mann yet because I've been seriously
considering cutting down the boiler, moving the smoke-box
over the back cylinders... adding a pilot and pony wheel and
making a 2-6-2 Prairie out of it.
I have the tools and skill to pull it off but am not sure about
the historicity of the project.
I'm open to ideas.
Dave R.
Seems to me the hard part would be re-installing a front pilot of some sort. The rest should be pretty straightforward, I don't believe it requires the front drive wheels to be attached for it to run. They're going pretty cheap on eBay if Favorite Spot is still running them. I got a guy to sell me one shipped for $129 a while back, no sound, but hard to go wrong there.
Wonder if the spare set of drivers would work for me to make a working 2-6-0 out of my static plastic kit? Haven't had much luck finding an IHC 2-6-0 for a price I want to pay.
One more question. What is the driver size? Thanx, Dave
The drivers are 0.669 inch.
"...the hard part would be re-installing a front pilot "
The hard part will be cutting two inches out of the boiler!
I think the replacement pilot for the B'mann on30 Mogul
might work, use the pony wheel from the front drivers and
make a 0-6-0 yard goat from the leftovers.
I'm worried about the firebox being in the wrong: if the
Prairies were made to burn bituminous coal, the box would
have to be behind (not between) the last pair of drivers??
Dave
Since posting I looked at the directions and I believe the boiler would have to be sectioned, perhaps the best place to hide the seam would be right at the cab front. The drivetrain itself uses a universal shaft between the worm gears and would be pretty easy to remove. If you can drill and tap to relocate screws, it should be relatively easy, I still think the hardest part will be extending the frame for mounting a pilot truck and the pilot itself, unless you put it on just for decoration and don't pull any cars with the front coupler.