NWRR 15 inch gauge: Locomotive Photos

From August 2011; NWRR Engine number 1 on our 15 inch gauge tribute to Walt's NWRR. The beginings of a new cab are just being installed. There's quite a bit of yellow on there for such a small engine.

Another shot of our Engine. Cab is somewhat smaller than the original. The steam dome is forward of the cab instead of inside the cab. The steam dome is fabricated from an old helium tank that was discarded at my work. The "boiler" is an old air compressor tank that a neighbor was done with.

Here's my little boy helping with the new cab sides. They are made from salvaged lumber from the old kithen cabinets. Maybe someday we can afford some real hardwood and do them better.

Here's the johnson bar assembly going together in the shop. The arched rack is a portion of an old ring gear off an antique truck.

Here's a shot from our August 2011 "run day". Both cars need allot of attention (and cash), but they performed flawlessly. New wheel truck assemblies have been strated in the shop to better approximate the look of the original cars. Any original drawings would help....

Here's a size comparison showing the relative size of our 15" gauge train verses Walt's 30" gauge original. You can see the smaller cab design which differs slightly from the original, but is more in keeping with prototype practice (whatever that means). Walt's original also had no pilot (Other than a very low mounted L&P coupler). My drawing shows that I am at least considering adding a small pilot. Any comments or suggestions are welcome on that score.....