Class A Climax


Since I have pretty much completed work on the Egger-Bahn Americanization and the Plymouth critter, I decided to try my hand at Mark Rollins' Class A Climax conversion kit. The kit consists of several resin castings, including; A wooden deck A water tank A two-piece boiler and smokestack for a vertical boiler setup Climax sideframes for the power trucks Completing the model requires the addition of a N scale diesel switcher (mine is a Con-Cor) and a number of detail parts, which I purchased from Al Sandrini.
The first thing I have done is to convert the diesel trucks to Climax sideframes. Here is the original truck:
Here is the truck with the sideframe removed (I used rail nippers):
Here is the truck with the center part of the sideframe filed thinner:
Here the Climax sideframes from the kit have been attached using ACC gel:
Tropical Storm Arlene passed thru Alabama today, making it pretty wet outside, so I drilled 20 number 73 holes in the side of the frame and glued 10 Grandt Line stake pockets in place to hold the vertical support members.
6/21/05 Some 0.025 brass wire through number 74 holes in HO scale 4x4s. Pretty tedious, but surprisingly sturdy (I hope it stays that way).
9/6/05 Sideboards and top boards for the wood crib end. Made from Evergreen styrene "car siding" and basswood. Also roof supports across the vertical members.
10/21/05 A coat of Polly S Dark Tan on the "wood" parts, Engine Blue on the water tank, boiler, and engine base. Several detail parts on the boiler. Nut/bolt/washer details on the frame members.
10/25/05 Some styrene dowel, wood channel from an old Ambroid boxcar kit, and Precision Scale brass fittings combine to make a steam engine for the Climax
10/28/05 Steam engine mounted in place and piping connected. Please ignore the too-tall whistle. I can't fit it until the roof is in place.
11/13/05 A thin wash of Grimy Black adds weathering to the paint job.
11/21/05 The roof is on and the steam siphon piping is complete - I still need a hose for the siphon, some details, and wood for the boiler, but it's looking pretty good to me, although the roof looks a little blah - I'm going to think about how to make it more appealing. For an update on the roof, see the picture below - click here
11/26/05 I decided the Climax needed a spark arrestor, so I fabricated one from a Mr. Coffee gold filter (there is enough material in one filter for all the spark arrestors one would ever want to make) and some 1 x 4 inch scale styrene strip. These pictures show the construction steps.


12/01/05 Still a few details to finish, but here it is with the new metal roof, a siphon hose (made from small diameter electrical solder), and a load of freshly-cut wood to burn, but it looks like a ghost ship without a crew in place. I need to find some appropriate figures for an engineer and fireman, although these are more backwoodsy folks that a real train crew. For an update on the crew, see the picture below - click here.


1/1/06 The Climax gets a crew, in this case, two figures from Woodland Scenics group of loggers. I'll replace with a better picture asap.