The project continues, with progress on the SW-8 and the SW-1.

SW-1 steps and more

I was thinking to bend from brass some ideal new steps for the SW-1 and the NW-2. As I started into that I was like, why? Because there was always another option.

On the SW-1, as it came to me, the original Super-Scale steps casting was all hacked up. But, on the NW-2, the casting was as produced. I decided to bust out the mold making materials and make a couple copies of it.

In addition, I needed air tanks for all the switchers actually. After puzzling about various difficult ways to do this I was like, why not mock up a tank and make copies of that? Below, both parts are set up for the mold.

I made simple castings in a two part mold as described elsewhere in the site (such as here).

There was also the matter of soldering the end steps on the SW-1 frame. The completed frame end/steps are seen below.

A frame/drive for the SW-8

In the original SW-8 series I look at how I made a drive for that model in this post. For that one I used an Athearn GP-7. This time I used a drive from a GP-35, and I changed around things slightly so it should work a little better.

The big job is cutting down the Athearn frame to fit inside the Worsley Works frame. I used a combination of various saws (especially my jeweler’s saw) and big files, gripping the frame various ways in my bench vice with wood blocks to protect it.

It was a lot of effort but it will pay off when the model runs smoothly on the layout. The final photo shows the brass frame in position on top of the modified Athearn frame (with the existing SW-8 frame in the background). It will only have one powered truck; the front truck is from an AHM S-2.

When the series continues, and I can’t avoid this task much longer, I have to work on handrails.

Continue reading the Switchers Series