So next I needed to make new chain guides. This was made simple by using Detail Associates flat brass bar stock and .080 Evergreen channel. 2 sizes of bar stock were needed, .015 x.060 for the rear bracket and .015 x.024 for the front bracket.
These have to be bent in a manor not to interfere with truck swing, so the length and bends had to be kept in check. But first, a proper location was needed. I assembled the deck, cab and frame. While looking at photo’s, I placed a mark on the deck and on the frame for the location of the front and rear brackets. I also placed a mark on the step wheel to help determine the length of the rear bracket. The front bracket is slightly longer so there is a slight angle when the chain guard is added.

The measurements that worked for me are on the pic below.




I bent the bottom ends of the bracket so the .080 channel fit snug. I cut my channels to a size of .430. I wanted just enough overhang on the channel to look prototypical.

The bell was added last, I used a brass bell off a Kato model that I wasn’t being used. I cut the top end off and left the stem on. I drilled a hole in the frame to fit the stem. I used photos for the location and glued it with CA.

As far as the frame goes, it’s complete with all detailing done. The pictures shown here were done a year ago. I made some minor changes to this project after those pictures were taken. In one of the pics, you see I labeled the air hose as deleted detail. The S1 had dual air hoses which if you stood in front of one of them; you could see the main train line feeds from the left of the locomotive. The Reading extended that line across the bottom of the coupler box to the right side and used 2 air hoses, one for the main brake line and the other as a signal line. I wanted to replicate that detail the best I could. So, I soldered brass air hoses to brass wire to extend the length of them. I liked the way they turned out but unfortunately, I kept breaking the hoses off. I had to re-solder these numerous times which became annoying. So I made a change to that detail and it worked out for the better.

In the next part of the project, Not only will I show my original brainstorm for the air hoses, but I will also show how I made the coupler boxes a little more prototypical. The majority of the pics will be the original make-up with that air hose arraignment. At the end of this section, I will show the upgraded version for those hoses.

Another detail I wanted to replicate is the coupler extensions. Almost all switchers that worked in areas with tight radius had coupler extensions. These aided the crews with getting those cars in those tight locations without de-railing. I will cover that neat little detail also.

Before I get into the coupler box, I forgot to post a pic of the prototype chain guide. The photo credit goes to Richard Wolfram.

Surprisingly, I discovered the Proto S1 coupler boxes were close to scale width, but the inside dimensions were made to fit a Kadee #5 in them. The prototype coupler boxes are thick and I wanted to capture as much of the bulkiness without making a new coupler box. Since I’m using a Kadee #156 scale whisker coupler, I could make a semi-scale inner dimension and still capture the bulk that I’m looking for. Below, I’m sharing more pics from Richard Wolfram. These helped me achieve the look of the coupler box.

The first thing I did to the coupler box was grit sand it with baking soda to give it some tooth to glue detail to it. Looking at the pics, early Alcos including the RS3 had holes that ran through the top of the coupler box. I used a #74 drill on either side of the box to duplicate that just deep enough for the illusion. Next I reduced the inner dimensions of the coupler boxes with styrene. This gave me the semi-scale box I wanted and helped to give it some added bulk.



Needing to add more bulk to the coupler box, I increased the thickness of the bottom coupler lid by .020. I used styrene and used .030 for the cast curve to match the top of the box. I cemented everything together with liquid cement. When the lids dry, I trimmed up the styrene to match the lid, and drilled out the hole for the coupler screw.

Next I used Plano 3 3/8x1 ¾ eye bolts to give it that dimple look around the #74 hole. I snipped off the post and took a fine file to round out where the post was. I glued those in place flat side to the coupler box. With that complete, I made the angled rib for the coupler box using .030 x.060 styrene on the vertical side of the box, and .015 x.060 for the top horizontal angle from the hole.
I assembled the coupler box to determine the length I needed for the vertical rib. I marked off about a scale foot. and cut 2 pieces. I then used my #17 chisel blade and cut each part corner to corner and ended up with the 4 parts I needed. I sanded each mounting edge flat for gluing onto the coupler box. There is a cast vertical rib on the coupler box, I removed those ribs and sanded the area clean. I set the boxes on the frame with the screws to secure them in place. I dabbed a little glue on the mounting edge of the rib and used the frame as a back stop to keep the ribs in place and vertical. When these are dry, I removed the boxes from the frame and made the horizontal pieces too about a scale ½ ft. I cut those on angles to fit in front of the eyebolt and match the top of the vertical detail.

I finished off the coupler box by adding NBW’s to the bottom lid. Finishing up the bottom of the coupler box, I needed to add the air pipe coming across the bottom of the box. So the pics are from my original thoughts for the air piping and sadly had to change that up. The actual piping idea didn’t change but the way I re-applied the air hose to the model. I also removed the air line that was mounted on the frame. The line is made up of .022 brass rod bent to shape. I used 2 brass eyebolts from Athabasca scale parts out of Canada. I opened up the holes a little more to fit the rod and soldered the eyebolts and rod together. I then marked the location on the bottom of the coupler box and drilled the holes for the eyebolts. I glued the pipe in place after I did some tweaking for a good fit. I would end up leaving about .030 hang over the side.