Re: Meet "Frank". (Contains Actual Model Railroad Content!!)

Very nice indeed.  Are you planning on modeling the "interesting shapes"
as well?

Short for "Frank N. Steam".

Found an unused Balboa S.P. MK-5 chassis on eBay and bid low figuring
to use it for parts if/when mine broke down. Got it, and it sat
untouched in a box for two years.

Then about six months ago I found an old Westside S.P. Whaleback
tender at a swap meet; exactly the sort that frequently showed up
behind MK-5 Mikados. Bought it thinking I could letter it for the Sud
Pacifico de Mexico and swap railroads with my MK-5 by simply swapping
tenders.

And then just a few weeks ago a virgin (unpainted) Balboa S.P. MK-5
boiler shell showed up on eBay and I got to thinking "Ya know, you
already *have* 2/3 of another locomotive just sitting around..." so I
went ahead and bid.

Had to cast my own lead boiler weight, but I had the original one to
copy so that didn't prove too difficult (the burns have healed
nicely), and after a week or two of fitting the boiler shell to the
chassis (You thought they were mass-produced, and that parts would
automatically interchange? HO-HO! It turns out that "Hand-built" means
they were all slightly different!)

Anyway, herewith the results: Sud Pacifico de Mexico Mikado # 853. The
heaviest class of steam engine that ever ran on the S.P.de M. And
notorious for bending the then 60-pound rail into interesting new
shapes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/3645193774/sizes/o/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/3645189518/sizes/o/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/3644377671/sizes/o/

She still needs a little weathering on the boiler, but she runs just
fine, and fits onto my 90' turntable with just a scale foot to spare
at both ends.

A serendipitous locomotive.

~Pete