Indie, ready to undergo her cosmetic surgery!
 

She is a relatively simple machine, and comes apart easily.
 
 

I was thinking I might be able to re-gauge the entire frame, but that wont work.
the gearbox is *just* narrow enough by itself! the frame would make it too wide..
 
 
 

Here she is reduced to her basic components!
 
 

I really didnt know exactly how I was going to do this until I had it all apart and
could look at the pieces..
the gearbox will allow the drivers to be 22mm apart, no problems there.
the next big problem to solve is attaching the new Slaters drivers to the gearbox.
original Indie drivers on the left, new Slaters drivers on the right.
I decieded to cut off the pins on the axle. (cut marks indicated by the red lines)...
 
 
 

1. im going to cut off the square pin on the Slaters axle.
2. I need to find bolts of the same thread and profile as the slaters bolt, but longer. an extra 1/4 inch will do it.
3. Then I will drill a hole in the center of the axle and attempt to tap it.
    hmmmm..I need to see if anyone in the club has a lathe..the drill-press isnt going to cut-it
    for precision work like this..
 
 

Took a big piece out of the boiler, removed the rear sand dome.
building a new cab/tender deck.
 
 

shortened the cab height.
cut off the rear of the cab and moved it back.
narrowed the main cab window (above the "1" in "18")
built a new cab door,
and cut the tender short and attached the rear of the tender to the deck.
 

the Indie motor block fits! :)
the block can be used un-modified.
the existing Indie axel will be used (narrowed to 22mm)
and a new frame for the driver set will be scratch built.
 

the boiler isnt glued to the cab yet in this photo..and its not all lined up straight.
I roughly stuck it all together just to have a look..
the water fill hatch needs to be lowered.

Here is a photo of SR&RL #8
which I believe was the largest of the Maine *inside frame* forneys.
not a bad match!
 
 

Update! July 20.
new pictures from the last few weeks..
 
 
 

Change of plans for creating the new powered axel..
I took the existing 45mm Slaters axel, (next to the ruler)
and cut the ends off, leaving the ends 9mm long.
 

Then inserted the cut axel stubs into the Slaters drivers.
using the regular slaters square peg and all..
Then I got 2 diameters of brass tubing, and cut 20mm lengths of each.
7/32, which fit tight over the slaters axels,
then 1/4, which fit tight over the 7/32..
then the 1/4 tube becomes the new axel.
I drilled the notch out of the gear, and glued it to the axel.
 
 

Cut the cylinders down, making them shorter and narrower.
 

Here she is so far! used brake fluid to remove the yellow lettering..
I made a mistake on the painting..(well, the mistake was lack of painting.)
I should have painted the cab interior green before I glued everything together
to this point..now its impossible to paint without ripping apart major glue welds,
which im not willing to do...so the cab interior will just be black on this engine! ;)
I will do green on the next one..
(oh, the rear driver rolled backwards a bit too far in this photo,
its just loose on the track in this photo..it will end up being a little more forward)
 
 
 
 

Update!
September 6, 2004
 

A new frame is constructed from styrene.
 
 

The new frame is installed, she is looking good!
 

I got some beautiful wheelsets from North West Short Line.
they are for the pilot and tender trucks.
NWSL 8257-4 with the 145 tread.
36" wheels in O scale, which scales out perfectly for the 22" wheels on my model.

To regauge the wheelsets from O to S gauge, I got some 5/32 brass tubing,
cut the wheelsets, then inserted the cut axels into one 20mm long tube,
resulting in perfect wheelsets for my engine.
 
 

Tender truck!!
I have an old, unassembled "AMC General" plastic kit..
I plan to use it some kind of future bash..im considering using the leftover Indie
drivers from this bash, putting the General boiler and cab on top and making..something..
havent thought that one through yet..
but if I did that, the Indie frame would be unpowered, because the motor is in the 2-footer!
so I could maybe try "Stans powered tender" trick to power it..
well anyway, the tender trucks from the AMC General kit were just sitting there,
I took a look at them...hmmmmm..not bad! style and size is just about right on! :)
so I used one! added new brakes to stretch it out, looks good!
and now I have the second truck for the CP Hungington!
(sorry CP Huntington fans, I only have those 2 trucks..only had one General kit)
 

I had to scratchbuild a whole new pilot..I tried cutting down the stock Indie pilot,
and it looked ok, but the new one looks much better..
I based it Fletch's Masterclass 2002 pilot! I tweaked the dimensions to match the new pilot.
Here is the new pilot compared with the 1/24 scale "Leviathan" pilot
 
 

Couplers!! I went out to the train shop and measured up different types of Kadees..
O-scale kaydees are the perfect scale size!
Here is the new 29n2 coupler compared with the stock Indie coupler!
 
 

to page 6, The locomotive is complete!