- All of the castings are either ductile iron or bronze and fully cored where applicable. The fully cored, ductile iron cylinder block mold, for instance, requires 24 cores.
- Driver axles are hardened and ground. They run in combined radial and thrust needle bearings which are enclosed in a one-piece grease-retaining axle box.
- Crankpins and wrist pins are hardened and ground. Rod bushings are 660 bearing bronze.
- All rods are machined out of steel and electroless nickel plated. All small rods and valve gear have bronze bushings.
- There are many precision lost wax castings on the chassis; valve gear & valve crosshead guides, for instance. Many lost wax castings are available for the model.
- The main and rear drivers have coil springs as per the prototype. The front and intermediate drivers have leaf spring bundles made of phosphor bronze.
A detailed parts brochure is available on the Real Trains website,
www.realtrains.com, under the tab “Special Order Forms”.
This locomotive is a proven design with many running or under construction.
Delivery would probably be no later than the end of the year.
The chassis in the photos took about 14 months but it was the first one (not part of the three) that we did for a client in New Jersey.
Many parts are already machined for the three we are doing now and assembly has begun.
We have to really wait until a chassis is actually ordered and a deposit made before all assembly and machining can be completed because we need to know the desired gauge, 7-1/4 or 7-1/2.
Jim Kreider
Very nice looking....