With the start of the new year underway I figured it was time to start my build thread. As the title says, I'm just about ready to start construction on a 1.6" scale Frisco 1522 mountain class locomotive. I have not officially started making any chips yet since the shop has been temporarily cleared out in order to paint the floor and add a couple walls but I hope to have the machinery back on place by the end of January. On the other hand I have been busy gathering information and parts to build it. I began searching for suitable castings and components about a year and a half ago and settled on using a majority of the heavy Mikado castings from Railroad Warehouse combined with a Little Engines Pacific pilot truck. Throw in some drivers and cross-heads from Real Trains, a variety of smaller components from a multitude of vendors and some custom water-jet cut frames and 'bingo' I think we have a winner. Now time to start building.
Here is a quick background summary. After 20 wonderful years of being involved with my daughters lives playing parent, tutor, chauffeur and cheerleader they are quickly becoming more scarce in my daily life. With one in college and the other driving herself and just a year and a half from college, that elusive commodity I faintly remember called spare time is slowly returning and with it a little time for a hobby. I loved trains and had model trains growing up and I have a real interest in machining so a live steam engine seemed quite reasonable. I live in the St. Louis area which is home to the Museum of Transportation where the Frisco 1522 is on display. I really like the size and proportions of the 1522 and with it being local it is nice to be able to visit whenever I need a detail photo or measurement. Searching for drawings for the locomotive has been challenging but our local club, St. Louis Live Steamers, has several former members of the St. Louis Steam Train Association that was responsible for the 1522's renovation and return to the rails for excursions. They and members of the www.frisco.org forums pointed me in the right direction and I was able to locate some drawings and a copy of the erecting card which had all the information I needed.
So I decided before I start construction, I would first start this thread. I'll have a lot a questions since I'm a newbie. My local club members will definitely share a lot of lessons but the members of the forum really seem to have genuine desire to help so I would be a fool not to start this thread. I also started a blog at http://www.castlesimon.com/locomotive to chronicle my progress. I will update both the blog and this thread as progress is made. However, this forum will be utilized more for discussion and asking questions whereas the blog will be more narrative and have more details about what is happening with the project. So until I can get the equipment running, here is a photo of the collected parts along with a drawing of what I hope they will look like some year. Thanks in advance for all your help!
Jerome Simon
Building the Frisco 1522
St. Louis Live Steamers
I didn't know someone had a 4500 in the works. That will sure look nice. I had to Google around to see if I could find any photos of it. I spotted some on trainorders but not being a registered user couldn't I could only see a few thumbnails of the tender. Looking at some of the dates on the posts you are definitely cruising right along. I'm afraid it will be a several years before this 1522 hits the rails. But I most surely look forward to the day we are able to couple them up. I need to trip to OK to visit the full size 4500. Plus there are a couple 1500's out there that would be nice to see one day.