My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

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Mike McCotter
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Suffolk, VA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Mike McCotter »

Thanks again for the nice comments.

The Andrews trucks are Railroad supply aluminum castings, they were all that was available but overall they looked ok. I wanted them to be as close as possible to the real ones so some modifications had to be made. First, most of the cast on details were removed. Then, by using a woodruff cutter with a bronze-running bushing, to act as a guide and set the depth, the insides were milled out to simulate the coring. Then bronze plates were attached to the backs of the journal boxes to serve as thrust bearings. The brake rigging, brake heads/shoes, hangers, live/dead levers, slack adjusters, cylinder, side bearings, etc. were made to USRA drawings as well as the underframe.

Thanks for the info about the spring retainers. As soon as Brad returns from vacation, I will order a set.
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Mike McCotter
Mike McCotter
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Suffolk, VA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Mike McCotter »

Hello Everyone,
The tender is now completed, so I thought about posting some photos. The first set of photos shows the dummy coal load with the coal bunker extensions. The Southern installed these extensions during the first shop visit in order to increase the coal capacity. I painted all the numbers except the stoker warning sign by using vinyl paint masks. Highball Graphics in New Hampshire provided the masks for both the engine and the tender. They were very helpful and were great to deal with. Now, time to get to work on the engine!
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Mike McCotter
Mike McCotter
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Suffolk, VA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Mike McCotter »

Here are a few more.
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Mike McCotter
JKreider
Posts: 311
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:38 pm
Location: Redlands, CA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by JKreider »

Mike:

Absolutely beautiful!

Jim Kreider
Mike McCotter
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Suffolk, VA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Mike McCotter »

Thank you Jim, for your kind compliments!
Mike McCotter
Rob Gardner
Posts: 463
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:27 am
Location: Newbury, OH

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Rob Gardner »

Absolutely breathtaking, Mike. Great to see your progress . What is the latest with the Mike itself?

Rob Gardner
Mike McCotter
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Suffolk, VA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Mike McCotter »

Thank You Rob, The engine is pretty much like you have seen in the photos. It is around 80% complete, but I still have a couple of years of work left.
Mike McCotter
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johnpenn74
Posts: 404
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: Waiting for next assignment!

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by johnpenn74 »

Wow! Thirsty for more; Can't wait to see it with the engine..
JP
John Pennington

Logging meets that actually move logs

Project
2 Mich-Cal Shays
Allen 4-4-0 Narrow Gauge Conversion
Two Reading A5a Camelback 0-4-0
USRA 0-6-0
Clishay
4 Western Wheeled Scraper NG Dump Cars
N&W 4-8-2
ICM 2-10-2
4 Modern Stake Cars
L&N Caboose
4 Big Four Conversion Gondolas

Like I'm actually gonna build all this stuff :-P
Moron
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2016 5:56 pm

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Moron »

First of all, amazing job on this tender! It is refreshing to see this high level of craftsmanship, can't say enough good things. Second, I'm really happy somebody is tackling an Ms-4. These were very well built machines, big fan. Will the one you're building have the elesco feed water heater? Hard to find individual pictures of southern loco prototypes. Looking forward to seeing your progress and hopefully more pictures
blw54716
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 1:46 pm

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by blw54716 »

Beautiful Tender! Excellent workmanship, What thickness brass did you use? and did you make the air brake cylinder?
Can't wait to see the Engine.
Dave Rose
Mike McCotter
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Suffolk, VA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Mike McCotter »

Thanks to all for the nice comments. I used 16 gauge for most of the tender with 12 gauge for the bottom. There is also some 18 and 20 gauge mixed in too. All is brass except the toolboxes which are tig welded 16 gauge steel. The brake cylinder is fabricated from railroad drawings with Teflon piston seals. I am having some problems uploading photos of the engine but hope to have them posted by tomorrow.
Mike McCotter
Mike McCotter
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Suffolk, VA

Re: My Southern Ms4 Tender Project

Post by Mike McCotter »

Hello All,
There have been some requests to show some photos of the engine. The only ones I have were taken in 1995 with 35mm film. There has been no further progress on the engine since these were taken. Now that the tender is complete, I can concentrate on doing a little rework, and finishing it.
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Mike McCotter
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