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D&RG "Mountaineer" Articulated Fairlie

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14K views 26 replies 23 participants last post by  dltrains  
#1 ·
For those of you who don't know me I am 14 years old and since school got out in May, I have been scratch building a 0-4+4-0 fairlie locomotive. The prototype was purchased by the Denver & Rio Grande in 1873. It was built in England by the Vulcan Foundry Co. and named the 'Mountaineer". There are two known photos of her, one a builder photo in England, and the other somewhere on La Veta Pass between La Veta and Alamosa, Colorado. She was #101 and the first articulated engine ever to run in Colorado.Supposedly she was less than successful because they junked her in 1883 and scrapped her in 1887. She was a helper on La Veta most of the time to help trains up the 4% grade. The problem was that one set of drivers would pull the bulk of the train while the other set just spun randomly.


Here is the builder's photo taken at the Vulcan Foundry...

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Here is the one on La Veta after the D&RG altered it a bit...
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The whole model is scratch built aside from the running gear which are both from Bachmann ten wheelers. The boiler is a piece of pipe, the frame and tanks are styrene, and the steam domes are Bachmann EZ-Lube bottles. David Fletcher sent me the Hartland stacks, Aristo headlights, and crew figures. He also helped me with the paint scheme which he got from the "Josephine", a surviving Fairlie. I had quite a bit of trouble with headlight brackets for a while. I finally ended up using some from "The General" 1:25 kit on the front and I made brass ones for the rear. The one thing that I love about both the prototype and my model, is that each set of drivers swivel on the frame enabling her to track sharp curves.


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Here is a close up of the builder's plates and name plates on one of the tanks. I had them custom made in New Jersey...

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This is the interior of the cab. She had tandem firebox doors (which must have been a pain to fire). I made the top of the boiler accessible in the cab so that I can get inside to turn the radio on and off and so that I can charge the batteries.


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Unfortunately my computer caught a nasty virus a few weeks ago and the hard drive had to be reformatted. Due to this, I lost all of the pictures I took during the construction of the locomotive.


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Thanks for looking
 
#22 ·
Having bashed a few locos in my time as well (including a few Fairlies), I have to say you've done an absolutely fantastic job on this one! A pity you don't have build photos, but just make sure to take extra on the next one (another Fairlie, I hope!). Great to see some real modelmaking being done by the younger generation, Dylan. Maybe you can inspire a few of older folks to get back to it!
Chris
 
#16 ·
Great looking model, you've done a wonderful job!

In the text on headlight brackets you mention that the loco has a front, which end is that?

John
 
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#15 ·
Actually I didn't mean to say New Jersey. They were done by a guy named Robert Dustin and he is in Massachusetts. All eight of the plates were $60, but it is rare that anyone else would need that many of them. He does lots of builder's plates and even compound air compressor plates. He also does decals and stuff so you should check him out.
 
#13 ·
Ya done good! And not just for "a kid your age." As others have said, that's quality and workmanship people work their lives to achieve. Of course, that means we expect your next model to be even better, so there's a disadvantage to putting forth such a prodigious effort your first time out of the gate. ;) I quite look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Who did your nameplates, and (if I can ask) how much did they cost? You mentioned they were in NJ. I'd love to do custom builders plates for my locos...

Later,

K
 
M
#10 ·
Dylan,


That is one heck of a nice looking model that you put together!


Thanks for sharing the results of all your hard work with us, and sorry to hear that you lost all of your construction photos.... 
 
#7 ·
Dylan,

Your workmanship is first class. And the engine looks great. Keep up the good work.

Les


P.S. The story of the English lord who gave a Farlie to the D&RG (?) has been debunked. There are purchase orders extant, and pixes of them.

Also, the Farlie design was faulted because if one set of drivers/boiler went down, it took the whole engine off the line. It ended up as A MOW engine, (I think!) before being scrapped. Another gripe was the difficulty of 'balancing' thrust to each set of wheels, and if memory serves, it required a very astute hogger to run it well. There is a story that the regular engineer drew a 30-day suspension for some infraction, and after attempting to explain the proper methods of keeping everything going, the replacement said, "You run the thing, I'll take the suspension." I don't know if that's verified, but it makes a nice tale.

Les
 
#6 ·
That is a beautiful scratchbuild! You have really done a fine job and I mean it!! The fact that you are 14 and will only keep getting better boggles the mind! Farlies are fascinating locomotives and yours is truly something to be proud of! Now, you need to take it out on the line, get some really neat pictures and enter one in the Photo Contest!
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J
#3 ·
OUTSTANDING JOB DYLAN!! You have created an impressive model for anyone at any age. When I was 14 all I dould do was spill glue and paint. Keep it up and Mr. Fletcher will have stiff competition in the near future. You couldn't have had better mentoring. And than you Dave for taking the time. You're both a credit to the hobby.
 
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