Barry Bogs'  1/22.5  scale Union Pacific  Big Boy  4018 Tender Trucks - Oct 14th, 2020

I always like to build the tender first before the locomotive. I know I started with the drivers first, because drivers are the key part to any steam build. No drivers, no project. With that said, and the wheel sets built for the tender, I directed the boys in the casting shop to start work on the tender truck side frames. I heard a lot of complaining and head scratching coming from the shop, so I had to check on the situation. Well, the boys knew the front truck side frame was straight forward, but the centipede section was a different story! Five journals in one frame! What to do? So I broke it down to what was duplicate on the section. I figured it was just a big puzzle piece, so I directed the boys to make the small section that you see in the first picture. I then had them make a mold of it and make ten castings. After the casting were made, they were welded together to make the five journal sections. The boys then handmade the end sections, for both the LH and RH sides. A whole new mold was made of the new masters, and the production casting can be seen in the last picture. The lower middle picture shows the completed front truck and a prototype picture behind it. The shop floor was a mess after all the work, so I directed the boys to clean it up and get ready for the tender body next. I am planning on making the body a set of castings, as I am sure I will want another different kind of loco, using this same tender style. The centipede tender just says heavy duty to me, and is different from anything that has come out of this shop before.  - Barry

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