September 2019 35
T
he layout I’m building
is an N scale, proto-
freelanced railroad
roughly based on
Brooklyn’s Bush and
Fulton terminals in
- Given that this
would be a slow-
running switching rail-
road, I need a steam locomotive with a
particularly smooth mechanism, which
isn’t easy to find in N scale. Given that
the road was freelanced, I wasn’t tied to
prototypical accuracy, but I did want
something that looked plausible.
To the rescue came Model Power’s
2-6-0 Mogul, which caught my eye when
it was reviewed in the November 2017
Model Railroader. This model had the one
feature that was a must-have, something
I couldn’t work around if it wasn’t there.
Specifically, it has an absolutely outstand-
ing, smooth-running mechanism that
runs like the proverbial Swiss watch.
The detail work wasn’t bad, either.
However, it suffers from the same issues
that tend to haunt many N scale models.
Due to manufacturing limitations, the
details tended to be a bit oversized. This
is particularly noticeable when taking
close-up photography, which is some-
thing I enjoy.
The challenge became how to work
around the oversized parts so they didn’t
stand out so much in photos. I have a
layout to build, so spending months
shaving off and replacing details and
then spending more time on repainting
wasn’t something I wanted to do. After
spending some time thinking through
the issue and strategizing, I came up
with a plan to use color and weathering
as a visual sleight-of-hand to hide the
oversized details.
One of the long-standing tricks of the
art and design world is the effective use
of black. Dark colors, flat black in partic-
ular, make the subject less
noticeable or even invisible.
By painting oversized parts
flat black, I could downplay or
even hide the fact that they
were out of scale.
The other issue was how to
handle details in general.
There is an old modeler’s
adage that no detail is better
than bad detail. Very wise
advice. In other words, even if
a prototypical part is available, if it’s a
crudely cast “soap carving,” you’re better
off omitting it. The eye won’t key on a
missing part, but it will key on crude-
ness. In that vein I decided not to worry
about replacing the Model Power parts,
as they would be good enough with
effective color treatment and weathering.
Before getting into the coloring
sleight-of-hand, there was one other
issue I wanted to address: the wheel con-
figuration. In the real world, this type of
switch job would most likely be handled
by a tenderless 0-6-0 or 0-4-0 saddle
tanker. There are a few of those available
in N scale, so why didn’t I go with one?
Tw o r e a s o n s.
First, those on the market are rela-
tively cheap models with old-style mech-
anisms. The second reason is electrical
pickup, a well-known cross to bear in
N scale, where the wheel-to-rail contact
area is so small. Small N scale steamers
generally don’t have the room for a stay-
alive capacitor. The Model
Power unit is blessed with
ample wheel spread front-to-
back. Both tender trucks have
pickup, as do four of the six
drivers. Picking up power
over such a long area makes
stalling a rarity.
I did some research online
and was able to find examples
where prototype roads
removed pilot trucks from
road engines to convert them for use as
switchers. That meant taking a similar
approach with my model was plausible.
By removing the pilot truck on the
Model Power locomotive and shortening
the pilot slightly, I was able to give it
more of a “switcher” look.
As far as keeping the tender, I have a
photo of a Pennsylvania RR locomotive
with tender switching the docks of
Philadelphia, so I know keeping it wasn’t
stretching things too far.
On to the actual model upgrade.
Z scale coupler
New mounting
hole (.060" dia)
Original
mounting hole
Cut off
and discard
.15"
MORE ON
THE WEB
Read MR senior
editor Dana Kawala’s
review of the Model
Power N scale Mogul
and watch a video at
ModelRailroader.com
❶ Coupler and pilot modifications. I replaced the couplers
with Micro Trains Z scale couplers and trimmed off the trip
pin. Next, I discarded the pilot wheels. I then removed the
cow catcher and shortened the pilot by about^1 ⁄ 4 ". I then
drilled a new .060" (no. 53) screw mounting hole about .15"
back from the original location and remounted it. The pilot
support rods were also discarded.
❷ Blackening the wheels. All eight tender wheels have
electrical pickup, but the wheels and flanges are oversized.
I tried swapping them out, but the new axles didn’t seat well
in the sideframes. So I kept the stock tender wheels but
downplayed their dimensions by painting them flat black.
I masked the wheel treads and the electrical pickup contacts
but left the flanges exposed before painting.
