Tenshodo D51

I'm curious if anyone who currently owns one of the Tenshodo D51 locomotives has taken measurements to see how well this chassis would do in a Japanese to US conversion. As important... are there any US prototypes that would be well served by this model?

John
www.ztrains.com

I own three, and Robert Ray is busily buying up all the rest. He posted a detailed review of the D51 on TrainBoard, which includes measurements of the wheels and wheelbases, details on how it's assembled and more.

www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=117124&page=3

This thread also includes some advance reports of their performance. It appears to be a good hauler, in spite of having no traction tires. And 16-wheel pickup gives it great performance. So far, known issues involve Marklin curved turnouts, which give most steamers a hard time anyway.

Although others have expressed their doubts, I believe the D51 would serve American modelers willing to do some bashing quite well. For starters, assuming the model's wheel configuration was left intact, there are smaller, earlier standard-gauge Mikados that it could be used to represent. Here are references to of a couple of them.

The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum has a small, light Mikado:

www.trainnet.org/Libraries/Lib014/MRA64S.JPG

More information:

www.steamtrainride.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chehalis%E2%80%93Centralia_Railroad

Also, the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has a similar locomotive:

www.mrsr.com/equipments/rayonier70.jpg

More information:

www.mrsr.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier_Scenic_Railroad

Granted, the Americanization process would be approximate, given that wheel spacing varies, but it should still satisfy most anyone except hardcore proto-modelers. I provided only a couple of examples with just a quick search; more learned modelers and/or those willing to do more research might come up with much better matches.

Advanced bashers could certainly use the chassis for a Consolidation (2-8-0) or a USRA 0-8-0. The Consolidation was one of the most popular wheel configurations for steamers, and appeared throughout most of the steam era; one can find no end of variations that could be suitable. Here's just a couple--

www.pasty.com/copperrange/iroquois.jpg
www.trainweb.org/screamingeagle/other/beckermann/M-I/M&I_12-b.jpg

And here's an 0-8-0 for reference:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/USRA_0-8-0.jpg

Of course, one issue that affects all of these projects is the style of drivers the D51 has. However, it seems Robert Ray may have a simple fix for that. Certainly, the price (<$100) makes them hard to resist, and bashers should feel much less reluctant to start chopping them up.

Well... someone didn't do their homework to buy one...

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370333256279

TechRep wrote:

Well... someone didn't do their homework to buy one...

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370333256279

More like a bunch of someones...

offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=370333256279

Alex and David, Boy, are you guys right on! Ebay buyers never cease to amaze me. Dumb and dumber. Cheers, Jim CCRR:dry:

Dumb and dumber.

Jim, you don't know them. The buyer can be a brilliant business person or a successful doctor or who knows... They have money, the price is OK for them, so what. To be a participant of a Z-scale forum doesn't make anyone smart... Arrogance is not exactly the proof of smartness either.

Lajos

Ztrains wrote:

I'm curious if anyone who currently owns one of the Tenshodo D51 locomotives has taken measurements to see how well this chassis would do in a Japanese to US conversion. As important... are there any US prototypes that would be well served by this model?

John
www.ztrains.com

Hi John;

I like David and Rob have a fleet. Mine will be 5, my total one hand is 4 and one on reservation.

I think David is one the right track with logging Mikado types being idea for Americanizing this chassis and another place where the small wheeled Mikado held out for a long time in on Vancouver Island where there is still an operational logging railroad operating and has on had one of these Mikados still in steam last I checked. Not working steam but for special occasions etc.

The other option is the standard American switcher 0-8-0.

I also think that it is possible to add weight to any boiler shell we add to this model making it even better.

Seeing the success of this model I would not be surprised to see a Pacific wheel arrangement in the form of the C57, or C58 or maybe a Hudson type C61 or C62.

cheerz Garth

The D51 has 52-inch drivers, which are not as uselessly small as one might think. In fact, at first I was tempted by the Tweetsie 190, which has only 48-inch drivers...

www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=159927

I also recently got a wonderful book that highlights the Raritan River RR in New Jersey, and they had a number of early Mikes that look like they have potential.

www.raritanriver-rr.com/Engines/Steam/Steam12.jpg

Then there's these delicious 0-8-0s, which just so happened to have 52-inch drivers...

www.railarchive.net/rlsteam/nyc7718.jpg

www.railarchive.net/rlsteam/nyc7912.jpg

Other possibilities... a 2-8-0. Baldwin built a raft of Consolidations with 52-inch drivers. These look like they may have possibilities:

media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/15/b2/e8/1924-baldwin-2-8-0-steam.jpg

www.taplines.net/0307/chn03_files/chn74.jpg

Actually, I think I may build Black River and Western's #60. The BR&W is my favorite railroad, and their Consolidation has 51-inch drivers--close enough for me!

www.brwrr.com/brwsp60.htm

Dave,
They are all beautiful by steam standards.

This D51 does kind of get the creative juices and thinking stirring a bit doesn't it.

I think the Z community is on the verge of great creations.

Loren