Mike (and others) -
4001 is doable. Find an old (meaning cheaper) Rivarossi Dreyfuss Hudson (NYC
J3A) at a train show. Ditto for a couple of IHC Budd cars. Moosh the tender
body out of one of the IHC cars & modify the Riv. tender frame to fit. Use the
lower half of the Riv. boiler to assemble the side skirts from the other IHC
car. Swap in a Bowser T-1 trailing truck.
If there's interest on the list, I can do a quick photo-based mod of the old
RMC 4000 drawings to lay out the vestibule cab and shroud & put together an
e-file for any listers who so request. This file would include instructions on
how to scratchbuild the actual shroud & an easy method of reproducing the
compound curves of the nose which is also applicable to such things as truck
shrouds, observation roofs & whatnot.
The reason for doing 4001 is that she had boxpok drivers on all axles. If you
want to base the conversion on the Bowser K-4 instead, you can mix & match
driver types for 4000 & use the original RMC drawings, but it'll be more
expensive, and you'll have to work out a valve gear swap.
I figured out this approach several years ago, but when I finally decided on
1944 for a layout date, Big Alice went out the window. Any interest?
Marshall
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