Dear List --
I just picked up one of the G-8s that Oriental Ltd. produced during the
late '80s. I believe they imported four versions of this little 0-6-0 (or,
more precisely, two versions, each of which was available either painted or
unpainted: one version had a single air pump and a "wide vision" tender;
the other had a cross-compound pump and a "standard" tender). Mine is the
cross-compound version, unpainted.
So now I want to paint and letter it. Other things being equal, I'd prefer
to avoid a lot of extra re-detailing work, and while I'm willing to indulge
in some speculation or even fantasy if absolutely necessary (i.e., I can
always make up a good back-story to rationalize its particular mix of
features), I'd rather give it at an accurate number if possible.
Looking through my photos, I've found images of 19 out of the 60 engines in
this class, and so far none is a very good match for mine -- although it's
worth noting that many of the photos date from the 1920s and early '30s, so
the engines as shown surely must have some features that changed over time.
Only 9 of the images show the engines' left sides, and only 3 of those show
compound pumps: on Nos. 1714, 1721, and 1750. Yet each of these engines is
still somehow "wrong": 1750, e.g., was an oil-burner at least as early as
1935; and all three differ from the Oriental model in other, pretty obvious
ways -- cabs, running boards, positions of their generators & headlights,
etc.
So my questions to the list are:
1) Does anybody have -- or has anyone seen -- the factory-painted version
of this model? What number did Oriental assign it? Was it in fact intended
to represent that specific engine? And if so, how well did Oriental do?
2) Does anyone know which other (coal-burning) G-8s had cross-compound pumps?
3) Can anyone suggest other sources of photos (those I consulted came out
of Corbin & Kerka, Steam Locomotives of the Burlington Route; Jones &
Collman, Sterling, Colorado; Kistler, The Wymore Story; and the Otto Perry
collection on the Denver Public Library website).
Thanks for your help,
Jonathan
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