A few months back, I inherited a trio of Rivarossi steamers, all with Vanderbilt tenders. Of the three, the 2-8-2 is the best runner.
I was reading the list of Southern Pacific 2-8-2’s, and some came from the purchase of the El Paso and South Western in 1924….hmmm…..started to read the list of original owners of the USRA Heavy Mike’s…the EP&SW is on the list! Do I have a prototype to model? Is this a simple shell swap? Time for more research….ugh….the Great Northern bought all five of them in 1920.
I really prefer the look of this loco with the Dimi Trains Vandy, and to make things better, 3216 was a light Mikado that had a similar tender. Unfortunately, it had two axle trucks, while the Dimi tender has three axle trucks…I can live with that.
Unless anyone has other suggestions, I plan to remove the bell from the smoke box and put it on the boiler, remove the windows from the cab, and put a grimy paint job on it. I will be lettering it with post 1946 lettering and I am pondering how to turn down the pizza cutter flanges….DCC is also in the mix….