Doug Kisala’s S2 4-8-2

Number 5000 in HO Scale

Part of the reason I am posting about this model is to stimulate discussion and interest in modeling the LV in the steam era. I hope you’ll find better ways to model LV steam in any scale and share them.

My rendition of LV S2 #5000 started out as an International Hobby Corporation (IHC) 4-8-2. I wanted to represent first-of-class 5000 at the end of her service life in 1948. LV 4-8-2 photos are relatively scarce, but some are available online.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/lv_steam1.html

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/lv/lv-s5001rpC.jpg

There are some compromises with using the IHC 4-8-2. The rebuilt engines had Boxpok drivers and Walschaerts valve gear, while the IHC model has spoked drivers and Baker valve gear. In the process of rebuilding the model, I ended up stripping the boiler of all details except the steam dome and stack and adding new details to match the LV engine as best I could.

5000 was different from her sisters 5001-5005 in that she had a single sand dome/sand box and a Worthington feedwater heater. 5001-5005 appear to have twin sand domes and exhaust steam injectors on the right side. Details run the gamut of Cal Scale, Cary and Precision Scale Co parts. The cab, fittings under the cab, and the air compressors on the pilot deck are from Eddystone Locomotive Works.

The tender was fairly easy by comparison; my principal changes were sanding off the rivets to represent the welded tender 5000 had late in life and adding a representation of the stoker door on the left side of the tender.  After spray painting the boiler and tender shells and brush painting the chassis, I used decals from Dan Hicks Trains to represent the LV lettering.