I hope this is true Jerry, as the lack of a Mason Bogie and a Uintah Mallet represent the biggest gaps in the preserved Colorado narrow gauge loco fleet. The Ridgway 4-4-0 will plug another, and effectively be 2 locos for the price of one as the original RGS #36 had been a D&RG engine at the start of its life, so it could presumably run in either guise after completion?
I have heard rumours that the Sumpter Valley guys have considered replicating one of the Uintah mallets on their line, in its later tender form, as a project for the future.
As far as I am aware, the original Mason Bogies had some design weaknesses, which modern engineering may be able to fix.
I don't know if you are aware of this, but in the U.K. 2 replica locos now exist which
do not have cast cylinders. One is a large standard gauge 4-4-2 'Atlantic' express passenger locomotive, being constructed at the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. It is being built as a replica of London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR), later Southern Railway and British Railways 424, 2424 and 32424
"Beachy Head," which was scrapped in 1958. Instead of casting them in the traditional way, the replica loco's cylinders have been fabricated from sheet steel, and welded together using modern welding techniques. In addition, as the ability to forge new connecting rods, main rods and valve gear has now been lost in the U.K., the motion for this loco has been cut from thick sheet steel by waterjet, and will be machined into the finished rods.
A replica 2ft gauge 2-4-2 tank loco,
"Lyn", has recently entered service on the revived Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, also in the U.K. This replaces an original loco which had been built by Baldwin's for the original L&BR in the 1890's, and which was scrapped in 1935. The new
Lyn has fabricated cylinders and a superheated boiler, making it more powerful than the original loco.
Both methods may be usable for a replica Mason Bogie, or any other replica Colorado loco?
You're lucky in the USA in that virtually no locos have inside cylinders (where the cylinder block is located between the loco's frames, which are nearly always made from plate steel and plate/cast stretchers rather than bar frames as in the USA). Standard gauge 0-4-0, 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 locos (with various versions with leading or trailing wheels) in either tank or tender form exist in the U.K. on many preserved railways. This design has one major flaw - the cylinder block is right beneath the smokebox, which over decades leaves it vulnerable to acidic corrosion caused by water vapour from the cylinders mixing with coal ash in the smokebox. The resulting crude sulphuric acid seeps down onto the cylinders and slowly eats the block away, eventually forcing its replacement. 3 locos on the Bluebell Railway are now suffering from this problem, with 2 needing new cylinder blocks as patching them is no longer sufficient. Fabricated blocks would not have enough weight, as the loco would be left 'back-heavy' if they were used, so castings must be used for the replacements. Fortunately, very few US preserved railways will suffer from this problem, which is becoming an increasing one on U.K. preserved lines!
Chris
