How to Build a Basic HO Scale Steam Engine Kit: Part 1 - The Chassis

Ever wanted to build a metal steam engine kit in HO scale but aren't sure if you can do it well or not? Then check out this video series where I build a Bowser 2-8-0 "Old Lady" Consolidation! Following many of the methods shown here, you'll be able to put together a nice running model to be proud of for years to come!

This was one of the most basic kits from Bowser, with a typical mechanism and very few details to add on. Kits from others such as Mantua/Tyco, Penn Line, Varney and MDC/Roundhouse are very similar in how they're put together, so the advice in these videos can be applied to many different models.

[HaddaClu]

I would love to find one of these kits. While its nice to just plunk down a loco on the tracks and see it run; I find it equally fun to build things and then appreciate the effort it took to get it running.

[bartholomewsorrentino]

Hi Darth! Thank you for this series. I probably will
look at each video two or three times!

[rajatdas]

Loved the details covered. Waiting for the next video...thanks for sharing.

[Uptownloki]

Excellent video. I'm getting a Bowser 2-10-2 for Christmas and this will be a great help!

[hydrospeedex]

Good job....love these kits put 9 together myself way back when the eyes were good....

[freakazoid]

awesome video, looking forward to the rest of the series.

[dynamicloco]

Your videos deserve more likes and views!! Great work!

[anthonymiller]

Do any of the viewers know when Bowser started remaking these old Varney kits? I know the Old Lady and Casey jones were originally Varney products but Bowser redesigned them a bit. I remember selling kits like this in the 70s when I worked in a small hobby shop. Really have the urge to build one of these now to bring back old memories.

[WHJeffB]

I've watched several of your videos in the last few days... Great presentation and techniques! Kudos for sticking with some of these kits (the Arbor Models kit was especially bad). Watching this video, it's very surprising to me, how much play there is between the holes in the side rods and the crankpins. I scratchbuild mechanisms for steam and side rod driven diesel mechanicals for HOn2, HOn30 and Sn2 (7mm, 9mm and 10.5mm gauge). I typically use only around 0.0015" of clearance between the holes in the rods and the crankpins, 0.002" is acceptable if necessary to smooth out a bind, but anything above that is excessive IMO.

Anyway... Great job with these old kits (or new old stock, or new but old tech). It's great to see people still doing this kind of work.

[lisalewis]

Hi Darth, Another great video series on building a steam locomotive kit. Now I know who bought the Southern Ry Old Lady I was watching on Ebay. She was going to become my rendition of Morris County Central #385. A bit of New Jersey history almost forgotten. Lisa

[scottb]

I miss the concept and quality of the Bowser heavy metal kits. Most of Bowser's offering came from them buying out other kit manufacturers like Penn Line and Varney. I have a "Semi-Vanderbuilt" tender kit, and a number of the re-power kits Bowser / English offered for plastic RTR steam engines like the Lionel GS-4, and they are great. I just never wanted any of the Pennsy or generic RR offerings. I had always hoped they would offer updated specific Southern Pacific and Northern Pacific prototypes (Varney had made a kit for an NP Z-5 that would have been a must have for me if it had been carried into the Bowser line), including re-working the many discontinued SP prototype Varney kits (The Old Lady and Casey Jones are original Varney kits loosely based on an SP prototype), but sadly, before that could happen, the age of steam kits died.

[richardlevy]

I have a Tycho Pony and I don't where the wire from the electric motor connects. In the video it is loose. Any help would be most appreciated.

[Trainskitsetc]

Looking at these from the perspective of someone from the UK, man theres a narket waiting to be tapped into for some higher quality kits of US stuff.

[oceanlbi]

I have an elementary question for you, I am new to this and don't know who to ask and I have a feeling you would know, can the Inox lubricant that is recommended for track also be used to lubricate the wheels on an old set of standard gauge trains - thanks for any help

[OwenConcorde]

Nice! So have you thought of modifying a static locomotive kit (e.g. a German locomtive from Revell Germany) and modifying it to run?

[dastumer]

Is the gear noise typical for one of these? Sounds pretty loud compared to my old Mantua steamers.

[christophercolt]

You Assumed The Drivers Were Properly Track Gauged For Width!

[thatchannelwhereipostrando]

How do you hook up the alligator clips to a power source?

[garyaslakson]

What oil do you use? It looks red, like ATF.