Found an unused Balboa S.P. MK-5 chassis on eBay and bid low figuring
to use it for parts if/when mine broke down. Got it, and it sat
untouched in a box for two years.
Then about six months ago I found an old Westside S.P. Whaleback
tender at a swap meet; exactly the sort that frequently showed up
behind MK-5 Mikados. Bought it thinking I could letter it for the Sud
Pacifico de Mexico and swap railroads with my MK-5 by simply swapping
tenders.
And then just a few weeks ago a virgin (unpainted) Balboa S.P. MK-5
boiler shell showed up on eBay and I got to thinking "Ya know, you
already *have* 2/3 of another locomotive just sitting around..." so I
went ahead and bid.
Had to cast my own lead boiler weight, but I had the original one to
copy so that didn't prove too difficult (the burns have healed
nicely), and after a week or two of fitting the boiler shell to the
chassis (You thought they were mass-produced, and that parts would
automatically interchange? HO-HO! It turns out that "Hand-built" means
they were all slightly different!)
Anyway, herewith the results: Sud Pacifico de Mexico Mikado # 853. The
heaviest class of steam engine that ever ran on the S.P.de M. And
notorious for bending the then 60-pound rail into interesting new
shapes.
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She still needs a little weathering on the boiler, but she runs just
fine, and fits onto my 90' turntable with just a scale foot to spare
at both ends.
A serendipitous locomotive.
~Pete