"Hell on Wheels" - Central Pacific Jupiter

[modelperry]

Parts 124 - 152

Parts 124-134 truck assemblies
Side rail pieces 124-126 were a bit fiddly to install. I could not get all of them lined up straight, causing overlap issues on the ends of each bent strip.
When installing the side spring hanger brackets (128) for the rear truck, I had to trim quite a bit of the rail pieces, mentioned above, to get the brackets to fit correctly.
The remaining parts fit well with few adjustments.

Part 135 - the floor plate - nothing to this really.

Parts 136 - 150 floor framework.
Lots of precision cutting required, but the result was a nice fitting sturdy frame.

Parts 151- just the brake mounts. No issues.

Parts 152 - brake actuation cylinder and lines.
Cylinder assembly was straight forward. The actuation arm the cylinder attaches to does not have a definitive location marked on it. Also the mounting tab for this arm that glues to the frame was missing and unidentified. I scratch built one, but had to guess a bit on the size and shape. Lines are made from plastic rod stock.

greg

[modelperry]

Parts 153 - 160 and 172 - 175

Parts 153 and 154 are the brake shoe assemblies.
Fit was good and no issues with their build.

Parts 155 -157 are the links for the brake system. No issues with building them nor the wire links between them.

Part 158 brake actuation spool. No issues. Chain or cord is called out between this and the brake linkage. I used embroidery thread.

Part 159 is the tender tongue used to attach it to the locomotive.

Parts 172 steps. I skipped ahead to finish items that would be on the bottom of the tender or difficult to access after the top part of the tender was installed. No issues with the step builds.

Part 173 tongue support and spacer (?) block on tender. No issues.

Part 174 spacer block on locomotive. No issues.

Part 175 fold down walkway/ramp between tender and locomotive.

Part 160 tender top plate. After building up the box structure with laser parts, the top plate was installed. Fit was spot on.

greg

[Vermin_King]

This is really, really looking good, sir. The details really make this pop

[modelperry]

Parts 161 - 171

Parts 161-166 The tender surface skins.
Each side wraps from the inside side wall around the front curved edge and meets at the rear in the middle. If you install each side separately, there will be an obvious and unwanted overlap. So I joined both pieces in the middle to preserve the rear graphics and sectioned the resulting piece into three. This was a much better approach. The top flare was also joined in the middle and attached as one piece. The flare was just slightly short on each front edge, so a little trimming of the top plate in this area was needed to dress everything up. The accent pieces all fit with only minor trimming.

Parts 167 - top side bins - No issues

Parts 168 brake wheel
The only issue here was trying to work the wheel shaft down through the tender floor into the cable spool underneath. I broke the spool loose trying to force the shaft through. Delicate repair surgery ensued.

Parts 169 the other control levers - No issues

Parts 170 the rear tank hatch - No issues other than no pattern provided for handhold.

Parts 171 front tender edge handholds - No issues.

This brings me to the end. This was such a well designed model that building it was a pleasure and not a cussfest. Do not be afraid of it if you have it in your stash and have yet to build it. It compares well with the prototype with just a few color issues, mainly on the tender truck frames where there should be a little blue.

On to the next project....

greg

[Texman]

Excellent workmanship Greg! An extremely attractive build.

[Vermin_King]

That is truly delightful, sir. I almost hate that this project is over

[Burning Beard]

Beautiful job, I hope I get the chance build this one day, and I hope my results are as good.

Mike

[DeadlyTedly]

Excellent workmanship! Your attention to detail and careful assembly have all been worth it.

[Dancooper]

Hello Greg, I just started this kit a couple of days ago as well (I still have to transfer my pictures to the pc, so, no pictures nor log yet).
It's weird that the frame was not included in your lc set, it was in mine, both the 1mm short parts for the frame as the two longer 2mm thick parts.

[bpgeygolpher]

Greg,

You did a wonderful job on this build. I wish I had your build information when I built the model a few years ago. Overall I remember it as a fun build with few complications.

Outstanding work and a very good reference for future builders.

Thank you