These shots came through on railpictures.net. It's interesting to see the progress being made on this young girl. The creation of a long departed class of locomotive is a major happening in my opinion.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 03&nseq=57

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 49&nseq=11

This is one I"m going to do my best to see in person. Kudos to the Valley RR crew, especially JDC!

It's amazing what a few cosmetic changes can do for the way that locomotive looks!

I've always thought that one of the SY or QJ locomotives would look better if they were more "Americanized." I'm glad the VRR crew and Mr. Conrad have had this unique opportunity to do so.

Way to go. The Chinese engines have good bones, just need a lot of cosmetic work. They can be made into some attractive power.
IMHO

You have to wonder if we will have 1910 Baldwins running in another 25, 50, or 100 years. This young girl could bring steam to many generations to come.

I agree, but also understand why such a radical cosmetic transformation hasn't occurred yet. These locomotives were either brand new or practically new when they arrived. Why change a perfectly good cab or tender?

The fire presented a unique opportunity.

JDC, if you are reading, is the tender tank all new? If so, is it stainless?

Dear David:
No, the tender cistern isn't new.
The slope back ends were boxed in, "wagon round" trim added to the top edge and hand rails along the coal bunker (to replace the full length one which were standard).
We had the cistern sandblasted inside and out. The water side was painted with three coats of Rust-Oleum 9100 series epoxy (with the "water immersion" activator), the exterior recieved two coats of Dupont "Corlar" epoxy primer and two coats of "Fulthane" black.
We hope to have the locomotive's boiler inspected later this month when the FRA visits to witness the annual inspection on our No.40.
Although hopelessly out of date, the "Enginehouse Blog" on our website has more infromation on this project. With any luck, I'll find time to update the Blog after we are finished with the FRA inspections.
Thank you for your interest.
J.David

J.David, are you going to leave the tender wheels the same? Just wondering if you are going to change them too to match the American type wheels. Awesome job! 2011 looks very promising for more steamers to come alive again!

Thank you for the information. Certainly something to look forward to in 2011 and beyond!

This makes me wonder if it might be posible to turn one of the QJ 2-10-2s in to a Southern Railway Ss class. http://southern.railfan.net/images/arch ... u5023.html

The biggest problem with the QJ's is the "loaf of bread" dome that houses some sort of front end throttle. Unlike anything ever used here in the states. Unless you can justify a SP style skyline casing on an engine with rollerskate wheels, you're kinda stuck.

The SY's lack this feature, thankfully, and look like a pretty normal North American loco, except for the bay window cab and clipped off cistern. Looks like J. David has already dealt with the tank; can the cab be far behind?

Yes. That skylining hides the dry pipe which runs on the outside of the boiler. Since that would require a lot of reworking of the boiler it just wouldn't be worth it.

Interesting about the dome and boiler. Even with the casing, a American-style smokebox front end, boiler tube pilot and U.S. style cab could go a long way. Then again, why do this to a perfectly nearly-new locomotive....

Heck, even painting the drivers black makes a big difference.

The JF class Chinese 2-8-2s looked quite American. Back in the 80s I saw an Alco JF class in service with it's 1937 builders plate intact. Surprised US builders plates were not removed during the "cultural revolution" of the 1960s.

Check the caption under the first photo: "...She'll have a brand new, low-profile cab with arched windows..."