Nice looking Baldwin of 1889, with numerous updates, at Louisville, Kentucky in 1938:

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi? ... l+n143.jpg

It's long gone, of course, but possibly a candidate for replication? It has a simple, straight boiler, the frame could be flame-cut on a pantograph machine, with the cylinders and saddle and valve gear possibly robbed from one of the derelict 0-6-0Ts that nobody knows what to do with. Drive wheels would have to be cast, but others, including the cast tender trucks could probably be scrounged, as could the appliances. Cab and pilot beam, tender, etc., would be fabricated, but likely some old freight car parts and other scrap could figure into the tender frame and draft gear.

We could blab on endlessly (but hopefully won't) about replicating NYC Hudsons, Niagaras, PRR T1s and all that, but something like this 4-4-0 seems possible. Unlike older replicas that lack air brakes and other safety appliances, this one would be able to function in a modern world.

Comments from those who actually know something about locomotive construction would be welcome. Hopefully, armchair experts and other naysayers will overlook its light tractive effort and inability to haul 20 car excursions. How might the overall cost scope out against say, a 1/8-size Big Boy that a person with excess cash might pay to have constructed? And how much more of the sacrificed saddletanker could likely be reused?