Making the NW 382
NW 382 and NW 475 were sister M class 4-8-0s but during their careers, they both received different pieces and attachments which gave them their own characteristics.
The most noticeable difference between 475 and 382 is the spark arrestor. I'm not a metal fabricator by any means so I was going to need help. After talking to Gary Matthews, CMO of Susquehanna #142, we came up with a preliminary idea of how to make it. We were originally going to have to base the measurements off of small pictures in books but luckily at the last second, we were able to get a technical drawing of the spark arrestor from the Norfolk and Western Historical Society.
The base of our spark arrestor is actually the bottom of a 55 gallon drum. It was only 1/2" off of what the drawing called for but it would still work. After cutting off the bottom of the drum, we then cut pieces of thick sheet metal for the skeleton and cut thinner sheet metal for the cone. Unfortunately I have no experience with welding so that was all up to Gary. It sounds simple but it took both of us 2 full days to build it. After a little graphite paint, it was as close as we were going to get to the original.
Another noticeable difference is a flat panel at the bottom of the pilot. The real NW 382 had a metal panel but since I was on a small budget, I had to make it out of thin wood. After a few hours of cutting and shaping, I was able to make it fit. Thin metal wire was used to hold it in place.
As with all things, it's the details that make the most impression. Bill Bentz, one of Strasburg's employees, played a major role in making the 382 as accurate as possible. First he lettered the tender Norfolk and Western. After it dried, he used a blend of heater ash, smoke box soot and water to "weather" the tender and locomotive in order to give it the appearance that the engine had been running for a long time. Unfortunately the engine and tender would have to be weathered again the night before the charter because the 14ft high snow drifts rubbed up against the train while plowing the line.
For one reason or another, 382 had an extra handle rail that ran along the top of the pilot that 475 did not receive. Bill was able to cut, bend and weld a couple of pipes together and welded them onto the pilot. He also custom fabricated handle grab irons for the smoke stack out of magnets and sheet metal.
Other add-ons to the NW 382 include the number plate which was cast out of aluminum by Wayne James and then painted by my wife. The whistle that was recorded on O. Winston Link's album "The Fading Giant" is know as the Nichol's Whistle. Lee Alley was nice enough to personally bring it up from Tennessee so we could have it on the engine for the event.
The night before the event, Bill Bentz, Joe, Chris and Andrew Blaszczyk, Mitch Goldman and myself all worked together and put all the pieces onto the NW 382. The final touch was painting the running board white and weathering it. Here are a couple of photos.
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File comment: Bill Bentz weathering the N&W tender. PAL_4029.jpg [ 136.53 KiB | Viewed 2263 times ] |
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File comment: Gary Matthews building the spark arrestor. PAL_4302.jpg [ 224.3 KiB | Viewed 2262 times ] |
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File comment: The N&W 382 fully assembled. PAL_8637.jpg [ 165.2 KiB | Viewed 2263 times ] |