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South Jersey S Scale Modelers

PRR B6

 

PRR B6_1 small PRR_B6_2 small

 

PRR_B6_3 small PRR_B6_4 small

 

The PRR B6 0-6-0 switcher has long been a favorite of mine. American Flyer made it in S Gauge but they were collectable so I never had one.

 

The closest thing to a B6 in S Scale is Rex, an old school S equivalent of Tyco or Roundhouse white metal kits, and remains the main (almost ONLY) source of any small S steam locos, besides a very few brass locos. They are currently out of business with the last owner, Putt Trains. A down side to Rex locos is they frequently have wobbly drivers. They are code 125, which I prefer code 110, but that was the standard back then. Also note the tender steps are on the wrong side, a big mistake made in the original tooling.

 

 

In November 2017 I saw a nicely built B6 on eBay and won it for a very good price ($175.00).

 

The eBay loco has 1 driver that has a pretty bad wobble. With the white metal cast driver centers you are not bending it back to make it better. You just have to live with the wobble.

 

This loco has a Frank Titman build style to it with grimy flat black paint, and some air bubbles under the decals. When I put it next to another B6 I have had for a very long time now, (10+ years?) they are both almost identical in build style, and ironically is also lettered as number 535, which was NEVER a B6! They both had to have been made by the same person, but I will never know for sure. I have also had another B6 kit for a long time. That needs a lot more attention before it gets running. It might become a B6sa without the Belpaire Firebox

 

PRR_B6_6 small

 

PRSL N5 Cabin 200

I did not know about the B6 I would buy on eBay when I started the build, but this slide inspired me to make PRSL N5 200. The slide was used extensively for a reference. It was my most recently completed project 11-19-17 before working on these locos. I really wished I won the slide but lost it at about $36.00. When I won the new B6 it was just awesome to sort of recreate the slide.

 

PRR_B6_7 small PRR_B6_8 small

 

Everything Below Is Temporary

I have known a project to upgrade my Rex collection including my Sam Powell built PRR A5 would happen at time point. All of the paint on all locos is getting stripped and repainted. I started to make brass parts in Solidworks in 2009, including lifting rings, a handrail flange and a replacement tender step casting. Most of the step casting shown below was waste with casting feeders.

 

PRR_B6_9 small PRR_B6_10 small PRR_B6_11 small

 

 

I got VERY lucky that the eBay win B6 already had a Tsunami and Rex can motor conversion in it. I did rewire the whole thing to include many plugs, and got it running in 12-1-17. I will upgrade the first generation Tsunami to a WOW4 with a Keep Alive capacitor bank. It is just a matter of unplugging the NCE decoder and adding a speaker which unfortunately will be in the tender

 

On 12-2-17 I got out my older B6, gave it a very quick and very dirty decal job as 1733 by painting and decaling over old decals, since it was duplicated to 535. I added the can motor, surface mount LEDs for headlights and DCC, just a motor decoder for now. It is VERY quiet, no gear noise at all. I also had to pull the drivers out .015 total to get the gauge to current NASG standards.

 

eBay B6

PRR_B6_12 small

 

Original B6 Temporality Changed To 1733

PRR_B6_13 small PRR_B6_14 small 

 

Looking great together

PRR_B6_15 small PRR_B6_16 small

 

PRR_B6_17 small PRR_B6_18 small

 

Much more to come….

 

 

Updated 2-25-18

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