Some details on NKP hudsons

Last night, I decided to renew the fight against my Nickel Plate hudson. I actually have two, plus a long term lease on a third, but my first one is the one I think of as MY NKP hudson. She was the most expensive locomotive I've ever purchased by a wide margin...and she has elephant ears. She is also, in many respects, my worst locomotive.

Nickel Plate Products imported these locomotives in 1977. The L-1a's came with elephant ears and mars lights...the L-1b's came without these details. In 1982, the imported more L-1a's that were factory painted. All were made in Japan and have a reputation as bad locomotives...with numerous ones have self destructed. The biggest problem is in the way the cylinder block is attached, as well as the valve gear. These parts are loose enough that they can slide around and cause binds. Combining that with their bad open frame motors, and they aren't winners. But, they are the only NKP passenger power ever offered (aside from the berks that were equiped for passenger service). Ironically, the other two hudsons have had their problems fixed...so they are merely new motors away from being excellent locomotives.

A friend, Wayne, tipped me off as to the best way to install the motor in her. Since the motor is too large to slide through the ashpan, I'll mount it in the firebox and use tweezers to place the universal when it is being put together.

Last night, I removed the gearbox from my troubled hudson...so that it can roll freely. This has allowed me to attack the problems with the valve gear. I've bent various parts around to try to help them avoid binding...but there is just so much slop in the mechanism that I fear a relapse even though it is quite smooth right now.

With that done for now, I've gone after fixing a few of the details on the boiler. I noticed that one of the sand lines is missing, plus a number of the parts are crooked. Upon further review, the missing sandline shouldn't be there...it is an error.

Variations:
The L-1a's were built in 1927 by Alco-Brooks. They were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th hudsons ever built. They were numbered 170-173. After WW2, they were extensively rebuilt with new frames, elephant ears, and various other upgrades. Sometime after 1946, the L-1a's received additional sand lines as the HO hudsons have...apparently for backing up into LaSalle Street Station. 170-172 were defiled in the 1950s with Mars lights...one of the many reasons that 1940s railroading was superior to 1950s railroading. The 170 sits in the St. Louis Transportation Museum. The 173 was purchased by a man whom intended to save her, but his untimely death led to her getting cut up.

The L-1b's were built in 1929 by Lima. They were #174-177. As with the pacifics (and the berks), the Limas were better than the Alcos...as the 175 and 177 were distinctly the best hudsons (162 was the best pacific). 174 and 176 were both defiled with Mars lights. 174 & 175 had the same fate as the 173. All four Limas never recevied the additional sand line...and since my models will be/are Limas, they'll have their extra sand lines removed. I need to research the tenders a bit more as they varied in the 1940s...and I don't want them to have the standard 1950s hudson tender if they didn't have it in 1948.

Perhaps, in the future, I'll add more L-1s to my roster by acquiring USRA light 4-6-2s and bashing them. The mechanism is identical to that of both the NKP pacifics and hudsons, and so it will spare me the effort of fixing another brass L-1. Two manufacturers have had USRA light 4-6-2s that have been overdue for nearly a year.