Alexander PRR K4 with Icken drive

[Carey Williams]

Hello all

Fun time at the March meet ....lots of friends and lots of trains .
New purchase
Alexander PRR K4 with Icken drive pulling cast aluminum Alexander passenger cars all mid 1930's O scale . Engine later modified by George Gyseki (sp)?of Altoona PA.

Please see link for video

https://youtu.be/FXpOSdAeDwE

[sarge]

George Dziki (I believe he used the Polish spelling) lived in Pitcairn, not Altoona. He was retired from Westinghouse Air Brake and had an outbuilding you would have loved. There was a fully equipped machine shop and a non-scenic'd classic racetrack of a layout controlled by a great whacking bank of Marnold controllers, featuring fantastic handlaid approaches in and out of a large through station; double slips, crossovers, NYSME Code 172 rail, all taken at speed. It was loud! On the other floor were lots of tables loaded with models he had built or rebuilt, mostly locos and passenger stock.

He was a little guy, about as tall as the M1 Garand (with bayonet fixed) that he carried when he walked from Normandy to Belgium where he was wounded pretty severely during the Bulge. His demeanor was always cheerful, making him almost elvish and when he was perched up on his barstool tugging at Marno-stats the image was delightfully hilarious.

He and I travelled to the Chicago meet many times together. Really talented machinist and model maker, and all-round happy guy; good friend.

[Dennis Holler]

It's a really nice loco having seen it in person at the show. That Alexander K4 frame is hard to miss!!

Speaking of Marno-stats, I need to find a few of the 15 ohm Marno-stats for the panel I have as it has the higher ohm ones more at home on an ho layout.

[ScaleCraft]

I won't sell you just those. I have 6-1/2 feet of MoS. All at once. Plus power supply parts, remote gauges, all of it.

[bob turner]

I always admired the Marn-O-Stats. The modern solution is an auto transformer or Variac. Too bad they do not come with a throttle-like lever.

I have a mostly Alexander K4. Somebody soldered the frame incorrectly, then sanded down the beautiful detail on one side. I have one eye open for the damaged side casting. I have always thought that the Alexander was a bronze cast boiler, but knowing Ed, it was probably available at one time or another in built-up brass.

Let me see if I have a photo:

Yeah, here it is. Off the track, as usual. It came to me in pieces, and somebody's spouse had taken a ball pien hammer to the boiler. It was probably a Scale Craft boiler. Drivers are Lobaugh, but I believe I have a set of drivers with the proper counterweights around here somewhere. Tender is obviously USH.

[Dennis Holler]

I have some Alexander parts including two cast bronze boilers. That cast boiler sure seems small, maybe just because it is 1/4” scale but it does have some nice lines.

[Dennis Holler]

I won't sell you just those. I have 6-1/2 feet of MoS. All at once. Plus power supply parts, remote gauges, all of it.

Dave, I wish you were closer, I could be into that.

[ScaleCraft]

unscrew it back to smaller sections. Bubble-wrap and boxes, UPS..................................

[Dennis Holler]

Sent you a PM Dave.

[bob turner]

Carey sent me some photos to post. Here is a nice shot of his new Alexander K4:



When I get in this evening I will post the fragments he has of an early effort. I too think the Alexander cast boiler might be too small - I gave mine away to a nice guy at a long ago OSW. But I sure like Ed's engine frame! Anybody with a spare - contact me!

[Carey Williams]

Thank you very much for the information about George ...nice to get more history about prior owners .
Bob thank you for posting the photo

Cheers Carey

[WindyPines-1810]

I won't sell you just those. I have 6-1/2 feet of MoS. All at once. Plus power supply parts, remote gauges, all of it.

That I would like to see!

Mark in Oregon

[bob turner]

About time you made it over here - stick around and post more often?

Here is Carey's other Alexander K4:



Note first that the boiler is sheet metal. At one point Ed was producing them as one piece brass sand casting. Then note the gearing - first, a 90 degree spur gear setup, then . . . I will fix this as soon as I look up the name of those gears. It is not "hypoid."

Edit: Bevel gears, and when set up this way they are called Mitre gears. I have no idea what happens on that axle with the center spur gear, but there is a shot on the video if you are curious.

And finally note the exquisite detail on the frame itself, cylinder block, and pilot area. Works of art. Drivers have been replaced; PRR always used a straight chord line on the inner part of counterweights.

I have way too many really nice K4s, but I have to admit: I had momentary lustings for this one. If it were mine, it would get a more conventional worm gear setup, and a can motor. And insulated drivers with proper counterweights.

But my current plans for the K4 - I have a 2-rail mechanism awaiting a Scale Craft boiler, which will be configured like #1737's "builders photo."

[ScaleCraft]

I passed on one of those. Woody had his way with it.

Cleaned the paint off the cast boiler with a hammer and chisel, then a bench grinder.

Chassis beyond hope. Looks like he tried to make a tender drive, tailstock ground out so badly....

Then, I forget, US Hobbies drivers and enclosed gearbox, hacksawed journals out, tried to make it sprung, over 1/16" fore and aft play in journals to frame.

What is wrong on your photo requiring shims at smokebox support pad? Lift boiler to clear motor?

[bob turner]

As a guess - the large permag motor hit the top of the firebox, so the rear mount was higher. Then they had to raise the front.

Again, I would put a Pittman 8224 in there with a Mod O.6 gearbox. While I am not a "sprung driver" fanatic, I probably would convert the frame to pedestal style, with Lobaugh-sized slots and cork spacers. Easier to quarter drivers when they are not in a locomotive frame.

The model does look well detailed and a good platform for restoration.

Did you see the Max Gray GS-5 go for $300? Granted, it had blind drivers and maybe some other problems, but it looked like a $500 model to me. I do have a spare set of all flanged Max drivers with Boxpok holes carved out to better match the prototype, so I bid half-heartedly. I do not need more locomotives (even though I have three actively under construction right now).

Off to the airport!