Lore of 12's return: The public was so bummed that 12 wouldn't be seen on the rails again (it's a favorite) that they petitioned the town government to fund the Westport and Shelter Cove to bring it back to operational status. The town gov. was stubborn at first, but after 2 long years, they finally decided to bring it back. #12 was stripped down and rebuilt from the ground up. The CEO of the W&SC (This is Micheal) was so happy that he decided to run an excursion through town for the public to ride, as seen at 1:04 .
Wow, I was assuming that all you were doing was putting one of the spectrum motors into the blue box version, but this looks incredible! It’s amazing how much of a difference all the separate pipes and valves on the boiler makes. Great work indeed!
Ever thought of giving your engines nicknames or like nameplate, for some reason I like calling the high boiler ten wheeler Ned, and the Low Boiler Nelly.
I actually do have headcanon names for almost all of them, most of which date back to long before this layout. For a while, I thought about doing a Thomas-esque series of stories with them. The high boiler 4-6-0 (#13) is Marion, and the low boiler (#12) is Madeline. (I have some male names too - the Proto 2000 0-6-0 is Rudy.) You can call them whatever you like, of course - I don't think they care either way, lol.
That’s funny. I’ve also been considering doing a Thomas-esque series. Several of my locomotives already have names for the series. My proto 2000 0-6-0’s name is Charlie (short for Charlotte). I also have a Bachmann Spectrum 2-10-0 that I’ve named Alastor, a Bachmann New York Central J3a Hudson that I’ve named Alfred E. Perlman, a USRA light pacific that I’ve named Anthony, a Bachmann Spectrum PRR k4 that I’ve named Hank, and a proto 2000 e7 that I’ve named Vox. My series would be called Stories Of The Southern. It would be set on the Bonesborough Latissa and Gravesfield, a fictional coal-hauling short line railroad in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.
I was thinking of doing a thomasesque series with my layout too, my number one will be an o4 o saddle tank named claire who works at the lumber mill, numbers 2, 3,5, 6, 9, ,10 and 11 are o 8 os named murtagh, jack, rupert and angus, dougal and colm, geilis and king loui, and numbers 4, 7 8 and 12 are named jenny who is another o four o saddle tank like claire but in a different livery, briana who is an o 6 o and is claire’s sister, frank who is another o 6 o panior tank rather than a saddle tank and is claire’s friend from her old railway in london and a 4 6 2 named belfast air who was built from a ship’s hull, most of my engines have names from the show and book series outlander which is what my layout is themed arround while the name belfast air was the name of a short titanic film on youtube, i haven’t thought of a name of the series but my layout is called the inverness and highland railway, maybe i could title my series tales of the IHR or something like that, my layout is set in the scottish highlands hence the name, i’m glad you restored your 10-wheeler number 12 to her former glory, i hope to get my layout up and running soon
Awesome to see #12 running again!. In regards to your Shay... I recently bought a NIB Bachmann Shay ...but as soon as i got it home, i automatically swapped out the gears on mine for a replacement metal gear set i bought from Northwest Shortline,lol. Works incredibly well now and is working with my MDC shays ,pulling log loads.
Nice to see you back! You did a good job. Was there a reason you decided to not repaint the piping and pumps in black? Isn't it a shame that Bachmann downgraded such a sweet model? You did the right thing to buy a Spectrum one!
I actually have a 4-6-0 very similar to 12 that’s in really bad shape. Mine is number 87, and is painted in the Southern Railway’s freight black. She would’ve originally been a G class 2-8-0 built by Baldwin in 1890 for the Southern Railway, but she was rebuilt in 1949 into a 4-6-0 to negotiate tighter curves. She’s currently inoperable, but I’m working on getting her running again. She’s one of the newer dcc sound 4-6-0s with the 8-pin tender plugs, but I’m gonna rewire it with spectrum plugs and a new motor.
Absolutely beautiful locomotive, you really did #12 justice here! I do have to ask, what brand are the carriages she's pulling? They look a lot better than the typical Wild West style carriages I see at my local hobby store, the Bachmann ex-Tyco/Mantua affair!
Thanks! They are Roundhouse 50-foot Overland coaches (now sold under the Athearn brand). They're usually sold as a 4-car set. Roundhouse previously sold kit versions with slightly different tooling, dating back several decades, but the ready-to-run versions from the early 2000s onward (like mine) are much nicer. I've had mine for 14 years, and they're still the nicest 19th century HO passenger cars I've found. I believe Athearn is planning another production run later this year.
@@michaelramsey81 Thank you very much for your reply, I may have to look into a set at some point! Been wanting a good set for my Illinois Central RailRoad #382 and Sierra Railway #3 for a while!
Michael, this is nit picky: The rear drivers wobble to and fro. It may need a tighter bearing around the axle within the chassis, or maybe just out of quarter a tad. Only saying it because 1) I'm nit picky. (2) Could get worse later...On the other hand maybe it's juzz nuttin' to bodder wit ! You are a true blue model railroader the way you go deep with refurbishing, livery corrections, remotering, et al...Great stuff !!
Hey Michael, recently I’ve been trying to ballast my track with Woodland Scenics Fine Ballast. Unfortunately, the ballast will not stay in place though. I watched some videos on TH-cam before starting and found that most people wet the ballast with ether rubbing alcohol or water first to break the surface tension, and then they pour a 50/50 mixture of pva glue and water over the ballast. I don’t have any glue that is just called pva so I’ve just been using Elmer’s glue, so I don’t know if maybe that’s the problem.
Elmer's glue is the same thing as PVA. That's what I used. The rubbing alcohol is crucial - in addition to wetting it down beforehand, I also mix a little bit into the glue itself. I use a pipette or eyedropper to apply the glue. Make sure you use enough that it soaks all the way through, otherwise it will just form a "crust" on the surface that breaks away easily. Ballast absorbs a lot of glue. Another trick you could try is applying some full-strength glue to the roadbed before putting down the ballast, then applying the alcohol and diluted glue afterwards as before. Hopefully that helps.
@@michaelramsey81 it should, thanks for the tips! Also, is it harder to get the fine ballast to stay in place, like if I try the medium ballast would it work better?
@@modelrailfan37 I haven't compared them, but I do think medium ballast would probably be easier. There's more room between the grains for glue to flow in. I used medium on all of my track.
Hey Michael! I noticed that if you pause the video at 7:18, you can see that your loco kinda tilts to its right, and I have a similar engine that does that. I’ve yet to find anyone to discuss this with, but do you know what may be the issue which makes it do that?
I didn't even notice that until now, but you're right! My guess would be that the pickup wipers on either the front or rear driver axle are bent further out on one side, causing them to push the axle off center. I'll have to take the cover plate off and check those.
@@michaelramsey81 haha sorry if I caused you some mild annoyance :) I do think it’s quite interesting, but if you do end up looking please let me know!
Hey Michael! I wanted to ask about your other Bachmann Ten Wheeler (the high boiler one). I was wondering if the chassis are the same and can be interchanged. The answer is probably no but I really like the high boiler 4-6-0’s and can’t for the life of me find one!
The chassis, sadly, is not the same. The internal driveline uses most of the same parts, but the actual split metal chassis is taller on the high boiler version. (I believe the drive belt is longer to account for this.) There are other minor differences as well (such as the running boards), but the main parts that are unique to each version are the chassis, driving wheels, tender, and bottom cover plate.
@@BMMEC6000 That's probably the second best option, short of actually finding one. You might end up with a hybrid of parts from both versions, but it'll be unique to your railroad. I recommend checking out my older video, "A Tale of Two Ten-Wheelers", for a more in-depth exploration of swapping parts between the two.
What film was it in (I only knew the Emma sweeney off the Casey Jones tv show "ep 1 night mail" Emma was repainted into cannonball express color. And in petticoat junction
@@chasesrailwaylinesrr6447 The movie is called "A Ticket to Tomahawk". You can watch the whole thing on TH-cam. The footage used in the Casey Jones show was recycled from this movie.
I know that the 63” drivers can fit under the low boiler version, could you fit larger drivers than 63” if one desired; only asking because you can’t order the 63” wheels from the parts department anymore.
In this case, I simply took the oil tank from another tender and glued it onto this one. I've experimented in the past with making my own oil tanks out of styrene, but was never fully satisfied with the results.
Congratulations on 2,000 subscribers
It’s great to see #12 back
Lore of 12's return: The public was so bummed that 12 wouldn't be seen on the rails again (it's a favorite) that they petitioned the town government to fund the Westport and Shelter Cove to bring it back to operational status. The town gov. was stubborn at first, but after 2 long years, they finally decided to bring it back. #12 was stripped down and rebuilt from the ground up. The CEO of the W&SC (This is Micheal) was so happy that he decided to run an excursion through town for the public to ride, as seen at 1:04 .
I'm getting Henry in rws form vibes
Wow, I was assuming that all you were doing was putting one of the spectrum motors into the blue box version, but this looks incredible! It’s amazing how much of a difference all the separate pipes and valves on the boiler makes. Great work indeed!
Welcome back WestPortAndShelderCove 10 wheeler number 12!!!
Ever thought of giving your engines nicknames or like nameplate, for some reason I like calling the high boiler ten wheeler Ned, and the Low Boiler Nelly.
I actually do have headcanon names for almost all of them, most of which date back to long before this layout. For a while, I thought about doing a Thomas-esque series of stories with them. The high boiler 4-6-0 (#13) is Marion, and the low boiler (#12) is Madeline. (I have some male names too - the Proto 2000 0-6-0 is Rudy.) You can call them whatever you like, of course - I don't think they care either way, lol.
That’s funny. I’ve also been considering doing a Thomas-esque series. Several of my locomotives already have names for the series. My proto 2000 0-6-0’s name is Charlie (short for Charlotte). I also have a Bachmann Spectrum 2-10-0 that I’ve named Alastor, a Bachmann New York Central J3a Hudson that I’ve named Alfred E. Perlman, a USRA light pacific that I’ve named Anthony, a Bachmann Spectrum PRR k4 that I’ve named Hank, and a proto 2000 e7 that I’ve named Vox.
My series would be called Stories Of The Southern. It would be set on the Bonesborough Latissa and Gravesfield, a fictional coal-hauling short line railroad in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.
@@SouRwy4501Productions Hazbin Hotel huh
@michaelramsey81 you could call the spectrum 4-4-0 Old Iron. That's what I call mine
I was thinking of doing a thomasesque series with my layout too, my number one will be an o4 o saddle tank named claire who works at the lumber mill, numbers 2, 3,5, 6, 9, ,10 and 11 are o 8 os named murtagh, jack, rupert and angus, dougal and colm, geilis and king loui, and numbers 4, 7 8 and 12 are named jenny who is another o four o saddle tank like claire but in a different livery, briana who is an o 6 o and is claire’s sister, frank who is another o 6 o panior tank rather than a saddle tank and is claire’s friend from her old railway in london and a 4 6 2 named belfast air who was built from a ship’s hull, most of my engines have names from the show and book series outlander which is what my layout is themed arround while the name belfast air was the name of a short titanic film on youtube, i haven’t thought of a name of the series but my layout is called the inverness and highland railway, maybe i could title my series tales of the IHR or something like that, my layout is set in the scottish highlands hence the name, i’m glad you restored your 10-wheeler number 12 to her former glory, i hope to get my layout up and running soon
Awesome to see #12 running again!. In regards to your Shay... I recently bought a NIB Bachmann Shay ...but as soon as i got it home, i automatically swapped out the gears on mine for a replacement metal gear set i bought from Northwest Shortline,lol. Works incredibly well now and is working with my MDC shays ,pulling log loads.
I have a NWSL gear set stashed away for mine. Will definitely make a video about installing it at some point.
Maybe in late. 2026
@@michaelramsey81 The gear swap will be so much better!.
Once loved then pit to the side brought out again to do it once again. I shed a tear during the running sceen
Wow Michael an awesome model.Awesome layout and awesome video.
Loved it.Thank you👍
It's back and better than ever
The return of the legend
Good use of Zarathustra! She’s a mighty fine loco, nice job!
It's a great looking steam engine. I'm glad you brought it back to life!
The legend returns glad to see 12 back
Nice to see you back! You did a good job. Was there a reason you decided to not repaint the piping and pumps in black? Isn't it a shame that Bachmann downgraded such a sweet model? You did the right thing to buy a Spectrum one!
To be honest, I was just really tired of painting tiny details by the time it got to that point, but I also think it looks good with the blue pipes.
Beautiful model…great restoration…..now come the engineer and fireman 👍🚂
Good job on the new locomotive, Michael!
With the old parts from the old 12, you could get some HO cranes and have them lifting the broken body off a flatbed
It's back lady's and gentlemen IT'S BACK!!!
I actually have a 4-6-0 very similar to 12 that’s in really bad shape. Mine is number 87, and is painted in the Southern Railway’s freight black. She would’ve originally been a G class 2-8-0 built by Baldwin in 1890 for the Southern Railway, but she was rebuilt in 1949 into a 4-6-0 to negotiate tighter curves. She’s currently inoperable, but I’m working on getting her running again. She’s one of the newer dcc sound 4-6-0s with the 8-pin tender plugs, but I’m gonna rewire it with spectrum plugs and a new motor.
Absolutely beautiful locomotive, you really did #12 justice here! I do have to ask, what brand are the carriages she's pulling? They look a lot better than the typical Wild West style carriages I see at my local hobby store, the Bachmann ex-Tyco/Mantua affair!
Thanks! They are Roundhouse 50-foot Overland coaches (now sold under the Athearn brand). They're usually sold as a 4-car set. Roundhouse previously sold kit versions with slightly different tooling, dating back several decades, but the ready-to-run versions from the early 2000s onward (like mine) are much nicer. I've had mine for 14 years, and they're still the nicest 19th century HO passenger cars I've found. I believe Athearn is planning another production run later this year.
@@michaelramsey81 Thank you very much for your reply, I may have to look into a set at some point! Been wanting a good set for my Illinois Central RailRoad #382 and Sierra Railway #3 for a while!
Awesome video Michael! Great engine. It looks and runs very nice. I also like your blinking lighthouse and other aspects of your line.
Michael, this is nit picky:
The rear drivers wobble to and fro. It may need a tighter bearing around the axle within the chassis, or maybe just out of quarter a tad. Only saying it because 1) I'm nit picky. (2) Could get worse later...On the other hand maybe it's juzz nuttin' to bodder wit !
You are a true blue model railroader the way you go deep with refurbishing, livery corrections, remotering, et al...Great stuff !!
I love nitpicky stuff, TBH. I'll take a look at the rear drivers - I do think they may be slightly out of quarter.
Hey Michael, recently I’ve been trying to ballast my track with Woodland Scenics Fine Ballast. Unfortunately, the ballast will not stay in place though. I watched some videos on TH-cam before starting and found that most people wet the ballast with ether rubbing alcohol or water first to break the surface tension, and then they pour a 50/50 mixture of pva glue and water over the ballast. I don’t have any glue that is just called pva so I’ve just been using Elmer’s glue, so I don’t know if maybe that’s the problem.
Elmer's glue is the same thing as PVA. That's what I used. The rubbing alcohol is crucial - in addition to wetting it down beforehand, I also mix a little bit into the glue itself. I use a pipette or eyedropper to apply the glue. Make sure you use enough that it soaks all the way through, otherwise it will just form a "crust" on the surface that breaks away easily. Ballast absorbs a lot of glue. Another trick you could try is applying some full-strength glue to the roadbed before putting down the ballast, then applying the alcohol and diluted glue afterwards as before. Hopefully that helps.
@@michaelramsey81 it should, thanks for the tips! Also, is it harder to get the fine ballast to stay in place, like if I try the medium ballast would it work better?
@@modelrailfan37 I haven't compared them, but I do think medium ballast would probably be easier. There's more room between the grains for glue to flow in. I used medium on all of my track.
@@michaelramsey81 okay, thanks a bunch for all the information!
i feel like this version of 12 is canonically the same engine, but after a rebuild. its mostly similar, but has some differences in areas!
excellent job guy!
"Send word to the 10-wheeler fans immediately. Number Twelve Has Returned!"
I don’t think I ever clicked a video so fast
Hey Michael! I noticed that if you pause the video at 7:18, you can see that your loco kinda tilts to its right, and I have a similar engine that does that. I’ve yet to find anyone to discuss this with, but do you know what may be the issue which makes it do that?
I didn't even notice that until now, but you're right! My guess would be that the pickup wipers on either the front or rear driver axle are bent further out on one side, causing them to push the axle off center. I'll have to take the cover plate off and check those.
@@michaelramsey81 haha sorry if I caused you some mild annoyance :) I do think it’s quite interesting, but if you do end up looking please let me know!
Hey Michael! I wanted to ask about your other Bachmann Ten Wheeler (the high boiler one). I was wondering if the chassis are the same and can be interchanged. The answer is probably no but I really like the high boiler 4-6-0’s and can’t for the life of me find one!
The chassis, sadly, is not the same. The internal driveline uses most of the same parts, but the actual split metal chassis is taller on the high boiler version. (I believe the drive belt is longer to account for this.) There are other minor differences as well (such as the running boards), but the main parts that are unique to each version are the chassis, driving wheels, tender, and bottom cover plate.
@@michaelramsey81 ah I see. I found a whole chassis on Bachmann parts so perhaps I can just “build” my own
@@BMMEC6000 That's probably the second best option, short of actually finding one. You might end up with a hybrid of parts from both versions, but it'll be unique to your railroad. I recommend checking out my older video, "A Tale of Two Ten-Wheelers", for a more in-depth exploration of swapping parts between the two.
@@michaelramsey81 I’ve seen that video (good work btw). I’ve taken note of some of the points you made in that one
Nicely Done👍👍.
It's great to see your favorite engine return No longer on a display track but operating. Was that the emma Sweeney on the Drive in
movie screen?
Yep! I wondered if anyone would catch that!
What film was it in (I only knew the Emma sweeney off the Casey Jones tv show "ep 1 night mail" Emma was repainted into cannonball express color. And in petticoat junction
@@chasesrailwaylinesrr6447 The movie is called "A Ticket to Tomahawk". You can watch the whole thing on TH-cam. The footage used in the Casey Jones show was recycled from this movie.
I could tell they just recycled old footage of it saw a bit of it. You must have put it in the video because its also a 4-6-0 (ten wheeler)
@@chasesrailwaylinesrr6447 Yep, it was the closest engine to #12 I could find in a movie.
Ah good ole 12 if you use your imagination, her smoke box door looks like she’s smiling that she’s back
I know that the 63” drivers can fit under the low boiler version, could you fit larger drivers than 63” if one desired; only asking because you can’t order the 63” wheels from the parts department anymore.
The 63" drivers just barely clear the running boards, so I'd say probably not.
@@michaelramsey81 noted, thanks!
Great work!!
Does the engine still have the low boiler and the large drivers
No, I swapped it back to the original small drivers.
I meant to ask you but how do you make those oil tenders
In this case, I simply took the oil tank from another tender and glued it onto this one. I've experimented in the past with making my own oil tanks out of styrene, but was never fully satisfied with the results.
A rebirth of a iron horse that rides again
Number 12 is running again🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
I retired all of my steam engines until further notice.
Sending a pizza to everyone would be a bit extreme, maybe you can have your HO trains carry slices of pizza if you want to stick with the pizza idea.
Looks good but could it made DCC?
It already is! There's a Digitrax decoder in the tender. I might replace it with a sound decoder at some point in the future.
Ah yes bachman charges a shit ton and lowers quality