As I said in my ten wheeler thread, I recently bought the cheapest Lionel "General" ever made: the Redwood Valley Express engine. I bought it to bash it into a 1/4" scale 4-4-0. As I cogitated over my ten wheeler cab, the idea of simply relocating the motor and gears of the General came to me. It turned out to be quite easy. The first photo is for reference. It shows the original motor and gear tower. Note that the frame extends well beyond the rear drivers. The motor is centered behind the center window post in the original cab.



I drilled holes in three of the drivers, to pop off the spoke inserts. (Don't ask me why it doesn't show in the first photo; it's very much there.) This is necessary to realign the cranks, and it also facilitates drilling and tapping the cranks. Beyond that, it proved a fine way to access the screwed-on gear plate for removal. That's why the hole in the rear driver is larger; it allows a screwdriver shank to pass through it. The near-side frame has a similar hole on both sides of the axle.



My new plate is roughly the length of the cab, with allowance for the front and back walls. (Interestingly, the stock plate is the same width, leading me to think MPC may have been considering their own "General" scale modification at the time they designed the can motor re-powering.) The motor is centered, so its armature shaft will be right behind the center window post - as on the stock version. The plate is a bit less tall than the cab will be, as I cut it even with the motor top. The idler gear will extend into the boiler. I run tested the new configuration, and it's as smooth and quiet as the original.

Looking good. I made a similar gear tower modification on one of my Generals, in order to make a more-accurate cab. I've since disposed of that engine in favor or the MTH version.

Thanks for the encouragement, Steve.

I know the MTH is die-cast, which is nice. Still, I can't say I understand favoring the MTH, as even if the cab is better, the boiler isn't. My mod will allow an accurate boiler.

I only used the MTH chassis. The rest I scrapped in favor of scratchbuilding a C.K. Holliday boiler/cab.

I used the MTH primarily because of its see-though spoked drivers and pilot. It was also wildly more expensive than the model you're using.

Yes, drivers with gears on the back are not candidates for open spoke conversion. In lieu of that, I'll paint the spoke spaces whatever color I choose for the firebox. I'll also use shading on the cowcatcher. (Shouldn't that be cow scoop? Or hamburger helper? )

Since the last photos, I cut off the frame below the forward extension, and ahead of the front drivers. More photos, as construction progresses.

I decided to make the superstructure in cardstock. At worst, it can serve as a mock-up. At best, it can be the finished model. I worked in cardstock before, but there are things I've forgotten, such as the grain of the card. I tried rolling some card, but it was very resistant, and creased where it did give. I had another couple of pieces of rolled cardstock lying around, and just stumbled on the grain thing. Otherwise, I was very close to rolling glued paper tubes (just like rocket tubes) for the boiler!

Speaking of getting back up to speed, I used some Elmers Craft Bond spray to assemble the wagontop boiler course. I remembered how great an adhesive it is, but forgot what a sticky mess it can be to apply. It is best to use dedicated rubber gloves, without rips or holes, for application.

Here's the cab, reduced to 1:48 scale in all three dimensions. This is just the start of its rebuild, of course.






My first gear tower pushed the cab too far to the motor side, which also forced the idler gear outside of the boiler. Here's the new one. The gears now fit entirely within the cab.



Note also the motor is moved towards the gear side. It now allows the cab to center properly.

i saw a kit bashed General made into C.K. Holliday at a local train show, the guy told me he scratch built a new boiler and cab, but used the Lionel general motor and wheels, it looked awesome, even had 5 MTH wood sided passenger cars painted yellow and labeled Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad.

Would love to have seen that.