P r o j e c t L a n a k i l a
A C H A N G E I N P L A N S
A couple of months ago I bought a really good book called Next Stop Honolulu. The book had 2 really clear images of Lanakila as well as Leiahi and Kaala from the same time period (1921). I was able to see more detail than the Xerox copies could provide and get closer measurements.
As a result, I scraped the cab, the compressor, the plumbing, both headlights, the dynamo and the tops of the cylinders, in favor of parts that were closer to the true dimensions and details. Then I added a coupler to the front pilot. The image below shows my progress so far.
Both images in the book are of Lanakila from the fireman's side, but Kaala and Leiahi both have shots from the engineer's side in addition to shots from the fireman's side. This allowed me to view the similarities between the engineer's side equipment and plumbing on the two smaller engines and the equipment and plumbing on the fireman's side of all 3 engines.
I was happy to learn that with the exception of the dimensions and the manufacturer or model of some of the equipment the equipment and plumbing layouts were identical on all 3 on the fireman's side, and similar for the smaller two on the engineer's side. So I think it is safe to say that Lanakila would have the same layout for equipment and plumbing on the engineer's side as the other 2 smaller engines.
As you can see, I re-fabricated the cabin from styrene. I had originally intended to use wood, but the only woods I have at this time are too porous. I do have a small supply of white cedar, which would be ideal for this project except for the fact that I have just enough to finish a model of the May Flower II, which is currently under construction. If I find some more white cedar I will probably rebuild the cabin. But If I do it will be in anticipation of building Lanakila completely from scratch instead of kitbashing it like I have done here.
Styrene is fun to work with at this scale. I was surprised at how easy it was to carve and add small details like joints and wood grain. I avoided carriage bolts and nails that I know must be there somewhere, because I can't find those details on the photos and didn't want to put them in the wrong location.
Unfortunately I glued the smaller window frame in place before I realized that this must be a sliding window also. If I do this over again I won't make the same mistake.
I also make a plastic channel for the one slider to travel back and forth in. I also wish I had not done that, I was skimming through the book one day and came upon a good shot inside the cabin of another train and found out the sliders ran across metal runners that would have been super easy to fabricate from brass, and 100X easier to install than the plastic channel.
I built the new headline from a combination of copper and brass. The body and the lens cover were originally a cap to a ¾" pipe. The outside dimension matches exactly a scale 19.5" light, which is the measurements I get from the photo. I have been told that the headlight is actually 20" so I am about ½" off on either my calculations, or my measurements. Though clear, it is still hard to measure because unlike and actual photograph the printing process creates the image with layers of dots so, it is hard to an accurate measurement.
Regardless, I drew up the plans above and started cutting my pieces.
The lens reflector was hand shaped using an extra ¾" cap, 10mil brass, and a round headed hammer. I polished the inside with a buffing wheel mounted on a dremel. The reflector above is in the finished state waiting to be chrome plated. The rest of the parts were attached to the headlight body using 90 bolts and then soldered. The body is bolted to the platform and the platform is bolted to the smoke box in the image below. All that remains is the number plate frames, the chromed reflector, the lens and a light. I am debating whether to rig a light switch that can be enabled by pushing on the conduit from the dynamo.
The images above show the painted cabin. I went with a natural finish, painting it to look as close as possible to Koa,,,one of my favorite woods.
The loco is close to finished now. I have to add some modifications to the pilot that I did not see at first. I also want to add a compressor tank on the engineer's side and brakes to both sides. When I finish that, and the rest of the inside plumbing and the cap to the smoke stack I will update this page and move on to the tender.