My Model of the "Queen Bee"

[Ponce de Leon]

Like so many rail enthusiasts, "electric trains" were a part of my earliest memory. My parents gave me an American Flyer train set when I was four years old, though sadly all the equipment was lost over the years.

By the time I was 11, I really wanted to do something in HO, because it was "scale." Another train set followed (Christmas present), and I continued to buy rolling stock and additional motive power in the ensuing years.

Fast forward to the early '70s, and I was pretty much resigned to the fact I would only model in plastic, and mostly kitbashing and detailing locomotives. That was forty years ago, so the available models, tools, supplies, etc. were anemic compared to today.

One of my all-time favorite steam locomotives was the Southern Railway Ps-4. Years later, I would write an article on these engines for Railfan & Railroad Magazine ("The Green Goddesses," May 2007 issue). But of all those wonderful Pacifics, the one that fascinated me most was CNO&TP 6482. Of course I never saw her, since she went to scrap when I was but a lad. An earlier generation of fans along the CNO&TP called that particular engine the "Queen Bee," and her regular assignment was pulling the premiere train on the line, the Royal Palm. Near the end of steam, the 6482 was transferred to Spencer, to handle trains on the Washington-Atlanta main (mostly locals and mail trains by then, since diesels had long since taken over the named trains). One of my prized possessions is a 35mm slide of the "Queen Bee" at Reidsville, NC in the early '50s. Her smoke duct was gone, and she was a bit on the dirty side--but the green and gold good looks from her days ascending the hill at Alpine with the southbound "Palm" were still evident.

So—I was still doing some modeling in 1973 when AHM brought out a Rivarossi-made heavy Pacific (actually modeled to represent an Erie K-5). The retail price was $38.95, which was a staggering sum for me then. I was a school teacher, and our family income wasn't all that great. Adjusted for inflation, the model would cost nearly $200 today.

For the times, the AHM Pacific was fine—but modelers of today's era would laugh at the cast-on features, the enormous flanges, clumsy and too-large rods and valve gear and other features. Still—I bought one, and decided I would kitbash it into the "Queen Bee."

A couple of photos of this model from four decades ago are attached. Some things I recall:

·         The 12-wheel tender was actually the same one AHM used on its NKP Berkshire. I filed the roller bearing covers square, to represent friction-bearing trucks, and cut the back deck down to size. The extended coal boards on the sides, as well as the back slope sheet and front were cut from cardboard from a shoe box. The coal in the tender was easy enough to do: it's actual coal. I just walked behind our apartment at Appalachia, VA, where we then lived, and pick up a few small lumps of coal off the right of way and used a hammer to convert them to "HO scale." Some Elmer's glue with a little water made it permanent.

·         The engine's Delta trailing truck was filed down with plastic and paper additions to make it look more like a Ps-4's Cole trailing truck. Like everything else, it's not perfect.

·         The cab roof is all wrong for a Ps-4, but I didn't try to deal with that. I did add a small piece of styrene to represent the middle roof hatch being open. I also decided to not tackle the Baker valve gear, since the prototype had been delivered with that type when built by Alco's Richmond Works. It was later changed to Walschaerts.

·         Of course, a big Southern "steamboat" chime whistle was added (after I filed off the cast version on the fireman's side of the steam dome), along with a connection to the cab using brass wire. This was a common set-up on the Southern for a connection to a top-mounted whistle valve.

·         The Wimble smoke duct  and front smoke deflector was made from thin cardboard and a dowel.

·         The small light ahead of the stack (so the fireman could check smoke density at night) is a small nail, bent and stuck in a hole I drilled.

·         The Elesco feedwater heater is also a dowel. The largest of the steam pipes is a section of a wire coat hanger, and various wire sizes completed the set up.

·         The front step below the smokebox front—always a Southern feature—and the gracefully curved valve ladder handrails were just scrap items from my junk box. I also added a Nathan low water alarm on the engineer's side, just over the crown sheet. Again--it was fashioned from "junk."

I relied on Testor's paint sprayed from those small cans they used to make (maybe still do?), using stock colors for green, gray and red oxide. I did use decals for the double pin-stripes, but I hand-lettered the "Southern" on the tender, the tiny "CNO&TP" on the front of the coal collar, and (of course), the CNO&TP-style numberplate. The other little trim features were consistent with how Ferguson Shops trimmed out these engines.

I gave up modeling a few years after this project. There was only so much time for my hobby, so I decided to concentrate on photography, writing, and (sometimes) watercolor paintings. Another factor: I didn't think my modeling work was really all that fantastic. I wasn't patient enough to work through the more difficult challenges of kit-bashing. I had a tendency to follow the "TLAR" rule ("That Looks About Right").

Anyway---I thought you folks might enjoy this look at "primitive" modeling from a long time ago. Actually, my model of the "Queen Bee" looks just fine---as long as you don't give it a close inspection.

[Badhorse79]

Oh man!  That would look mighty fine pulling my tour train ! I always liked the big tenders on the pacifics  all I can say is "SEXY" LOL ! I think she looks great Ron! I have an old mantua pacific and now I know what to do with it!  Look out cal scale your helping my next project!  And thanks for adding to the"  LIST "Ron!  Lol

[E.M. Bell]

Anyone that would nit-pick the details of that Ron, especially considering the material you used to build it, needs a swift posterior adjustment!

It looks mighty fine to me, and I don't think there has ever been a prettier passenger locomotive than the PS4. The Wimble smoke duct is a nice addition as well, its not a feature I have seen on to many Southern steam models.

[NSMoWandS]

EM, is that loco available to lease for excursions? Badhorse is right... a couple of coaches and maybe a flat or gondola for the premium price... and a excursion train is all set... however, a club I run with does that once in a while... and all I hear from the crews is " when is that D*MN EXCURSION getting out of my way?!!" Modeling more than just trains on those days! haha!

[Ponce de Leon]

Sure...I'll lease it out for excursions. Of course it would need a DCC unit, otherwise it would run wide-open.

With those enormous flanges, you can go into an 18-inch radius curve at full throttle...

One other problem: the Wimble smoke duct isn't functional. Sorry.

[fireball451]

Love the PS4s!
She sure looks good!!!

[Southern6482]

Ron,

What a great, great model!!! I love the Queen Bee - in fact - she's the source of my screen name.  Growing up in Georgetown I was always told of Flem Smith's obsession with the engine to the extent he even traveled to the scrap yard to see her right before she was cut up.  There's a picture of him standing on the front with the headlight busted out.  She had everything they could throw at her as far as decor goes.  Kinda "pimp my PS4".... Brass eagle, candlesticks, stars on her cylinders... there were none finer on CNO&TP.  I also loved the unique number plates that Ferguson put on their PS4s.

Chad H

[Ponce de Leon]

Ron,

What a great, great model!!! I love the Queen Bee - in fact - she's the source of my screen name.  Growing up in Georgetown I was always told of Flem Smith's obsession with the engine to the extent he even traveled to the scrap yard to see her right before she was cut up.  There's a picture of him standing on the front with the headlight busted out.  She had everything they could throw at her as far as decor goes.  Kinda "pimp my PS4".... Brass eagle, candlesticks, stars on her cylinders... there were none finer on CNO&TP.  I also loved the unique number plates that Ferguson put on their PS4s.

I had seen some photos of the "Bee" with the eagle, candlesticks, stars, etc.--but I didn't try to replicate all that stuff. Thanks, Chad, for sharing that story. I never met Flem--but I certainly knew about him. He was certainly the CNO&TP's most notable "fan" in the steam era. From those photos, you can tell I used the "freight" version of the Wimble smoke duct--about ten feet long. I just thought it looked cooler than the shorter passenger version (as you might surmise..."cool" was more important in my modeling than "accurate"). A shot of the 6479 is attached, with the longer smoke duct. But--it wasn't one of the Ps-4s with the big 12-wheel tender, which was "essential" in my estimation.

I did a private commission painting for a guy named Bill Milsap about 30 some years ago. I worked from some old photos provided by the late Shelby Lowe. The subject was CNO&TP As-11 class 0-8-0 6030--the regularly-assigned "goat" at Oakdale. I took several color slides of the finished painting before I sent it off to Mr. Milsap (something I always did, because once a painting was gone---it was GONE!). I thought it would make a good two-page frontispiece for Trains, so I wrote up a narrative and sent it in. David P. Morgan loved it, and it ran in the December 1983 issue. I don't know if there's sufficient resolution to read the text, but I thought it was an interesting piece of Rathole history...

[Southern6482]

Ron,

That is just too dang cool! I love, love the painting and what a great story to boot! I didn't mean to sound as if I was picking at your model with the pics I just wanted to share them because they were such unique machines. I was going to do something similar a few years ago to the new tooled Lionel PS4 but never got around to it.  I even have an "O Scale" brass eagle saved.  Now, I want to!!!

I need to get with John Farris's widow who has all of John's old slides which included all of Flem Smith's and see if she'll let me scane them.  There are some priceless shots from Flem around Georgetown and Lexington...of course many of the Queen Bee on the point of "Number 3"... I don't know the engineer assigned to '82 but would love to research and look into that at some point.  Obviously they had her dolled up nicely.

I just love your model.  Anything with a Wimble Smoke duct is just pure train porn to me.  Thanks so much for sharing. 

I'd also kill to see more of your artwork online at some point.  It's something I've always admired.  Sadly, I haven't painted anything since I did the huge painting of Big Emma 1970 which appeared in the track diagram book that L&NHS put over a decade ago! EEK. I've gotten old....Not enough days in the week to allow me to practice this lobbying gig, fish and play with trains!

[Ponce de Leon]

As EM and Butch know, I'll soon be doing a painting of 6482 on the point of number 3. When it's finished, you'll see it somehow. I'll keep you posted.

You weren't "picking on" the model at all, and I certainly didn't take it that way. As I mentioned initially, it wasn't presented as a fine-scale piece of modeling work, particularly given the vintage and what I had to work with back then. A skilled modeler could do much better these days with some of the locomotives available on the market.

[NSMoWandS]

Ponce, I still have a GP38-2 that I got when I was 12(20+ years ago) It was the first diesel I ever painted and decaled myself. Compared with my newer locos... yeah it is kinda sad... but, I will not repaint it... kind of like "MY" heritage unit. So, I think it is a great model... esp with all the history from the real and the model version.

[Ponce de Leon]

Ponce, I still have a GP38-2 that I got when I was 12(20+ years ago) It was the first diesel I ever painted and decaled myself. Compared with my newer locos... yeah it is kinda sad... but, I will not repaint it... kind of like "MY" heritage unit. So, I think it is a great model... esp with all the history from the real and the model version.

Hold on to it until the day you die. I regret I let some of my earliest modeling efforts get away. If anything, they were worth a laugh.

Sonny Burchfield (retired SR operator and dispatcher) and I used to model quite a bit in the early '60s. Back then, you couldn't get a plastic E-unit, because no one made them. The only cab units available were the old Varney units, or the dependable old Athearn (or "Globe") F-units. Sonny and I decided to kit-bash an E8 from Athearn F-unit shells. It was hilarious, because we didn't have any plans, or use any type of scale. Instead, we used the "TLAR" rule ("That Looks About Right"). That thing must have had a dozen port holes on either side and enough cooling fans on top to make a nuclear power plant proud.

But the worst problem was its length. The finished product was way too long--maybe as long as a TTX flat and half! I painted it Southern "tuxedo" black and off-white, but the unit was actually funny to see. Sonny said we should consider putting a hinge in it if we ever wanted to run it around a curve.

Sonny traded it to another guy, and eventually it ended up in the collection of a friend of mine in Bristol, VA. He still has it, and he named it the "Burchfield Special." He knew the story behind it.

[NSMoWandS]

That's great! Sometimes the story behind the model is better than the model itself. Oh, and TLAR... that's the first thing we learn as modelers... or 2nd... don't glue your hands to the model might be first!

[mbgphoto79]

Very nice work, Ron!