I had an LGB Stainz (2010 version) and decided to convert it to an 0-4-0 Forney. I made a new boiler, steam dome, sand dome, smoke stack, all made from PVC fittings and pipe.
After deciding the length of the boiler, I cut the proper length from a piece of 1″ PVC pipe as it was close to the original and allowed me to use the firebox door from a Kalamazoo 4-4-0 engine I had on hand. I added Evergreen strips to wrap the boiler. Made the dome with different PVC caps and fittings. For the larger domes that sit on the boiler, I used a bench grinder to make a rough fitting. I finished these by sanding with sandpaper, so they would sit smooth on the rounded surface. The process was a little time consuming, but worth the effort. I finished them off using hole plugs I found at the hardware store.
The hand rail down the side is made from pop rivets, with the mandrel removed and turned upside down. I added a 1/16″ cotter pin in it and secured the rivet to the boiler from inside. I used a tiny amount of CA cement where the brass wire went through the boiler, and added a little paint to conceal the hole after the CA dried. You can see one of the pop rivets on the right side of the engine at the end of steam pipe that I used for a pop off valve.
I finished the smoke box with using plastic scale rivets installed around it both front and rear. This took a bit of drilling.
Smokestack was from my scrap box, and the top to it came from a plastic windup engine.
Manufacturer builder plates are small brass rivets, also from the hardware store. In the front, where the original smoke stack screwed in, now has a 1/4 x 20 bolt going up into the boiler. It’s secured to the lead weight via a threaded insert that was screwed into the lead weight.
The smokestack is screwed to the boiler via an electric lamp fitting which is 1/8″ MPT x 1/4″ MPT. It holds the unit together very well, and actually makes a nice handle with which to pick up the engine.
The cab is held on with 2/56 machine screws, one one each side and two from underneath,.
The rear trailing trucks are from a Kalamazoo/HLW tender, which gives the engine a low profile. I added electrical pickups and extra fishing weights to help hold them down to the track. The cab is a cut down 2010 along with roof, and with an extra extention to cover back to the tender part.
Water tender part is a cut down Kalamazoo/HLW and it houses a small speaker with a simple chuff system and contains split elm wood twigs for logs. I made the front pilot from Evergreen styrene.
Couplers are both Kadee G scale. Bell rope is twisted 20 gauge wire strands, and the sand dome dump rod is made from piano wire. I painted the cab to look like wood (orange wood, of course). Lettering is printed from a Silhoutte Cameo machine.
The smokestack uses a 5vdc Seuthe unit, and the headlight is lit with a LED. Both are powered off a small voltage reducer I got from Ebay. It also powers 2 flickering LED’s in the rear of the firebox.
My Forney measures only 13 3/4″, and it works great on 4′ diameter curves. The actual engine I built several years ago before any manufacturer had made one. I just recently rebuilt it using most of the original parts and adding the newer LED voltage system.
