Backdating Bachmann's Thomas the Tank Engine

Here's a concept of what I hope Thomas will look like with the extra detail. The running board is drawn more Dalby-style because I am entertaining the idea of doing a completely new running board.


The bubble is showing a view of the other side of the cab, where I'm planning to locate the Westinghouse pump, since the tank-front steps are where it would be in real life. The E4's and Terriers have theirs on the cab as well, so I don't think it would look too out of place.

Not shown (because of difficulty drawing) is that Thomas will have two pipes on the front (and rear) of his bufferbeam, which is something the real E2's have. There will also be a second sandbox somewhere near the rear of the running plate, I just need to find a good place for it. The water filler caps and whistles also aren't drawn. Please ignore the line through the splasher and smokebox saddle, I just decided to permanently draw the boiler before doing those. ?

I also did a bit more work on Thomas, but it's not really worth showing (I just filed the cab sides a bit to get them to the actual measurements).

And to sign off with, and interesting real locomotive. I'll leave the name, since I don't have any pictures of my own. If you search "Dowlais Locomotive Arthur Keen" you should see a familiar looking running plate.