3/4" scale, 3-1/2" gauge K4 class 4-6-2 "Pacific"; Pennsylvania Railroad
Designed by H.J. Coventry
February 2024 update: The older payment links on this page that were disabled and inactive, due to the attempted "hacking"/identity theft attempt on the Friends website that occurred in 2023, have been removed. They will be updated as time allows.
Exceptions to the above: The K4's Boiler Section was in development at the time that our prior, longtime bronze foundry closed without notice (2022). We've just received (February, 2024) from the new foundry, the first of the castings for this section: the throat sheet and the front tubeplate. The payment link for those parts is active, if you'd like to purchase them at this time. Please scroll down.
If you are currently interested in other castings for the K4, please contact me directly.
The payment link for the K4 drawings, is also active. Please see below.
The H.J. Coventry K4 in 3/4" scale most resembles this early version of the Pennsy K4....short-height tender for hand-firing, and manual "screw" reverse. Piston tail rods were on Mr. Coventry's 1920s version of the live steamer but were changed for the 1959-1960 redesign. They may be added by the builder to suit individual tastes.
A 1929 advertisement for the 3/4" K4 in "The Modelmaker" magazine. You can buy the EXACT castings that were mentioned in this ad, and build your own K4, today.....NINETY years after the ad was run.
Designed by H.J. Coventry beginning about 1919 and available commercially from the late 1920s until about 1960; design was updated with minor changes circa 1959-1960.
Coal Fired
Walschaert Valve Gear
Piston Valves
Steam Clearances, and Exhaust Ports, "cored" into the cylinder castings. No complex "step boring" or difficult drilling required.
Steam Brakes
Superheater
Hand Pump in the tender; left and right injectors on the engine
5" diameter Copper boiler; silver soldered. Seamless 5" tube may be purchased from suppliers in the UK, or it can be "rolled" from flat copper sheet and the joint silver soldered.
Belpaire Firebox, with cast bronze throat sheet for easier fabrication
Machinery Requirements: 9" or larger lathe (10" lathe recommended), small to medium sized milling machine, drill press, grinder, hand tools.
The complete set of drawings is available below, for live steamers who may want to look the project over before buying castings. (If you are outside the USA and would like these drawings shipped to you, please inquire).
A complete castings list may also be seen below.
Thank you for your interest!
Drawings
Please click the link below (active as of February, 2024) if you'd like to purchase drawings for the 3/4" scale K4. The drawings cover the complete project. Each part is completely detailed, so as to avoid misinterpretation and machining difficulties.
Mr. Coventry's K4 uses a steel frame, comprised of left and right frame sections which are 3/8ths inch thick each (which you may purchase locally or online); the frame has various bronze castings attached for functionality, appearance, and overall rigidity of the frame assembly. These frame castings are exactly the same as were offered by H.J. Coventry for his "K4" beginning back in the 1920s. You cannot tell the difference between these, and those cast almost a century ago. They are sand cast at a local foundry in New England, USA.
The Frame Section for the 3/4" scale K4 "Pacific" by H.J. Coventry is now available. Bronze "sand castings" are made in New England, USA to Mr. Coventry's original (1920's) specifications. Note: trailer truck sideframes are included in this photo for clarity and "good looks", but are not included in the "frame section". They may be purchased with the "trucks" section, available below.
Section 1: FRAME
Guide Yoke
Motion Beam
Frame Brace (2)
Draft Casting (drag beam)
Trailer Truck Pivot Bracket
Front Deck
Front Corner Bracket (2)
Trailer Truck Bearer Bracket (2)
Footstep (2)
Front Coupler
The Paypal button on the right is for your K4 "Frame Section" to be shipped to the USA. Note: left and right "trailer truck sideframe" castings (shown in photo for clarity and appearance) NOT included. They may be purchased with the "Trucks" section, below. (For shipping to other countries, please inquire.)
Driver Bearings (6) Bronze Bar for bottom of Driver Bearings
NOW AVAILABLE 2019!
The drive wheel section for the 3/4" scale Pennsylvania K4 Pacific 4-6-2.
When Friends Models acquired the 3/4" scale K4 design by H.J. Coventry, castings for it had not been produced in at least 50 years. The drive wheels' master pattern was not present and had been missing for decades.
Here, after much development, Friends Models is very pleased to present to you....drive wheel castings for the 3/4" scale Coventry K4. This is the first time in close to sixty years, that they have been produced and made available.
They were produced from a pattern that was professionally made to Mr. Coventry's original specifications, so they are exactly the same as were formerly available from Mr. Coventry in the years from about 1925 to about 1960. However, Friends had a change engineered into the pattern. The outside diameter is slightly oversized, such that the castings may be machined with the main drivers "blind" (no flange), per the design; or, so that a flange may be machined in, for builders who prefer this. If you're building a "mantel piece" job that represents what the K4 looked like in a certain time period, you may want to use the "blind" drivers. If you are building your K4 to run at the track, you'll probably include flanges on the main drive wheels.
They are cast in gray iron at a foundry in New England, USA that produces some of the finest iron castings in the country. You will be delighted with them. (See customer comments about the quality of Friends Models' castings, HERE.)
The main (large counterbalance) drive wheel casting for the K4. Click the photo to enlarge.
The front & back (small counterbalance) drive wheel casting for the K4. Click the photo to enlarge.
The rear view of the "front and back" drive wheel (coupled wheel) casting. Click the photo to enlarge.
The Paypal button on the right is for your K4 "Drive Wheel Section" to be shipped to the USA. $695.00 plus shipping. (For shipping to other countries, please inquire.)
The 3/4" scale H.J.Coventry K4 cylinder section. Produced 2018 for the first time in almost 60 years. The castings have ribs on their outer faces to facilitate machining setups, and the steam chests and exhaust ports, are "cored" internally. This coring eliminates a drilling and boring operation that would have been a difficult job for the amateur machinist to accomplish. Sand cast in New England, USA.
The "Trucks" Section for the 3/4" scale K4 "Pacific" by H.J. Coventry is now available. All components "sand cast" the old-fashioned way in New England, USA to Mr. Coventry's original specifications of 1919 (updated 1960). Firearms cartridges are shown for size reference only and are not included. At left is .22 caliber "long rifle", and at right is ".38 Special".
Click the Paypal button at right for your K4 "Trucks" section to be shipped to the USA.
The "Tender Section" for the 3/4" scale K4 "Pacific". These parts have not been cast in FIFTY or more years, and are EXACTLY the same as the castings formerly available from Mr. Coventry during the era from about 1920 to about 1960. All are traditional "sand castings" made in New England, USA.
The Paypal button on the right is for your K4 "Tender Section" to be shipped to the USA.
The H.J. Coventry K4 Pacific in 3/4" scale, 3-1/2" gauge. (Photo by Errol Groff, used with permission).
The 3/4" Scale, 3-1/2" gauge Pennsylvania Railroad K4 class 4-6-2 "Pacific".....the standard locomotive from the "Standard Railroad of the World". Designed by H.J. Coventry in the 1920s. Photo by Bernie Grow.
An example of the H.J. Coventry 3/4" scale, 3-1/2" gauge K4 "Pacific" under steam at Waushakum Live Steamers in Massachusetts, October 2008. This is a slightly modified version of the Coventry original, but the general outline is the same.
The tender, the backhead, the firedoor, and of course....the FIRE! This 3-1/2" gauge 4-6-2 will pull a few adults or several kids.....and will provide all the thrills of small-scale live steam operation that the hobby's pioneers, and those who came later, experienced and enjoyed for decades.
