I didn’t expect this story to be full of dramatic twists and turns!
I discovered I was wrong in my identification of the Percy body. I thought it was from the pull-back series, but a strange swiveling tender on the back made me realize that it was something different. After a little research, I discovered that it is from a set called the Thomas Mail Delivery set. Out of curiosity, I also picked up a Percy pull-back to compare. They are very similar in size. I was surprised to see that they vary in details — relatively important details, such as the number of steam domes.
In any case, with my two Percies and “Blackie” in hand, I started disassembly. (“Blackie” has become our nickname for that early GeoTrax steam engine, taken at the recommendation of someone on the Yahoo group recently). I got so far as to realize that both Percies are about 1/8-inch (say, 3 mm.) too narrow to fit easily. Considering the options, I was leaning toward an evil juxtaposition: chop the front end and the cab off Percy; add the front end to Blackie, and replace Blackie’s cab. A few touch-ups to the “kick plate” around the sides, and the buffers front and back, a little paint.…
Just then Jonathan entered the room and caught sight of what was going on. Oh my, the excitement that can be generated in such a tiny fellow! He gave total focus to Blackie –he really wasn’t too interested in the Percies at all — and just went generally crazy over him. He “helped” me reassemble and then add batteries. I pulled out that bright blue remote, and he was so excited he couldn’t speak: “Oh! Oh! OH!”
Well, Blackie is now a permanent part of his motive team, and I’ll have to wait on my frankensteinian project. For now.…