Yeah, welcome to the Gauge, Fluesheet. I agree with the idea of casting a weight to fill the smokebox, as opposed to the easy method that I used. I'm going to do so when I modify my two most recent Mikes, and also retrofit the two originals. You may get yours a little closer to perfect balance by adding an air tank on the pilot deck, one made from lead-filled brass tubing. Does anybody know for certain if NWSL makes gears specifically for this loco? The catalogue that I have predates this loco, and there's no specific reference to such replacement gears on their website. While I've not yet had the seemingly common gear problem with mine, I have fixed a couple for others, using Athearn replacement parts. While I know that my already modified Mikes will run with the addition of at least another 10 oz. of weight (if I can cram it in somewhere), I wouldn't want to end up with the gears falling apart due to the added stress.
Wayne