OScale Trains Nov/Dec 2003

Transcription

O
Scale
Trains
Nov/Dec
Nov/Dec 2003
2003 IIssue
ssue #11
#11 $5.95
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Modeling
for the
O Scale
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PDP2201K-Repower Kit, Red Caboose GP9 with
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The P&D TWIN TOWER DRIVE for the Red Caboose GP
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already available for the P&D F units, GPs, RSDs, and the
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The Red Caboose power kits provide only the necessary
power related parts to supplement the Red Caboose GP
body kit. These power kits fully utilize the underframe
(platform), deck, air tanks, fuel tanks, motor mounts and
screws that are furnished in the Red Caboose body kit.
These P&D Twin Tower Drive kits can also be used to repower
existing Red Caboose GPs. Two kits are offered: #PDP2200K has
plastic Blomberg trucks, while #PDP2201K features the P&D brass
Blomberg trucks, which are truly some of the finest trucks on the
market. Each kit also includes a powerful Pittman motor and all
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EMD, GP9 body Kits
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Colors may vary.
Modeling
for the
O Scale
Craftsman
Issue #11
Nov/Dec 2003
O
Vol. 2, No. 6
Editor/Publisher
Joe Giannovario
Scale
Trains
Features
4
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad
Richard Gardner’s superb OST Layout Contest entry.
Art Director
Jaini Simon
10
O Scale Small Layout
Who says O scale requires a large space? Not Norman Hills.
Associate Editor
Brian Scace
16
Acrylic Innersides
Here’s a slick way to build up those old passenger car kits from the
40’s and 50’s. Nick Pulskamp details his methods.
22
Babbitt Atlantic Mods: Part 3
Bob Garrelts details the Babbitt tender.
26
Building a PRR N2sa
Take a USRA 2-10-2 and add a Belpaire. John Sauers makes it look
easy and it is if you don’t have to build a tender.
38
2004 O Scale National Convention - An Overview
Brian Scace fill us in on the 2004 convention in Washington, D.C.
50
Building a GP-9
Tom Houle and Jerry Roy marry a Red Caboose superstructure to an
Atlas/Roco F-9 drive. Voila! Motive power on a budget.
56
Indianapolis Midwest Fall O Scale Meet
Photos from the recent show.
Contributing Writers
Ted Byrne
Gene Deimling
Bobber Gibbs
Roger Jenkins
Jeb Kriigel
Neville Rossiter
John C. Smith
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O Scale Trains ISSN 1536-9528
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Published bimonthly (6 times a year) by
O Scale Trains Magazine,
PO Box 238, Lionville PA 19353-0238
© 2003 OST All Rights Reserved
Printed in the U.S.A.
Contributors: O Scale Trains
welcomes your feature articles, photos, and drawings.
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or visit our website.
Cover: Tom Houle’s Soo Line GP-9. Tom describes
how he built the loco on page 50 this issue.
Centerspread: A scene from Woody Grosdoff’s Proto48 layout. The switcher is an Overland Models Alco
S-2 that’s been highly modified for Proto 48 operation.
The tankcar is a PSC 8000 gal. car custom painted and
lettered by Woody. The VGN boxcar is an Intermountain kit. Both freight cars ride on modified Red
Caboose trucks equipped with Grabowski wheelsets.
The trackwork is code 100 rail handlaid on Grandt Line
tieplates with HO/HOn3 spikes on basswood ties.
Departments
12
14
19
34
35
36
37
41
44
59
60
60
61
62
Traction Action – Roger Jenkins
Easements for the Learning Curve – Brian Scace
Proto48 – Gene Deimling
Crapola From The Cupola – John C. Smith
The Workshop – Neville Rossiter
O Scale DCC – Ted Byrne
Narrow Minded – Bobber Gibbs
Reader Feedback – Letters to the Editor
Product News & Reviews
Buy-Sell-Trade Ads
Events Listing
Ad index
OST Dealers List
Observations – Joe Giannovario
OST is a proud Member of the
Model Railroad Industry Association
Nov/Dec '03 - O Scale Trains • 3
Here you go...another great entry from
O Scale Trains Magazine’s
Design-a-Layout Contest
entry submitted by
Richard L. Gardner
Constraints
This layout design contest couldn’t have come at a more
opportune time. Having just rekindled the O scale fever, I was
grappling with the all too familiar real estate challenges this
king of scales presents. This contest has become a personal
test of how much I could squeeze into a relatively small environment. The news of the minimum radius change came
somewhat after I’d completed the preliminaries, so I was able
to loosen up the design and allow more space to structures. It
became downright enjoyable after that.
Concept
O scale trains are big! The sheer mass and weight enable
them to couple and un-couple with remarkable reliability. This
makes this scale inherently suited to switching. That’s a convenience for this layout because there’s not a lot of room to
run around in. If we want to do a lot of switching in a small
space, the city is where to go.
But Not Just Any City!
I’ve lived in New Orleans since the early ’90’s and only
recently come to appreciate the wealth of railroading opportunities in the area. It has been home to dozens of railroads over
the years but the one thread that ties the whole scene together
is the New Orleans Public Belt (NOPB) Railroad. The company was organized on October 8, 1904 and acquired common
carrier status in 1911. Initially formed as a non-profit organization jointly financed by the participating railroads, it is now
owned by the City of New Orleans and managed by the Public
Belt Railroad Commission.
The NOPB is probably most famous for constructing the
Huey P. Long Bridge across the Mississippi river. But more
4 • O Scale Trains - Nov/Dec '03
importantly, it was designed to address the complicated tariff
issues of freight service for numerous railroads in a congested
city. Today, the NOPB services no less than 73 industries as
listed on their official web site. This is probably just a fraction
of the traffic that was present during the late forties. There are
dozens of wharfs and warehouses along the river and much
more is found tucked into the fabric of this most exotic of cities.
Have I mentioned the French Quarter yet? It is still as
charming as it was a hundred years ago and the railroad still
runs through it. An engineer can stop his train, walk across the
tracks to Decatur Street and get a café au lait at Café du
Monde. Dense urban traffic with charming ambiance is just
the teaser for inspiration.
Operating The Layout
In such a small room, we can get only a snapshot of the
complexity of the city traffic. But what a snapshot it is! The
design only wraps around two of the room’s walls, but there is
room for some really neat warehouses big enough to look like
they could use some train service. I’m talking big here; the
Napoleon Ave. warehouse is almost four feet long. Other
industries are four and five stories tall, not bad for O scale.
Schematically, the railroad follows the river corridor around
and beyond the room limitations. Large mirrors at each end
create the illusion that you are seeing but a small portion of a
great expanse. Operationally, we will be bringing in a train
from an interchange yard such as the Kansas City Southern
yard on Airline Drive. A three level “elevator” staging yard
accomplishes this task. Note: this was discussed in detail in the
Model Railroad Planning 2001 published by Kalmbach. Each
track can hold six 40 foot freight cars. The tracks can be raised
and lowered as needed to provide access
to the cars. This staging yard enters the
layout at the end near the Alcoa Shipping
building. We will be bringing in our cut
of cars to be switched in this particular
section of the right-of-way. An ambitious
operator may double-up and bring in
twelve cars or more!
Plenty of variety abounds for your
modeling and operating pleasure. Starting up-river (on your right as you come
in the room) there is a large machining
and manufacturing building that may
ship and receive not only boxcars but an
occasional flatcar loaded with heavy
machinery. Just around the corner are
the Alcoa Shipping Company and the
Poydras St. warehouses. Boxcars for
coffee and bananas are the norm. A
reefer or two might be handy to handle
more perishable cargo. The Napoleon
Ave. terminal continues the theme with
most anything likely to be loaded or
unloaded from one of the ships. By the
way, there is enough room between the
wharfs to model believable buildings. A
large ship can be painted on the backdrop between. The main portion can be
modeled in bas-relief. I can envision a
neat mini-scene showing laborers
unloading bananas from an open door in
the hull. I’ve run across many pictures of
just such a thing in my research.
Continuing down river we come to
the American Sugar Refinery (now
Domino Sugar). Tank cars come in with
syrup from the many sugar plantations
nearby. Boxcars of bagged products will
be shipped out. A little further down the
line
we come to the
Douglas Public Service
Warehouse. This was a really big
facility in the French Quarter between
Decatur St. and the river. Lots of traffic is required
for this impressive building.
Finally, what respectable layout would not
have a team or less than carload (LCL) track. Anything goes here. There is one that I pass regularly that routinely spots a
tank car to fill waiting tank trucks. Once a rather large piece of machinery arrived and it took most of a week with the
help of a crane to load two flatbed trailers. Stretching the imagination, I would envision a local
farmer taking delivery of some prized bull. There’s another mini-scene. Picture a
stock car sitting on the siding complete with a makeshift chute funneling said
animal into a waiting pickup with livestock trailer. There you have it.
We even snuck in a stock car for operations.
Layout statistics.
The layout was designed for the 11 x
14’ room as speci-
fied
in the contest rules.
The minimum radius is 36" with
4" centers. This comes to 36, 40, and 44" for the
big curve around the Napoleon Ave. warehouse. The line to
staging is 36". All turnouts are designed to use stock #5’s from
Atlas. Most will drop right in without hassle. The two back-to-back
turnouts in front of the “up-town” commercial district will need just a
little trimming around the throw bar. Seven right hand and four left hand
turnouts are required.
The layout height has been set at 54" for optimum viewing. The front
fascia is shown as a solid dark green. This could be a curtain as well. The backdrop is 36" high with a painted sky and the
aforementioned ship.
There is a valance that comes down to the six-foot level. A Masonite top spans the valance and backdrop to support lights
and is painted white to reflect light back into the layout. There are 16 lights planned in all and have been digitally represented
in the presentation drawings. Seven are fill lights. These are bare bulbs in the popular sunlight
temperature (5400º Kelvin) for an almost blue white. They are mounted snug against the top
and run down the middle of the layout. Seven regular spot-lights (3200º K) are mounted as close
to the valance and as low as possible to cast a warm
accent light. Individual wattages need not be very high allowing you to use a standard household
dimmer to facilitate nighttime operations. The final two spotlights are located over the modeling
desk. The valance / lighting combination provides a shadow-box effect drawing you right into
the scene. The renderings support this nicely.
Summation.
I’ve taken a unique prototype, added diverse functional
operations and packed a lifetime’s worth of
modeling and operating enjoyment into a small 11' x 14' room with room left over for a respectable modeling bench, not to mention the drop-dead graphics!
References:
French Quarter Manual, An Architectural Guide to New Orleans Vieux Carré, Malcolm Heard, Tulane School of Architecture.
New Orleans, Then and Now, Richard and Marina Campanella, Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna, Louisiana.
Louisiana Photograph Collection — http://nutrias.org/photos/
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad — http://www.nopb.com/
The Louisiana Rail Site — http://lrs.railspot.com/r-nopb-s.htm
◆
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O Scale
Small
Layout
dots together noting that a half twist to the
strip is required. The product of this process
1
Norman A. Hills
When I retired, I decided that I wanted to
renew my involvement with model trains
and at the same time interest my two grandsons in the technical challenges of O scale
modeling as contrasted to that of toy trains.
The choice of O scale was partially based on
my age and failing eyesight.
I live in a large house with lots of space
but I was urged by “she who must be
obeyed” to make use of the basement room
that had recently been emptied of our commercial computer equipment. My O scale
layout, therefore, is in a small room that
measures 14 feet x 12 feet 9 inches, which
would be considered by many as inadequate
for the 48 inch radius that I chose for the
minimum. Discussing this project with serious O scale modelers, their immediate concern was for the lack of space for any
appreciable length of straight track.
The entire layout was built following the
principles of modular construction with the
hope and expectation that I may eventually
be permitted to move to more adequate
space, at which time I will build expansion
modules to fit between the existing ones. In
the meantime, I am able to explore various
methods of construction and logic circuits to
sense the turnout positions and appropriately
control power to the track sections along
with the associated trackside signals.
The Mobius Loop
Track plans usually have a style designation such as point to point, loop, walk
around, dogbone or folded dogbone. The
track plan shown is what I call a Mobius
Loop. I believe that the use of Mobius Loop
as a style designation is original and requires
some explanation. To better understand the
Mobius, take a piece of typing paper and cut
from one edge a strip about 1 inch wide.
Mark both ends of this strip with a dot on
the same surface. Then glue or tape the two
is shown below.
Now hold the loop down on a table surface and draw a continuous line on the upper
surface. Keep going until the end of the line
has joined up with its start. If you have followed these instructions properly then you
will note that despite your attempt to draw
your line on one side only, your line is on all
the surfaces of the strip. Your strip no longer
has two surfaces, but is one single surface as
2
shown in the picture below.
You may have difficulty in visualizing
how this relates to the track layout, probably
because we do not expect the track to do a
half twist or roll over. To overcome this,
think of each edge of the mobius strip as a
thin line representation of the track and
compare your mobius paper strip to the
illustration at the bottom of this column. The
use of the Mobius Loop in effect doubles the
linear length of the loop, making it equal to a
3
simple loop in a room twice the size.
Benchwork
My approach to design is to let the available materials make design decisions for
me. The computer disc drive cabinets from
our business had an internal height measured 27 inches which was ideal for a tabletop height of approximately 30 inches from
the floor.
The table top sections consist of a picture
frame of 3/4" x 31/2" boards on edge, to the
top of which has been nailed a panel of 1/2"
inch plywood. Salvaged shelving made of
1
/4" particle board was sawn to 31/2" wide
strips for straight sections of roadbed. Larger
pieces were cut using a circle cutting attachment on my bandsaw with an outside radius
of 493/4" and an inside radius of 461/4". To
both edges of all of these pieces was added a
chamfer. I have since read that the roadbed
should be cork for sound and vibration purposes but was relieved to see in issue #4 of
OST where another modeler had used
milled spruce with beveled edges for
roadbed. I assume that the properties of my
particle board would be somewhere between
those of cork and milled spruce. However,
were I to start anew I would use cork.
The layout was made modular to facilitate a non-destructive tear down. The 1/2"
plywood working surface of the benchwork
is outlined in orange in figure 3. Each
orange line going from the inside edge out
toward the wall represents the two edges of
adjacent modules that are joined together
with two 1/2" bolts through the mating
boards. One exception is the structure supporting the double crossover, which is
hinged as a gate to permit access without
having to crawl under the layout.
At each interface, everything has to be a
butt joint to permit parting along that line of
separation. The roadbed, every rail and every
element of scenery has to be cut along that
line, although the rails have a joining piece to
ensure alignment of the track.
Track
Track is a mix of flex and hand-laid.
Since the flex is old style Atlas code 148, it
was fastened to the roadbed with nails
through the holes provided in the plastic ties.
The hand laid track is code 148 nickel silver from Old Pullman, using Old Pullman
spikes to homemade ties. The ties were
soaked in a water solution of dark brown
4
RIT dye, slightly darkened further with a
touch of RIT black.
My hand laying practice was to lay one
rail first with 2 spikes at every third or fourth
tie, taking care to ensure that the rail was
either straight or conformed to the desired
curvature. Lay the second rail with two
spikes into the same tie as the first rail, making certain with the track gauge that the
spacing was within the “go/no-go”
allowance. By skipping several ties, I was
able to speed up the hand laying process and
could add spikes to those intervening ties to
fine tune the rail spacing where required.
The scratch built double crossover in Fig.
4 was the subject of an earlier article published in the July 1999 NMRA Bulletin.
Turnouts
The track figures were created using the
free Atlas Right Track Software. The
turnouts on the artwork are all #5 and the
main line overall length for these turnouts is
exactly equal to the length of two straight
sections, 20 inches. This is certainly a convenience where one may wish to remove
straight track and replace it with a turnout,
but this overall length of 20 inches exceeds
NMRA standards. A pair of Old Pullman #6
turnouts are 151/4" long. The turnouts and
crossover on my layout are all #6 and conform to the Old Pullman dimensions, so this
results in the layout as illustrated appearing
to be a little tighter than is the actual layout
as constructed.
Elevations and Grades
I chose to keep the grades to 3 percent or
less. Each of the three elevations have an
assigned color on figure 4 as do the two
grade sections joining the three elevations. It
is important to avoid any abrupt change in
grade. At each change of grade from level
to 3 percent up or down, I actually have 3
changes of grade. There is a change from 0
to 1%, 1% to 2% and then 2% to 3%. The
spacing between these grade changes are as
far apart as the length of my longest loco or
rail car.
At the locations where the lower rail
passes under the upper, I have an elevation
difference of 7.4 inches. The NMRA standard for vertical clearance above the rails
is 51/2 inches for O scale. With careful
design of the structure supporting the rails
passing over and above at these places, the
vertical elevation difference could easily
be reduced to 61/2 inches, permitting a
reduction in the grade.
Power
The computer salvage included a 16
volt regulated power supply with more
capacity than my layout is ever likely to
require. I was concerned about having so
much current capacity that arcing on
derailment could result in items being
welded together. However, this has not
happened, yet. I have two power busses,
one for auxiliary power such as lights,
logic circuits, track relays and signals. The
second is for track power. I would have
liked to have used solid state circuitry to
control track power whenever the turnout
positions made it unwise for the locomotive to proceed. Because I was not ready to
invest in DCC, I chose instead to utilize a
number of 2 and 3 pole 12 volt dc relays
also salvaged from the computers, operated by a logic circuit board of my own
design for controlling track power and
track polarity.
Conclusion
I have been well pleased with what I
have been able to accomplish to date within a limited space. With a long list of projects that I would still like to incorporate
and skills that still need to be acquired or
improved, I have become quite content to
continue for some time to work within the
limitations of my present space. While a
small layout may not be as visually
impressive as a large one, the same skills
of execution are required and ample
opportunities for innovation are always
present. ◆
t
c
i
a
on
r
T
A c t io n
Roger Jenkins
For putting up wire over double track on
a curve, I use the Rivers Traction & Trolleys
casting B-615. The span wire is fed into the
holes on the wings and folded back on itself.
The end of the wire that attaches to the pole
is wound around that once and brought back
and wound around itself next to the pole.
The hanger should be over the center of the
track to start but as you proceed around a
curve, the hanger is over the inside rail or
close to it. A test car can be used to make
sure the running wire fits in the pole shoe.
From the first ear casting to the next out
over the second track, a short wire is used to
connect the first one. The next wire carries to
the opposite pole. Between poles on a curve
a span wire is usually placed from pole to
pole to anchor the in-between pull-offs, as
the castings are located about six feet apart
on curves. The span wire is attached to the
span wires from the castings and the parallel
span wire keeps everything taut.
Remember to use the reverse tweezers I
mentioned last month to hold the running
wire and castings together so they can be
soldered. The tweezers act as a heat sink,
too, so the wire does not become untempered. Cross spans need not be anchored to
poles on the curves, but can hold onto the
parallel spans that run between poles. Every
other span can end at the innermost casting
if you cut off the extra connection on the
outside where the loop is, making it a clone
of the real half-hangers seen in the photos.
As can be seen, there are several half-hangers on the curves, with some full hangers
providing the tension. The pictures show
wire over single track but the job is the same
for double track, only using more poles and
wire in the process. The end result should
come out okay with a little patience.
[email protected]
◆
The photo below was
inadvertently left out
of Roger's last
column. It shows the
way poles are put in
neatly along a
sidewalk. My
apologies - Ed.
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This issue’s column fires a broadside
directly at our new folks from the N and HO
world who have found the one and true faith.
Of course, the rest of us may find enlightenment here as well. We’re going to put a little
thought into the use of scenic elements in O
scale, and a bit of a perspective shift from
what you’ve been used to in your former
smaller world.
Behold! The Oracle Speaks!
First, let us accept the premise that most
of us have a comfortable reach over about
32" of benchwork, and that aisles should be
wide enough to accommodate the passing
of two full-sized people at the same time.
These are some of the human elements to
consider in layout design, totally independent of scale of choice, and the parameters
we must work within for a successful comfortable design.
That 32" reach in the smaller scales
allows for an enviable depth of field.
Indeed, N scale has it all over O scale in
scenic grandeur, because you can model the
Feather River Canyon, put Keddie Wye in
the middle of it, and STILL reach over the
whole thing before you touch the backdrop.
In the larger scale world, that 32" depth of
field becomes restrictive, especially after
you’ve used a third of that for trackage. So,
we have to think a little differently. There
are two things to consider here. Make the
eyes move to take in a scene, and use some
trickery to attract the eye’s attention to those
elements you want folks to look at, so they
don’t notice the spatial liberties you’ve
taken. Here are some thoughts to get the
juices flowing:
Mind What You Cast Shadows Upon
More so than in N or HO, shadows in O
scale become a real believability issue.
When that Hudson casts an O Scale shadow
on a scenic backdrop as it goes by, it totally
ruins the illusion you’ve tried so hard to create. Blocking these shadows with a grove of
trees or a building is no solution, because
those oaks or that factory will cast their own
shadow right in the same place. Solutions?
Plan your trackage, buildings, and big trees
to be farther away from the backdrop or
other two-dimensional scenery. Raise the
light source so as to shorten the shadows.
My vote for the best solution is to use building flats instead of the traditional hills and
clouds backdrop. Buildings (even twodimensional ones) can have shadows cast
upon them with impunity.
Space Eaters and Space Savers
Another big problem with the traditional
hill-and-cloud backdrop is that the three
dimensional foothills leading the eye to the
two-dimensional purple mountain’s majesty
eat up more of that now precious fore-andaft 32" than we can afford. Scenic transitions are space eaters. Of course, those
wonderful building flats need no such transitions from three to two dimensions for
believability. If it sounds like I’m pushing
an urban setting rather than a rural one, it’s
because I am.
If a rural setting is required, plan your
trackage and large buildings and trees well
forward. As you encroach on the back, cuts
with rock faces serve the same function as
flats. Sidings with stored freight cars can
work. The trick is to gain height quickly
with the three-dimensional stuff so that
when you do transition to two-dimensional
scenery, you’re out of the shadow domain.
That 32" gets eaten up quickly in this scale,
so get climbing! If you really must model
the flatlands of southern Indiana, I’d suggest
that you build your railroad in a series of
light-boxes so you can valance-light the
scenes from noonday straight up. Turn out
all the other lights in the room and cast no
shadows at all.
Go Up, Young Man
Now, it’s time for the curve to be thrown.
Although it may sound counter-intuitive to
the thread of our discussion, bear with me.
The fact that our stuff is taller than in HO or
N can be played to advantage, so long as
you are aware of the placement/shadowing
issues we’ve previously discussed. Tall
things make the eyes wander up and down to
take it all in. We want that, so the viewer’s
eyes are not looking fore-and-aft or side-toside and seeing all the tricks we’ve pulled to
create the illusion of depth and distance. Tall
buildings are useful in the urban setting for
this reason. A tall grain elevator in a rural
setting attracts the attention away from the
lack of depth that our 32" gives us.
We’ve taken great pains to distract the eye
from our depth-of-field issues, so now we
must attract the eye to the good stuff before it
catches on. A grove of trees is useful (By the
way, trees are a foot tall in this scale, not
those little scraggly weeds we all seem to
make. If you model the C&O in West Virginny, little lichen bushes register a negative
number on Scace’s Neurotic-O-Meter!).
Overpasses are better than grade crossings.
Getting eyes working in a vertical plane
keeps them busy, making our scenes “feel”
bigger and deeper in the horizontal. Instead
of a parallel road next to the track, try it
behind and higher than the track. Get those
eyes moving up and down!
Stuff in Front, Too
Putting things out in front of the track,
such as trees, a detailed interlocking tower,
even tall structures, is another trick to aid in
our illusion. These items tend to stop the eye
from wanting to follow the long horizontal
plane established by the track. Then the eye
is free to be attracted to the up-and-down
direction or to some detailed vignette where
we want it. Foreground scenes and items
break the scenes up, stop the eye from travelling horizontally for long distances, and
allow the trains to run through an area, rather
than in front of an area. It all looks much
more believable, which is the whole point.
The Big Lesson:
Don’t be afraid to build scenery and scenic elements, just because you must use
some more subterfuge to avoid scenic pitfalls in the larger gauges. When you are done
with a section, break out that digital camera
you use to sell all your HO stuff on Ebay
(without the flash if possible so you can see
the normal lighting effects on the scene
you’ve created), and take a few frames.
Look for problem areas in the pictures, then
show them to your friends or spouse for
their opinions. I’m sure they’ll be appropriately merciless.
Although this may sound a little off-thewall, you may have noticed that you are
faced with many of the challenges that setdesigners face in the movie and theater
world. If you know folks in that trade, pick
their brain a bit for new ideas. You may find
it useful to visit a community theater, or
even take a course in set design. After all,
their trade is illusion, which is our goal.
Conclusion:
In N or HO, our 32" depth is the “wide
open spaces”. In O, you have to give a little
more thought in how you invest that depth
to create the illusion of distance to the horizon. We’ve discussed before the problems
of making a modest sized O Scale railroad
look large enough to be believable, but
don’t neglect the same tricks while dealing
with those scale-independent constraints
which define the depth of scenes we build.
Let’s go Exploring!
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Acr
Acrylic “Innersides” Add Strength
and Make Great Windows
Several JC Models heavyweight passenger car kits recently came up on
Ebay and ended up in my shops. They
are from the 1930’s and were among the
best models available at the time of the
best prototypes of the era. The roof,
floor and ends are wood. The sides and
end wraps are what printers call chipboard—that’s the thick “cardboard”
sheet on the bottom of notepads. They
are beautifully embossed and diecut to
represent a wide variety of prototypes.
We’ve seen these cars at shows with
their warped and collapsed sides.
Haven’t we all wondered if these stately
beauties could be saved somehow?
Now we can construct the surviving
kits—and maybe even rebuild some
existing cars—so the sides will keep
their shape for a very long time even
with rough handling. Indeed, the kit
used for this article had water damage to
the sides that caused some warping .
Let’s Open The Kit.
The assembly method described in the
kit’s instructions is typical of the era, a
four-sided wood frame with paper sides
attached, the interior sealed forever. Just
like boxcars, reefers and other housecars
of the era, build the frame, cover the sides
and handle with great care! There is nothing wrong with this method. Many beautiful models were produced and some
still survive pretty well.
But, what if the beautifully embossed
sides were also strong enough to withstand rough handling and humidity
changes for decades without loss of
by Nick Pulskamp
integrity? We can do now what our fellow modelers could not do in the ’30s,
’40s or ’50s when these kits were popular. We can build these sides to permanently rival steel sides in strength and
durability.
The key is using 3/32" acrylic sheet as
an “innerside”. Acrylic is clear, colorless, smooth, strong, flat and easy to
work with. It is also easy to form,
machine and bond. Some prototype
windowpanes are made of acrylic sheet.
If the real world can use it so can we!
Let’s Build The Car.
First we need to make room for the
3
/32" thickness of the “innersides.” Take
3
/32" off each side of the bottom and
grain” less than other sealers or paints.
Then paint for color, flat inside and
gloss outside (for decals.) Decorate and
seal with something clear.
Now mount the painted and decorated outersides to the innersides. Carefully
ends. Don’t worry about the flanges on
the ends, take them off. Move each roof
eave channel in 3/32" or take them off
entirely and replace them with stripwood later. Paint the floor, ceiling and
ends—but not their edges.
the roof held in place (not glued), glue
the innersides to the floor and ends with
a bead of glue along the outer edges of
the wood so that the innersides extend
beyond the floor and ends and butt up
and seal against the roof eave.
File, sand or grind the innersides to
conform to the end configurations.
Build the box square starting with the
floor and ends.
Cut the acrylic slightly oversize (note
that the kit sides come slightly overlong,
too.) One long acrylic edge needs to be
as straight as possible. Work the acrylic
as you do styrene. Scoring and breaking
works great with a little practice.
Remember the acrylic is more rigid than
styrene so score a little on the deep side
and clamp the full length of the break.
The edges can be sharp!
After dry fitting the innersides with
You now have a strong box with
smooth transparent sides and a removable roof. The construction phase of the
project can be considered nearly complete. You will file the bottom edge of
the innersides after you mount the outersides. What could be simpler? The rest
can be considered decoration.
Follow the kit instructions for painting the embossed chipboard (the “outerside”). Do not trim to length yet. Paint
both the inside and outside of the outerside now. You won’t get another good
chance! You might seal the chipboard
with a coat or two of shellac (white pigmented) which seems to “raise the
apply a line of bonding agent on the outside face of the innerside at the periphery of the ends and floor. Put a small
bead of glue along the top of the inside
of the outerside. Position the outerside
on the innerside with the roof in place so
you can butt the outerside up against the
roof eave to close that seam. Take care
that the outerside is positioned lengthwise so as to conceal the wood of the
ends. Weight, clamp or whatever you
prefer to do to maintain intimate contact
between the outerside and the innerside
while your bonding agent sets. With
cyanoacrylate glue I use my hands being
careful to avoid getting any CA on the
skin! Especially with warped sides
hands seem to give a greater sensitivity
and adaptability to clamping.
Cut and carefully sand the outersides
to conform to the ends. The top edge conforms because you butted the outerside
up to the roof. The bottom edge will conform as soon as you sand or file the bottom edge of the acrylic (which you left
oversize and that is now sticking out from
under the outerside) to conform perfectly
with the bottom edge of the outerside.
Paint and apply the car end wraps per
instructions or make your own from
.010" styrene. Now is when I do those
little touch-ups that keep us all humble.
Add trucks, couplers, details of your
choice and paint all that stuff.
You now have a beautiful car from a
classic kit that will withstand abuse and
won’t even notice normal handling. The
windows reflect exterior light and
images sharply and clearly while almost
disappearing from view on the inside.
The roof lifts off for furnishing and
maintenance. This method works equally well with stamped metal-sided cars.
Some Notes & Asides
✔ If your CA “smokes” the acrylic
use some ammonia-containing Windex
to remove the discoloration.
Apply some to a soft cloth
and rub gently—like washing a window(!)
✔ To bond acrylic to
wood I use either CA or
Gorilla Glue. CA is faster
and neater. Also scratch the
acrylic with some sandpaper
where the glue will go.
✔ To bond chipboard to
acrylic I use CA gap-filling glue only at the edges
whenever possible. Some
places might require shimming where the embossed
chipboard does not lay tight against
the innerside. Shims should be kept
at the peripheries wherever possible
to keep them out of sight from the
inside. Remember you will want to
furnish these beautiful cars with
lights, walls, people and other stuff!
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Assembling San Juan Freight Car Trucks
As most of you know, San Juan Car Company produces an extensive line of freight car trucks in both
O gauge (1.250”) and Proto48. I have had several
PROTO48 MODELING
GENE
DEIMLING
folks ask for ideas on assembly of these beautiful
trucks. It is a bit of a departure from the past
columns but you may find this information useful
whether you work in Proto48 or standard O. The
steps and techniques are the same. I will go through
a few a pointers that will hopefully make assembly
easier. The truck being described is an AAR Double
Truss (Bettendorf) freight truck. The photo depicts
most of the parts provided in the kit. There is a second set of trucks parts as well as the spring plank,
lower spring plate (used as alternative to spring
plank) and linkage between the brake beams.
Bolster Preparation
Over the years I have seen all sorts of wood and
machine screws used to attach trucks to a model.
Rather than using a 4-40 or 2-56 screw, I like to use
1-72 machine screws to mount the trucks. There is
no need for the large screws since the San Juan
trucks are very light even with steel wheels. Small
diameter screws have a tendency to be difficult to
thread through the closed bolster assembly. I add a
short length of 3/16" styrene tubing to inside of the bolster bottom. I
also add a .040" by .125" styrene strip to the bolster top . I pre-drill this
strip so as to avoid damage to the thin bolster top.
Journal Lids
Installing the lids goes quickly if you use a model knife to break the
edge of the mounting hole located on the journal. It also helps to keep
the lid attached to the sprue until the pin is partially drive home. You
can tweak the lid alignment using a smooth jaw plier.
Brake Rigging
The brake rigging can be tedious to assemble so you need to be
patient. The brake beams need to be cleaned up with a razor blade or
modeling knife. Drag the blade along the four sides of the beam end.
This will remove the flash on the parting line, but more importantly it
adds a slight taper so the beam will mate with the brake shoe with a
minimum of pressure.
Leave the brake shoes
attached to the sprue
until the beam is
inserted. Make sure
you support the shoe
on the backside when
you are inserting the
beam.
Mount the brake
lever on the beam and
add the brake hangers. The brake rigging is placed on the workbench
and the truck is placed over the top. Using a pair of tweezers, position
the hangers in the mounting tubes on the back of the side frame. Don’t
apply too much pressure or you might dislodge the hanger from the
brake shoe.
Springs
San Juan uses a molded engineering plastic spring instead of the
usual fine wire springs. The spring looks more realistic since the wire
diameter is more prototypical in size. I have had trouble installing
these springs in the truck. I started installing some old Athearn wire
springs on the inside positions where you can’t see them and the scale
springs on the outside. The truck shown at the beginning of the article
was assembled using custom made springs.
Weathering
I usually airbrush the trucks with Floquil Weathered black. It is a
warm-gray-black color that shows up the detail very well. I used Kuras
Rust-All washes for the rust highlights.
Hopefully, this description will help you complete your San Juan
Car Company trucks quickly and accurately.
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Detailing the Babbitt Small Tender
Bob Garrelts
The tender that is supplied with the
smaller Babbitt kits is the original
design that came with the General Models/All Nation B&O Ten Wheeler. Not
much has changed over the years except
the ladder, marker lights and truck sideframes. It appears they have fallen victim to worn out dies and are now made
of different materials than the originals.
Many years ago I put rivets on one of
these tenders by drilling hundreds of
#70 holes, inserting brass pins with the
heads cut off. A good dose of Hercules
“Swif” (a 50/50 solder ground in an acid
flux) on the inside and a torch spread the
solder all over the inside. Some time
was spent to file down the pins then a
wire brush finished the job. In a moment
of “stupidity” I sold that tender to Joe
Ranker and it has spent the intervening
years in Cooperstown, N.Y. I have no
intention of doing that again. We have
other ways to deal with the situation.
Start by assembling the tank, top deck,
front coal sheet and the two mounting
plates that hold the tank to the frame. It
would be difficult to do after installing
the wrapper. Make sure that you file any
excess where the bottom plate tabs come
through the sides. We want the tank to be
as smooth as possible.
The next step is somewhat up to the
builder. Select the brass you want to use
for the wrapper. I happened to have a
three foot long sheet of .010" brass so I
could make a one piece wrapper. It
could just as easily be done in two
RING
OR...SOLDE
!
REALLY IS FUN
pieces with the joint in the middle of the sizes. It occasionally comes back on the
tank rear. The thickness of the brass is market. Jerry Snow of Accurate O Scale
important. Too thick and it will be hard recently marketed a rather sophisticated
to impress all those rivets. Too thin and machine (Photo #1) with changeable
it may deform and not take impressions dies. It also includes a long table that is
well. Another criterion to be concerned advanced by a lever. The advance diswith is hard, soft or half hard brass tance can be adjusted. It’s long enough
sheet. I didn’t think about this at the out- to do a passenger car. Many people have
set and I should
have. The marvelous sheet I had
was apparently
hard brass. When it
came time to bend
the front pieces
around the water
legs it started to act
like spring brass. It
took a lot of persuasion to get it to
1
go around the
Accurate "O" Scale rivet machine with finished sheet.
curved water legs.
Select the rivet
pattern you want. Several choices are made punches from drill rod and dies
appropriate such as two double rows from all kinds of things and used a drill
from front to rear. Another alternative is press and a fence clamped to the table to
vertical double rows. No matter what make rivets. North West Shortline’s
pattern you decide on be prepared to Sensi Press can also be equipped to
press rivets (Photo #2).
punch a lot of rivets (see sketches).
The way to layout the rivet pattern is
Rivets can be pressed in brass very
easily. My first rivet tool was made to clean the brass with lacquer thinner
about 50 years ago. I assembled it from then coat it with blue layout dye on what
scrap brass and a piece of drill rod. It will become the inside of the wrapper.
served its purpose at the time. Some You should be able to buy layout dye
time in the 60’s Precision Manufactur- from tool stores or one of the mail order
ing (not Precision Scale) made a very tool suppliers. Starrett Blue Dye comes
well-built punch with dies in several with a swab attached to the lid and
2
This is a very boring wrapper. Bend the sides along the tank
process. If you get tired or side. Make sure the bottom edge lines
if things aren’t going well, up with the bottom of the tank. Put a
get up and walk away. spring clamp or two to hold the two
Come back when you’re pieces together. Alignment is critical at
refreshed. Don’t trim the this point to keep the wrapper square to
top edge of the wrapper the tank. Heat the work with a small
until you’ve finished sol- torch and hold 60/40 solder to the joints
dering it in place. If you at the bottom and the top. Keep the torch
look at the photographs moving and the capillary action will pull
you may see rivets that the solder into the joint. Don’t overdo
went through and left a the application as you may have to undo
small hole. That comes it to straighten the whole thing out. You
from being too heavy hand- can always add more solder later. Bend
ed with my little ball peen the sides around the front water legs and
hammer and maybe the repeat the process (Photo #4).
It should be possible to locate the
“hard" brass. The pattern
Our "Chief Engineer" checks over the tooling.
isn’t perfect either, but then handrail holes from the inside of the
makes fast work of coating the brass. I don’t have the patience of Job. Actual- tank with a scriber. Re-drill and solder
Scribe the pattern you’ve chosen with a ly, I’m counting on paint to kind of the handrails in place. I didn’t make an
impressed piece for the top of the tank,
ruler and a scriber. Start by scribing the cover my slight errors.
When you have completed the rivet but that was personal choice — laziness.
long lines (in my case, horizontal), then
using a slotted ruler, scribe the short punching clean the layout dye from the I also decided not to put a bead around
cross lines. A stainless steel ruler offered brass sheet with lacquer thinner. You the top edge of the finished tank
by Micro-Mark with slots works well may find, like I did, that the sheet brass although it would probably look better.
for laying out staggered rows. It comes tended to curl
in 6" (#81565) and 12" (#81569). Where slightly. Before I 4
the lines intersect is where you punch tried to solder it to
the rivet. Remember the old carpenters the tank I spent
adage, measure twice, cut once. In my some time flattencase I should have measured at least ing the piece with a
three times. I goofed on the pattern but small block of soft
it’s too late to do anything about it. wood and a small
Besides, you only see one side at a time! hammer. Even finger pressure
(Photo #3)
Set up good light, that’s why I worked. Polish the
worked in the kitchen over the objec- brass with some
tions of, well, you know who. You might fi n e s a n d p a p e r.
The wrapper is clamped to the tank for soldering. The tin of Nokofode
want to practice on a piece of scrap. Clean the tender
is at least 60 years old. The torch is fueled with Ronson lighter gas.
Eventually you will develop a feel for body with thinner
The die cast frame is the original Varthe pressure needed to impress the rivet. and use some sandpaper to get rid of
Get a soothing drink and punch away. anything that would keep solder from ney design. It doesn’t need much work
adhering. Spread but it does afford the opportunity to use
rosin flux on the different trucks. What becomes impor3
two pieces. By tant is the truck bolster height. If it’s
the way, make higher than the original trucks you have
sure the lacquer to file down the mounting bosses. Of
thinner has evap- course, if lower, shim up the boss with
orated. It’s very brass washers. The idea here is to get the
coupler height correct Depending on the
flammable.
Start at the truck bolster you might have to make
tender rear. Posi- your own shouldered screw by taking a
tion the tank in screw, a washer and a piece of brass tubthe center of the ing all soldered together. Of course if
Brass Sheet with the rivets is an ERIE Berkshire smokebox wrapper.
you’ve been at this for over 50 years like
I have you save every shouldered screw
you can get your hands on.
The coupler mounting area is not
milled out for a Kadee coupler box. If
you have a vertical mill, no problem. It
is possible to order the tender from Babbitt milled for the Kadee box for a nominal charge. If you can’t widen the area to
take the draft gear box use the coupler
without the box and rig a small spring to
hold it straight. The corner steps that are
included in the kit are the original Varney parts. Since they are held to the
frame by 2-56 screws, it’s easy to substitute several different styles. If you have
access to a Precision Scale catalog there
are quite a few to choose from. It’s all
builder’s choice. I got lazy again and
used the kit steps.
The rear ladder is easy to assemble
with a touch of a soldering iron. You can
locate the threaded holes to hold the bottom of the ladder to the tank or, since it’s
now brass, solder it to the tank. Notice
my ladder is missing. I screwed it up
and I’ll have to order a new one. Well,
no one’s infallible.
Painting and lettering are not one of
my happiest tasks. Obviously anything
you’re going to paint must be clean and
dry. I started with a good bath of lacquer
thinner to get rid of all the flux residue. A
good scrubbing with detergent helps too.
Several light coats of paint are better than
one heavy coat. Depending on the brand
of paint I use I like to put heat on it to
help it dry. Floquil especially likes to be
baked. One easy way is to get an infrared bulb and place it several inches from
the piece. Get one with a socket and wire
guard. Those bulbs get mighty hot. I’ve
found you can bake stuff for several
hours and it really speeds up drying time.
Lettering? Well, since this engine will
undoubtedly end up on a railroad other
than mine, I’ll let the recipient have all
the fun of messing with decals, decal set
and clear flat lacquer.
If I were going to do this again I’d
probably do the wrapper in two pieces.
It would be easier to handle. I think I’d
go to .008" brass and I’d make sure it
was half hard or on the softer side. I
probably would go to a smaller punch can see how detailed it is would be to
and die, too. If your local hobby shop stop it and inspect it for half hour.
Now, it’s time to get back to building
can’t supply you with either .008" or
.010" sheet brass try Special Shapes Co. Erie Berkshires! After all, that’s what I
They stock sheet brass in convenient 6" made that trailing truck for! (See
OST#7).
x 12" sheets.
After all this nonsense I must tell you Resources:
that the diecast tender supplied with the
Accurate O Scale, 38623 Orchard St.,
Weaver 2-8-0 is available separately and
Cherry Valley CA 92223
would probably go quite well with the
Babbitt Atlantic. It sells for around $110 Micro-Mark, 340 Snyder Ave, Berkeley
plus $10 shipping. But think of all the Heights NJ 07922, www.micromark.com
FUN you would miss! Especially the North West Short Line, PO Box 423,
part about dropping a blob of hot solder Seattle WA 98111, www.nwsl.com
in your lap while wearing shorts. That’s Precision Scale Co., PO Box 278,
the usual mode of dress in my work- Stevensville, MT 59870, 406-777-5071
shop.
Special Shapes Co., P.O.Box 7487,
As a final comment, there has been a
Romeoville, Illinois, 60446-0487,
lot of talk about inexpensive smaller
Phone 1-800-51-SHAPE.
◆
locomotives. It doesn’t take a master
modeler to build a Babbitt kit. The
opportunity to detail them is almost endless. Armed with
a Precision Scale
catalog and a little imagination,
a very credible
locomotive can
be built. Maybe
single row
it’s not equal to
double row or
of ri vets
ri vets-staggered
imported brass,
but it’s at a cost
that is quite
manageable.
Besides, put a
locomotive on
the rails with a
notch for
handrail
front deck
train and the
location
double row or
only way you
ri vets-staggered
single row
of ri vets
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IN-STOCK
AS ALWAYS, WE CARRY FINISHING KITS, PARTS, DECALS,
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WE CARRY NEW AND USED TRAINS
WE BUY AND SELL TRAINS
6017 Northwest Hwy. Chicago, Il. 60631 773•775•4848 Fax 773•775•639
HOBBY INC.
Mon - Thur 11-7, Fri 11-8:30, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-4:30, Closed Sundays May, June, July, August & Sept.
Just 15 Min. from O'Hare Airport
Visit our web site: www. chicagoland-hobby.com
e-mail: [email protected]
Jim Hackworth
Buy⁄Sell⁄Trade
MODEL TRAINS
USH Erie K5 4-6-2, N/P, Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,875.00
SS C&O J2a,4-8-2 w/Extra Detail, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,395.00
SS ATSF 2-10-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,295.00
MG PRR 2-10-2, L/N, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,875.00
USH C&O 2-8-4, C/P, Runs good, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,450.00
MG NYC J1e 4-6-4, Nice, N/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,475.00
MG NYC J3a 4-6-4, Nice, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,475.00
MG N&W Y6b 2-8-8-2, Can Motor, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,475.00
USH PRR M1a,4-8-2,C/P,OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,375.00
USH NYC L4b, C/P, Kleinscmidt Dr, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,195.00
MG B&O 2-8-8-4,C/P,NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,450.00
USH PRR L1 2-8-2, C/P w/Sound, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,200.00
SS N&W J 4-8-4,Rebuilt w/sound, C/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,700.00
USH PRR K4 4-6-2,Late Run, C/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,250.00
MG PRR E6 4-4-2, C/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,275.00
MG SP MT4 w/Icken Gears, C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,895.00
USH NYC H10,2-8-2, Mint, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,575.00
OM NP A5 4-8-4, C/P, Mint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,895.00
OM #0166 NP Z Class 4-6-6-4, C/P, Mint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,995.00
USH AC12 4-8-8-2, C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,595.00
USH UP 4-6-6-4, Can Motor, C/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,395.00
PSC PRR K4,4-6-2, Slat Pilot, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,350.00
PSC PRR B-6,0-6-0 w/Straight Cylinders, LN, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,450.00
SS PRR I1 2-10-0, LN, 2-Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each $1,150.00
Atlas GP35’s, New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $350.00
CW H16-44 ,C/P ATSF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,495.00
USH GP35, N/P, LN, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $495.00
Layaway Available
Consignments
(and Subsidiary JH Consulting)
2631 Edgevale Road, Columbus OH 43221-1113
Phone:614-4514517 Fax:6144514557
Email: [email protected] • Web: www.jhmtrains.com
OM American Hoist Ditcher, LN, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $495.00
OM #0515 UP SD40-2, C/P Lts, Beacon, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,095.00
Custom Built PRR GG1, Ptd Green, 5-Stripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $575.00
SS FM Trainmaster, C/P SP Bloody Nose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,295.00
OL GN 2-D-2 #5001/5002 Set, C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,495.00
USH SD45, C/P SP, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $695.00
USH #401 48' Gondola,N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $149.00
USH #305 Single Dome Tank w/Platform, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $149.00
MG #702 3-Bay Hopper, Rnd End, N/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $199.00
USH #705 Panel Hopper, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $199.00
USH #402 52' Gondola, N/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $149.00
USH #302 D. Dome Tank, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $139.00
PSC#16059-1, 2-Bay C&O Hopper, F/P C&O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $195.00
USH #505 2-Bay Composite Hopper, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $149.00
PL#300 PRR R-7 Reefer, C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $295.00
Priester Custom Built Morrell Reefers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each
$159.00
MG #120 TT Flats,C/P PRR w/USH RB Tks(25 available) . . . . . . .each $129.00
PRB 60’ Greenville Boxcars,Various Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each $300.00
PRB 62’ PC&F Boxcars,Various Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each
$300.00
MG PRR N8 Caboose,N/P,NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $250.00
PSC PRR Stock Car,N/P,OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $250.00
OM#0752 NP Caboose,C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $375.00
Alco PRR N6a,C/P or N/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each 225.00
ALW ATSF Chief Pullmans/Diner/Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each 475.00
CB PRR N8 Caboose,N/P,OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $295.00
PRB 50’ Boxcars SD,End Door & DD Kits,Undec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $37.50
PRB 50’ Boxcars,Built,DD,End Door,SD,C&O/B&O/PM/WM . . . . . . . . . . $47.50
(UP & ATSF End Door/ CB&Q & Erie S.Door)
LSASE for Complete List
Shipping 6% - $6.00 Min., $12.00 Max
Ohio Residents Add 6.75% Sales Tax
Estates⁄Liquidations
Collection Reductions
Building
A PRR
N2sa
2-10-2
N2sa w/tank cars, courtesy PRR,
J. Giannovario collection
Text and models by John Sauers
Illustrations by Carey Hinch
During World War 1 American railroads were taken over by
a government agency, The United States Railroad Administration (USRA). Under USRA control, railroads were prohibited
from developing any new locomotives. Instead, the USRA
designed standard classes of locomotives: 0-6-0, 0-8-0, 2-8-2,
2-10-2 light and heavy, 4-6-2 light and heavy, 4-8-2 light and
heavy, 2-6-6-2, 2-8-8-2. All were equipped with radial stay
fireboxes.
The demand on the Pennsylvania RR was so great during
the war that they could not keep up without acquiring additional locomotives. In 1918 and 1919 they took delivery of
120 USRA 2-10-2 heavy locomotives, and classified them as
N2s. This group served the PRR well and after the war they
acquired an additional 10 engines. The N2’s were used across
the Pennsy system.
In fact, the PRR liked them enough to rebuild them in 1923.
They cut away the radial stay fireboxes and replaced them
with Belpaire fireboxes and PRR standard smokebox fronts.
These locomotives were reclassified as N2sa. I have always
wanted to build an N2sa with a long-haul tender. I eventually
found a photo of #8919 showing an N2sa with this type of tender. However, most N2sa’s kept their as-delivered USRA tenders. Some of those USRA tenders were rebuilt by the PRR to
increase coal capacity.
Since there has never been a USRA 2-10-2 made in O
scale, I had to scratch-and parts-build this locomotive. So, let’s
get started. The first thing we need is a set of plans. I looked
everywhere for a set and was unable to find any. I took a drawing of a USRA heavy 2-10-2 from a Locomotive Cyclopedia
and modified it by adding the Belpaire and a few other Pennsy
details (Fig A next page). Don’t worry about the valve gear.
We will use a different type than in the drawing.
Frame
The frame and drivers were made by Locomotive Workshop. We will use the same technique to complete the frames
as we used on the PRR E1 buildup (OST#7). Solder the
springs to the top of the frame, one over each driver (Fig B).
Fabricate the equalizers that will go in the frame cutouts. Sol-
Fig B.
DRILL FOR .040”
CAST BOLTS
ALL LOCATIONS
FRAME
1st after
smokebox
#2
#1
der the equalizers in place. Next attach long bars from the
springs to the rockers.
Now, assemble the two sides of the frame and install the
drivers. Make sure you order crescent counter weights on the
drivers. Set the frame aside and we will start the boiler.
Boiler
Using the templates provided (Figs C & D) cut the boiler
sections from .015" brass and bend to shape (photo 2). Do the
Belpaire first. Carefully draw the lines for bending and shape
smokebox
N2SA #3
Fig C.
Half size for O scale
#5
N2SA #4
Fig A. General Arrangement PRR N2sa 2-10-2
This drawing is 70% of actual O scale size.
Fig D.
Half size for O scale
Fig G.
CUT
#1
#2
#3
#4
WIDTH DETERMINED
BY BOILER
#5
FOLD
1 ROW
2 ROWS
RIVETS
Fig E.
#6
BOILER
D
TR IAM
EA O
D ND
Photo 2
FRAME
Photo 4
the Belpaire (Part #5 in Fig D). The front of the Belpaire will
be made by soldering brass across the top of the boiler and filing it to shape.
I usually solder a piece of brass to the inside of each course
so half of it is sticking out to attach the next course. I use 1/4
inch wide pieces. Start with the Belpaire. Solder the next
course to it and continue foreword until you are at the course
just before the smoke box (Part #2 in Fig C).
Insert the smoke box into this course and solder it in place.
Make sure it is perfectly round.
Now go back and solder the front pieces to the firebox
(Part#6 in Fig E). These I usually make up by pressing rivets
in carefully placed rows. Bend to match the front of the firebox. Add a piece of brass to the back of the boiler for the backhead. We will detail this later.
Your boiler should now look like Fig E.
Cab
The template for the cab is shown in Fig F. Lay out the rivets and emboss them. Carefully cut out the cab, cab front and
cab rear out of .020" brass. (BTW, this is a "stock" USRA cab
and drawings for it can be found in many references.) The
windows must be cut out and window frames made. The
USRA windows have more sections than typical Pennsy windows. These are drilled first then filed to desired shape. The
front of the cab is attached to the boiler.
Using the template for the cab floor (Fig G), cut out as
shown and bend at the proper places (Photo 4). Solder to the
boiler. Don't worry about the space where the floor goes. Bend
a piece of brass to fit and solder it to the inside of the cab.
Photo 5 shows the completed cab. Detail the cab interior to
suit. The cab will be removable to allow full cab details to be
added. Form the cab sides and solder the back wall in place.
Now solder the window frames from the inside. The USRA
cabs have a vent that runs the length of the cab on top. In addition, the two hatches slide foreword. I almost goofed here as
continued on page38
Photo 5.
Fig F.
Cab - Half size for O scale
Photo 3
Pennsy hatches slide to the rear. (See Harry Hieke's articles in
OST#1, #2 and #3 for details on making windows that slide
and roof hatches that work - Ed.)
Cylinders
Solid brass cylinders can be obtained from Locomotive
Workshop. On my model I cut out the front and rear of the
cylinder chest. The cylinder heads and valve heads are from
Locomotive Workshop (Photo 6). Assemble per Fig H. Solder
a cast nut and washer to the center of the cylinder head and
add the valve guides.
POWER REVERSE
RIGHT SIDE
G
RI
HT
SI
DE
DE
LE
FT
SI
LIFTING LINK
Fig. I.
Photo 6
model. The amount of detail you elect to put on your model is
your choice. I find I want to apply everything I can. I study lots of
photos and end up drawing what I intend to put on my project.
Let’s begin with running boards. I take engraved running
board and solder .015" brass to the bottom, to give it some
strength. Solder the running boards to the sides being careful
to keep them straight. On this project the boards are straight
with no breaks for air tanks. After soldering the boards in,
place I added the tank brackets in Fig J to the top of the boards.
Fig. H
STRAPS .010”
2 EACH TANK
Fig. J
VALVE
HEADS
CROSSHEAD
GUIDES
SADDLE
CYLINDER
HEAD
BACK
BOILER
TUBING
H
NGT
O LE
GT
N
I
TUB
STEAM
EXHAUST
WIRE UNION
FRONT
SMALL
WASHOUT
PLUGS
SHAPED USING
DRILL & FILE
WRAPPER
NUT &
WASHER
CASTINGS
CYLINDER
HEAD
TANK BRACKETS
WALKWAY
Valve Gear & Rods
The valve gear hangers are made using the drawing in Fig I.
Most of the valve gear is from Williams PRR locos. The
crosshead is from a Williams locomotive while the main and
side rods from a USH PRR I-1, 2-10-0. Assemble the side rods
on the drivers and make sure the mechanism is free of any
binds. Attach the cylinder and the valve gear. Make adjustments so the mechanism runs free by hand. After you are satisfied add the motor and gear box and run it in.
Details, Details, Details...
This is the part of model building that makes or breaks your
This figure also shows how I make air tanks. The brackets
would normally attach to the tanks, but here we are only giving that impression. I add angle brass to the sides of the running boards.
Handrails are next. On this engine the stanchions are "U"
shaped to receive the handrail and have nuts and bolts going
through them. These are available from Precision Scale Co.
Figure K shows the piping details and tank arrangement. I
marked each point where I added a cast union. The power
reverse goes on the right side.
This N2sa, as modeled, represents a later PRR engine so
GENERATOR
POWER REVERSE
HEADLIGHT
STEAM
Fig. K
CAB
SMALL
LINES
FRONT
T
FRON
UMP
AIR P
11
BOX
FIRE
NS
UNIO
R
CTO
INJE
SIDE
LEFT
2 LINES
2 LINES
HEADLIGHT
T
FRON
GENERATOR
CAB
NUT/BOLT CASTING
AND CLAMP DETAIL
3
1
RIGHT S
Fig. M
IDE
the details you would find on it would be similar to a PRR I-1
2-10-0. My detail sketches are showing in Fig L (on page 40).
Figure M shows how to wire up the headlight and generator.
Cab detail depends upon you. I prefer that my models have
as many details in the cab as on the boiler. (Photo 7 page 40).
The lead truck and trailing truck can both be obtained from
Precision Scale or Locomotive Workshop.
The pilot is made from a square piece of brass with the ends
rounded (Fig N). Steps are fabricated using .015" brass. The
deck is made using engraved deck material. The steps to running boards are made from the same .015" brass. Add a train
control box to the rear of the deck.
Tender
Now for some tender words. I hate building tenders. I
acquired a US Hobbies PRR M1a long haul tender and used
that. Both PFM and Sunset have imported a USRA heavy 4-82 in the past and a tender from one of those engines would do
as well. All either needs is a doghouse. Both Precision Scale
and Locomotive Workshop offer kits.
That’s it. Send it to the paint shop.
◆
Sources:
Locomotive Workshop, 6 Appleby Dr., Helmetta NJ 08828,
732-605-2780
Precision Scale Co., PO Box 278, Stevensville MT 59870,
406-777-5071
Fig. N
T
FRONT
BLOWDOWN
FRON
POP OFF
VALVES
ROOF DEFLECTOR
RAIN GUTTER
HANDRAIL
HOOD
TOP OF
BELPAIR
ARMREST
STARTER
VALVE
WASHOUT
PLUGS
DISTRIBUTION VALVE
BOTH SIDES
JUST IN FRONT OF
SAND DOME
BOTH SIDES
BRACKET
SANDING VALVES
FRONT
Crapola
from the
Cupola
John C. Smith
Pecos River Brass
Continued from last issue...
The next morning as per instructions, I
got up after very little sleep, had another
American Breakfast, and went back to my
room. About 9:00 am I got a call
from Ho Chul Lee. He spoke just
enough English for us to communicate. I followed his instructions.
I left the hotel lobby and turned
right and proceeded to the corner.
There, Ho Chul, Namh Il, and Ahn
(I don’t remember his first name)
met me with a taxi. I got in. We sped
away to the subway, about a mile or two
from the Hotel Koreana. We got out. There
was little talking, so I just followed. We
boarded the subway and headed South. We
rode for some time, far South of Anyong
City where the GangSan factory was. We
got off the subway and hailed another cab.
We rode for about 10 minutes and got out at
a factory entrance, where Ahn went in the
security fence to meet someone and get a
key. We then walked about 6-8 blocks and
knocked on a door of a residence. Someone
there met us, wearing a suit, and I recognized him as one of the factory workers. It
seems that wearing a suit has some kind of
class distinction in Korea. I noticed that
management in the factories wore suits and
that meant achievement to them. A Korean
worker will take title over salary every time,
if he can wear a suit to work. I guess,
because the American was here, and he was
picked to help, he wore his suit that day.
We unlocked the basement and down six
steps were all the bits and pieces for my
heavyweight passenger car project. We took
all the boxes up to the apartment and opened
the boxes. I took photos of my cars, half built,
and PSC’s tank cars and Sunsets V&T steam
locos. They were all there. We didn’t waste
much time. We put it all back, and went back
to the hotel somewhat the same way, only this
time using a bus, taxi and subway. They left
me at my hotel and disappeared.
If I had thought about it more, I would
have looked over my shoulder far more
often. I didn’t realize what was happening to
me. What they did was very dangerous.
They could have been followed to the models and hurt very badly... me too. When I got
back to the hotel, I went to my room and
then, and only then, realized the danger that
I might have been in. There were lots of
messages from other builders wanting to
meet with me. The word got out... a rich
American is in Seoul looking for a builder
and they all wanted to be that builder. Just
think about it, an American that is desperate.
They must have been drooling.
Charlie had arrived. He was staying at a
different hotel, the Westin Chosun, about 4
blocks away and twice the price. Charlie had
flown first class, and could afford the best.
Charlie had been using Samhongsa for
all his S Scale steam projects, but was having trouble with them and prices. They kept
going up. Duh! Charlie was looking for
another alternative. We visited six factories
together. It was my only time to actually
visit Samhongsa and I appreciated the difference immediately. Computers, digital
machinery, uniforms, clean floor, departments, and, at that time, about 500 workers.
They were the king. Se Yong Lee of
Samhongsa and I were never able to come
together on a project. We tried several times
over the years but it just wasn’t meant to be.
We visited Mr. O, of OCS Microcast
(casting company) and he took us to MS
Park. Park brought out model after model in
S scale that they built for another importer.
Charlie would say, I have 3 of those and
none would run. I have 4 of those and only 2
run. I have those and they don’t work. Park
was getting frustrated. I took Charlie to the
side and said to him, “Charlie, is Sam building you a great model?” He agreed, and so I
told him to stay with Sam and pay the price.
“Look at the MS quality. You don’t want
that.” When we went back to where Mr. O
and Mr. Park were sitting, Mr. O could see
that Charlie was not liking what he was seeing, so he turned to me and asked, “...perhaps if you would be interested in business. I
hear GangSan is no more.” I smiled.
So, I said, “I thought MS Models had an
exclusive agreement with Overland?” Mr. O
said, ”Only verbal, nothing in writing. We
will use another name and nobody will
know.” I laughed, “Nobody will know?
Everyone will know. There are no secrets
over here.” I then said, “Isn’t your word your
bond?” Then he said, perhaps it would be
better if we didn’t do business. Mr. O has
never forgiven me for that remark. Seems
it’s OK to be dishonest as long as you don’t
get caught. Charlie did business with Sam as
long as he lived, and paid the higher price.
One other note about this trip. Two different model builders met us at our hotel
lobby, where we discussed general business
ideas. As usual, we asked to visit the factory.
Two different builders and two different
companies, and both took us to the same
factory! When we returned the second time,
the factory workers must have thought, what
in the hell are these guys doing back here.
Neither builder knew we had been there
twice, and we played along. It didn’t matter.
I am sure that this was an assembly subcontractor and both companies used them as an
assembly factory.
What an odd place, Korea.
◆
THE WORKSHOP
[]\
Tips from Neville Rossiter
Perth, Australia
Building Multiple Structures
On my new modular layout each module has a theme. One of
the themes is a “City Block” which required a number of structures
to be built, a daunting task for one person with a deadline to meet
for a show. Here is how I did it.
After the structures were chosen for the module and put together with the base and walls, I cleared a space directly opposite my
workbench and placed an old table for the structures and parts to
finish them.
I used the workbench for cutting and for making the odd part, and the table for final assembly
and hand painting.
I found that sitting between the bench and the
table was very convenient and sped up the work.
After the structures were finished the table was
put out in the shed until needed again.
I also used a lot of Pecos River Brass modular
buildings. The hardest part of building the Pecos
building modules is working out where the parts go.
I would suggest to lay out all the parts separately on a table and either bundle them up with
elastic bands or put them into containers (I used
ice cream containers). That done, the flash can
then be cleaned off and the parts squared.
Now you are ready to start building. Lay all
the parts out on a flat surface. I use my cutting
table that has a large self-healing cutting mat that
helps to stop the parts from slipping.
When gluing the parts together it is important
to use heavy weights to hold the parts square and
inline while the glue is drying. The weights, if
heavy enough, act like clamps between the parts
and the mat.
I prefer to use “frosted glass” for the windows
instead of the clear plastic that is supplied. For
this, I cut up plastic milk bottles into rectangles
◆
for the window glass.
PRB modular building
Workbench with tools and cutting board.
Overall view of the area, showing the bench, chair, and the table.
Table with the structures waiting to be finished.
O Scale DCC
DCC - Sound
Ted Byrne
Block Detection with DCC Command Control
DCC, and the other command control systems that
use AC on the tracks, make block detection simple.
Why would you want block detection?
• An obvious reason is to control grade crossing
warnings (lights, gates, bells).
• Another reason is to control block signaling
lights. For example you might have threeaspect lights that show red if the next block is
occupied, yellow/orange if the second block
ahead is occupied, and green if both blocks are
free.
• A third reason is to control remote lights, such
as a CTC board, an indicator for hidden or staging tracks, or as a personal computer input.
• A fourth reason is to control sound systems that
are triggered by the passing of a train, such as
station sounds.
• A fifth reason is to control reversing loop
power automatically.
You can think of more reasons.
Recall that a block is a section of track that has at
least one rail isolated (gapped) and is fed power by a
dedicated wire. Block detection goes way back, but the
classic method was Linn Wescott’s Twin-T detector
described in Model Railroader 1958. Block detection
with DCC is a cinch because it is easier to detect AC than
DC. You just loop the block feed wire through a transformer on the detection circuit (probably looped several
turns). There is no electrical connection between the
track power and the detection circuit power so there is
no decrease in train speed and no possibility of sneak
connections between blocks.
DCC block detection is also nicer because the track
power is always ON even when the train has stopped. So
you don’t get the situation where a lowered crossing
gate doesn’t go back up when the train stops because
there is no track power to signal them.
There are several sources for block detection devices,
but I use the unit described in May, 2000 Model Railroader, page 90: “The DCC Optimized Detector”. The
article describes the device, which is about a big as a
cigarette pack, and tells how to build it yourself. They also give
options to buy it assembled or to buy a complete parts kit and
assemble it yourself. I find collecting the onesy-twosy parts a
pain so I like buying the complete kit of parts. The kit is item
DCCOD kit and is sold by EASEE Interfaces, 801 Bryson
Loop, Lakeland Florida 33809-8702. Each detector costs $14
and there is a one-time shipping/handling charge of $6. You
can assemble this if you are familiar with soldering small parts
and have the tools and are careful. Have a magnifying glass or
loupe as the part markings or colors are very small. Remember
some parts have a + and - end. By the way, if you build it yourself, be aware that there is an error in the electrical circuit diagram that is corrected on page 10 in Model Railroader July,
2000 issue.
The device is fine as it is, but I made two changes. First I
used larger wire to thread through the transformer than the #22
wire that they supply. They say their wire will support up to 20
amps but I wanted less voltage drop.
Second, I didn’t use the connector they supply to plug the
unit into a group container which is used to place all the detectors next to your bank of block detection switches. I have
blocks, but no block switches, so I put each unit right under the
track board where power connects to the track with a power
supply and relay next to it.
Block detection depends on the train drawing some, but not
much, current. DCC-equipped locomotives, passenger cars
with lights, and a caboose with marker lights are no problem. If
all your trains are shorter than the block length that is all there
is to it. The article describes other options such as conductive
paint on car axles and resistors soldered across the axle
between the wheels.
This detector has the nice characteristic that it has a turn-on
delay of 0.25 second and a turn-off delay of 3.5 seconds. You
don’t get false chattering because of dirt on rails or wheels. The
output is a transistor that can be used to energize a small relay or
lights. The Radio Shack 275-206 relay is one possible choice.
The whole unit uses a little more power than the relay or other
output devices. It does need 12 volts of fairly clean DC, but one
small power unit can run many block detectors.
I would be interested in hearing what you use block detection for and will discuss applications in a future column if there
is interest.
◆
Narrow
Minded
Bobber Gibbs
3 New O Scale Narrow Gauge Locomotives Arriving Soon
This is a great time for O Scale narrow gauge modeling as
no less than three new ready-to-run locomotives are expected
to be available in the immediate future.
According to the Bachmann Trains website, they should be
shipping their new Spectrum On30 Davenport 0-4-0 critter
(with counterweights and side rods) in the next few weeks.
This late 1930's era gas mechanical features die-cast frame, 5pole skew-wound motor, low-speed gearing, amber LED
headlight, full cab interior and will be DCC-ready. It will be
offered in the following roadnames: Greenbrier & Big Run
Lumber, Pocahontas Lumber, Midwest Quarry & Mining,
Colorado Mining, Little River Logging, and painted and unlettered. It was displayed at the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Colorado and, if it is as heavy and low-geared as
conventioneers report, it looks like it will be another winner.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/index.html
MSRP:$90.
Broadway Limited Imports announced their new On30 C16 2-8-0 with sound, that can be operated with a standard DC
power pack as well as with DCC. The C-16 was a generic narrow gauge locomotive and will be available in several paint
schemes, including D&RGW, RGS, Mexico Lumber, NCNG,
Montezuma Lumber, the Pennsylvania RR, CM&StP and
unlettered. The factory installed Quantum sound system with
dual speakers will feature chuff, whistle, bell, squealing
brakes, Doppler effect, air release, air pumps, blow down, pop
off, blower hiss and more. It will include a 5-pole can motor
with flywheel, die-cast chassis, detailed tender underbody,
backhead details, operating headlight, directional backup light
and can operate on 18" radius curves. Due in November.
http://www.broadway-limited.com/products/drgw.htm
MSRP $270.
Precision Scale/Mountain Model Imports
recently announced a new K-27 in On3 and On30
in diecast and brass, painted, decaled and sound
equipped, with lights, cab interior, and can motor. It
will be available in D&RGW livery in several road
numbers including 452, 453, 459, 462, 463, 464
with choice of flying Rio Grande or D&RGW herald with green boiler. Expected early in 2004.
MSRP $439.
It is interesting that PS/MMI may import 1,500
K-27 models in On3 and 5,000 in On30, due to the
growing interest in On30.
Note that all three ready-to-run locomotives will be painted
and DCC-ready and both of the larger locomotives will be
equipped with sound, which is a recent and welcome trend in
our hobby. These are certainly great times for O Scale narrow
gauge model railroading. (Photos of the K-27 are not yet available.)
More, soon.
Bobber
◆
An Overview of SONC 2004
The 2004 O Scale National Convention will be held in the
Nation’s Capital on the 22nd through the 25th of July. At the
National, you’ll see old friends, get your arms around both
new O Scale products and that classic old piece you’ve been
trying to find for years, and have the opportunity to learn from
some of the scale’s masters. Not only will you be able to visit
John Armstrong’s Canandaigua Southern and Ed Rappe’s
basement sized Pennsy, but you’ll see Doug Jones’ wizardry in
a small space, and several creative modular layouts in the hall.
There will be plenty to inspire you, and we’ll look at some of
these railroads in a later issue of OST.
A convention in Washington is just a little different than
you’ve been used to. Here is an opportunity, not only to attend
the Convention, but also to bring your family for a wonderfully educational vacation.
If traveling by air, you’ll fly down the Potomac River to
Reagan National Airport, with direct shuttle service to the
hotel in Crystal City, Virginia. While you are prowling the
halls and checking out the clinics, your family can head into
town to see the White House, the Capitol, and all the monuments just by availing themselves of the hotel’s ability to
arrange a variety of DC tours to suit any interest.
If traveling by car, there are opportunities for you to stop on
your way and visit several places of interest to the railroad
enthusiast, such as the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad,
Cass, Strasburg, Horseshoe Curve and the Altoona Railroader’s Museum, and The National Capital Trolley Museum.
Then it’s arrival at the hotel for four days packed full of fun
and adventure, with the Capital Area O Scalers as your hosts.
On your way home, your family may want to visit Lancaster,
and Pennsylvania Amish Country, or maybe head South to see
George Washington’s Mount Vernon, or Thomas Jefferson’s
home at Monticello. Close by are also the great battlefields of
the American Civil War, such as Antietam, Gettysburg, Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Petersburg.
Travel by rail is a viable option, the only choice for the true
red-blooded railfan. You’ll pull into the wonderfully restored
Washington Union Station, then take the DC Metro system out
to the Crystal City Metro stop, where a complimentary shuttle
can be had to take you to the hotel close-by.
The Metro system makes access to the sights in town easy
and enjoyable. Take advantage of it, for quick self-guided visit
to places like the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, or the
Museum of American History. For the artist in the family,
there’s the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran Gallery,
each with both permanent and visiting exhibits on display. If
nature is of interest, the National Zoo, National Aquarium, and
the National Arboretum are requirements, perhaps followed by
a visit to the Museum of Natural History. All of these may be
reached by using the Metro rail system.
Currently in the works, for those of the railroad persuasion,
are tours of Metro’s shops and maintenance facilities, and
Amtrak’s Union Station/ Ivy City facility. Also planned are
bus trips up to Baltimore and the B&O Museum at the classic
Mt. Clare shops. This trip is contingent on the museum reopening after last winter’s roof collapse, however, so stay
tuned.
Washington DC is indeed, one of the most educational, historical, and culturally rich cities in the world. Take some extra
time with your family and come, not only to the Convention,
but also for an experience your family will remember for years
to come.
In the next issue, we’ll look at the events during the Convention, itself. Meanwhile, contact the Capital Area O Scalers
for their flyer, “Washington: 50 Things to Do and See”. While
your family is quickly filling the itinerary with ideas and
“must-see” sites, you’ll want to check out the “2004 O Scale
National Convention” flyer for clinics, contests, tours, layouts,
and railfanning opportunities. Also, you’ll want to fondle one
of the special Convention cars in the privacy of your own
home. Already available is the Red Caboose wood reefer lettered for Fruit Grower’s Express, and Atlas-O will be shipping
the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac (the boxcar red
scheme!) USRA outside braced boxcars very soon. Just email
[email protected], or write to:
Capital Area O Scalers
2004 O Scale National Convention
10401 Grandin Rd.
Silver Spring, MD 20902
For hotel info, and reservations, be sure you mention the
2004 O Scale National Convention when you contact:
Hyatt Regency, Crystal City at Reagan National Airport
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
1-800-233-1234
“See you for a Capital Convention!”
◆
Now Available From O Scale Trains Magazine
A Guide To Modern O Scale
by Brian Scace
O Sca
le Tra
ins M
a
A Gu presents gazine
ide To
M
O Sca odern
le
by Br
ian S
cace
For the first time, here is a guide to O
scale two rail. This book was written
by O scale modelers with years of
experience in the hobby and they share
that experience with wit and wisdom.
We’ll show you how to get started in 2
rail O Scale, what you need and where
to get it.
Here’s a peek at the Table of Contents:
Of particular use is the list of
Resources at the end of each chapter.
8.
Get your copy today from your local O
scale hobby shop or direct from O
Scale Trains, just $14.95 plus $3 s&h.
VISA & Mastercard Accepted.
OTSrcaainle
These ain’t yer Daddy’s trains!
2
0
0
7.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
O Scale Trains
PO Box 238
Lionville PA 19353-0238
610-363-7117
s
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
14.
15.
Welcome, and a little History
Concept of Operation
Locomotives
Rolling Stock and Couplers
Space Prep and Benchwork
Track and Track Plans
with Joe Giannovario
Structures and Scenery
with Neville Rossiter
Wiring and Control Systems
with Ted Byrne
Narrow Gauge
with Bobber Gibbs
Consider Traction
Proto 48
with Gene Deimling
Tools
with Neville Rossiter
Useful Tables, Tips,
and Short Notes
Sources, Conventions,
and Meets
Glossary of Terms
4
‘0’ Scale National Convention
T
Hyatt Regency, Crystal City
at Reagan National Airport
Show Cars
lers
de
he Capital Area ‘0’ Scalers cordially invite you and your
family to join us in Washington, DC, for the 2004 ‘0’ Scale
National Convention. The White House, the Capitol, and
many world class museums and monuments can be seen in this
beautiful, attraction-rich city. The 2004 ‘0’ Scale National
Convention hotel is conveniently located for access to all of the
most popular sites.
We have a host of activities planned for your enjoyment.
The Convention features more than twenty ‘0’ scale layouts
including John Armstrong’s Canandaigua Southern, Ed Rappé’s
Pennsylvania RR with an impressive view of Horseshoe Curve,
and Tony Lash’s spectacular hi-rail empire. There will be a
fantastic trade show for buying, selling and
/4” Scale M
g1
o
in
swapping, clinics, and model and switching
contests. Numerous railfanning
2004
S O NC
opportunities and good times
ital Area
p
a
with new and old friends are certain
C
S C A0 R S
LE
to top off your convention experience.
Lin
k
Washington, DC
July 22-25
Five ways to get more info
regarding the 2004 ‘0’ Scale
National Convention
• Visit us on the web at
www.2004onational.com
for information and
registration forms.
• E-mail us at
[email protected]
• Look for articles and registration forms to be included
in future issues of 0 Scale
Trains magazine.
• Visit our display at shows.
• Write to:
Capital Area ‘0’ Scalers
P.O. Box 42563
Washington, D.C. 20015
Use convention registration form to order. Limited number. First reserved, first served.
Atlas 40’ USRA outside-braced box car. Exclusive run. Boxcar red lettered “RF&P”.
Red Caboose 40’ Fruit Growers Express reefer. Exclusive run. Four color paint with
silver roofs. (Available Now)
Reader Feedback
Moving Over From 3 Rail
I am a recent subscriber, after having
found a copy of this magazine at a local
newsstand. I like the magazine. It has a
great friendly “feel” to it. As a newcomer
to O scale from 3 rail, many O scale publications come off as snobbish, but your
magazine, rather than denigrating 3 rail
trains, seems to have the right idea; use the
increasing emphasis on detail in 3 rail
trains to get those detail interested 3-railers
like me to “lose that 3rd rail” and go scale.
Okay, I love the “Crapola from the
Cupola” section. It is really neat to learn
how the crazy brass trains business works.
I also like scratchbuilding, and kitbashing
articles, as well as the 3 to 2 rail conversion articles. I still have a ton of 3 rail
stuff, I would rather convert and modify
what is appropriate rather than start from
scratch. Yes, some will have to go, but
there are some 3 rail items that can be
converted/kitbashed, and/or detailed for
scale.
Keep up the pressure for a 2 rail starter
set. I agree that 2 rail sectioned track is the
key. This will allow more converts from
both 3 rail and HO. There is no way that I
will be hand laying track.
I know that many are concerned with
the Atlas RTR stuff, but frankly, I cannot
afford all brass equipment. In order to
grow, and attract newcomers, there must
be a certain amount of O scale affordable,
mass produced product.
BTW: Yes, there is a “greying” of O
Scale, but I am only 38, and just love it!!
Fred Talasco (via email)
Joe G. says: Thanks for your comments. I think more and more 3 rail modelers will be coming over to 2 rail. If you
think about how the 3 rail market has
moved closer and closer to 1:48 scale
models and away from toy trains, it just
seems logical that the final extension of
this “scale movement” is 2 rail track. As
for affordable brass, take a look at the
Sunset High Iron announcement in the
Product News and Reviews section of this
issue.
Who Built That?
I’d like to wave my arms a bit, and the
cover shot on issue 9 will serve as a
launch pad. I doubt if I will get airborne,
but here goes: That beautiful AC-5 won
first place at O Scale West, and is a testimony to the expertise of Sunset’s Korean
craftsmen. The windows and a skillfully
applied coat of weathered black were
added after purchase, and really make the
model look great. I don’t know for sure
that it is a factory painted import, but I
have in front of me an identical model,
complete to the engine number, and the
details track right down to the rivet patterns and numbers of rivets per line. I
have heard of rivet-counters; I always
thought it was a joke.
Second place was a beautiful scratch
built model by Alf Modine. Alf has been
entering the OSW contest for years, and
has repeatedly placed second or third,
often behind Japanese and Korean
imports. I felt so strongly about Alf winning a first place that I voted for him
instead of me. So did my wife, who had
her own ballot. I don’t know what the
margin of victory is, but I know it is
always close—nobody I know ever visits
the contest room, let alone votes!
O Scale West does not separate purchased models from kit and scratch-built
models in the contest room. They do a
tremendous job of putting on a convention, and the work those guys do is appreciated by all of us. And there is probably
nothing wrong with comparing the skill
of a scratch-builder with that of a massproducer. In fact, it might be incentive for
the scratch builder to improve his or her
skill level. But I gotta tell you, I will never
have the time, resources, or skill to do
what Sunset does. Sure, I get my boiler
contours closer to the actual prototype,
but those details! Even with Dennis and
Kathy Mashburn helping [with castings],
I’ll never come close to that AC-5. But
there is a difference! A scratch or kit
builder is displaying his or her own handiwork, and in the contest environment, is
seeking recognition for that work. A purchaser is not looking for the same thing.
At best, a purchaser is saying “Hey, look!
Isn’t this neat?” Taking a ribbon home for
a factory painted import doesn’t sound
like a very satisfying thing to me. Don’t
get me wrong; the weathered grey and
windows were quite well done, and the
painter deserves credit. But the credit for
the locomotive belongs elsewhere.
I hope you don’t mind my suggesting
that the builder should be indicated when
you use a model for your cover shot. Not
only would that be good for the builder
and importer (in this case an important
advertiser), but it would help your readers
and would be more effective journalism.
All that aside, the cover shot is a keeper!
That model is gorgeous!
I have a couple of additional thoughts.
Power packs are a problem for O Scalers.
I recommend a combination of a good
low-power auto transformer and a 24v
high power stepdown transformer. I use a
small Stacor auto transformer (last price
was $17, but that was a while ago) and a
surplus stepdown. I follow that up with an
inexpensive rectifier and a giant capacitor,
with circuit protection on both ends and
meters and switches at the output. My test
transformer also has an AC output for hirail stuff. That generally gives me about
18v at 6 amps, but I use a 3 amp breaker.
You need the higher voltage for older O
Scale (Lobaugh and K&D) and the new
can motors can take it if you want.
Nice article on pickle cars. I’d build
one if I didn’t already have one. I am tickled to see Roger Jenkins with a regular
column. And Gene Deimling is one of my
heroes. He published the definitive work
on SP 0-6-0s. Bob Stevenson is thinking
of a kit for such models; since I have built
six, I’m hoping I can help. And I agree
with Brian Scace on several counts: My
test layout is a full 56" high on the outside
loop pair; and I 100% agree with his
thoughts on product reviews. Wait ‘till
you see my latest! I have been known to
skip a review when the product completely misses the mark.
Keep up the good work – and again
thanks for fixing my subscription in such
a rapid fashion.
Regards, Bob Turner, San Diego
Joe G. responds: Bob, thanks for the
comments. Not being an fan of western
steam I did not realize the AC-5 was a
recent import. And, as the model contest at
OSW is by “popular vote,” I’ll bet many of
the voters didn’t know as well. I always try
to identify the models in the magazine,
especially on our covers. I thought, as
many did, that the model was scratchbuilt.
At the O Scale National, the contest was
judged. Does that help? I don't have the
answer but I do agree that a brass import
winning First Prize in a model contest isn't
fair to other contestants.
Commentary on Issue #10
I’d like to make several comments
about Issue #10. Clark Howell did a fine
fine job showing how to build realistic
track using castings from Lou Cross
(Right-O-Way). Track is and should be
just as detailed as our models and a big
reason to be in O scale. I’ve built 23
switches and many feet of track so far on
my Ware River Railroad using the same
equipment. It just doesn’t get any better
for the realism it’ll impart on, and complement, our detailed rolling stock and
related structures. Each switch takes me
about 2-3 hours to build but I wouldn’t
settle for anything less now. Just a couple
suggestions though. Lately the frog castings come with no fishplates cast on. This
eliminates cutting any insulating gaps on
the point rails. I use the plastic insulating
fishplates on all four frog rails like the
prototype with an 18 gauge wire feeder
soldered to the frog. Before I begin, every
casting and all rails are airbrushed with a
50/50 mix of Floquil weathered black and
rail brown. Even when the switch is complete, I airbrush the whole thing again and
highlight the castings and paint the tops of
ties with random colors. I find that any
wood grain is too coarse to scale down so
ties sometimes get varying degrees of the
wire brush treatment using my Dremel
once they're glued-down. Try these castings. You may get hooked!
I hate to say it but Brian Scace and I
tend to think alike. (Sorry Brian, our conversations can get spooky.) I’ve used the
Aristo wireless throttle intended for Gscale and a 10 amp Radio Shack power
supply for about 5 years now. I love it! It
has a 300 foot range. I can run a train
while building a B&A caboose at my
bench. Harry Hieke’s really obvious and
simple method of making working doors
on Intermountain cars is one of those really obvious tips Brian talks about but here
we’ve struggled with complex solutions
for too long. Now I’m glad I have all
those unbuilt kits! Who’da thought?
All we really need to do is expand our
thinking instead of using that "We always
did it that way." logic. Don’t overlook
craft stores or the dollhouse stuff for
scratchbuilding supplies! Even sets of
cheap makeup brushes have a great selection of soft brushes with many uses but,
uh, that could raise some eyebrows if
you’re alone buying them.
Congratulations on making it to Issue
#10! Every new issue brings many new
ideas.
Phil Opielowski (via email)
On Low Turnouts For The National
In your “Observations” column in the
#10 issue of OST, you opine that the most
likely reasons for the low attendance at
the National was “...the unusual Sunday
to Wednesday schedule. And the economy had a bit to due with it, too, I'm sure.”
I’ll agree about the scheduling. I think
that John Smith made a bad choice in
picking those days; days wherein most
folks would have to take vacation days to
attend, rather than over a weekend. As for
planning a vacation around it, I don’t
think many wives or kids would be
thrilled with the idea of going to Texas in
high summer. As for the economy, few of
the “high-rollers” that I know of in the
hobby have reduced the amount of travel
or buying they plan to do.
The real reason, I think, is location,
Location, LOCATION! I have been to the
Nationals in Chicago (2), Indianapolis,
Atlanta, and Stamford (2) since 1989.
The least attended was Atlanta. I have
also heard the shows in New Orleans and
San Antonio were poorly attended. We
can now add Dallas to that list.
I applaud the efforts of those who put
on the shows down South. I had a great
time in Atlanta and saw a couple of neat
layouts as well. But attendance was poor
at best. (A possible exception is the 1991
show in High Point, NC. I’m told it was a
super event and well attended. But then,
that’s not the deep South.) In fact, two of
the main reasons I went to Atlanta were
that fact the it was only a one-day drive
and the offer of free lodging from a fellow O Scaler while I was there.
I would not consider shows in the deep
South or the West Coast because of travel
time/expenses and I think many other O
Scalers feel the same way. (I priced out
cheap airfare, a rental car and a budget for
the hotel and meals in Dallas, and I would
have spent at least $800 not counting
what I wanted to spend on trains!) Conversely, perhaps O Scalers in the South
and Southeast would not attend a National in the Northeast or California because
of these same reasons. But, let the majority rule!
The National needs to be where the
modelers are! Most O Scalers are concentrated north of the Mason-Dixon Line and
east of the Mississippi River, with a fair
number on the West Coast and a scattering in the South and Southeast. I would
suggest the the National be held in one of
three areas on a rotating basis each year.
The first area would be the Northeast,
somewhere in a triangle drawn around
Washington, Boston and Cleveland. The
2nd would be in the Midwest: Chicago,
Indianapolis, St. Louis. The 3rd on the
West Coast. In fact, I wouldn’t complain
if the Chicago “March Meet” became the
de-facto “National” every third year! I
think you get my drift.
In your column you also lament the
absence of O Scale manufacturers and
vendors at the Dallas National. You
would think that the National would be an
ideal venue for them. But, as many of
them are in the business part-time, you
must also remember that they have
expenses for travel just like the rest of us.
Many of them must drive to the National
in order to take their wares to sell and
thus cannot take advantage of cheap airfares to a show site. This adds time and
expense. A friend of mine from Florida,
who is a major brass dealer, took an informal poll of his customers, asking them if
they were going to attend the Dallas
meet. Of the 40 or so regulars that he
spoke with, only 3 indicated they were
going. The three reasons cited most often
for not attending were: 1-the South? in
summer?; 2-the distance involved; 3-the
Sun-Wed Schedule. Based on that feedback, he decided not to attend the show
either. After all, why go if your customers
aren’t going to be there?
Finally, I think that there needs to be
some kind of a determination of what O
scalers want from a National:
1. Dealer Room
2. Clinics
3. Contests
4. Layout Tours
5. Prototype Facility Tours
6. Banquet & Guest Speaker
7. Off site/non modeling activities
I will cite again the Chicago March
Meet. They have only dealer rooms, contests, a few layout visits and it’s very
probably the best attended O Scale event
in the country, year after year. Any group
that is considering hosting a National
needs to prioritize these things. I suspect
the #'s 1-3 rate high, #4 possibly, and 5-7
as marginal at best.
Ted Leach (via email)
Vendors Pay Attention
Thanks for saying what has needed to
be said for a long time about computers
and the Internet: “Not everyone has or
wants a computer, nor has Internet
access!” (“Observations” OST#10).
[Computers] have to get a lot more user
friendly, (not to mention Internet service
getting cheaper), before I buy one. When
I consider what kind of loco I can buy for
the money, a computer runs last on my
list of priorities. We all have finite disposable income, and for the cost of a computer, I bought a 53" Sony TV on which
to enjoy my railroad videos.
I especially resent the assumption of
businesses that the only way to communicate with them is by computer! I no
longer attend conventions of a [certain]
RR historical society because of the
messy process in getting a refund for my
wife’s registration when she was unable
to go at the last minute. The only contact
was an email and snail mail, address, no
telephone number. Give me a street, city
and state address, and a telephone number, or they’re not getting a check from
me. An email address could be in Liberia
for all I know.
The other problem is getting sucked
into the computer. I had the latest Dell at
work, and if it were not for a BIG clock
next to it, I would never know when to go
to lunch or to go home! I know I would
spend too much sedentary Internet time
arguing or discussing, and not enough
time on physical activity. So far I’ve partially avoided Modeler's (and Computer
Geek’s) Gut.
After a flap about computer-altered
photos in a Model Railroader contest, I
predicted that a magazine called Virtual
Railroading could not be far off, when the
models and layout only exist in hyperspace. (See the featured layout design in
this issue —Ed.) This is too far from reality for my taste; that’s why I work on
standard gauge tourist trains when models are not a big enough “fix”.
I realize that a manufacturer can more
easily and cheaply update their current
offerings on the Internet, but a telephone
call to them can do the same thing, and
you know your call was to the correct person, and acknowledged. New product
reviews and ads are one of the reasons we
buy OST, OSN and MRN.
On the helix article on p. 26, MicroMark sells pencil holders that can be
attached to a trammel, (such as a yardstick), so drawing radii of any length can
be more accurate than using a string.
Happy Rails,
Lamar Scheuerman, Calif.
Product News & Reviews
REVIEW: Athearn 1:50 Scale John Deere Model B Tractor.
Athearn, Inc.
19010 Laurel Park Road
Compton, CA 90220
310-631-3400
www.athearn.com/home2.html
Reviewed by Gene Deimling
In a surprise move, Athearn is again offering product for the O scale market. They have just imported a 1:50 scale model of
the John Deere Model B tractor. According to the “Retired Tractor” website, the stylized Model B was built from 1938 to 1952.
The styling was done by none other than Henry Dreyfuss, designer of the shrouded NYC Hudson that pulled the 20th Century
Limited. It appears that this Athearn model is based upon the 1947 update to the Model B.
I might suggest that you visit http://www.retiredtractor.com to learn more about this subject. This is an excellent choice since
many of us still model in the late steam to early diesel era.
The model was manufactured in China for Athearn under license of John
Deere. The color, lettering and overall design look to be very well done compared to the images contained on the above-mentioned site. The model has a
number of detail parts added like the headlights, steering wheels and exhaust
system. Athearn’s tractor is clearly a cut above the typical die cast tractor sold
by other companies. The detail is better and being 1:50 scale it is much closer
to O scale.
The model retails for $16.95 and is available only from retailers.
Athearn does not sell direct. While the price might seem a bit high for
diecast, this is a quality product that requires little preparation to place into
the most detailed scenes. A little weathering will make the model look like
it has been used down on the farm. This model and a few more that I purchased will go on a scratch built flat car as a load of new tractors. A little
wood blocking to hold the tractors in place and you have a highly detailed model that will attract a lot of attention. Lets hope
that Athearn will produce more classic John Deere farm equipment.
REVIEW: Chooch Enterprises Ultra Scale II Boxcar Detail Set #610.
Chooch Enterprises, Inc.
P.O. Box 1200
Maple Valley, Washington 98038
Website:http://www.choochenterprises.com/index.html
Reviewed by Gene Deimling
Chooch Enterprises is offering a detail set for Intermountain 1937 AAR boxcars. The kit consists of multiple sprues made of
engineering plastic for ladders, bracketed grab irons and stirrups; and styrene for brake detail parts. These parts are designed to
fit into the original kit parts. The parts literally slip into the existing holes. The parts have a very fine cross-section yet are tough.
They can stand some rough handling and not end up as track litter on your layout. The kit also contains replacement parts for
the brake levers, brake fulcrum and brake platform. All of the parts are accurately
portrayed and very close to exact scale. The brake levers even have their foundry
marks on the face.
Mounting engineering plastic parts
requires some care so they don’t fall off
during handling or operation. The material
is very slippery and will not bond with
normal styrene adhesives but can be
attached with plastic formulated cyanoacrylates (CA) if the mounting holes are a
tight fit. There is a new adhesive specially
formulated for engineering plastics. It is
called Loctite Plastix. It is a two-part adhesive that you can get from a wide variety of
stores. It will bond engineering plastic to standard styrene.
The detail set retails for $20 for enough parts to do four Intermountain boxcars. You can use the parts for other cars as well.
The grab irons work on the Intermountain reefer as well. I have used the detail sets on scratch built models, too. The kit is available direct only from Chooch. They have a website that provides secure e-commerce transactions. You can also buy them at a
number of the major O scale shows that Chooch attends. They will be at O Scale West in February and the Chicago show in
March. You will find a number of very interesting details parts they only sell at the shows.
REVIEW: Scaled World
P.O. Box 97
Cottleville, MO 63338-0097
636-939-2397 www.scaledworld.com
Reviewed by Jeb Kriigel
No scale railroad would be realistic without signals! For many years there has been a shortage of high quality super detailed signals for O scale. A few kits have been available. Custom signal builders are a bit pricey. Now, Scaled World has filled the void with
their signal kits. Each kit comes with all of the necessary parts and hardware to build a
scale signal.
Scaled World has taken the time to package all of the parts in a neat and organized
kit. Most of the components are made of brass, some of white metal castings, and the
colored lenses are made of plastic. Each kit comes with a 14v light bulb and wire leads.
Step by step instructions are easy to read and follow. An instruction sheet shows an
exploded view of the entire assembly process. It is critical to assemble the kit in the
order outlined. Do not take short cuts! If you have difficulty following directions don’t
attempt this kit!
Basic tools are required and some ACC glue. A soldering iron is recommended for
soldering the brass. There is one word of caution: SOLDER ONLY BRASS TO
BRASS. The white metal castings will be damaged by the heat. I test fit each part to
make sure of a good fit. Some castings may need to have the flashing removed. Some
holes may require cleaning for a proper fit. The kit will take 3-4 evenings to complete
depending on your modeling experience.
You can custom paint and detail the final signal to your own preference. This is a
great kit to customize to the exact specifications of your particular road. These signals
are manually operated. However, other manufacturers produce switches and controls to
make these fully operational. With a little patience and skill it is possible to assemble a
very realistic looking scale signal that will certainly be a great addition to your pike.
Currently, Scaled World produces a double train order board, a 3 position signal
light w. and w/o the control box and a switch signal. Several other signals are being
planned and are under construction. See their web site for more information.
Don’t have the time, patience, or modeling skills: let Get Real Productions professionally assemble these kits for you! See their ad elsewhere in this magazine.
NEWS:
C&O Woodside Caboose Series
90700, 90600, 90800, 90900.
R Y Models
7 Edgedale Ct.
Wyomissing, PA 19610
610-678-2834
www.richyodermodels.com
Painted in USA, $295.00,
Painted, undec., $260.00,
Unpainted, $245.00.
Three rail version available.
Brass construction, trucks & couplers.
NEWS:
Ultra Scale II Models
Div of Chooch Enterprises, Inc.
P.O. Box 1200
Maple Valley, WA 98038
Website: www.choochenterprises.com
Ultra Scale Models II, the O Scale division of Chooch
Enterprises announces their new window replacements for
the Weaver Pullman-Bradley cars. Cut in precise laser-cut
plexiglass, each window fits precisely into each frame to make the final appearance of a flush window. Look for part #650.
Priced at $24.00 + $4.95 s/h. Available from your favorite Chooch Key Store or directly from Chooch Enterprises.
NEWS:
Corgi Lionelville Trucks
Corgi Classics, Inc.
430 West Erie, Suite 205
Chicago, IL 60610
1-800-800-CORGI phone (312) 427-1880 fax
[email protected] , www.corgiclassics.com
Sugg Retail: $40
Corgi Classics is adding two new models to its popular
Lionelville® Collection accessories. The two new
additions to the Lionelville Collection include:
Mack AC Delivery Truck—H.P. Hood & Sons Milk—
marked with the distinctive H.P. Hood & Sons logo,
this delivery truck is a follow-up to Lionel’s best-selling 2002 release of the H.P. Hood & Sons milk reefer.
The Mack AC Delivery Truck is available now and has
a suggested retail price of $40.
Diamond T 620 Dropside—Pennsylvania Railroad—
with a load of lube oil barrels. The Diamond T 620
Dropside will be available in December and has a
suggested retail price of $40.
Corgi's Lionelville Collection is available at fine retailers across the country and can be located by logging on to
www.corgiclassics.com.
NEWS:
HIGH IRON DIVISION of Sunset Models
37 Fourth St
Campbell, CA 95008
408-866-1727 www.3rdrail.com
Sunset Models has announced a new line of small, affordable, brass locomotives.
They call this new division High Iron as these
are the most advanced designs from Sunset
Models. This line differs from regular
3rd Rail products in that you can
choose to either have all
the advanced electronics
included in your model or
not. Also, these models are
not produced in limited
quantities as with 3rd Rail,
therefore the economy of higher
production quantities allows Sunset to
competitively price these smaller locomotives at or below diecast prices while maintaining
superior detailing and scale accuracy. These model are
built in China where Sunset has produced freight and passenger cars, and electric locomotives over the last six years. The High
Iron model’s quality will equal or surpass their Korean counterparts.
The first model from the High Iron line will be a Pennsylvania RR K4 4-6-2
Pacific. Sunset is producing both the Pre- and Post-war versions of this locomotive.
You can buy this engine for just under $600 in 2 Rail or 3 Rail configurations. For that
price you get all the scale detail, a smooth running mechanism, and full compliment
of directional lights with a simple electronic reversing unit in three rail models. If you
desire TMCC, Railsounds, Coil Coupler, Puff n' Chuff II Smoke and EOB cruise control, this can be added for just $150 more. The first release is scheduled for January
2004. Visit the Sunset/3rd Rail website for more info
NEWS: Joint Line Reproductions
40' Steel Box Cars
PO Box 906
Littleton CO 80160
Now arriving in 2- and 3- rail, OScale Weaver 40' steel box cars
lettered Colorado & Southern.
Four road numbers available.
$40.00 each plus $10.00 S & H
per car. Diecast sprung trucks
available for an additional
$10.00.
NEWS:
TRAINBID.COM
627 Cedar Lake
Ewing , Kentucky 41039
606-267-3466
e-mail [email protected]
Anyone may list model railroad
items for sale on Trainbid at
www.trainbid.com. A basic listing is free. You can set an item to
automatically relist 100 times
until it sells and re-listing is easy.
You can display 3 pictures of an
item. If a buyer clicks on your
user name or the “contact seller”
link it goes directly to your email address. Links in your listing
can take a potential buyer directly to your web site.
Keith Wiseman
NEWS: Lionel 50 Ton Offset Side Hopper
Lionel LLC
50625 Richard W Blvd
Chesterfield MI 48051
1-800-4-LIONEL,
www.lionel.com
Sugg. Retail: $59.99
As early as the late
1920s, the American
Association of Railroads
began designing standardized 50-ton open
hopper cars. The A.A.R. standard 50-ton open hopper was classified HM, which
designated it as a self-clearing open top car with two divided hoppers, fixed ends,
fixed sides and doors hinged crosswise to allow dumping between the rails. The
cars were widespread on coal hauling railroads throughout the country.
Lionel has again brought a “to-scale” car into its line of products with the introduction of this die cast twin hopper. The
level of detail on this car rivals O scale
brass at about one-quarter the price. The
car also has operating hopper doors and
a coal load. The car is available in four
roadnames: #6-17018 NKP, #6-17019
AT&SF, #6-17020 Frisco, #6-17021 NYC
The Public Delivery Track
Locomotives - 2 rail
Atlas..RS-1..LIRR, NH, PRR, Rut.+ new ones..$339-$359
GP-35's..GMO, C&O, etc..$339-349. Non Powered..$189
SD-35, Dash 8..B&O, CNJ, CSX, NW, Sou, WM..299-349
SW's..CP, RRiv, B&O, LV, Rdg, Susq, NH..$225-$299
Weaver...K-4, L-1, GG-1, C-628/630, others..........call
..VO-1000..B&O,CNJ, GN, LV, MILW, PRR, Rdg, WM..$249
..2-8-0 Consolidation..ATSF, B&O, DLW, NP, SOU..$459
..U25's..BN, EL, LV, Rdg, MILW, NYC, PRR...$179-$239
..RS-3..Erie, LN, LV, NH, NKP, PRR, Rdg, Rut, Susq..$249
..RS-11..BN, CO, CN/CV, CNW, MEC, PRR, SP..$249
..GP-38's..C&O, CP, CSX, ICG, L&N, LV, B&M...$249
..Shaft drive RS-3's, GP-38's, FA/FB's..CNJ, D&H, EL...
..GN, NH, PRR, RDG, RI, SOU, WM, undec..$99-$150
MTH..PRR K-4..$695, Centipede..$895,..WP F-3's..$695
Passenger Sets
Weaver..80' Streamliners..EL, SP, PRR, B&O..$275-$395
..P-B cars..NH, Rdg, CNJ, LV, others..2/$219, 4/$419
K-line...80' cars...Amtk, DRGW, PRR....$275-$449
Box Cars - 2 rail
Pecos River..NYC, SOU, SP, SF, CBQ, WAB...$35
..C&O, B&O, WM, PM, Erie, NKP; UP, SF end door..$45
Atlas..40' Steel...PRR, NYC, CNW, GN, Susq..$48-$52
40' Wood..BO, CBQ, CNJ, NYC, PRR, Rdg, SP, WM..$45-$50
40' 1970's..Erie, L&N, MEC, PRR, SSW, MILW, B&M..$32
50'..ACL, RFP, D&H, NYC, MILW, MKT, SAL, SF..$55-$60
53'..Aloha, Purina, B&M, MP, BN. IC, CNW, FEC..$35-$50
60'..DTI, MKT, NS, CSX, B&O, EL, RG, Sou, NW..$35-$50
Weaver..40' & 50'..ACL, ACY, ARR, ATSF, BAR, B&O,
B&M, CBQ, CGW, CIRR, CNJ, CN, C&O, CP, CV, CR,
D&H, DTSL, EL, GN, GT, IC, MEC, LV, L&N, MP, NYC,
NH, NP, NYSW, PC, PLE, PRR, Rdg, Rut, SCL, SOU, SP
TPW, UP, WM, WP, CN, Rbox, RI, MRL, more...$20-$30
Refrigerator Cars - 2 rail
NEWS:
Generic Hi-cube Boxcar kit
Adirondack Car & Foundry
160 Harwood Rd.
Gray TN 37615
[email protected]
Price: $20, plus $5 s&h
This is a urethane kit produced from in house masters and molds. The kit is ”flatcast“, i.e., separate pieces for the sides,ends, roof, floor. Included in the kit are
the 3 piece AB brake components. It is up to the builder to provide his choice of
ladders, grabs, handbrake, trucks and
couplers, and paint and decals of choice.
It is a rather simple kit to assemble, not
much more than a box on wheels.
Assembly is best accomplished using
some styrene glue blocks and CA glue.
Some modelers might prefer using epoxy.
Reference the website:
http://espee.railfan.net/sp_fcss/sp_fcss27a.html
NEWS:
Fallen Flags Railroad Pictures
www.rr-fallenflags.org
Have been looking all over the web for pictures of your favorite railroads and
haven’t been able to find much? Boy do I have a source for you. George Elwood’s
Fallen Flags website. He started the site in 1995 and has had over 1,700,000 visitors! When you get to the site, please read the information about the copyright
laws and how he wants his site to be treated. Copyright laws are quite specific
about whose pictures they are and how and if you can use them. Be careful or
someone might come after you and ruin your whole day! If you have any questions ask George and I am sure he can help you. FallenFlags is very interesting to
go through. You will learn a lot about railroads you haven’t even heard of and
might even get interested in modeling that railroad. I am sure you will be happy
that you have found this site.
Stuart Ramsey
Wvr/Crown..PFE, CV, CN, NYC, BM, BAR, REA, Hoods,
Whitehse, Dubuque, Oppenheimer, Nrn Refrig..$25-$30
57' Mech..PFE, SF, BN, ART..15 roads..$29. w/sound..$39
Atlas..36' & 40'...oldies, newies, and custom..$42-$89
Covered Hoppers - 2 rail
Weaver PS-2.. Bakers, Jack Frost, Wayne Feed, Purina
Revere, Goiden Loaf, BN, CBQ, CNJ, CNW, CP, CR, CSX
DLW, DTI, EL, LV, NH, NYC, PRR, Rdg, WAB, UP..$25-$30
Wvr C'flow or Grain..CR, CP, ONT, LV, NYC, PRR,
Sask, Sunbeam, Amoco, Sclair, Shell, Dupont, Hercules,
Rainbow, WC, MRL, BN, UP, SP, RI, CNW, MNS..$25-$30
Atlas..BN, Ches, NYC, IT, WGrace, GN, WAB..$35-$45
Airslide..LV, D&H, CSX, PRR, UP, Brach, Jfrost..$35-$45
PS-4427..BN, SF, MILW, LV, SOO, Wayne Fd, Cont..$55-$60
Coal Hoppers - 2 rail
Atlas..ACL, CNJ, C&O, D&H, LV, NS, Rdg, WM.. $45-$55
Wartime..B&O, C&O, CRR, SF, VGN, SOU, WAB..$47
Ore cars..(Wvr trucks) B&LE, CN, DMIR, UP, undec..$27
Weaver..2, 3, 4-bay and Composite..B&O, CBQ, CP, GT
CNJ, Clin"fd, C&O, D&H DLW, Erie, EL, IC, CR, NH, NYC,
NW, PRR, Rdg, SF, UP, VGN, WM, SAL, NKP, B&A...$25
Tank Cars - 2 rail
Weaver..Jfrost, GULF, BN, Trusweet, Allied, ADM, Army
Ethyl, Diamond, Hooker, DuPont, Sunoco,Bakers..$30
Atlas..60'..Propane, ACFX, CNTX, Union Tex, .$40-$55
1950's..SHPX. UTLX, Hooker, Gulf, Warren..$57-$63
Flat Cars, Stock Cars, MofW
Atlas..89' flats..$65. Trailers..$25. Auto Carriers..$85
Pulpwood flats...ACL, ATSF, BN, SCL, IC, L&N....$47-$49
Front runners......no trailer..$47;
With trailer........$67
Weaver Flats..SF, Rdg, CR, Erie, LV, BN, UP..$25-$30
Stock..CNW, Armour, UP, RG, PRR, Rdg, Erie, etc..$30
MTH..Plows, Cranes, Schnabel, dump cars, etc..call
K-Line Diecast Double-Stack $50. Coil cars..$35-$40
16 wheel flat w/load..NYC, NH, Rdg, PRR, UP..$45-$59
Scale signals..MTH and Brass..20+ types..$20-$50
Gondolas - 2 rail
Atlas..CNJ, NW, PRR, GN, Rdg, C&O, MP, Chessie..$32
Wvr..Wartime..CNJ, PRR, LV, RI, SF, Rdg, UP, NKP..$27
Cabeese - 2 rail
Weaver..CP, B&M, IC, NH, NYC, Erie, LHR, LV, MILW,
..D&H, Rdg, MEC, MMID, L&N, WM, CR, PRR..$20-$35
Atlas..BN, CR, DH, RFP, Rut, GN, Chessie, RG..$50-$67
Wvr diecast tks..$12.50/pr, installed add $8.95
K-line 2-rail freight and Psgr trucks $13-$25
The Public Delivery Track • [email protected]
PO Box 1035 • Drexel Hill, PA 19026
610-259-4945 • VISA•MC•AMEX•Dscvr
CABIN CREEK
COAL COMPANY
Limited Edition Kit
Precise Laser-Cut
Engineered
for Easy Assembly
50+ Detail Castings
Flexible Positioning
Positionable Doors
& Windows
Master Creations’ O kit #18105 contains the tipple, headhouse, power house, storage shed, retaining
walls, and a ton of character for $549.95! The tipple is approximately 45 x 90 scale feet with the overall
diorama shown being about 24" x 48". Not all details are shown in the photo!
Celebrating over 20 Years of
Service since 1979
P O Box 561
Seffner, FL 33583
Web: www.btsrr.com
www.master-creations.com
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 813-643-1105
Fax: 813-681-7326
$6.00 s&h on all US orders.
S.A.S.E. for price list.
Full Catalog - $5.00
Get Real Productions
is pleased to annouce its
O Scale model building services:
Custom high quality railroad buildings
Building & Weathering of kits
Custom Painting & Detailing
Utra-realistic and prototypical
Scratchbuilding
Kitbashing & Freelance
Specializing in unique & one-of-a-kind creations
All work guaranteed by a Model Railroad Craftsman!
Visit us at: www.oscalemag.com/pix/index.html
\
Call or write for a free quote:
11 Out of Bounds Road
Palmyra VA 22963
Voice: 434-589-2660 • Fax: 434-589-4898 •
[email protected]
Whitehall
Hobbies
Specializing in Brass Locomotives
1431 Windrush Circle, Blacklick, Ohio 43004
Voice: (614) 861-0018 - Fax: (614) 861-3034
[email protected]
OMI NP A4 4-8-4 unpainted, new TRO 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1795
PSC C&O T1 2-10-4, C⁄P, like new condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2095
PSC D&RGW L-131, F⁄P Road# 3600, black boiler, tender has correct
spacing between the Rio Grande unlike the production run. No film
decals from PSC. New, never run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3695
OMI UP DD40X F⁄P Road# 6931, like new w⁄Cockerham drive . . .$2250
Key SP E7 A&B, latest run F⁄P Daylight, new, never run (pair) . . .$2595
Sunset PRR S2 6-8-6, Unptd., 1st run, like new, never run . . . . .$1495
OMI SP&S Z8 4-6-6-4 Unpainted Very Little Tarnish TRO New . .$3200
PSC SP AC-9 2-8-8-4 Coal 222 R-1 Tender F⁄P - Black Boiler New . . .$3195
Key D&RGW L-95 2-8-8-2, F/P Green or Black boiler, Var Rd#s . .$3795
Key D&RGW L-96 2-8-8-2, F/P Green or Black boiler, Var Rd#s . .$3795
PSC N&W Z1b 2-6-6-2 Factory Painted Rd# 1438 New . . . . . . . .$2975
PSC NYC S1a 4-8-4 C⁄P by Bernie Beedy Crown Series New . . . .$3995
OMI 120 Ton Crane Open Cab Version Industrial Brownhoist Factory
Painted Black, Unlettered OMI No. 0027.1 New . . . . . . . . . . . .$1195
Key B&A K3n 4-6-2, Factory painted, Rd#506, New . . . . . . . . .$2550
OMI NP Z8 4-6-6-4, Unptd, New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3200
OMI WM I-2 2-10-0, F/P Rd# 1120, new condition . . . . . . . . . . .$1895
OMI GN FT A+B, C/P for OMI, Rd#402-A, New . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1495
OMI GN FT A+B, C/P for OMI, Rd#402-D, New . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1495
PSC CB&Q S-4a 4-6-4, Factory Ptd, Rd# 3003 new . . . . . . . . . .$2850
Key SP E9a 2 A units, Latest run, F⁄P Daylight (pair) . . . . . . . . . .$2695
PSC NP Z5 2-8-8-4, F/P Rd# 5006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3295
Kohs & Co NYC J3a 4-6-4, F/P Rd# 5424, late version PT4 tender,
Boxpok drivers, plain rods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4000
Kohs & Co N&W Y6b 2-8-8-2, F/P Rd# 2178 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4000
Kohs & Co N&W Auxiliary Water Car F/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$650
PSC C&O C-16a 0-8-0 Custom Painted for PSC Rd#242 . . . . . . . .$1750
PSC SRR Ps-4 4-6-2, F/P Rd# 1401 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1650
C&LS C&O H6 2-6-6-2 F/P Rd# 1477 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3295
OMI UP FEF-3, F⁄P, Road# 844, new, never run . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2550
C&LS WM M-2 4-6-6-4, F/P Rd# 1201, late version . . . . . . . . . . .$2995
Building a GP-9
Marrying a Red Caboose GP-9 Body Kit to an Atlas/Roco Chassis
By Jerry Roy and Tom Houle
Introduction
Aside from being a handsome and
useful addition to any model railroad,
EMD’s ubiquitous GP-9 is prototypically correct on any layout set from the
mid-fifties to the present. That’s nearly
fifty years of railroading, folks. What an
incredible piece of work. Hats off to
EMD for creating the Geep. It’s a good
looking locomotive that can be used on
virtually any layout from empire size to
the smallest shelf switching pike.
Jerry Roy and I built a pair of these
GP-9 units, using stock Atlas/Roco F-9
drives and trucks, and Red Caboose
body shell kits. In lieu of the Atlas
drives, you could use the P&D Hobby
drives, trucks and chassis, which were
designed expressly for the Red Caboose
body (see the P&D ad in this issue). We
chose to use the Atlas/Roco drives and
trucks because they’re inexpensive and
we had several units on hand. With a bit
of tweaking they run pretty well. Even
though the Atlas/Roco F-9’s haven’t
been produced since the late 70’s, there
are still plenty of them around. The
going rate seems to be around $40 to
$50 per unit.
To locate Atlas/Roco F-9 units and
drives, contact P&D Hobbies, haunt the
swap meets, check E-Bay and join the
definitive O scale two-rail Yahoo mail
list. The Yahoo group is free and well
worth it to access and share information
about what’s going on in O scale and
what’s for sale. Its also a great place to
get answers and do some research on a
new project.
The Red Caboose GP-9 loco was
introduced back in the early nineties.
Until recently, it was available in RTR
form (painted and undecorated) along
with an inexpensive body kit designed to
fit the Atlas F-9 drive. Like those vintage
Atlas F-9’s, there are still plenty of GP-9
body kits available. Red Caboose sold
their body kit inventory to P&D Hobby.
The kits are available with or without
dynamic brakes. You may also be able to
find the body kits at your local hobby
shop and at swap meets around the country. Jerry and I purchased several body
kits sans dynamic brakes for less than
fifty bucks each.
The instructions that came with the
Red Caboose body kits were reasonably
clear and easy to follow, but there are a
few areas where the inexperienced modeler might have a little assembly trouble.
We’ll highlight those areas and tell you
how we tuned up the Atlas drives to
improve performance and reduce noise
levels. Jerry replicated a 1960’s Milwaukee Road paint scheme where I followed the Soo Line’s late fifties maroon
and gold pine tree scheme. Neither of
these particular prototype units utilized
dynamic brakes. Let’s get started with
the body kit.
Dry Fitting and Detailing The Body
Considering the way in which these
body kits are assembled and later come
apart for maintenance, we found it a
good idea to dry fit all components
before final assembly. Every part in the
body kit is molded styrene. When everything is glued together, the unit is quite
strong. However, before assembly the
parts can flex and may even be warped.
This is very important in the frame-toskirt fit as this where the frame, drive,
and trucks separate for maintenance
from the completed body after the locomotive is assembled. The frame must
slide easily in and out of the skirt. Check
for warpage in the frame and skirt. We
found one of our skirts was drooping and
would not align to the frame. It’s not a
big deal to fix. A gentle twist in the heat
from a 100-watt light bulb corrected the
warp. But know about the warps before
you begin attaching parts We had to trim
both frame ends to allow the frame to
drop into the skirt. (See Figure 1.) We
also trimmed off the twin nubs that project from both sides of the frame in the
truck bolster areas. These nubs interfered
with the fit-up. We still haven’t figured
out why those nubs are there.
1
That done, we dry fit the hood casting to the skirt. It turned out, on both of
our units, the locating pins on the hoods
did not perfectly align to the holes molded into the skirt. We had to slightly
enlarge the locating holes at both short
hood ends to allow the hood to fit tightly
to the skirt deck. With the hoods fitted to
the decks, we then tried dropping the
cabs into the cut outs in the hoods. We
found it necessary on both units to cut
away the molded strap between the long
and short hoods to allow the cab to rest
on the walkways. This step is not mentioned in the instructions, but we could
not make the cabs fit any other way.
Once the cab is glued in place, the connecting strap becomes redundant.
To accurately replicate both locomotives, we did a lot of research on what
these units looked like in our respective
time periods. From there we selected
specific GP-9 units to replicate. We used
the Soo Line Historical & Technical
Society, the Milwaukee Road Historical
Association (both are on the Internet),
various Internet rail photo sites, and several back issues from the Soo Line Historical & Technical Society and the
Milwaukee Road Historical Association
magazines to confirm and replicate all
important differentiating details.
Based on the information at hand, I
selected Soo unit road number 400 as
the one I would follow. Jerry chose Milwaukee Road unit 2421 as his prototype.
Neither unit had dynamic brakes and
they both used the
winterization hatch
over the forward
c o o l i n g fa n . I
capped off both
exhaust stacks
with half round
lengths of styrene
to simulate the
exhaust deflectors
on the Soo unit. I
also added a set of
P&D MU cables
to both ends. Note
that not all Soo units had these cables.
We brush painted the internal parts of
the cooling fans with Badger MODELflex Engine Black then completely
assembled them for both units and set
them aside. They are attached to the
respective hoods after the hoods are
painted. The fan blades are supposed to
be free enough to turn inside their housings, but we found this was not the case.
Frankly, we didn’t bother correcting the
problem—if it even was one. They are
superbly detailed and look great as is.
ed from their recommended assembly
procedure. We (i.e., Jerry, acknowledged master of the airbrush) painted
the frames, skirts, hoods, and cabs for
both units before we did the final
assembly. This avoids a ton of nearly
impossible masking.
We painted all of the detail parts like
side and end railings, grabs, etc., right on
the sprues. We found out after attaching
the lift rings that the plastic lift rings were
so fragile we both broke off several while
handling the hoods. At this point we
decided to substitute P&D Hobby #1027
brass lift rings. We drilled out the broken
posts and attached the brass lift rings with
CA glue applied to the insides of the
hoods. The brass rings are much stronger
and you cannot tell the difference.
Prior to priming and air brushing,
Jerry washed the frames, skirts, hoods,
and cabs in warm soapy water and let
the parts air dry overnight. These same
parts were air brushed with thinned Floquil gray primer. He let the parts cure for
another three days before applying the
finish coats. A word of caution: do not
touch any part to be painted with your
fingers or hands. Acrylic based paints
will not cover the oil from your skin.
Since the final coat process varied from
the Soo unit to the Milwaukee Road
unit, We’ll tell you how Jerry did both.
Perhaps you’ll glean an idea or two for
the painting of your particular Geep.
Soo Line
Jerry shot both hoods and the cab of
my Soo unit with Badger MODELflex
Soo Maroon which is very close to its
fresh paint hue and more maroon than
Painting and
Decaling the Body
If you’re working
with a painted shell,
then follow the Red
Caboose instruction
sheet. We’re assuming you have an
unpainted shell. In
that case we deviatNov/Dec '03 - O Scale Trains • 51
the reddish color normally seen on Soo
units. Red based paints have a tremendous fade rate and the maroon quickly
weathers to a more reddish hue. If you
wish to duplicate an older Soo unit, add
a bit of red to the maroon. Apparently,
Badger has since discontinued this Soo
color. There is a Wisconsin Central
maroon that may work as a substitute.
The skirt and frame were shot with Badger Engine Black. Ditto for the handrails
and other sprue-mounted parts.
Decaling of the Soo unit was done
after a three-day paint curing period. We
were surprised to find Microscale’s
unique gold “pine tree” decal for the
short hood end did not descend to the
walkway as it should. For no apparent
reason, the decal was approximately 3/4"
too short, leaving a big bare spot. The
Microscale instructions acknowledged
this fact and suggested filling in the
uncovered area with Floquil’s Wisconsin Central gold paint.
At best, that’s an awkward solution
and at worst unworkable for such a large
area. No way were we going to try to
blend that paint in
with the decal. We
solved the problem by
covering the bare spot
with a stacked pair of
gold hood side bands
cut from a second set
of Microscale decals.
If you replicate the
later Soo Line paint
scheme with a pine
tree at both hood
ends, then you’ll need
to have three sets of
these decals. One
other note on the
Microscale Soo decal
set, the gold stripping
is not as opaque as I
would like, some
bleed through of the
maroon is visible, I
recommend a liberal
application of
Microscale blue solvent under the decal
to prevent blotching. However, when finished, the decals look fine.
That done, the road number decals
were added to the number boards and
the Soo Line lettering added to the hood
sides. Don’t attach the number boards to
the hood ends yet. This comes later. The
Soo Line used both expanded and condensed lettering styles for the Soo Line
lettering on the hood sides. Microscale
provides the condensed version so that’s
what we used. More correctly for the
400 unit, the expanded lettering should
be used.
Milwaukee Road
For his Milwaukee Road unit, Jerry
shot the hood and cab sides with Badger
Milwaukee Road Orange. Three days
later, he masked off the upper hoods and
cab and then shot them, the skirt and
frame with Badger’s Engine Black.
You wouldn’t think of using 3M
Scotch® brand Magic tape for masking,
at least I didn’t. Jerry did and he swears
by it. No leaks and clean crisp lines.
Jerry always uses a brand new roll when
he starts masking. The tape should be
burnished along the paint line. You
know when it’s burnished because it
goes from frosty to clear. Jerry says the
tape can easily be worked into corners
and it never leaks. To prevent paint pullup when the tape is removed, Jerry rapid
cures the paint with a hair dryer then
pulls up the tape gently at a reverse
angle from the work after an overnight
cure. You can’t argue with this technique. Jerry’s results bear him out.
The finished decaled shells were shot
with Testor’s Dul-Kote. There was no
interaction between the Dul-Kote and
acrylic paints underneath.
Final Details
With the unit painting out of the way
and after waiting three days for the paint
to fully cure, the hoods, sans the cabs,
were permanently attached to the skirts.
Make sure before final gluing that the
hoods sit flush at both ends with the
skirt walkways. That done, we added the
detail parts; grabs, lift rings, cooling
fans, air horns, window glass, MU
cables, wiper blades, etc. We used white
metal air horns from the scrap box and
relocated them on the Soo unit as the
Red Caboose plastic horns weren’t correct. It’s much easier to fully detail the
cab interior and add the cab glass before
you attach the cab to the hoods. Jerry
added an engineer to his unit. I didn’t.
When the cabs were finished, we glued
them to the hoods. Next, we installed the
dual headlight lens sprues, Miniatronics
constant reversible lighting wiring and
connectors. No attempt was made to
illuminate the classification lights; we
used MV products lenses. “Starting to
look good,” Jerry cracked. I had to
agree.
Handrails came next. These were air
brushed with Badger MODELFlex paint
prior to attachment to the sides and end
of the skirt. We recommend opening up
all skirt handrail holes ever so slightly to
accommodate the handrail mounting
pins. Also note the handrail pins extend
through the skirt and will interfere with
the frame when the skirt is dropped onto
the frame. The pin extensions beyond
the skirt add nothing to handrail
strength. You might as well soften the
pin ends with heat and flatten them or
CA glue the pins to the skirt and then
cut off the pin extensions (as we did).
You could also file tiny notches into the
frame to clear the pin extensions.
Powering The Beast
We decided to power our Geeps with
the Atlas/Roco drives. We used them
pretty much “as is” though we did make
a few changes to improve performance.
Back in the 1970’s when this chassis
first came out, a lot of O scalers said it
lacked the robust construction of an All
Nation or Central Locomotive Works
drive. Others thought it inferior by virtue
of it’s almost all molded plastic components. Of course, back then, they were
pulling cars that weighed about 15lbs.
each and rolled as well as a brick.
Well, I think time and Atlas have
proved the naysayers wrong. Granted,
we would not recommend pulling a
dozen weighted heavyweights up a two
percent grade with one of these units, at
least not for very long. The motor
wouldn’t take that kind of current load.
However, we found a single Atlas/Roco
chassis will easily pull a 25 car mixed
string of Intermountain, Red Caboose,
and Weaver freight cars on level track
thru some very tight radius curves. A lot
of this is due to today’s better rolling
trucks. And if you’re really fussy about
those 30-year-old can motors, replace
’em. If you want pure brute power for
heavy loads and usage, use the P&D
drive made for this unit.
Truck Rework
Having used the Atlas/Roco chassis
in a bunch of different conversions and
kitbashes, we have concluded the weakest link in the chassis is the trucks. As
beautifully detailed as those side frames
are, they do need a bit of rework. Anyone who’s owned an Atlas/Roco unit
knows the side frames are difficult to
remove for maintenance. And you can
easily break off the bosses that retain the
side frames to the truck.
How to fix it? It’s easy. See Figure 2
taken from the original Atlas/Roco
Maintenance & Repair Manual. Atlas
Tool was kind enough to grant us permission to reproduce these drawings for
this article. In Figure 2, you’ll see the
downward pointing cast-on boss that
retains the truck’s side frame. Turn the
chassis over and place it in a cradle.
Remove the four screws that retain the
truck’s bottom cover plate. Watch for
those pesky little springs that equalize
the wheel sets. Remove the wheel sets,
then the springs and place the lot into an
empty cottage cheese container.
If the side frames are still attached,
gently bend them away from the truck
just enough to clear the end pins. Then,
slide the side frame down and away
from the truck. You can see this clearly
in Figure 2. If the side frame mounting
boss is broken off, re-attach to the truck
2
Sideframe mounting Boss
with liquid plastic cement. If the side
frame is a tight fit, gently file the sides of
the bosses and the insides of the side
frames to allow an easy slip-fit of the
side frames over the bosses. Jerry
sprayed the side frames with a base coat
of Floquil Grimy Black followed by a
dusting of Floquil Rail Brown to give
the unit a clean but used look.
Before re-assembling the trucks, we
removed the original couplers. Again
see Figure 2. The couplers will slide out
after unsnapping the retainer clips.
We like to completely degrease the
gear box gears and wheelset gears, then
freshly lubricate all gears with Labelle’s
excellent #102 Gear Lube.
At this juncture, the builder must
decide if you’re going to use the original
wheels (which we do not recommend)
or replace with the drop-in North West
Short Line (NWSL) wheel sets listed in
the Bill of Materials. The issue with the
original wheel sets are their deep
flanges. Atlas/Roco units will bump and
they may pick your switch points on
code 100 rail. We recommend putting
the original wheelsets out alongside the
engine house.
NWSL replacement wheel sets are
available in three tread widths; 0.125"
P48, 0.145", and 0.172". We used the
0.145" width on the Soo unit and 0.172"
width on the Milwaukee unit. Our conclusion: use the 0.172" tread. The 0.145"
width works okay on hand laid and
House of Duddy code 100 rail, but it
doesn’t seem to like running on the
older code 148 Atlas rail. This could be
due to the way Atlas track is gauged.
The 0.145" tread width will find its way
between and even drop between the rail
heads at times.
Once the trucks are assembled, you
can’t tell the difference between the two
wheel widths. We did find that the
NWSL wheel sets in both widths made
intermittent electrical contact on clean
rail due to their blackened surface, so we
cleaned the treads using a small wire
brush in a motor tool to remove the
blackening. Once this was done, both
chassis ran smooth with no problems
and have been running fine ever since.
NWSL said the blackening was conductive and hadn’t caused a problem, but it
sure didn’t work for us. So, try the
assembled chassis under power before
you wire brush the wheel sets. When
you reassemble the trucks, be sure to
lightly lubricate the axles and brass
bushings with Labelle’s #108 Light Oil.
The last fixit item for the trucks is the
removal of the cast-on bosses on the
sides of the truck gear boxes. See Figure
3. There are two bosses on either side of
the truck. They must be removed or they
will interfere with the truck movement
in the Red Caboose frame.
3
Remove
The finished trucks are now ready for
installation into the Red Caboose frame.
The trucks are installed just like they are
in the Atlas/Roco chassis. You’ll probably find like we did that the trucks in the
Red Caboose frame will not be as loosely mounted as they were in their original
home. You may find you have to remove
a minimal amount of plastic where the
trucks pivot in the Red Caboose frame.
One of our frames required a bit of judicious filing to loosen up the truck to
where it would freely pivot. Don’t over
do it here. Just enough to loosen up the
truck pivot.
Installing The Motor
We followed the Red Caboose motor
mounting instructions and were disappointed to find the units were too noisy
for our taste. A study of the problem
revealed that isolating the motor from
the frame was the way to go. We cut
down the Red Caboose vertical motor
mounting brackets and used two-sided
foam adhesive to retain and insulate the
motor from the Red Caboose frame (See
Figure 4). Additionally, a wire tie strap
may be added to further secure the
motor. The noise problem may have
been due to the Red Caboose frame
being somewhat lighter than the original
Atlas/Roco frame. Perhaps the new
frame couldn’t readily dampen and
absorb the sounds. We also added a
layer of thin bubble wrap inside of the
hood to further reduce noise. The
revised mounting system dramatically
reduced the noise levels. We used the
original universal couplings and motors
in our units.
Weighting the Chassis
It’s difficult to weight the Red
Caboose frame with as much lead as
you can stuff into the original Atlas/Roc
chassis. Even with added lead auto
wheel weights we weren’t able to match
the original stock Atlas Chassis weight.
However, that hasn’t been a problem.
Neither of us will ever pull more than 20
or so plastic cars. The Atlas drives will
easily do that. We placed auto wheel
weights into the fuel tank before it was
attached to the frame. We also added
weights at each end of the motor. No
doubt, some enterprising O scaler will
figure out a way to add more weight. Let
us know if you do.
Wiring
We don’t use DCC so we did not
have to fuss with installing decoders. We
did install Miniatronics HO constant
directional lighting kits. These kits come
complete with headlights, circuitry, and
complete instructions. They work great
in our units. To facilitate shell removal,
we added Miniatronics connectors.
These allow the shell to be unplugged
from the circuitry for maintenance.
Final Assembly
Before we attached the two body
shells to the frames, we ran the two units
sans shells around both layouts to ensure
tracking, wiring, and trucks were all per-
4
forming properly. Attaching the shell to
the frame is not hard, but it does require
careful handling so as not to knock off
hand rails and the like. We suggest gently spreading the body shell and slipping
it down over the frame. Make sure the
body locks on the flanges on the bottom
of the motor cradle.
The Red Caboose frame has coupler
boxes correctly sized for Kadee 804 and
805 couplers. We used Kadee 804 couplers. A pair of long screws at the ends
of the frame retain both the couplers and
the body shell to the frame.
Now, go on out and find an
Atlas/Roco unit and build up your own
GP9. Better yet, build a pair. We figure
you can do this project for under two
hundred bucks per loco. Not bad in
today’s market place. Just for the heck
of it, Jerry and I MU’d the Soo Geep
with a state-of-the-art Atlas
SW-8. Somewhat to our surprise, the two units ran perfectly in tandem. That included
running the coupled SW-8 and
the Geep at a couple miles per
hour switching speed. Thirty
years later, the Atlas/Roco
chassis and drive are still doing
their thing, this time in a Red
Caboose GP-9 livery.
◆
Red Caboose GP-9
Bill of Materials
Red Caboose, GP-9 Body Kit
Undecorated RC-502
Atlas/Roco, F-9 chassis, trucks, and
drive
Northwest Short Line
2523-6, 0.172" or #2524-6, 0 .145" tread
wheel sets
P & D Hobbies, #2722 MU connector set
- 6 cables per end,
#1027 lift rings
MV Products
LS29 classification lens
Miniatronics, CL-013-01 Fwd/Rev
constant lighting kit , #50-001-02 2-pin
micro-mini connector set
Badger
MODELflex paint, #16-143 Milwaukee
Orange, #16-01 Engine Black, #16-18
Soo Maroon (Not currently listed), #1619 Soo Deluxe Gold
Floquil 110009 solvent-based primer
3M Scotch® brand Magic Tape
Microscale #48-321 Milwaukee Road
decals, #48-325 Soo Line (2 sets
required)
Labelle, Gear Lube #102, Light Oil #108
Resources:
Yahoo OTrains Email group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Otrains
P&D Hobby Shop, 31280 Groesbeck,
Fraser, MI 48026, Ph# 586-296-6116,
www.pdhobbyshop.com
North West Short Line, PO Box 423,
Seattle, WA 98111, www.nwsl.com
Indianapolis
Midwest Fall
O Scale Meet
Top of the page: The Forthenback Mining Co. Railroad by Al Askerberg of
Columbus, Ohio. This approximately 24" x 36" in On30. Now that’s O scale in
a small space.
Above: HO AHM Heisler converted to O gauge owned by Norm Hinkle.
Upper left: OST publisher Joe Giannovario (far right) presents the model awards to
the contest winners. From the left is Tony Michel, Andrew Sunderland, Jim Canter
(Indy show host), and Norm Hinkle.
Lower left: Tony Michel’s scratchbuilt C.W. North & Co, engine house.
Below: Andrew Sunderland’s Los Angeles Pacific interurban.
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Norfolk & Western …as I Knew It – Thieme . . . . . .59.50
Northern Pacific – Sanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68.00
Ontario & Western Railway – Northern Division . . .19.25
P & LE’s Mikados – New York Central . . . . . . . . . . .36.00
Pennsy Diesels 1924 – 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53.00
Pennsylvania Shortlines in Color Vol 1-Carlson . . .48.00
Pennsylvania Trolleys in Color Vol 4 – The 40’s . . .48.00
Perfecting the American Steam Locomotive . . . . . .40.50
Portraits in Steel – Jones & Laughlin Steel Mills . . .63.00
PRR Diesel Locomotive Pictorial Vol 8 . . . . . . . . . . .23.25
PRR Triumph Vol 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58.50
Railway Milk Cars Vols. 1, 2 & 3 all 3 books for . . .39.00
Railroads of the Confederacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19.25
Reading in the Conrail Era – Book Two 1976-1998 45.00
The RGS Story Vol. 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65.00
Rio Grande - Chasing the Narrow Gauge–Richardson .50.00
Rio Grande Color History - Griffin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27.25
Rio Grande Color Pictorial Vol 1 1930’s - 50’s . . . .55.00
Rock Island Steam Power- Edson . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.00
Rutland in Color – Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48.00
Santa Fe Depots of the Plains – Ellington . . . . . . . . .36.00
Santa Fe Heritage Vol 4 – Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55.00
Santa Fe Loco Facilities Vol 1 Gulf Lines – Priest . .55.00
Santa Fe Pictorial Vol 7 1300 series 4-6-2 . . . . . . . .23.25
Santa Fe Pictorial Vol 8 Mikado 2-8-2 . . . . . . . . . . .23.25
The South Park Line – Ferrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82.00
Southern Pacific’s Scenic Coast Line–Color Pictorial–Dill 60.00
Southern Railway Diesel Locomotives & Trains . . .27.25
SP Vol 21 T & NO C class 2-8-0 #2550-2623 . . . . .23.25
SP V22 S Class 0-6-0 s-8#1193-S-10 #1246, T&NO #92-166 .23.25
SP Vol 23 AC4 #4100 – AC6 #4150 . . . . . . . . . . . . .23.25
Speedway to Sunshine-Bramson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.00
Steam Locos of the NYC Lines Vol II – Edson & Vail .65.00
Steam on the Feather River Route h/c . . . . . . . . . . .55.00
Steam Thru London–a CNR Mainline Division Point–Wilson 48.00
Streamliners of the Twin Cities Photo Archive . . . . .27.25
Sugar & Railroads – Cuba H/C 60.00; . . . . . .S/C 27.25
The Modoc-Southern Pacific’s Backdoor to Oregon . . .45.00
Thunder of Their Passing–D&RG & Cumbres & Toltec H/C . .50.00
Tracks of My Years- Flanary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23.25
Uncle Sam’s Locomotives – USRA . . . . . . . . . . . . .45.00
Union Pacific Diesels in Color Vol 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .48.00
Union Pacific Photo Series Vol 1 – 5 each . . . . . . . .23.25
Union Pacific Streamliners – Kratville . . . . . . . . . . . .68.00
Watauga & Yadkin River Railroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23.25
*$18.00 MINIMUM order for free shipping in the USA. Send $2.00 for latest
list. All orders must be paid in U.S. funds. NY residents please add correct sales tax. Print your name, address and phone number. Credit card
users add card number and expiration date. Allow 4 weeks for delivery. For delivery outside of USA please add $8.00 for the first book and $3.00 for each additional book. Make checks payable to Ron’s Books. Only inquiries which include a
SASE will be answered. Prices subject to change. WE BUY COLLECTIONS
Car & Locomotive Shop — SP 5000 4-10-2
Pilot Model Engine #5036
SOUTHERN PACIFIC 5000 CLASS 4-10-2, 3 CYLINDER: The C&LS is importing an O scale model of the SP-5000 in four
different detail versions based on engines numbered 5021, 5024, 5036, and 5048 late in their careers. The pilot model
pictured above shows our new builder’s willingness and ability to create models of the highest caliber in detail, quality and
operation. This superb model should be available by the time you read this. Checkout the C&LS website for more pictures and
information and future ads in this magazine.
Car & Locomotive Shop, PO Box 20, Asbury NJ 08802 — Website: http://www.car-locomotive.com
E-mail: [email protected] — Ph/Fax: 908-479-4736. Fax after 4th ring.
Above: Several vendors received awards from the show’s promoters. Included were Brian & Melissa Marsh of Overland Models with a Lifetime
Achievement award, Rich Yoder for Manufacturer of the Year award, Norm Pullen of Norm’s O Scale for Vendor of the Year. Not shown is John
Smith of Pecos River Brass who received a Circle of Excellence Award for his work on the 2003 O scale convention.
Left: Phil Camp threw
together this C&O loading
dock for the contest. We
liked it, so we shot it.
Indy
Meet
Buy–Sell–Trade
Buy-Sell-Trade ads are $5 for 30 words plus your address information. Additional words are $0.25 each. Subscribers are permitted one free ad per subscription cycle. All B-S-T ads are prepaid. You may send ads by postal service with a check or money order. Ads sent by email or called in must use a credit card. See our contact info on page 2.
FOR SALE: Adirondack Car & Foundry products, Weaver, NWSL, Grandt Line, Kadee
couplers, Athearn trucks, Intermountain (while
supplies last), OSN, OST. Contact Ed Reutling, AC&F. PH: 423-477-5790. Email: [email protected] Ed Reutling, 160 Harwood Rd.,
Gray, TN 37615-3728
FOR SALE: PECOS RIVER BRASS factory
painted Clinchfield, AT&SF cabooses, tankers,
flats, Greenville boxcars, grains cars, PullmanStandard, GATX covered hoppers, Airslides:
$199. Listings, SASE. Ph: 727-391-3135.
John Clemens, 5273 97 Way N, St. Petersburg, FL 33708-3752
Rd, Albany, NY 12208-1111
FOR SALE: Intermountain built up cars! Large
inventory... Box cars, Reefers, Gondolas,
Hoppers, Tankers, $39. If you demand Intermountain quality, buy while they are available.Ph: 727-391-3135. John Clemens,
5273 97 Way N, St. Petersburg, FL 337083752
FOR SALE: Very rare MG ATSF 4-6-4 w/Icken
drive, beautiful new paint job. USH ATSF 4-62, custom painted. USH SP MT-3 mint OB.
Sunset ATSF 2-8-0 new OB. Complete details:
SSAE or email [[email protected]]. Ph:
408-227-9491. Gary Schrader, 4201
Kingspark Dr, San Jose, CA 95136-2319
WANTED: Overland SAL E-4, ABA, and broken Roco Atlas & Red Caboose drives. Ph:
336-861-0006, email
[[email protected]], Robert L Youngblood, 4331 Hoover Hill Rd, Trinity, NC
27370-8554
FOR SALE: YODER Chesapeake & Ohio hoppers, dreadnaught, oval/notched ends,
unptd, $175; Painted C&O cars all versions
$199; Pennsylvania Glca hoppers $175;
Western Maryland woodchips, covered hoppers $175. SASE. (727) 391-3135. John
Clemens, 5273 97 Way N, St. Petersburg, FL
33708-3752
FOR SALE: Vehicles that won’t embarrass you
or your trains: Brooklyn, Conquest, Durham
Classics, 43rd Avenue, Goldvarg, Herb
Deeks kits, Madison, US Model Mint, USA
Models, Western, others. FAX 412-766-4213.
Mail Order Trains Plus, 349 Roosevelt Rd,
Pittsburgh, PA 15237-1024
WANTED: 2 rail - Anything C&O (except
brass)- especially hoppers 1930s-1960s, passenger cars, Atlas SW 8/9s, and structures.
Email me for list [[email protected]].
Ned Ferguson.
C e n t r a l ’s L a t e s t R e l e a s e s
GP38-2, GP40-2, SD40-2, SD40T-2 & SD45T-2
The finest in modern O Scale Brass. 2 or 3 rail operation. Machined
brass frames and fuel tanks, Pittman motor with dual flywheels. Your
choice of gear ratios, wheelsets, detail parts, etc. Custom built to
your specs. Kits $650 - $800. Custom built, painted and lettered
$1100 to $1400.
Central Locomotive Works
17525 Alder St Ste 46 • Hesperia CA 92345
ph 760-244-9222 • fax 760-244-9322
e-mail [email protected]
www.centrallocomotiveworks.com
A
MERICA presents
STUDIOS
PENNSYLVANIA
RAILROAD
)
GP40-2
TR IN
WANTED: Gloorcraft PRR N6B cabin car,
Walthers FP6-O 80’ Pullman Solarium 3
Cmpt, 1 Dr rm, B.L.O. Pullman Standard Car
Co Heavyweights: 3980 14 Single Bedroom
Pullman, 3997 13 double bedroom. Email:
[[email protected]], Ph: 518-4822893 Frederick J Talasco, 971 New Scotland
X37 Boxcars
(
Four road #’s: 65400, 65947, 66302, 66398.
NEW 12 39 BLT 12-39. Beautiful detailing
and add-ons. Nicely weighted. Custom run
by Intermountain Railway. Hi-rail or scale.
$45.00. Add $9.00 for hi-rail diecast trucks
and couplers. Plus shipping & handling.
ANDERSEN’S TRAIN STATION
21 Central St y Holliston MA 01746
Phone 508-429-6494 y FAX 508-429-7380
Call or email for our In Stock List
Email [email protected]
FOR SALE: 1 SS 4-8-2 OB TRO, $875, 1
Williams N&W 2-6-6-4, OB TRO $975.
Chuck Burns, Ph: 254-547-3932. Miniature
Locomotive & Car Shop, 803 Beaver Lane,
Copperas Cove, TX 76522-7601
WANTED: Electric Shops kits or parts, CLW
PA body and E or F nose castings. I am
always interested in parts, drivers, frames, car
sides, etc. Ph: 440-417-1892. Jerold
Townsend, 985 Abbey Dr, Madison, OH
44057-9784
FOR SALE: Thinning out O scale steam,
diesel, freight cars, books, etc. Free List. Ph:
330-758-1561 William R Burns, 7455 Westview Dr, Youngstown, OH 44512-5550
WILL TRADE: 1 Art Director who spills ink
occasionally on my column for a few Kadee
coupler springs. I will make up price difference
for springs. Brian Scace c/o this magazine.
NORM’S
O SCALE
Trains & More
Buy, Sell, Trade!
www.normsoscale.com
[email protected]
41 Roosevelt Trail, Route
302. S. Casco, ME 04077
Ph: 207-655-2550
Scale Command
Are you ready for everything you could ever dream of in a wireless remote operating system and then some? Then 2-rail Scale
Command is your dream come true! Look at these features: independent control of up to 99 locomotives; wireless control of
switches; realistic on-board digital sounds; 100% Kadee-compatible operating scale couplers; and more! Scale Command can be
added to any 2-rail O scale locomotive. Scale Command is the most affordable command⁄control system ever offered for O scale.
Visit our website for more information on how Scale Command can benefit you.
Train America Studios • 4137 Boardman–Canfield Rd., Ste LL02 • Canfield, Ohio 44406
Hours: Mon-Fri, 10AM -6PM • Voice: 330-533-7181 • Fax: 330-533-7208 • email: info@scale command.com • web: www.scale command.com
Events
November 2003
1, Wind Gap, Pennsylvania
Eastern “O” Scalers O Scale 2-Rail O Scale
Swap Meet - Plainfield Fire Hall, 6480 Sullivan
Trail. From 9 am to 1 pm. Admission $5 ($1
discount on admission is given if you bring an
index card with your name and address). Vendors: table $16 (includes 1 admission), additional tables $12. Info: EOS, PO Box 1781,
Bensalem, PA 19020; (215) 639-3864; [web:
http:⁄⁄www.EasternOScalers.com]
1,2,8,9,15,16 Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown Model RR Assoc OPEN HOUSE,
located at the corner of Raccoon and Four
Mile Run Rd., Open 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm all 6
days $2.00 per person under 12 free. Info:
Dean DeMain, [email protected] or
call 330-799-8691.
15, Strongsville, Ohio (Cleveland area)
Annual Western Reserve O Scale Meet at the
Holiday Inn Select in Strongsville. From 9 am
to 3 pm. Admission: $5; tables $20. Info: Bob
Boeddener, 32165 Hickory Ln, Avon Lake, OH
44012. Phone: 440-933-7169.
8 & 9, 28, 29 & 30, Holly, Michigan
Detroit Model Railroad Club Open House, 104
N Saginaw, Holly Michigan, 248-634-5811.
Noon to 5:00 PM each day. Admission: Adults
$3, Seniors 65 & up $2, Kids/Teens 5-18
$1.50, Under 5 FREE.
28-30, North Haledon, New Jersey
Model Engineers RR Club of New Jersey Annual Open House, 569 High Mountain Rd, N
Haledon NJ 07508. Fridays 7 - 10 PM, Saturday & Sunday, 2 - 5 PM. Admission: $4, children free with an adult. For info call Paul
Harbord before 9 PM at 973-427-4905.
December 2003
5-7, 12-14, North Haledon, New Jersey
Model Engineers RR Club of New Jersey Annual Open House, 569 High Mountain Rd, N
14, St. Paul, MN
Twin City Model Railroad Museum/Circus
Train Noon - 5pm, $2.00 (under 5 free),
TCRMRM, 1021 Bandana Blvd. East, Suite
222, St. Paul, MN 55108, 651-647-9628,
www.tcmrm.org
22,23,26,29&30 St. Paul, MN
Twin City Model Railroad Museum/Holiday
Express 11am - 7pm, $2.00 (under 5 free),
TCRMRM, 1021 Bandana Blvd. East, Suite
222, St. Paul, MN 55108, 651-647-9628,
www.tcmrm.org
28-30, North Haledon, New JerseyModel Engineers RR Club of New Jersey Annual Open House, 569 High Mountain Rd, N
20-21, Greensboro, Maryland
Caroline County Public Library Toy Train &
Model Railroad Exhibit. North County Library
at 101 Cedar St. From 10 am to 3 pm. Free
Admission. For more info contact Richard O
Smith, Branch Manager, 410-482-2173.
January 2004
10 & 11, Holly, Michigan
Detroit Model Railroad Club Open House, 104
N Saginaw, Holly Michigan, 248-634-5811.
Noon to 5:00 PM each day. Admission: Adults
$3, Seniors 65 & up $2, Kids/Teens 5-18
$1.50, Under 5 FREE.
10 & 11, Albany, Georgia
Flint River Model RR Club of Albany, Ga., 13th
Annual Model Train Show. Open to the public.
Sat 9am - 5 pm, Sun 11am - 4pm. Adults $3,
12-18yo $1, Under 12 free w/adult. For info
or table rental contact Jimmie Swann during
evenings at 229-883-3517, or write to FRMRRC, PO Box 884, Albany, GA 31702-0884.
11, Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown Model Railroad Assn., Flea Market. McMenamy's Hall on Rt. 422 in Niles,
Open 10:30 am - 4:00 pm, $3.00 per person
under 12 free.Info: Jim Pope e-mail: [email protected] or call 330-547-3614.
July 2004
22-25, Washington, D.C.
2004 O Scale National Convention at
the Hyatt Regency, Crystal City, Virginia at Reagan National Airport. Conven-
tion and Dealer registration info is available
from the Capital Area O Scalers, 2004 O
Scale National Convention, 10401 Grandin
Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20902, or email to
[email protected].
Advertisers Index
Accurate O Scale
15
Andersen’s Train Station
59
AtlasO
IBC
BTS
48
California Roadbed Co.
9
Car & Locomotive Shop
58
Central Locomotive Works
59
Chicagoland
25
Eagles Nest Miniatures
49
49
Hackworth Model Trains
25
House of Duddy
20
Joint Line Reproductions
15
Keil-Line Products
9
NCE Corp
48
Norm’s O Scale
59
O Scale Guide
39
O Scale Realty
9
O Scale Signals
18
Old Pullman
60
Overland Models
40
P&D Hobby Shop
IFC
Pecos River Brass
BC
PRR Brass
15
Public Delivery Track
47
Rail Photos Unlimited
15
Rons Books
57
Russian River RR Co.
15
RY Models
42
Scaled World
20
SONC 2004
39
Stevenson Preservation Lines
15
Suncoast Models
18
Sunset⁄3rd Rail
13, 21
T Bone Models
9
Train America Studios
59
Weaver
20
Whitehall Models
49
OST Dealer List
Arkansas
Hobby Shack
1200 John Harden Dr
Jacksonville, AR 72076
501-982-6836
Mickey’s Model Works
611 Court St, Ste 4
Conway,AR 72032-5417
501-450-9423
Arizona
Coronado Scale Models
1544 E Cypress St
Phoenix,AZ 85006
602-254-9650
California
All Aboard Model RR
Emporium
3867 Pacific Coast Hwy
Torrance,CA 90505
310-791-2637
Bruce’s Train Shop
2752 Marconi Ave
Sacramento,CA 95821
916-485-5288
Fulton Station
454 Larkfield Shop Cntr
Santa Rosa CA 95439
707-523-3522
Just Trains
5650-H Imhoff Dr
Concord,CA 94520
925-685-6566
Original Whistle Stop
2490 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena,CA 91107
626-796-7791
Railroad Hobbies
119 Vernon St
Roseville CA 95678
916-782-6067
Reed’s Hobbies LLC
8039 La Mesa Blvd.
La Mesa,CA 91941
619-464-1672
Train Shop
1829 Pruneridge Ave
Santa Clara,CA 95050
408-296-1050
Colorado
Caboose Hobbies, Inc.
500 S. Broadway
Denver,CO 80209
303-777-6766
Delaware
Mitchells’
2303 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803
302-652-3258
Trains & Hobbies
313 Newark Shopping Cntr.
Newark,DE 19711
302-266-8063
Florida
Kirkland Hobbies
187 Concord Circle
Panama City FL 32405
850-215-1973
Georgia
Riverdale Station
6632 Hwy 85
Riverdale,GA 30045
770-991-6085
Iowa
Caboose Stop Hobbies
301 Main St
Cedar Falls,IA 50613
800-642-7012
Illinois
Chicagoland Hobbies
6017 Northwest Hwy
Chicago,IL 60631
773-775-4848
Des Plaines Hobbies
1468 Lee St
Des Plaines,IL 60018
847-297-2118
Hill’s Hobby Shop
10 Prairie Ave
Park Ridge,IL 60068
847-823-4464
Mike’s Scale Rails
3008 N Sterling
Peoria,IL 61604
309-689-0656
Rails Unlimited
126 Will Scarlet
Elgin,IL 60120
847-697-5353
Indiana
Big Four Hobbies
1005 E Main St
Plainfield IN 46168
317-837-1024
Mishawaka Railyard Inc
410 S Spring St
Mishawaka IN 46545
574-252-7245
Kansas
J’s Hobby Haven
5303 Johnson Dr
Mission,KS 66205
913-432-8820
Maine
Norm’s O Scale
PO Box 147
S Casco,ME 04077
207-655-2550
Massachusetts
Modeler’s Junction
88 Lowell St
Methuen,MA 01844
978-683-0885
The Toy Doctor
17 Meredith Road
Forrestdale, MA 02644
508-477-1186
Tucker’s Hobbies
29 Bacon St
Warren,MA 01083
413-436-5318
Michigan
Eureka Trains
1219 Eureka Rd
Wyandotte,MI 48192
734-284-0521
P&D Hobby Shop
31280 Groesbeck Hwy
Fraser,MI 48026
586-296-6116
Rider’s Hobby Shop
2055 28th St SE
Grand Rapids MI
616-247-9933
Minnesota
Second Ave Shops
173 2nd Ave SE
New Brighton,MN 55112
651-633-5722
Missouri
Marty’s Model Railroads
9622 Gravois Rd
St Louis,MO 63123-4345
314-638-8250
North Carolina
Dry Bridge Station
236 N Main St
Mount Airy,NC 27030
336-786-9811
Nevada
High Sierra Models
4020 Kietzke Ln
Reno,NV 89502
775-825-5557
New Hampshire
Custom Trains
PO Box 48
Bath,NH 03740
603-747-3492
New Jersey
Big Little Railroad Shop
206 W Main St
Somerville,NJ 08876
908-429-0220
New Mexico
Trains West Inc.
3351A Candelaria Rd NE
Albuquerque,NM 87107
505-881-2322
New York
K-Val Hobbies
277 Hinman Ave
Buffalo,NY 14216
716-875-2837
Ohio
20th Century Models
32575 Pettibone Rd
Solon,OH 44139-5454
440-248-3055
M&S Trains
4157 W Broad St.
Columbus OH 43228
614-274-1178
Terminal Hobby Supply
10200 Springfield Pike
Cincinnati,OH 45215
513-326-3613
Western Hills Photo &
Hobby
6319 Glenway Ave
Cincinnati,OH 45211
513-661-2141
Oregon
Whistle Stop Trains
11724 SE Division St
Portland,OR 97266
503-761-1822
Pennsylvania
C&E Branchline RR Shop
102 W. Grove St.
Dunmore, PA 18509
570-347-7909
English’s Model RR Supply
21 Howard St
Montoursville,PA 17754
570-368-2516
G&K Hobbies
720 Gordon St
Reading,PA 19601-2312
610-374-8598
Lin’s Junction
128 S Line St
Lansdale,PA 19446
215-412-7711
Mainline Hobby Supply
15066 Buchanan Trail E
Blue Ridge Summit,PA
17214
717-794-2860
Strasburg Train Shop
Rte 741 E, Box 130
Strasburg,PA 17579
717-687-0464
Tennessee
Adirondack Car & Foundry
160 Harwood Rd.
Gray TN 37615
423-477-5790
Hobbytown USA, 8901
Town & Country Circle,
Knoxville, TN, 37923, 865690-1099
865-428-8595
Texas
Discount Model Trains Inc.
4641 Ratliff Lane
Addison, TX 75001
972-931-8135
Pecos River Brass
560 E Church St
Lewisville,TX 75057
972-219-0202
Virginia
Railyard Hobby Shop
7547 Williamson Rd
Roanoke,VA 24019
540-362-1714
Walt's Hobby Shop,
PO Box 1805,
Petersburg, VA, 23805,
804-861-1333
Washington
Central Hobbies
1574 Gulf Rd #1136
Point Roberts WA 98281
604-431-0771
The Inside Gateway
14725 Northeast 20th
Bellevue, WA 98007
425-747-2016
Wisconsin
Depot Drygoods
220 W Wisconsin Ave
Neenah,WI 54956
920-725-8854
Greenfield News & Hobby
6815 W Layton St
Greenfield,WI 53220
414-281-1800
Non-US Dealers
Canada
George’s Trains
510 Mt Pleasant Rd
Toronto Ontario M4S 2M2
416-489-9783
Switzerland
Trainmaster
3 Hochweidstr. Kilchberg
CH-8802
011-411-715-3666
United Kingdom
Quince Valley Designs
17 West Street
Weedon,Northants
NN7 4QU
01327 341374
Smoky Mountain Model
Trains Ltd
1933 Pittman Center Rd
Sevierville
TN
37876
Observations
Joe Giannovario, Editor⁄Publisher
The big news at O Scale Central tonight is the price reduction on O Scale Trains Magazine. Because we’re now printing
sufficient quantities, we’ve lowered the cover price of the magazine to $5.95 per copy and the subscription rate to $30 per
year for U.S. subscribers. For those who recently renewed
their subscriptions at $36 a year, we’ve added an additional
copy to your subscription to make up the difference. If you
thought OST was a good value at $36, it’s an even better value
at $30. The lower cover price will help boost our newsstand
impulse buyers, too.
You may notice our illustrations look nicer in this issue.
That’s because we now have two professional illustrators we
can tap to do drawings for us. I want to thank both Carey
Hinch and Richard Gardner (both were entrants in our Layout
Contest) for their support of OST. You can get a good idea of
both their work in this issue.
Another name that needs mentioning here is Brian Scace.
Brian has been “promoted” to Associate Editor of OST. I wish
that meant something monetarily but it’s more to recognize
Brian’s extraordinary contributions to OST.
Speaking of Brian, we tapped him to put together our first
book, A Guide to Modern O Scale. Brian had the unenviable
task of pulling together information from a wide variety of
sources and integrating that with special sections written by
OST contributors Ted Byrne, Gene Deimling, Bobber Gibbs
and Neville Rossiter. The end result is a resource guide to the
latest in O scale that has never been available before. I’m really pleased with it and I think you will be, too. Check the ad on
page 39 for details on price.
We just got back from the show in Indianapolis and I have
to tell you that Jim Canter and crew did a great job. Over 400
people attended the show. I appreciated meeting some of our
subscribers and putting faces with names. We also picked up a
passle of new subscribers, too.
One thing I really liked about the Indy show is the schedule,
Friday 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM, and then Saturday from 9:00 AM
until 3:00 PM. We were able to fly in Friday morning and then
leave Saturday evening. That worked out great for us as we
were finalizing this issue and didn’t have to spend too much
time on the road. In fact, it worked out so well, we have photos
from Indy in this issue.
We were proud to be the official sponsor of the model contest at Indy. There were many fine model submissions. Congratulations to Tony Michel (1st place), Andrew Sunderland
(2nd place) and Norm Hinkle (3rd place) on their awards.
You’ll find photos of their models in this issue and a picture of
me handing them their OST t-shirts. They also each won a free
subscription to OST.
In my last column I wrote about people who don’t have
Internet access. There’s a letter this issue from someone praising me for bringing that up. On the other side of the fence is a
note I received from John Smith of Pecos River which was too
late to put on the Letters page. So I include it here:
“By the by, with regards to your last editorial about
printed catalogs and those without Internet [access], I
have these two comments.
“It is just too costly to print catalogs for a few people
that are too stubborn [and] resist computer and Internet
technology. There are many small garage operations that
just don’t have the budget to advertise, let alone print catalogs. Even companies like Keil Line that have been
around for some time, don’t have the time to keep up
with a printed catalog and diagrams of all of their parts.
Don’t have the staff, or money, or time to do a catalog
and do the product as well.
“Second, it is time for anyone on the face of the earth,
with enough spare time and money to play with trains to
shuck out a few hundred bucks for a computer or a few
minutes to go to the public library with the website
address and learn how to research what they want to
know about. [At the library access] is FREE, and
although I have not found the Internet a great place to
sell stuff, it is the perfect research tool. And there is a
librarian to assist you, no matter what your age or computer skills are.”
John does bring up some good points. Computers are
cheaper now than ever and usually come preset for Internet
access. Both Apple and Microsoft make it an almost trivial
task to get online. (When I first set up a website in 1994, you
had to know Unix to post a web page!) And, virtually every
library in the country offers free net access.
But, there is still a significant percentage of homes without
Internet access and even without computers. We get a fair
number of subscription requests and renewals by snail mail, so
I know there are non-Internet users reading OST. If you’re a
vendor and you want their business, then you had better be
able to accommodate them.
Well, that’s it for this issue. As always, we’re interested in
your articles, comments, ideas and feedback.
Keep high ballin’! Hey Scace, where’s the booze?
◆
(Item #7883)
Get the
wheels of industry turning on
your layout with another handsome release of Atlas O's
RS-1 Locomotive. Sporting new paint schemes with prototypical painting and printing, each locomotive also features a solid die-cast chassis,
pilots, fuel tank, and detailed truck sideframes, highly detailed body
and cab with separately-applied grab irons, piping and lift rings,
steam generator details as appropriate per road name and all-metal
separately-applied handrail stanchions. Also featured are accuratelydetailed AAR type B trucks with separately-applied brake cylinders,
brake chains and other details, twin motors with flywheels, directional
headlights and an operating diesel exhaust unit. Head down to your
local hobby shop and pick up yours today!
ITEM # 2-RAIL ITEM#
DESCRIPTION
DC/DCC READY 2-RAIL TMCC
O RS-1 LOCOMOTIVE - NEW PAINT SCHEMES!
Undecorated ........................7870 ..................5870
Jersey Central......................7880-1................5880-1
Milwaukee Road ..................7881-1................5881-1
Rock Island..........................7882-1................5882-1
Susquehanna ......................7883-2................5883-2
LIMITED EDITION
Atlantic & East Carolina........7884 ..................5884
Two road numbers are available per road name except for
the Limited Edition Atlantic & East Carolina which has one
road number.
Additional TMCC features:
• Lionel® TrainMaster® Command Equipped featuring RailSounds™ digital
sound system (Including horn, bell diesel-roar sounds, etc.); crew talk (in
command) and more
Additional 2-Rail Features:
• All-wheels insulated with 8-wheel pickup
• DCC ready
• AC/DC operation* (2-Rail)
• Kadee®-compatible die-cast scale couplers
• Minimum curve: 36" radius
* (DC operation for 2-Rail TMCC requires power inverter-sold separately)
TrainMaster® Command Control are registered trademarks of and licensed by Lionel, LLC.
(Item #7881 - 3-rail models shown)
(Background photo by Rob Pisani)
For the NEW Atlas O 2003-2004
Fall/Winter Loco & Freight Car Catalog,
please send $3 (plus $1 shipping) to
the address shown below.
(Item #7884 - 3-rail models shown)
Atlas O, LLC • 378 Florence Avenue • Hillside, NJ 07205 • www.atlasO.com • 908-687-9590
New In Stock - from Pecos River Brass
SANTA FE HEAVYWEIGHTS
• 80’ Combine,
• 60’ Baggage,
• 60’ Storage Mail,
• 70’ Fishbelly Baggage,
• 80’ Horse Car,
• 70’ Baggage Mail
(2 versions),
• 85’ Cafe Observation,
FP Green or 2 Tone Grey.
Large Selection of PRB Brass at closeout prices • Check website or send SSAE for list.
Modular Railroad Structures by Pecos River are ALL IN STOCK.
NOW AVAILABLE
DRGW 1951 PROSPECTOR
& ROYAL GORGE NOW WITH
LIGHTS &
INTERIORS
VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES
Check out our website at http://www.pecosriverbrass.com
Pecos River Brass
560 E. CHURCH • LEWISVILLE, TX 75057
Phone and Fax: (972) 219-0202
[email protected] • visit our NEW website at http://www.pecosriverbrass.com

OScale Trains Nov/Dec 2003

Transcription

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