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O<br />
MAGAZINE<br />
<strong>Scale</strong><br />
<strong>Trains</strong><br />
Celebrating<br />
the art of<br />
1:48 modeling<br />
Nov/Dec 2009 u Issue #47<br />
US $6 .95 • Can $8 .95<br />
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Celebrating<br />
the art of<br />
1:48 modeling<br />
Issue #47<br />
Nov/Dec 2009<br />
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Vol. 8 - No. 6<br />
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Cover: NP Yellowstone 2-8-8-4 #5005 emerges out of Mullan<br />
tunnel blasting its way up Mullan Pass west of Missoula MT. The<br />
NP claimed these locomotives would pull anything up this hill the<br />
drawbars could hold. The scene is on Duane Danielson’s O <strong>Scale</strong><br />
layout.<br />
Centerspread: A four unit hook up of Z-1 class GN electrics pulls a<br />
drag freight up the Cascades between Skykomish and Wenatchee<br />
WA. With a combined tractive effort of 144,000 pounds, these<br />
“motors” were as powerful as the massive GN R-2 class 2-8-8-4 articulateds.<br />
Another scene from Duane Danielson’s O <strong>Scale</strong> layout.<br />
O <strong>Scale</strong><br />
<strong>Trains</strong><br />
Features<br />
4 The NP/GN Mountain Divisions — Duane Danielson<br />
Big-time mountain railroading in Colorado.<br />
12 Double-Truck Double-Brush Trolley Sweeper — Bill Brandt<br />
Combining ideas from past issues results in a neat operating model.<br />
17 Pre-Ballast Track Before Spiking Rail — Russ Briggs<br />
Save time and effort with this innovative method.<br />
21 Replacing Atlas O Couplers — Bob Anthonyson<br />
<strong>It</strong>’s not as difficult as you might think.<br />
23 Basic Scratchbuilding Skills: Parts & Material Layout — Mike Cougill<br />
Good models start with good foundations. Learn how to do it right.<br />
27 Edge-of-the-Layout Switch Machine Installation — Charlie Morrill<br />
They’re easier to install and service.<br />
30 A Simple Timber Loading Dock — L. Lee Davis<br />
This item will fit on any layout.<br />
37 Scratch ’n Bash An O <strong>Scale</strong> Caboose — Tom Houle<br />
Need a specific caboose but can’t buy it? Try this method to build it.<br />
49 PoweringUp: Crossing Gate Control — Ted Byrne<br />
A simple relay circuit mimics real world action.<br />
51 Rutland Railroad Ice House — Harold Russell<br />
This unusually small ice house is perfect for any small space.<br />
56 2010 O <strong>Scale</strong> National Introduction — Rod Miller, Chairman<br />
Departments<br />
9 The Art of Finescale – Mike Cougill<br />
11 The Modern Image – Gene Clements<br />
15 <strong>Read</strong>er Feedback<br />
35 Traction Action – Martin Brechbiel<br />
45 Product News & Reviews<br />
54 Modeler’s Showcase<br />
60 Buy-Sell-Trade Ads<br />
60 Events Listing<br />
61 Advertiser Index<br />
62 Observations – Joe Giannovario<br />
MAGAZINE<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 3
The NP/GN Mountain Divisions<br />
Text and photos by Duane Danielson<br />
Cover & center photos by Randy Linblad<br />
My history of railroad interests stem from my retired<br />
grandfather (a 50 year veteran as section foreman on the<br />
Northern Pacific). When I was five years old he took me up<br />
in the cab of a NP W-3 class Mikado and let me blow the<br />
whistle and ring the bell. From that time on I was hooked<br />
on model railroading. I can remember that day as if it was<br />
yesterday.<br />
After several years of On3 modeling and building an<br />
almost complete layout of the Rio Grande Southern, I<br />
became burnt out and decided to go back to modeling my<br />
grandfather’s railroad - the NP and its cousin, the Great<br />
Northern. I have always been a fan of mountain railroading;<br />
so I decided to model the western Montana to eastern<br />
Washington area. We had just finished building a new home<br />
and the layout’s size was determined by the basement. I<br />
ended up with 86 x 45 ft. L shaped layout with the small leg<br />
of the L at 22 ft.<br />
Design<br />
The first phase was to design a layout that would take<br />
advantage of the room’s size yet not put so much trackage<br />
in that it would become spaghetti central. I wanted a<br />
hidden storage yard and a large visible yard that could be<br />
viewed close up and a major passenger terminal. Mountain<br />
grades would be no more than 1-1/2 % and the mountain<br />
area would feature catenary for my GN electric locomotives.<br />
The hidden staging yard would receive and send out<br />
trains over the entire railroad. <strong>It</strong> could hold 18 trains, with<br />
approximately 650 cars. The visible yard would be based on<br />
Livingston MT and feature a 16 stall roundhouse, boiler shop<br />
and blacksmith shop. The main feature of the layout would<br />
be a scale model of the Livingston depot, almost 10 ft long.<br />
4 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
After deciding on a track design, I built a 1/4” scale model of<br />
the track plan. The room walls and floor were made of foam board<br />
and then the track was cut out from the blueprint and also pasted<br />
on foam board. Little foam bents were placed under the track to<br />
provide a look at the elevation changes on the layout. I added clay<br />
alongside the tracks to simulate the mountain terrain. This proved<br />
very helpful in correcting mistakes both in the track plan and in the<br />
scenery phase of the layout. I would strongly suggest that if one is<br />
building a large layout, making a model really helps.<br />
Construction<br />
I installed all the benchwork before I laid any tracks to make<br />
sure they would fit in the given space. Because of the mixed type<br />
of terrain I was modeling, I did not go with the common L girder<br />
system. For example, in the mountainous area I didn’t really<br />
think I gained that much flexibility with the L girder system and<br />
all the extra work of building the girders wouldn’t have paid off.<br />
I did make the benchwork in segments no longer than 10 ft. and<br />
then screwed them together so that one could disassemble the<br />
layout. I have two 3 ft. doors leading into the layout room, so any<br />
segment can be moved without problems. Yes, cutting the wiring<br />
between segments would be a mounting task but at least it<br />
would be possible.<br />
My track is Code 125 and Code 100 flextrack. My research on<br />
the two railroads found that during and shortly after the WW II<br />
era I am modeling, the NP and GN used 95 lb. rail on the mainline<br />
and 75 lb. rail in the yards and branchlines. Old Pullman has<br />
very good Code 125 flextrack and House of Duddy makes Code<br />
100 flextrack. I used flextrack rather than laying my own since<br />
I had over 1100 ft. of mainline and more than that in yards and<br />
branches. The switches all came from Old Pullman. They are<br />
already laid on weathered ties and look very realistic. In order to
control the switches, I<br />
used the Switchmaster<br />
motors by Builders in<br />
<strong>Scale</strong>. I see many advantages<br />
in them. They are<br />
easy to install; you can<br />
add as many electrical<br />
contacts as needed to<br />
control points, LEDs<br />
back on the panel,<br />
computer control, etc.<br />
The motors use 3 volts<br />
on a permanent stall,<br />
which applies more<br />
than enough constant<br />
thrust on the switch<br />
points. I use a power<br />
supply with a common<br />
center tap. That way the<br />
wiring is much easier.<br />
The common center<br />
tap is daisy chained to<br />
all switch motors and<br />
the plus and minus on the panel to the<br />
outer legs of a SPDT toggle with the<br />
center pole going to the switch. <strong>All</strong> of the<br />
switches on the panel are daisy chained<br />
in the same way. Only the center pole<br />
goes to each switch machine. The system<br />
works flawlessly and I have almost 150<br />
turnouts working at this time.<br />
Lighting<br />
Gerry Cornwell, a commercial lighting<br />
expert and a close friend of mine,<br />
helped design the fluorescent lighting in<br />
the layout room. <strong>It</strong> is a combination of<br />
5000° and 6000° Kelvin lights on separate<br />
circuits placed in 2 x 4 ft fixtures in<br />
a drop ceiling.<br />
Control System<br />
I have a conventional block system<br />
for my railroad. DC powered. Every time<br />
I laid a track I had the power on in the<br />
block and if I got a short, the meter on<br />
the panel showed it immediately. In that<br />
way, I did not have to debug shorts afterwards.<br />
I use four Polk 5 amp RC throttles<br />
to control the layout. A unique switch I<br />
found on the Internet routes the correct<br />
power pack to each of the 19 blocks,<br />
with more to be added. <strong>It</strong> is made by<br />
EAO International [www.eao.com/global/<br />
en/products/product_search.asp], a<br />
Swiss manufacturer. <strong>It</strong> is called a 5 gang,<br />
illuminated, mechanical, interlocking<br />
push button switch. They can be ordered<br />
with as many pushbuttons as you desire<br />
(matching the number of your cabs) plus<br />
one for the off position. You can order<br />
the pushbuttons any color (they are simply<br />
colored caps); so I got them in red,<br />
blue, yellow, green, and white. Each RC<br />
handheld throttle was colored accordingly.<br />
Thus, if you wanted to have the red<br />
throttle active in a block on the railroad,<br />
you simply pushed the red button on the<br />
switch. If the green button was active<br />
and illuminated, pushing the red button<br />
cancelled it out and the red button<br />
was now illuminated and powered to<br />
the block. The white button is for an off<br />
position in the block.<br />
Scenery<br />
After the track was in and trains ran<br />
without derailments, I started on the<br />
scenery. Since my railroad was designed<br />
to be in the high mountains of Montana<br />
to eastern Washington, I had to have a<br />
fast way to make lots of mountainous terrain.<br />
After much debate, I settled on Joel<br />
Bragdon’s method of geodesic foam for<br />
my mountains. There was a small learning<br />
curve involved, but the effort paid<br />
off in that the terrain on the layout looks<br />
real, goes up fast, and has no mess in the<br />
house. I would never go back to the plaster<br />
technique again. The cost is a little<br />
more, but the savings in time and with<br />
no mess completely overshadows all the<br />
old methods. One can make changes<br />
with the foam method very easily and<br />
that cannot be said with the old plaster<br />
techniques.<br />
Rather than have to paint 262 ft. of<br />
backdrop along the walls of the layout,<br />
I chose to go with wallpaper that had<br />
printed mountains made from actual<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 5
A Great Northern freight led by 2-10-2 #2129 exits a tunnel in the high mountain country of western Montana.<br />
A double headed GN freight rolls across one of the many high trestles common to the western portion of the line.<br />
A GN yard goat rolls a block of reefers past the icing platforms near the yard in Livingston.<br />
A Mike takes on coal at the dock in Livingston.<br />
6 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
pictures. I used a company called<br />
Backdrop Warehouse. I printed out<br />
the catalog pages of the mountain<br />
backdrops I wanted and converted<br />
them via Photoshop into 1/4” scale,<br />
cut them out, and pasted them on<br />
the model of the layout I had made.<br />
In doing this, I was able to show to<br />
the best advantage some of the snow<br />
capped mountain peaks and incorporate<br />
them into the layout. The cost for<br />
the backdrops was about 1/10 of what<br />
an artist would have charged. They<br />
have a huge assortment of mountain<br />
scenes that are 3 ft. high x 10 ft. long<br />
and most of them are continuous so<br />
that the backdrop keeps flowing as if<br />
you are looking at a 360 degree view.<br />
In order to get 262 lineal ft. of continuous<br />
mountains, they had to computer<br />
“stitch” some of the scenes together.<br />
You cannot tell where they did it.<br />
Structures<br />
Since most of my structures were<br />
not offered by any manufacturer, I had<br />
to use other methods to build ones<br />
unique to the NP and GN. The only<br />
exception to this was the roundhouse<br />
that is a modified Korber Models kit.<br />
For all other structures, I received the<br />
original blueprints from the NP Historical<br />
Association. They were very<br />
helpful in my research. <strong>It</strong> is hard to<br />
believe that most of those blueprints<br />
even exist today. I contracted a professional<br />
model builder, M-Tec Models.<br />
He took the blueprints and entered the<br />
dimensions into a CAD system connected<br />
to a large laser cutter and cut<br />
out all the sides, windows, etc. What<br />
evolved was a custom kit. <strong>It</strong> would<br />
have taken me years to accomplish the<br />
same effect as I got with M-Tec. The<br />
depot complex took only 3-1/2 months<br />
to build and there are over 2000 parts.<br />
Making the mountains and buildings<br />
has been the real fun part of building<br />
the railroad.<br />
Equipment<br />
My motive power is a combination<br />
of off-the-shelf and custom<br />
models. Many of the NP and GN<br />
engines have never been reproduced.<br />
In order to build them at reasonable<br />
cost, I researched similar models that<br />
were already produced and had a<br />
professional builder just modify them<br />
to an NP or GN model. I was fortunate<br />
enough to get the blueprints of most<br />
the custom engines. I had a friend<br />
take pictures of his HO <strong>Scale</strong> NP and
The 2129 rides the turntable in front of the roundhouse, made from a Korber kit.<br />
GN engines for those that had no blueprints<br />
available. The cost was considerably<br />
less since we didn’t have to make<br />
a whole new frame, drive shaft, and<br />
gearing. I would guess that the cost of<br />
these conversions is about 1/4 the cost<br />
of a custom engine. My rolling stock is a<br />
combination of kits or pre-built models,<br />
combined with many urethane custom<br />
models put together by professionals<br />
and weathered properly. I have some<br />
brass rolling stock; however the cost<br />
limited my choices, as well as their availability.<br />
Conclusion<br />
I estimate the layout is approximately<br />
50% complete so far. <strong>It</strong> has been my lifetime<br />
goal to build a model railroad that<br />
one could enjoy and feel that you are<br />
there in the middle of the Rocky Mountains<br />
watching trains go by. Hopefully I<br />
will have achieved this goal when the<br />
layout is complete.<br />
I am constantly asked by visitors,<br />
“When do you plan on being finished?”<br />
My answer is “I am just having fun creating<br />
what I have dreamed about all my<br />
lifetime.” I plan on having annual open<br />
house visitor sessions to feature my layout<br />
in the community I live in. u<br />
The NP Z-3 class 2-8-8-2 is from a Sunset N&W Y-3, 2-8-8-2, which had the same wheel size and total length. The builder<br />
made a new boiler, put the correct appliances on it and built a new tender.<br />
A pair of Great Northern electrics eases their train along deep in the Cascades.<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 7
SPECIAL EDITION SERIES<br />
SUPER DETAILING-THE LIKES YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN FROM SUNSET<br />
CHALLENGER - SE<br />
UP - D&RGW - CLINCHFIELD<br />
THE SPECIAL EDITION CHALLENGERS:<br />
2 Rail Models - Special Super Detailing<br />
Available with DCC / SOUND / PUFFING<br />
SMOKE ($200 more) or DC.<br />
Less than 30 of Each Available to Reserve.<br />
Very limited quantities.<br />
Reserve Price under $2000<br />
GREAT NORTHERN 0-8<br />
Great Northern Fans Rejoice: Sunset is<br />
making the famous O-8 Mikados. We are<br />
super detailing these, so that you can proudly<br />
display and run your O-8 anywhere. Built by<br />
our premier Korean builder. Offered with<br />
DCC/Sound and Smoke $200 or DC.<br />
Reserve Price Under $1500<br />
ERIE S-3/S-4 Berks<br />
You asked and asked, so here it is. Two<br />
versions of the Erie Berks. We are detailing<br />
this to the hilt, but it will be made to run as<br />
well. Look for these Berks in late 2010.<br />
Offered with DCC/Sound and Smoke $200,<br />
or DC.<br />
NP W-5 MIKE<br />
Reserve Price Under $1500<br />
The W-5 mikados the W5—were the Northern<br />
Pacific's heaviest 2-8-2's and were originally<br />
assigned to the Yellowstone Division, where<br />
the ruling grade is about 1 per cent in both<br />
directions, until the big Z5 articulateds<br />
replaced them. DCC/Sound and Smoke $200.<br />
Reserve Price Under $1500<br />
SUNSET MODELS INC.<br />
8 • 22 O <strong>Scale</strong> Beta <strong>Trains</strong> Court -· Nov/Dec San Ramon, ’09 CA 94583 · 925-820-7701 · fax to 925-820-7709 · www.3rdrail.com
The Art of Finescale<br />
Michael Cougill<br />
Potpourri<br />
Some personal progress on roller bearing trucks<br />
On a whim one evening, I decided to see what I could do<br />
with the sideframes from a pair of Atlas O and Lionel roller<br />
bearing trucks. I’ve settled on Protocraft wheelsets as my standard<br />
on the Indiana & Whitewater and the axles of these fit the<br />
journal bearings on both sideframes nicely, with good rolling<br />
qualities and almost no slop. I proceeded to try a scratchbuilt<br />
bolster to see if it would work and lo and behold, I was on my<br />
way to something good. However, looking through Protocraft’s<br />
online catalog, I noticed their truck bolster and wonder if it<br />
would work too. The critical factor is the width of the opening<br />
in the sideframes. In the steam era, most bolsters were 12<br />
inches in width and this seems to hold true for modern 70 and<br />
100 ton trucks too (although I’m not absolutely certain of this).<br />
Looking at the Atlas and Lionel sideframes, their openings are<br />
more like 15” wide. I found two prototype truck manufacturer’s<br />
websites that included their maintenance manuals containing a<br />
wealth of useful information. Amsted Industries’ site is [http://<br />
www.amstedrail.com/freightcar/index.asp] and check out Standard<br />
Car Truck Company [http://www.sctco.com/index.html].<br />
This info shows that there are other components involved at<br />
the sideframe to bolster junction that might account for the difference<br />
in width. <strong>It</strong> is still very much a work in progress, but it<br />
is a start in the right direction. Rumor has it that a commercial<br />
model P48 roller bearing truck is in the works somewhere.<br />
Never fails does it? If I get things figured out to my satisfaction,<br />
then a leap forward in time on the layout may occur again.<br />
Couplers<br />
San Juan Car Company has announced the development<br />
of a new On3 coupler with a unique design that moves the<br />
knuckle spring to the inside of the coupler’s body, which allows<br />
for all the correct detailing on the sides of the coupler.<br />
Named the Evolution, this new design seeks to merge the<br />
reliable operation found in the standard Kadee® coupler’s<br />
design with the excellent visual appearance of San Juan’s existing<br />
operating scale Sharon couplers. The new couplers should<br />
be available starting in October 2009. Hopefully, San Juan will<br />
consider making them for us standard gauge modelers too!<br />
And there’s even more news on the coupler front. Protocraft<br />
is introducing a revised version of their Type E coupler. No<br />
word on their availability as of this writing. I’ll let you know<br />
when I have some thing more. And finally, Santa Fe fans have<br />
reason to get excited over the possible production of the 3700<br />
series Mountains and 2900 series 4-8-4 Northerns by Sunset<br />
Models. While they won’t be done in P48, there may be some<br />
conversion possibilities with them. If you’re interested let Scott<br />
Mann of Sunset [www.sunset3rdrail.com] know and get yours<br />
reserved soon.<br />
Track and wheels one more time.<br />
The Observations column in OST #46, proposed the idea<br />
of a single track standard for representing the prototype’s 4’<br />
8-1/2” or standard gauge in 2-Rail O <strong>Scale</strong> rather than the two<br />
we now have - the NMRA’s 1.252” and P48’s 1.177”. The corrected<br />
standard already exists in the form of the P48 specifications.<br />
However, the proposal does not advocate an adoption<br />
of P48 standards, but rather using the correct track gauge of<br />
1.177” along with the current NMRA flangeway dimensions<br />
and wheels (regauged), rather than the prototypically based<br />
specifications used for both in P48.<br />
I confess that my initial knee-jerk reaction to this idea was,<br />
why do we need another set of standards? However, as the<br />
magazine’s editor, I want this to be a place that encourages<br />
these conversations rather then shutting them down with partisan<br />
rhetoric.<br />
A better question to ask of this proposal would be: How<br />
many fragments, niches, flavors (pick your term), will standard<br />
gauge modeling in O <strong>Scale</strong> support before each one becomes<br />
too small to be feasible financially? O <strong>Scale</strong> as a whole represents<br />
a very small portion of the overall hobby market, and<br />
a line of flextrack and turnouts built to a new set of specifications,<br />
plus the retooling required for locomotives and rolling<br />
stock to run on this track represents a huge capital investment.<br />
In a soft economy, a risk like this is something few manufacturers<br />
would willingly undertake without any guarantee of a<br />
positive response from the marketplace. The idea was also<br />
presented that it would be easy to convert from NMRA specs<br />
to P48 with this new track. Experience has shown me that<br />
this isn’t exactly true. <strong>It</strong>’s a headache in that steam locos will<br />
need the same involved amount of work to exchange the drivers<br />
and other wheelsets. The same holds true for diesels and<br />
freight cars. Additionally, flangeway dimensions will have to be<br />
altered in order for the equipment to track properly.<br />
The truth is that a modeler is better off to pick one standard<br />
at the beginning and stick to it. Track and wheel dimensions<br />
are two sides of the same coin, and aren’t as interchangeable<br />
as some would like to have us believe. No mention was made<br />
of what will happen to the all the existing 1-1/4” equipment?<br />
Would it be rendered redundant in time? My opinion, for what<br />
it is worth, is that further fragmentation from another set of<br />
standards would hurt the future growth of O <strong>Scale</strong>. While I<br />
wholeheartedly applaud the adoption of a single gauge track<br />
standard, I’m not a prophet or a visionary, and it’ll be interesting<br />
to see where the future of standard gauge O <strong>Scale</strong> modeling<br />
wants to go.<br />
Best regards,<br />
Mike<br />
u<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 9
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10 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
The Old Country Store<br />
Located in the community of Townley, Alabama, about<br />
15 miles west of Jasper at the junction of Alabama Highway<br />
13 and the former, U.S. Highway 78 lays a small community<br />
founded in the late 1880s. Around the turn of the 1900s this<br />
was a farming community, which also supported the timber<br />
and coal mining industries. Small mining operations often<br />
referred to, as “wagon mines” were scattered throughout the<br />
hills of the area. The Frisco’s mainline from Birmingham to St.<br />
Louis runs through the community and, in years past, a depot<br />
and house track were located at the south end of the siding.<br />
Today only the controlled siding remains,<br />
Located north of the mainline across a small bridge over<br />
a branch of water that’s called Post Office Crossing, sits an<br />
old country store. I would estimate from its construction and<br />
materials that this store was built around the early 1900s.<br />
The columns that support the structure are made from local<br />
fieldstones cemented together to form pillars. The floor joists<br />
and end sills are rough finished actual 2x10s and 2x12s<br />
unlike the smaller sized framing lumber we use today. Pine<br />
clapboards sides the outside of the structure while the roof<br />
is covered with triple ridge tin sheets. Since it is a two story<br />
structure with no access to the second floor from the outside,<br />
I’m inclined to think the store’s owner may have lived in the<br />
second floor portion at one time.<br />
The store served the community and railroad crews up<br />
until the time it closed in 1980. <strong>It</strong> was not uncommon in the<br />
early days of my railroad career to sit in the siding here for<br />
extended periods of time while the locals worked Jasper or<br />
Carbon Hill on either side of Townley. Often the head end<br />
and the caboose crews would visit the store to grab a snack<br />
and soft drink while they were stuck in the hole. The famous<br />
railroad “Seafood Platter” was always a popular treat. A can<br />
or two of Sardines with a splash of your favorite Hot Sauce,<br />
Saltine crackers, a piece of hoop cheese and fresh sweet<br />
onion complimented the meal along with a soft drink of<br />
choice. The elderly lady who ran the store usually sat in her<br />
rocking chair close to the front door where she could catch<br />
the evening breeze and watch the action on the railroad and<br />
highway. The store only had a couple of small coolers for<br />
perishable items as well as floor coolers for the soft drinks.<br />
Home built shelves contained anything you might need to get<br />
you by until that next trip into town. Lighting was provided by<br />
several 60-watt light bulbs in their porcelain sockets hanging<br />
from the ceiling, as were the fans that turned slowly stirring<br />
the warm Alabama summer air.<br />
This was life in the rural south before the invention of the<br />
convenience store and super centers. I can only imagine<br />
that prior to my days on the railroad this store served many a<br />
member of the community as well as steam engine crews and<br />
passengers when this was a regular stop on the train schedule.<br />
Several years ago I took the time to make a photo record<br />
of all four sides of this structure for future reference. I plan to<br />
take these photos and calculate the dimensions of this structure,<br />
then draw an O <strong>Scale</strong> set of plans of the old store for<br />
modeling purposes.<br />
This structure would be simple to scratchbuild in either<br />
wood or styrene. Door and window castings from Grandt Line<br />
or other suppliers could be used, and interior detailing and<br />
lighting could be added making this an interesting project.<br />
No modeler should be intimidated by the word scratchbuilding.<br />
<strong>It</strong>’s like building a kit without a set of step-by-step<br />
instructions. You start with the basic materials, a set of rough<br />
or finished plans, simple tools and the desire to construct a<br />
one-of-a-kind model. The more you become involved the<br />
more your experience level grows as you work through trial<br />
and error construction procedures until you find the technique<br />
that works best for you.<br />
Structures like the old country store are still with us today<br />
but their future is not guaranteed. When you have the chance<br />
to make a photo record of a structure that you may one day<br />
want to model, do so and possibly share it with others. You<br />
may find the structure gone when you get around to taking<br />
measurements and have to rely on your photos to calculate<br />
dimensions.<br />
With all the other projects under way on the Alco Belt,<br />
hopefully at some point I’ll find the time to produce a set of<br />
O <strong>Scale</strong> drawings of the old country store and Joe may just<br />
grant me the space in a future issue to print these plans and<br />
do a construction article. The thing that stands out most in my<br />
mind about that store is the elderly lady that ran it, although I<br />
don’t remember her name, she knew and called her railroad<br />
men by their name, including me. <strong>It</strong> was always: “Service<br />
with a smile.”<br />
u<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 11
Double-Truck Double-Brush Trolley Sweeper<br />
Bill Brandt<br />
This article was prompted by three things. First was the<br />
excellent article by Gerald Brothers: Sweeper/Track Cleaner<br />
in OST #38, May/June ‘08. The second was the letter to the<br />
Editor by Myron Levitsky: Sweeper Suggestions in OST #41,<br />
Nov/Dec ‘08. The third was that I had a Car Works O <strong>Scale</strong><br />
double truck, double brush trolley sweeper that I had completely<br />
rewired using one DCC decoder to drive the car’s<br />
motor and the two motors that individually drive the brushes.<br />
My intent here is to tell you how I did it.<br />
One of the first things I did was to open up the car and<br />
document all of the original wiring. In my specific case, it<br />
was a bad job and all that I salvaged was the wiring from the<br />
trucks. There were two wires from each truck - one from each<br />
rail. These were all connected together and to the body as a<br />
common ground. (I use live overhead and uninsulated track.)<br />
Then I measured the current draw for the brush motors.<br />
I ran them on several voltages to find the speed of rotation<br />
that I liked; it turned out to be 5 volts at 60 milliamperes.<br />
This determined the decoder specifications. Also important<br />
was the drive motor. <strong>It</strong> was able to be driven by any "HO"<br />
decoder. So I needed an HO decoder with at least three functions.<br />
One for headlights, and the other two for the brushes.<br />
At the time I was building this, the decoder I chose was the<br />
Lenz LE080XS. <strong>It</strong> has two functions rated at 100 milliamperes<br />
each. I have not determined what usable decoders are available<br />
these days.<br />
I chose to use regulators to determine the voltage being<br />
sent to the brush motors and the headlight bulbs. With<br />
respect to the latter, I like to use 1.5 volt bulbs fed at about<br />
1.375 volts for longer life and a little lower brightness. This<br />
also allows them to be independent of variations in the track<br />
voltage. I used a LM317T regulator with programming resistors<br />
to get the 1.375 volts. There is also a series resistor for<br />
current limiting purposes ahead of this regulator to protect<br />
the decoder. To achieve the desired voltage, I used the 1%<br />
10 and 100 ohm resistors from Digikey, and not the 5% ones<br />
from Radio Shack. (I started using regulators on plain DC and<br />
the bulb will be at a constant brightness from a track voltage<br />
of about 4 volts up to 24 volts. If you want to use resistors<br />
instead, it can be done but you will have to figure that out.)<br />
The regulators used for the brush motors were the 7805<br />
which puts out the 5 volts. The diodes across the output of the<br />
regulators are for handling the back voltage spikes from the<br />
inductive load of the motors. The full circuit diagram is shown<br />
in Figure 1. A parts list is in included at the end of this article.<br />
A plain PC board with holes on 0.1” centers and no cop-<br />
12 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
per plating was used for the circuit. The decoder is held to<br />
it by double-sided foam tape. Wiring uses component leads<br />
and plain wire. (Note that the current drain on the regulators<br />
is low enough that no heat sinks are needed.) The whole<br />
board is held to the under side of the sweeper’s body by more<br />
double-sided foam tape.<br />
The decoder’s red and black wires are connected to the<br />
trolley poles for an easy ground connection through the pole<br />
hook. With DC this would give pole reverse but with DCC,<br />
the forward direction is determined by the connection of the<br />
red lead. The headlight wires are directly connected since<br />
they are mounted on the top part of the car. The three motors<br />
are wired through connectors<br />
since they are on the floor of the<br />
car. You may need to experiment<br />
to get the proper rotation speed<br />
on the sweeper brush motors.<br />
The brushes should rotate so as<br />
to throw the snow forward and<br />
to the side. The circuit as I did it<br />
is shown in Photo 1. Note that I<br />
did not use foam tape but a thin<br />
double-sided cellophane tape.<br />
<strong>All</strong> you need now is some snow<br />
on the tracks.<br />
u<br />
1<br />
Parts list<br />
Name Identification Quantity Radio Shack DigiKey<br />
Decoder LE080XS 1 (Lenz)<br />
Regulator 7805 2 276-1770 LM7805CT-ND<br />
Regulator LM317T 2 276-1778 LM317TFS-ND<br />
Diodes 1N4005 2 276-1104 1N4005DITR-ND*<br />
Resistors 33 ohm, « w 2 271-1104 OF330JE-ND*<br />
Resistors 10 ohm, 1/4 w 2 271-1301 10.0XBK-ND<br />
Resistors 100 ohm, 1/4 w 2 271-1311 100XBK-ND<br />
Bulbs 1.5 volt, 40 ma 2 (NJI) - 9306# -<br />
Connectors PC board 3 276-1388 -<br />
PC board plain 1 (holes every 0.1 inch, no copper plating)<br />
* - there are other part numbers for other manufacturers.<br />
# - bulbs from other places should work.<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 13
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14 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Better Wheels #1<br />
The Case for a Better Wheel Profile is<br />
great information. <strong>It</strong> explains a lot about<br />
how things work. What I got from the<br />
article is that the relationships apply to<br />
any gauge and not just NMRA standards<br />
5 foot gauge as implied on page 27<br />
where is states “I cannot stress enough<br />
that all three must be met in order to<br />
guarantee that a given wheel profile will<br />
run properly on NMRA track.”<br />
John Houlihan via e-mail<br />
Better Wheels #2<br />
After reading Issue #46, I was felt that<br />
too much space was devoted to track<br />
and wheel standards, notably P48. P48<br />
is a niche group, the hobby needs them<br />
if we are to progress. Do they need a<br />
platform?<br />
Certainly the NMRA is aware that<br />
their standards and recommended practices<br />
lag [behind] current technology,<br />
particularly in the area of DCC. These<br />
problems are better left to publication in<br />
“<strong>Scale</strong> Rails.” One last thought, makers<br />
and importers can always ask the question<br />
“Do our non-conforming products<br />
sell?” Modelers vote with their dollars.<br />
Phil Kohl via e-mail<br />
Mike responds: Mr. Kohl your letter<br />
left me a bit confused about whether<br />
you like P48 or not. Does it need a platform?<br />
Does traction modeling, narrow<br />
gauge and modern era modeling need<br />
a platform? My response is yes to all the<br />
above. Our task at the magazine is to not<br />
only reflect on what O <strong>Scale</strong> was, but to<br />
also consider where it is today and what<br />
it can be in the future. Therefore coverage<br />
of P48 and other so-called “niche”<br />
modeling efforts will continue.<br />
More Thoughts on Issue #46<br />
The Modern Image: Why has no<br />
one used a depressed center flat car for<br />
track cleaning? A model with four 4- or<br />
6-wheel trucks could really be weighted<br />
down and the pads would not show.<br />
A Closer Look at P48: After a few<br />
years as a professional hostler and<br />
brakeman, plus fifteen years with an<br />
operating RR museum, I'm all for thinner,<br />
more prototypical wheels, although<br />
RP25 specs were a quantum leap from<br />
tinplate wheels. The argument over<br />
gauge though is close to negligible.<br />
If O <strong>Scale</strong> had stayed with the 1930s<br />
1:45 proportion, the track gauge would<br />
be 1.259”. A track gauge of 56.5” is not<br />
cast in stone. Pennsy used 57”, and,<br />
according to a pamphlet from the Federal<br />
Railroad Administration about their<br />
Automated Track Inspection Program,<br />
current track gauge is allowed to vary<br />
up to 58” with speed restrictions. This is<br />
1.208” in 1:48 or a difference of 2 scale<br />
inches. Finally, why won't Kadee make<br />
a long shank coupler for long cars?<br />
At least how about a dummy coupler for<br />
passenger cars?<br />
Happy Rails<br />
R. L. Scheuerman, Calif. via e-mail<br />
Mike replies: For reasons known only<br />
to history, American O <strong>Scale</strong> is 1:48 not<br />
1:45, and sixty inches is still two inches<br />
wider than the current FRA regulations<br />
you cited. I don’t know of any American<br />
prototype using sixty inches as a base<br />
line track gauge although such lines did<br />
exist at one time in our country’s railroad<br />
history. I honestly don’t understand why<br />
modelers always frame this discussion in<br />
an either/or context. There is room in the<br />
hobby for both.<br />
<strong>About</strong> that P48 Flex Track...<br />
Just read your article about P48 flex<br />
track in #46. Ed Duddy does, or did have<br />
P48 flextrack, I forgot the code. He said<br />
it sold very poorly and had no reason<br />
to rerun it. Someone from P48 ought to<br />
negotiate to purchase the molds from Ed<br />
and contract with Micro Engineering to<br />
make another run, if Ed is sold out. Bottom<br />
line is there is P48 flextrack. PSC<br />
makes flextrack in On2 and On3 and<br />
now San Juan [Car Co.] has switches in<br />
On3. Also cast frogs are made in Code<br />
83 and Code 70 by Details West. They<br />
are [for] HO but should be applicable<br />
to narrow gauge frogs as all the bolts are<br />
smaller due to smaller rail section.<br />
Ted Schnepf via e-mail<br />
Mike replies: Thanks Ted. I am aware<br />
of the House of Duddy track. The purpose<br />
of the column was to consider<br />
whether the options of ready-to-run track<br />
in P48 would be viable, not to identify<br />
sources. Most prototype modelers seem<br />
to prefer handlaid track for a variety of<br />
reasons. Until the market demand for<br />
correctly gauged flextrack and turnouts<br />
greatly expands, it will remain risky<br />
for anyone to invest the considerable<br />
resources needed to do it right.<br />
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Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 15
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16 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Pre-Ballast Track Before Spiking Rail<br />
The goal of this article is to teach the O <strong>Scale</strong>r interested in<br />
handlaying track a different and practical method of ballasting<br />
track. Usually ballast is added last after spiking track on<br />
hand laid ties or installing flextrack. This can be a slow process<br />
while you pick out ballast from flangeways and points.<br />
With this method the ties are glued down and the ballast<br />
is poured over the wet glue. The glue I use is a water soluble<br />
padding compound, a type of glue used by bookbinders and<br />
printers who make pads of paper. Ballast is added, leveled,<br />
and matte medium sprayed to bond it all together.<br />
Photos 1and 2 show the tools and materials needed. They<br />
are: padding cement, available from: [http://www.americanprintingequipment.com/],<br />
matte medium available from A.C.<br />
Moore and Michaels art supply houses. (Use the 40-50%<br />
coupons from the Sunday newspaper to buy, you will save<br />
$10 or so.) Ballast (medium gray Woodland Scenics’ bottle<br />
with shaker top) some paper towels, a spray bottle and a pen<br />
or marker. You’ll also need a 2” wide x 12” long pine scrap,<br />
a 1-1/2” wide foam brush from a good hardware store. (Do<br />
not use ones from major home improvement stores, as they<br />
are poorly made and too flexible.) Along with a 1-1/2” good<br />
quality sash brush and some pre-cut and stained ties.<br />
1<br />
Russ Briggs<br />
Drop the ties in place into the padding compound using<br />
the guide lines. Align or re-space ties as necessary so they<br />
look good. Press into place with a finger (Photo 5). Turn the<br />
2”x 12” pine scrap on its narrow edge and place it onto the<br />
center of the ties, and press down. This will insure the tops of<br />
the ties are level and won’t require sanding (Photo 6 ). Photo<br />
7 shows what a foot long stretch of track should look like<br />
with the ties in place.<br />
5<br />
6<br />
2<br />
To begin, draw two parallel lines the same distance apart<br />
as the length of your ties. Then apply the padding compound<br />
with a brush, running it outside the pencil/pen lines drawn by<br />
3/8” (Photos 3-4).<br />
3<br />
7<br />
Shake ballast onto and between ties, so that tops of ties are<br />
covered with ballast in the center. Distribute the ballast with<br />
a 1-1/2” width foam brush and work the ballast from the center<br />
of the ties outward to the ends (Photos 8-9). Tidy up the<br />
4<br />
8<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 17
13<br />
9<br />
10<br />
14<br />
edges by moving the loose ballast towards the ends of the ties<br />
making an edge to the ballast (Photo 10).<br />
Roll a 24” long strip of paper towels around the pine block<br />
to make a blotter (Photo 11). Then, prepare a spray bottle by<br />
mixing 50% matte medium and water plus 2-3 drops dishwashing<br />
liquid. Test the spray bottle so it puts out a mist when<br />
used. Hold the sprayer at a 45 degree angle and thoroughly<br />
wet the ballast. The ties will get very wet and so should the<br />
ballast (Photo 12). Press the blotter onto ties, lift and move to<br />
the next wet area and press onto ties again. Do not rub the<br />
blotter from side to side or along the ties, only place it directly<br />
down on the ties (Photos 13-14). Then leave finished, ballasted<br />
ties to dry overnight or longer depending on humidity.<br />
11<br />
15<br />
16<br />
12<br />
Spike rails to completed ballasted ties (use of safety glasses<br />
recommended).You can pre-paint the rail if desired (Photo<br />
15). Track switches are built in the same manner, following all<br />
the same steps, except do not ballast where the throwbar is<br />
between the ties at the points. You can place a tie there when<br />
placing the loose ballast, but remove it before spraying with<br />
matte medium (Photo 16). Photo 16 shows switches on my<br />
railroad that are installed after all the ties were glued in place<br />
and ballasted. This method of building switches is exactly the<br />
same as building them on ties with no ballast. Note there is<br />
no ballast at the throwbar location.<br />
u<br />
18 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
More Kits from B.T.S. !<br />
Company<br />
House<br />
This company house<br />
was inspired by one<br />
from Pickshin, WV. The kit includes the piling to build it for<br />
a level surface or for a sloped location. Interior partitions are<br />
included as are positionable doors and windows. This kit<br />
consists of laser-cut basswood, plywood, and detail castings.<br />
Approx. Size - 31' x 35'. #17237 $ 54.95<br />
McCabe Lumber Co.<br />
MoW Speeder<br />
An old boxcar body, a<br />
truck chassis, and<br />
some great planning<br />
on the part of the crew<br />
provided the main<br />
ingredients for a<br />
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The body kit consists<br />
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metal detail castings. And the driver, load, and decals are included. The<br />
fully-assembled mechanism is American Made by David Hoffman. <strong>It</strong><br />
features a sheet brass frame, lost-wax brass end steps, NWSL gears and<br />
wheelsets. <strong>Scale</strong> 27’ long over footboards. On3/On30 versions also<br />
available. #18280 $ 239.95<br />
Bridge Crane<br />
Overhead bridge cranes were located at<br />
various places including the team track,<br />
large industries and the freight house.<br />
The model is a brass import. The hoist<br />
trolley is positionable on the bridge.<br />
Painted black and ready for you to<br />
simply hang the hook and chain on the<br />
hoist. Approx. Size - 20’ wide with 16’<br />
clearance from ground to the bottom of<br />
the bridge. #18505 $ 119.95<br />
Elliott and Sons Supply<br />
While it is a freelanced structure, the Elliott &<br />
Sons Supply was based upon a tomato packing<br />
house in Sarasota, Florida. As for the model’s<br />
use, well, that is up to you. The kit features<br />
laser-cut basswood, cardstock and plywood;<br />
tabbed, easy construction; loads of Detail<br />
Castings; laser-cut, self-sticking shingles &<br />
sashes; laser-etched nail holes; optional<br />
skylights; and a 40’ x 60’ Footprint.<br />
#18106 $ 229.95<br />
Evans Gondola<br />
#19201 $ 99.95<br />
MEC (#12720 $7.95) and CNW (#12721 $5.95) decals are available.<br />
304-823-3729<br />
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At the yard, small truck loads of<br />
pulpwood, small logs cut into about five<br />
foot lengths, are loaded onto pulpwood<br />
cars for shipment out to the mill. The<br />
Anderson Pulpwood Yard kit includes the<br />
office, storage shed, truck scale, oil drum<br />
rack, two wood racks, and metal detail<br />
castings. Office and scale footprint is 34’<br />
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#17480 $ 89.95<br />
In 1975, the Southern Iron and Equipment<br />
Co. started building a 52'-6", 100-ton<br />
gondola. Evans took over SIECO and<br />
continued building the cars through<br />
December 1981. A total of 1,730 cars were<br />
built with three minor body variations.<br />
This model represents the second, and<br />
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The unpainted kit consists of highquality,<br />
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one-piece body and separate frame, hidden<br />
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components. Easy assembly with ACC or<br />
epoxy. Less decals, trucks, and couplers.<br />
www.btsrr.com<br />
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38021<br />
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White WC22 Dump Truck<br />
38013<br />
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20 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Replacing Atlas O Couplers<br />
Bob Anthonyson<br />
This is a simple process for replacing Atlas O<br />
couplers with Kadees. First, remove the single<br />
screw that holds the truck to the underside of<br />
the car. Working from the direction of the end of<br />
the car, insert a penknife blade under the vertical<br />
tab at the back of the coupler. Pry this tab back<br />
by raising the knife blade; the bottom of the coupler<br />
box can now be opened. Remove the coupler<br />
and spring and detach the coupler box from the<br />
underside by unscrewing two small screws (Photos<br />
1 & 2).<br />
Atlas O has two different methods of attaching<br />
2-Rail couplers. In some cases, there will be<br />
two holes directly in the underside of the car. In<br />
these cases you will usually want to use two .4<br />
x 8mm screws. In other cases, a special connector<br />
plate is attached to the underside and the<br />
coupler is attached to this plate. This is shown in<br />
Photo 3. In this case, you will need 2-56 x 5/16”<br />
screws to attach the coupler.<br />
The Atlas O couplers have a deeper box than<br />
the Kadees, so shimming will be necessary if you<br />
want your coupler at the recommended NMRA<br />
height (Photo 4). Micro-Mark makes very inexpensive<br />
shims for this purpose (item #82582) or you<br />
1 2 3<br />
can measure and make your own (Photos 5 & 6).<br />
The spacing of the screw holes for the Atlas O<br />
couplers is slightly closer together than what is<br />
ideal for the Kadees. However, the spacing is close<br />
enough that you can still use the existing holes.<br />
Start by screwing one end of the Kadee box into<br />
a hole on the car or connector plate. Stop when<br />
the screw has just enough bite to stay in place.<br />
Start the second screw into the other hole and<br />
once it has taken hold, return to the first screw<br />
and give it a few turns. Keep alternating until the<br />
coupler box is snug against the underside of the<br />
car or the connector plate. Be careful not to over<br />
tighten the screws (Photo 4).<br />
Reattach the truck and you are finished. As an<br />
optional step you can allow the truck to operate<br />
with equalization. There is a connecting bar that<br />
is screwed into both of the truck sideframes. This<br />
bar is designed to hold a 3-rail coupler. However,<br />
2-railers have no need for this bar and if it is<br />
removed the truck’s springs will be able to function<br />
as on the prototype. You can now enjoy the<br />
use of your Atlas O car equipped with Kadee couplers.<br />
4 5 6<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 21
22 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Basic Scratchbuilding Skills: Parts and Material Layout<br />
Mike Cougill<br />
As a hobby, model railroading covers many areas. There’s<br />
literally a lifetime of things to learn and skills to master. For<br />
some, the practice of scratchbuilding models seems to have<br />
fallen out of favor. There’s lots of opinions as to why such as<br />
increased work demands, a more hectic and mobile lifestyle;<br />
greater variety of recreational pursuits and so on.<br />
In spite of these factors, scratchbuilding remains a treasured<br />
aspect of the hobby for many modelers. Taking a readyto-run<br />
model out of a box may give instant gratification. But<br />
then what? In scratchbuilding, the sense of gratification is<br />
progressive; building on itself with the successful completion<br />
of each new challenge. The goal of this series is to cover some<br />
basic skills and introduce the joys of scratchbuilding to a new<br />
generation of model railroaders.<br />
We were all beginners at one time, learning as we went,<br />
making lots of mistakes and false starts along the way. In reality,<br />
one never really stops being a beginner. One may become<br />
very accomplished, but there’s always something new to learn.<br />
That’s the essence of scratchbuilding: learning new skills<br />
and improving or perfecting old ones. Practice does indeed<br />
make perfect and can be an essential skill in and of itself. <strong>It</strong>’s<br />
also a mind-set; characterized by the willingness to do something<br />
over until the results are pleasing and accurate. As you<br />
gain confidence in simple projects you’ll naturally be drawn<br />
to more complex and challenging ones. This is as it should be<br />
and constitutes one of the true joys of learning: the sense that<br />
you’re mastering something. Over time, you’ll own your skills.<br />
Meaning, they will be a part of you forever.<br />
In OST #41, Gene Deimling wrote an article on how to<br />
generate a scale drawing to work from using a software utility<br />
called <strong>Scale</strong> Print; that comes bundled with the CD-ROM<br />
version of the Car Builder’s Cyclopedia from P.I. Engineering<br />
[http://www.raildriver.com/products/cyclopedias/scale.print.<br />
php] Gene’s article would be a good one to review as an<br />
introductory primer.<br />
Parts layout<br />
Learning how to accurately layout a project is a basic<br />
scratchbuilding skill that everyone has to learn. <strong>It</strong> isn’t as hard<br />
as it seems. With a bit of patience plus the proper tools and<br />
knowledge, you’ll pick it up quickly. As Gene suggests in his<br />
article, what we’re going to do is build a basic box for the<br />
carbody (in my case a boxcar) to which the appropriate details<br />
will be added.<br />
Photo 1 shows the basic tools needed to do an accurate<br />
layout. They include a scale rule; ninety-degree squares for<br />
1<br />
marking corners and squaring up the outside corner of the<br />
sheet stock; a caliper for measuring and a scriber, which in<br />
this case is a modified dental tool. You can also purchase<br />
scribers from Micro-Mark [www.micromark.com].<br />
The basic techniques are the same whether you’re working<br />
in styrene, wood or metal. Careful workmanship at this early<br />
stage of a project will pay dividends many times over. A mental<br />
hurdle to get over is to not be afraid of doing something<br />
over. Think of this stage as the foundation of a house. Sloppiness<br />
here will haunt you all the way through the project.<br />
To begin, always check the rough sheet stock you’re using<br />
for squareness. For this project, I’m using 0.040” thick styrene.<br />
Don’t assume that factory corners are square or that the<br />
edges are straight. Though they often are, there may be defects<br />
that could affect the accuracy of your layout. I used the large<br />
square to verify that one corner of the sheet is a true ninety<br />
degrees. I also check whether the edges are straight and true.<br />
Hold the sheet stock up to a light source and place the rule or<br />
your square on the edge. Any light that shows through means<br />
the edge isn’t straight. You can true up an edge quickly with a<br />
few passes from a large mill file, checking your work against<br />
the light as just mentioned. If an edge is really jagged, scribe<br />
a straight line for reference and work from it, trimming the<br />
excess away. Once I have one corner square, I work from<br />
that reference point in laying out all the other measurements<br />
(Photo 2).<br />
2<br />
A mistake modelers often make is using the end of the<br />
scale rule to take readings from. I prefer a rule that has the<br />
zero mark one foot in from the end rather than on it. The end<br />
of your rule can get banged up or dented and the markings<br />
often wear away, leaving you guessing. By having the zero<br />
point away from the edge, the measurement is more precise<br />
than trying to line up the edge of the rule with the edge of the<br />
material (Photos 3-4, page 24).<br />
For this wood sided single-sheathed car, I built a box that<br />
is sized to the interior dimensions of the prototype which are<br />
40’-6” long by 9’-0” wide and 10’-0” high. The wood siding<br />
on most cars of this type was 1” to 1-1/2” thick by five inches<br />
wide. I plan to laminate strips of 0.020” x 0.100” (1x 5 scale<br />
inches in O) styrene for the car siding to this core, which<br />
should equal the outer dimensions of the prototype car. Factors<br />
like this will affect how you size your car’s substructure. Since<br />
the end pieces will fit between the side walls, they need to be<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 23
3<br />
Using the rule to do this can introduce errors that will compound<br />
on themselves with each additional measurement.<br />
Run intersecting lines past each other to give a truer point of<br />
reference for corners (Photo 7). I always scribe my layout lines<br />
instead of using a pencil or pen. Drawn lines can be thick in<br />
nature and throw things off. They can also get smudged from<br />
handling, whereas a scribed line is very accurate.<br />
7<br />
4<br />
0.080” (0.040” thickness of the sidewall x 2) narrower in order<br />
to have the dimension of the substructure equal nine feet.<br />
Using the calipers for marking and measuring is more<br />
accurate than using the scale rule each time. Take a measurement<br />
from the rule with the calipers and line one of the blades<br />
up with the true edge on your material, and then bring the<br />
point of the scriber or an X-Acto knife blade up against the<br />
calipers’ opposite blade to mark the other end (Photo 5-6).<br />
5<br />
Doing an accurate layout for your project takes time.<br />
Often no matter how careful you are mistakes will happen.<br />
However, they are often easy to fix. Photo 8 shows how the<br />
two sides for the boxcar had a rough edge where they were<br />
snapped free from the larger sheet of styrene. I actually made<br />
these a scale inch taller, so I could file down to the real line<br />
8<br />
6<br />
instead of relying on the snapped edge. Since the car sides<br />
had two edges that matched, I aligned those edges and taped<br />
the pieces together, then clamped them in a vice. I filed the<br />
mismatched edges with a large mill file, working slowly and<br />
carefully, checking my progress with the blade of the square<br />
(Photos 9-10). The end result was two car sides that matched<br />
9<br />
24 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
10<br />
perfectly. I did the same for the car ends.<br />
<strong>It</strong> may seem like a lot of work, but the<br />
car will be perfectly square.<br />
11<br />
Photo 11 shows the basic box all<br />
assembled with the interior bracing and<br />
flooring in place. I put lots of 0.125” x<br />
0.250” styrene strip bracing on, especially<br />
in the corners, so there would<br />
be plenty of material to attach ladders<br />
and grabirons to later. I haven’t put the<br />
roof on at this point because I need to<br />
put some weight inside the car so it will<br />
track well. You’ll notice that I have the<br />
centerline of the car marked for both the<br />
length and width. This helps in placing<br />
the underframe and other details. The<br />
basic substructure of the car is now done<br />
and ready for the underframe, wood siding,<br />
the steel zee bracing and other finish<br />
detailing. The parts layout procedure<br />
is pretty much the same for most types of<br />
rolling stock or structures. As I progress<br />
along with this series, we’ll consider<br />
another area of mystery for many: the<br />
underframe.<br />
u<br />
Your source for:<br />
Motive power, rolling stock<br />
and structure plans<br />
(since 1975)<br />
Quik-Signs sign sets<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> industry directory<br />
Paper Creek Models<br />
Send $2.00 for catalog<br />
Underground Railway Press<br />
P.O. Box 814OS<br />
Brevard, NC 28712-0814<br />
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3518-1 Conrail (Svngs Bond) SD-40 DC/DCC $407.95<br />
2004100-2 D&H U23b DC 212.45<br />
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7345-1 Beacon Feeds PS4427 Hopper 57.75<br />
7374-2 WM 40' Airslide Hopper 50.95<br />
7768-2 <strong>Read</strong>ing Fishbelly Hopper 44.60<br />
7780-4 PC (MOW) H21a Hopper 55.20<br />
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9052-1 ASD 36' Wood Reefer 55.20<br />
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9280-5 Trusweet 17,600K Tank 66.25<br />
9286-3 ADM (Leaf) 17,600 Tank 66.25<br />
9287-2 ADM (Molecule) 17,600 Tank 66.25<br />
9693-3 PRR (Delivery Scheme) USRA SS Box 50.95<br />
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Deichman’s Depot<br />
110 Ivyside Dr, York PA 17402<br />
Ph: 717-755-1108 • Fax: 717-840-9650<br />
deichmansdepot@comcast.net<br />
www.deichmansdepot.com<br />
Etched brass numbers SP-style, MSRP: $15.<br />
More brass numbers coming soon!<br />
Field parts for your interlocking tower: pipe<br />
carriers, crank stands and cranks. Visit our<br />
web site for details.<br />
The Irish<br />
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2682 W. Palo Alto Ave<br />
Fresno CA 93771<br />
www.irishtracklayer.com<br />
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Statement of Ownership & Circulation<br />
1. Publication Title: O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
2. Publication #: ISSN 1536-9528<br />
3. Filing Date: Sept. 21, 2009<br />
4. Issue Freq.: Bi-monthly<br />
5. # of issues annually: 6<br />
6. Annual subscription price: $35<br />
7. Complete mailing address of Known Office of<br />
Publication: PO Box 289, Exton PA 1934<br />
8. Complete Mailing Address of General Business<br />
Office of Publisher: 486 Lynetree Dr., West Chester<br />
PA, 19380<br />
9. Publisher: Joe Giannovario, PO Box 289, Exton<br />
PA 19341<br />
Editor: Joe Giannovario, PO Box 289, Exton PA<br />
19341<br />
Managing Editor: Mike Cougill, PO Box 289, Exton<br />
PA 19341<br />
10. Owners: Joe Giannovario & Jaini Giannovario,<br />
486 Lynetree Drive, West Chester PA 19380<br />
11. Known Bondholders: None<br />
12: Tax Status: Unchanged<br />
13. Title: O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: Sept/Oct 2009<br />
15: Extent & Nature of Circulation:<br />
Avg # Single Issue<br />
copies nearest to<br />
prev. 12 months filing date<br />
A. Total # of copies 5388 5500<br />
B. Paid Circulation<br />
Mail Subscriptions 1149 1158<br />
Sales thru Dealers 3860 3864<br />
Other Mailed USPS 239 269<br />
C. Total Paid Circulation 5248 5291<br />
D. Free distribution<br />
By Mail 40 40<br />
Outside Mail 0 0<br />
E. Total free Distribution 40 40<br />
F. Total Distribution 5288 5331<br />
G. Copies Not Distributed 100 169<br />
H. Total 5388 5500<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 25<br />
© 2009 Gorilla Glue Company
Sumpter<br />
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135 NW Greeley Avenue,<br />
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● Specializing in O <strong>Scale</strong> 2-rail<br />
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Tel: 541/382-3413<br />
Fax:541/389-7237<br />
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and sometimes on Saturdays<br />
26 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
VALLEY<br />
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Credit Card Orders Welcome<br />
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American Model Builders O <strong>Scale</strong> Laser Kits<br />
Dimensions: 9-3/4 x 4-3/4 x 4-1/2"<br />
Dock Adds 2" to Length<br />
484<br />
484 Elevated Warehouse Kit O.......................79.95 67.98<br />
489<br />
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489 Loft Barn Kit O.............................................42.98 36.55<br />
479 Long-Bell Lumber skid shacks 2/ O42.98 36.55<br />
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308 Fixed Boom Crane O.....................65.00 58.50<br />
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O111 Utility Tank O....1 ¼”L X 2 ½”H ........net 8.00<br />
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505 The Weekly Record O ...................66.95 61.60<br />
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The Public Delivery Track<br />
Custom Run <strong>It</strong>ems<br />
Atlas..WP 40' "Rides Like a Feather" box car...reserve<br />
WP 52' mill gondola, feather logo..reserve<br />
WP 50' "DF+CU" feather box car..$55<br />
SP 8K company service tank car..reserve<br />
SP 2 bay hopper car, early scheme..reserve<br />
"SINCLAIR" 8k tank car..............reserve<br />
GM&O and RI "MDT" steel reefers..$55 ea<br />
3 rail scale diesels..fixed pilots, k-d couplers..inquire<br />
Golden Gate...Sleepers..Erie, DLW, SF, MILW..$119<br />
Coaches...PRSL, RG, Erie, DLW, MIILW, LV..$109<br />
Head end sets..Erie, DLW, MILW, NYC...reserve<br />
Weaver...RPO..Erie, Jersey Central..$90<br />
Baggage..PRSL, Erie, CNJ, SF green..$75-$85<br />
50' flat w/trailer..UP, Erie, WP, SP, SF..reserve<br />
Locomotives<br />
Atlas..U-23B, GP-15, RSD-15, RS-3..$159-$299<br />
RS-1's, GP 7/9, F-3's..$379-$429. SW's..$199-$359<br />
GP-35's, SD-35's, SD-40's, Dash 8's..$329-$429<br />
Alco Century's..PRR, EL, CN, ACL, L&N, BRC..$329-$429<br />
3rd rail, Sunset Brass..PRR O-1..$899. Q-1 $999<br />
C&O Greenbrier..$999 NYC Hudson or Dreyfuss..call<br />
SP Mogul..$749-$899. AM-2 $1599. MT-4..$1095<br />
Wvr/Wms brass..PRR K4, A5, B6, others..call<br />
Weaver..SD-40, C628/630, E-8, Sharks..$199-$399<br />
K-line..GP-38..CNJ, SF, LIRR;<br />
RS3..Rdg, NYC,<br />
WM, SP, PE; E's..NYC, SP; F's..PRR, NYC..$249-$429<br />
Passenger & Head End<br />
Golden Gate..Coaches..PRR, PRSL, Erie, RG, MILW,<br />
SP, C&O, UP, Rdg..$100-$119/car. Head end sets..$359<br />
Sleepers..Erie, DLW, NW, GN, PRR, pullman..$109-$119<br />
Atlas..60' coach, Bag, RPO..$69. Horizon cars..$89<br />
New CAL ZEPHYR 80' domes and sleepers..$129<br />
MTH sets..AMTK, UP, SP, Septa, NYC..$249-$329<br />
Weaver..60' baggage or RPO..PRSL, Erie, CNJ<br />
SF, PRR, NYC, NH, UP, CN, N&W, B&M..$60-$90<br />
Box Cars<br />
Pecos River..SOU, CBQ, NYC, SF, SP, T&P..$35-$45<br />
Atlas..40' Woodside..30+ roads!!!...$45-$55<br />
40' Steel..Rebuilts, or AAR..20+ roads..$45-$55<br />
40' Trainman..and 1970's (refurbished)..$30-$35<br />
X-29's..$50-$62. HyCubes..60'..$69. 40'..$35<br />
50'..Siide or plug door..$50-$60 60' auto parts..$50<br />
Weaver..40' PS-1, 50' modern, Steelside, Outside braced<br />
40+ roads..Old ones our speciality..$25-$40<br />
Refrigerator Cars<br />
Weaver/Crown..30+ roadnames in stock..$25-$40<br />
57' Mechanical..15+ roads..no sound..$35, sound..$50<br />
Atlas..53' xprs..$65. 40' steel..$45-$55<br />
36' & 40' woodside..oldies, newies, custom..$50-$125<br />
40' plug door..Trainman, 1970's refurbished..$30-$35<br />
K-line..Woodside..same detail as Atlas..$40-$60<br />
Covered Hoppers<br />
Weaver PS-2 & AC-2..old & new..30+ roads..$25-$40<br />
Centerflow or Grain..old and new..25 roads..$25-$40<br />
Atlas..3 bay PS-2..$35. ACF 2 bay..$55-$65<br />
New Trinity 5161..$66-$70 Cylindrical 40'..$45-$55<br />
Airslides and PS4427's..20+ roads........$45-$55<br />
Hopper Cars<br />
Atlas..3 bay..WM, SOU, BN, NH, Rdg, RG..$30-$35<br />
Ore cars..CN, UP, DMIR..$25. H21a 4 bay..$50-$58<br />
2 bay. usra or Panel side..10+ roads...$50-$55<br />
Weaver..2, 3, 4-bay..30+ different roads....$25-$40<br />
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Weaver...40' & 50', new & old, 20+ roads...$25-$35<br />
Atlas..33K..7 roads..$40-55. 17K..10 roads..$50-$65<br />
8K..Berkshire, Woburn, Staley, Taylor, more..$52-$59<br />
11K..Col Sou, SHPX, UTLX, Solvay, Dow..$55-$65<br />
Flat Cars, Stock Cars<br />
Atlas..Double stacks..$125-$289. Pulp flats..$49<br />
Front runner..$45. 89' flats..$60-$65. Trailers..$29-$35<br />
Trainman 50' flat w/pipe load and stock cars..$30-$35<br />
Wvr..40' & 50' flat cars, Stock cars..20+ roads..$25-$40<br />
Gondolas<br />
Atlas..52'..15+ roads..$30-$35. 40' composite..$52-$55<br />
Wvr..LV, RI, SF, UP, NW, Rdg, B&M, MEC, PRR..$28<br />
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Edge-of-The-Layout switch machine installation<br />
Charlie Morrill<br />
After several decades of crawling under layouts to attend<br />
to wiring additions and installing switch machines overhead,<br />
I decided to do something about the sore knees and banged<br />
head which always seemed to accompany that activity. This<br />
time around, once the benchwork and track base were in, it<br />
would be different. In addition, there would be no more need<br />
to disturb the under layout storage to make wiring changes.<br />
In this new (for me) scheme, the wiring cables and electronic<br />
devices would be located in a recess at the edge of the layout.<br />
Feeder wires to the track, signals, and accessories would<br />
come to screw terminals in the recess.<br />
Moving the Circuitron Tortoise switch machines to the<br />
edge of the layout would require something a little different<br />
for the linkage to the throwbar. I had two requirements for the<br />
linkage design: The first, of course, was that the points had<br />
to be moved reliably and positively against the stock rail and<br />
held there with some pressure. Secondly, the linkage had to<br />
be installed without the need to crawl under the layout. Being<br />
able to completely build and assemble the linkage at the<br />
workbench was also a plus.<br />
Photo 1 shows a completed crank and connecting rod<br />
assembly ready to be installed. The connection of the crank to<br />
the throwbar is shown in Photo 2. The curve in the steel wire<br />
pushing on the throw bar indicates the amount of holding<br />
pressure to the points. The installed crank and rod are shown<br />
in Photo 3 from under the plywood subroadbed. Photo 4<br />
shows the Tortoise mounted to the benchwork and the rod<br />
connection.<br />
1<br />
4<br />
Construction of the crank subassembly is shown in Figure<br />
1. The steel wire is a section of the fulcrum wire included<br />
with the Tortoise. The length of the 5/32” brass tube for the<br />
bearing sleeve need only be long enough to extend from the<br />
top of the ties through the subroadbed plus an inch or so. The<br />
bearing sleeve is pressed into a 5/32” hole drilled through<br />
the roadbed. I usually drill the hole about 1/2” away from the<br />
throwbar. The hole can be drilled at a convenient location<br />
on either side of the track and throwbar. Check for clearance<br />
underneath the roadbed. The throwbar is drilled with a #63<br />
drill for the steel wire from the crank assembly.<br />
2<br />
3<br />
I like to make the 1/8” tube at least 1/2” longer than the<br />
bearing sleeve. The distance between the 1/8” hole and the<br />
#50 hole for the clevis pin in the flat brass bar is approximately<br />
3/4”. After pressing the end of the tube into the hole<br />
in the bar, but before soldering them together, I will check the<br />
relative alignment of the bar and steel wire at the track switch<br />
and the switch machine’s location. When the wire is parallel<br />
to the track, the flat bar should be at a right angle to the con-<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 27
necting rod from the switch machine.<br />
Construction of the connecting rod is shown in Figure 2.<br />
The clevis and stud are from the model airplane section of<br />
the hobby shop. The clevis is available with either 4-40 or<br />
2-56 threads or soldered-on connections. The ring terminal is<br />
available in the electrical department of your local hardware.<br />
I have made the connecting rod with a soldered-on clevis,<br />
but prefer the threaded clevis to allow for fine tuning of the<br />
length upon installing. I try for an even deflection of the steel<br />
wire in both positions. I’m using connecting rods up to 30”<br />
in length made as shown. For rod lengths of 12” or less, I just<br />
use the 3/32” tubing as in Photo 1.<br />
nylon control rod for a situation that was five feet away and<br />
around a curve from the Tortoise. The down side for using<br />
this device is that the outer sleeve must be securely clamped<br />
down to the benchwork along its length to prevent excessive<br />
flexing.<br />
To install the assembled linkage, the crank’s shaft is inserted<br />
into the sleeve from the bottom and the steel wire slipped<br />
into the two holes in the end of the tube and then the hole<br />
in the throwbar. The rod is screwed in or out of the clevis to<br />
bring the ring terminal to the center of the Tortoise movement<br />
when the switch points are midway. Attach the ring terminal<br />
to the Tortoise with the screw furnished with the machine, but<br />
leave the connection a little loose. Check the operation and<br />
readjust the rod length if necessary.<br />
Photo 5 is of one end of a staging and fiddle yard with a<br />
section of the fascia removed to show the wiring recess. The<br />
Tortoise machines operating the ladder turnouts are behind<br />
the fascia panel to the left of the turnout control’s toggle<br />
switches and indicator LEDs. The toggle switches are recessed<br />
to avoid “belt-buckle” operation. And lastly, I can report that<br />
my aging knees really appreciate being able to do the layout’s<br />
wiring from an office chair.<br />
u<br />
5<br />
The Tortoise machine is fastened to the benchwork prior<br />
to making up the connecting rod to length. A couple small<br />
screws plus mounting tape or glue or even just the yellow<br />
carpenter’s glue are adequate to fasten the Tortoise machine<br />
in place. An approximate measurement from the bearing<br />
sleeve to the center of the Tortoise machine lets me solder the<br />
rod assembly together except for one joint. The last joint is<br />
soldered after a trial fit between the bearing sleeve and Tortoise.<br />
The model airplane people also have a flexible nylon control<br />
rod in various lengths that will work for the connecting<br />
rod where the switch machine’s location is not in direct line<br />
with the crank. This is similar to using the old choke cable or<br />
(for the younger crowd) bicycle brake cable. I have used the<br />
28 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
2010 O <strong>Scale</strong><br />
National<br />
Convention<br />
Why Attend? Up to 300 trading tables, clinics, tour of the California State Railroad Museum, videos, convention car, contests, six O modular layouts<br />
on site, about 40 home and club layouts open for visiting ,fly into/out of a major western city and drive a Grand Tour between there to and/or from the<br />
convention and visit dozens model and real railroads, national parks, and other attractions. Convention sponsored and managed by O <strong>Scale</strong> West.<br />
Where: Santa Clara, California (San Francisco Bay Area)<br />
When: June 30 - July 3, 2010<br />
Location: Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. Room rate: $109 plus tax for 1 - 4 occupancy<br />
Registration: $35, $40 after May 31, registration includes spouse and children under 18<br />
Table Rental: 30" x 72" tables are$45, $50 after May 31. Electrical hook-ups are free<br />
Banquet: Fri. July 2, $50 per plate including gratuity and tax, sign up by June 20<br />
Tour: Wed. June 30, California State Railroad Museum, Sacto., $30 per person, incl train to/from Sacto. and admission, sign up by June 1<br />
Web Site: www.2010oscalenational.com<br />
E-mail: info@2010oscalenational.com<br />
Telephone: 650-329-0424, please call between 9AM and 8PM Pacific time<br />
A free newsletter with registration information will be available on the website for download after February 1, 2010. To receive a hardcopy, send an<br />
LSSAE with 2oz. of postage to: 2010 O <strong>Scale</strong> National, 876 Boyce Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301-3003.<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 29
A Simple Timber Loading Dock<br />
L. Lee Davis<br />
Finding myself in need of a lightweight loading dock at<br />
Vindex on the Chaffee Branch, and only having about 12’<br />
by 30’ of available scale space, I started looking around for<br />
what was available on the market. There are some nice kits<br />
out there, and if they fit your scene by all means buy one and<br />
support your fellow craftsmen. If, however, you need a special<br />
size or shape, it’s not too difficult to build one yourself. If<br />
you have been into model railroading and kit building for any<br />
length of time, you more than likely have most, if not all the<br />
stuff you need lying around in your scrap box. If you don’t, it’s<br />
not that expensive to get the materials.<br />
Doing the research, can be almost as much fun as building<br />
the dock itself. The places I looked for information were: Railway<br />
Engineering & Maintenance Cyclopedia, historic association<br />
guides like; The Blue Mountain Express, The Log Train, in<br />
addition to the local library, and the Internet. Getting pictures<br />
is by far the best way to tell what the loading dock looked like.<br />
If you don’t have a photograph, researching how a particular<br />
line ran their railroad can give you an insight on how it would<br />
be built. In addition you get a sense of the people; how they<br />
thought, and how they worked. So with that information in<br />
hand let’s get started.<br />
To do this we will need one piece of basswood 1/16” x 3” x<br />
24” which costs about $1.50; two bags of Kappler 7”x 9”x 24”<br />
standard profile ties (they're expensive at about $22 a bag). If<br />
you handlay track you probably have a boat load somewhere<br />
in your stock. Or you can use two pieces of 8” x 8” scale timber<br />
stock 12” long for the front, back and sides. One piece<br />
of 12” x 12” scale timber stock 12” long. The strip wood cost<br />
about $4 a bag from Kappler. So for under $20, not counting<br />
the ties, you will get enough material to do several loading<br />
docks as well as other projects that may come to mind.<br />
Cut the 1/16” basswood to 12’ x 30’ scale feet. Mark off<br />
8” or 12” scale increments along the width (Photos 1-2) and<br />
scribe with back end of an X-Acto knife and ruler along the<br />
marks. One or two light passes should be enough to simulate<br />
the planks in the deck (Photo 3).<br />
Now mark off 16’ and 14’ on every other plank along the<br />
width to simulate the ends of boards. Scribe with square and<br />
X-Acto knife (Photo 4).<br />
Take a file card or wire brush and distress the basswood to<br />
give it grain. Several passes should do nicely (Photo 5).<br />
Cut two pieces of the 7” x 9” or 8” x 8” stripwood 30 scale<br />
feet and four pieces 11 scale feet. Lightly apply white glue to<br />
the stripwood pieces and attach them around the perimeter<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
30 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
4<br />
5<br />
of the deck and glue two pieces one third of the way in from<br />
the ends. Clamp and wipe off the excess glue with damp rag<br />
(Photo 6). Note: If you are using the 7” x 9” profile ties, apply<br />
the nine inch side facing out from the deck.<br />
Scribe a vertical line at the middle of the deck on the front<br />
and rear timber face to simulate the cut line between two 15<br />
foot timbers. This line will center the middle posts when we<br />
attach them to the deck.<br />
The reason for using tie material is the real railroad would<br />
no doubt have many switch ties lying around. Most branch<br />
and shortlines would use whatever was on hand since money<br />
for new material was always in short supply. If you have 10” x<br />
10” or 10” x 12” stripwood you could substitute that for the 7”<br />
x 9” or 8” x 8” material. This would be bridge timber material<br />
and that would be getting into a heavyweight loading dock.<br />
The posts are 12” x 12” scale stripwood. You will need to<br />
cut six of them 5-1/4 scale feet long. When attached to the<br />
loading dock, the floor will be 5-1/2 scale feet above ground,<br />
or about level with door openings on your box cars. Of course<br />
you can adjust this measurement to fit your terrain.<br />
Attach one post at each corner and one post front and back<br />
at the centerline of the loading dock with white glue. Level<br />
and plumb the posts and allow enough time for the glue to set<br />
up (Photo 7). Turn right side up and gently place weights on<br />
top of the loading dock, again allowing time for the glue to<br />
cure (a couple of hours (Photo 8).<br />
Stain with Minwax brush on wipe off Dark Walnut. This<br />
stain is a good match for tie color but you can choose your<br />
own color to fit your taste. If you have them, install some one<br />
inch nut/bolt and washer castings to front and side beams<br />
where posts attach to the deck. Place loads on the deck and<br />
weather with coal soot and dust. <strong>All</strong>ow to dry thoroughly and<br />
install on your layout where appropriate.<br />
This is a one or two evening project, that’s fun to put<br />
together and inexpensive to do. Little items like this make your<br />
railroad seem bigger than it is, and at the very least slows time<br />
down if not stopping it, if only for a little while.<br />
u<br />
7<br />
6<br />
8<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 31
SMR TRAINS<br />
Virginia & Truckee<br />
In stock now!<br />
Photo by Get Real Productions<br />
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stu@modelbuildingservices.com<br />
For two or three-rail. Comes in straight, 0-54<br />
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34 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Traction Action<br />
Guest author<br />
Martin Brechbiel<br />
From The Beginning... Options, Opportunities & Oddities<br />
Due to a momentary lapse of reason, your regular columnist<br />
has been replaced by yours truly as it seems that I have<br />
become a sort of traction modeler or enthusiast. This might<br />
have occurred since I have graced these pages in the past<br />
with a few scratchbuilt trolley articles and hope to continue<br />
doing so. I never had intentions of being a traction and trolley<br />
modeler --- I just stumbled into a area of O <strong>Scale</strong> modeling<br />
that struck me as being seriously entertaining!!<br />
So, it was totally by chance that I built my first trolley.<br />
Note the use of the word built. <strong>It</strong> was not bought, bright and<br />
shiny in a box, ready to put on the track and chased around<br />
the room. Nothing wrong with RTR, but the options for buying<br />
a RTR trolley was actually quite limited. That may still be<br />
true or not depending on one’s perspective. I had just completed<br />
building two LaBelle passenger cars and feeling rather<br />
accomplished, I ran out and got kits for a Lake Shore Electric<br />
combine and the matching freight motor. Curious thing about<br />
these kits; they build multiple configurations of cars dependent<br />
on what details are used and their placement. You can<br />
actually build specific prototype cars. Shocking! After several<br />
conversations with the late Tom O’Toole and the writing of<br />
checks, detail parts arrived along with some under-the-floor<br />
drive units from this company called, Q-Car. At the time, I<br />
thought these power trucks were just the neatest things I’d<br />
ever seen. I still do! That they could be arranged for either<br />
2-Rail power collection or for overhead wire was yet another<br />
revelation. So, I assembled both kits, and installed details<br />
accordingly for specific cars. I even succumbed to putting an<br />
interior in one. I painted them up, and then promptly lettered<br />
both for the Chambersburg, Greencastle & Waynesboro since<br />
the LSE goes nowhere near the Cumberland Valley RR and<br />
that’s what I model. This was all found to be good, and more<br />
importantly, fun! So, early on I managed to exercise several<br />
options that were readily available to a novice traction modeler.<br />
I tracked down a handful of purveyors of supplies and<br />
information, e.g., issues of Traction & Models were opportunistically<br />
acquired and ravenously devoured. Thus, I was able<br />
to put my first two trolleys on the track, sans overhead wire<br />
which will be a future exercise pending the completion of<br />
something quaintly referred to as “scenery”. Shortly thereafter<br />
I managed to acquire three more LaBelle kits and procured<br />
all of the necessary accoutrements to complete them. Yes, I<br />
was completely bitten by the traction bug and now after close<br />
to a decade these same kits rest uneasily on the shelf…<br />
In parallel to this grand adventure I discovered the joys<br />
of scratchbuilding, maintenance-of-way equipment, and the<br />
freedoms of building freelance. And, these interests completely<br />
intersected with traction modeling. Perusing traction<br />
publications or 6’ of library shelf dedicated to trolley and<br />
traction lines revealed a near endless array of model building<br />
opportunities of some of the most interesting oddities ever<br />
to grace two rails. Line cars and snowplows and work trolleys,<br />
Oh my! My efforts of building the former two have been<br />
seen in these pages, so let’s look at the work trolley (Photo 1).<br />
Looks suspiciously like the venerable Pittman 4-wheel work<br />
trolley, but this is a chimera. Resin cast ends and a scratchbuilt<br />
wooden body with added on details, but look what’s<br />
under it – a readily available and modestly modified modern<br />
off-the-shelf Bowser mechanism. Here’s a budget drive option<br />
that opens up all kinds of fun opportunities!! And, if you have<br />
resin ends, well, why not resin sides, too (Photo 2).<br />
I’m advocating having fun and being adventurous with<br />
traction and trolley modeling; build whatever you really like.<br />
Yes, there are RTR trolley offerings out now from Atlas, MTH,<br />
Lionel, St Petersburg, etc and some brass floating around (see<br />
your loan officer). A selection of venerable items from names<br />
like Pittman, Walthers, Ashland Car Co., Franklin Models,<br />
Locomotive Workshop, and others can be had at swap meets,<br />
shows and eBay. Q-Car still sells drives, kits and details.<br />
NorthWest Short Line still sells Magic Carpet drives and still<br />
has a few kits available. LaBelle still produces a selection of<br />
wooden trolley cars. Maybe we can discuss traction freight<br />
trailer kits and moving freight under the wire in some future<br />
installment.<br />
u<br />
1 2<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 35
Buy⁄Sell⁄Trade<br />
AOCC*<br />
Gem PRR B6 0-6-0, C/P or N/P, OB .......................$575.00<br />
WSM PRR J1a, 2-10-4, C/P, OB ........................$1,550.00<br />
WSM PRR M1, 4-8-2, C/P, Nice, OB .....................$1,150.00<br />
USH NYC J3a De-Streamlined 4-6-4 w/Centipede tender,<br />
C/P Ex, OB. .......................................$1,275.00<br />
USH C&O 2-8-4, C/P, Runs good, OB. ...................$1,275.00<br />
USH PRR M1a, 4-8-2, C/P, OB .........................$1,175.00<br />
MG NYC J3a, C/P, NOB From Tony Ambrose ............$1,395.00<br />
USH NYC S1b, 4-8-4, C/P, OB ..........................$1,250.00<br />
MG PRR J, 2-10-4, C/P, Icken Gears, NOB ...............$1,895.00<br />
USH NYC H10, 2-8-2, Mint, N/P, NOB ...................$1,275.00<br />
USH PRR L1, 2-8-2, N/P, LN, NOB ......................$1,175.00<br />
Gem PRR A5 0-4-0, C/P, NOB ............................$475.00<br />
Atlas EMD GP9, F/P UP, OB .............................$250.00<br />
OM N&W C630 High Hood, FM Trucks, New, OB. ........$1,195.00<br />
OM NKP GP35 N/P, LN, OB .............................$950.00<br />
Jim Hackworth<br />
MODEL TRAINS<br />
(and Subsidiary JH Consulting)<br />
2631 Edgevale Road, Columbus OH 43221-1113<br />
Phone: 614-4514517 Fax: 6144514557<br />
Email: jhmtrains@msn.com • Web: www.jhmtrains.com<br />
Consignments<br />
AOCC*<br />
USH B&O C16a, 0-4-0, C/P, OB.......................................................$675.00<br />
Weaver Brass PRR A5 0-4-0, F/P. TRO, OB...................................$575.00<br />
OM PRR PAPB Set, Late Run, F/P, New......................................$2,875.00<br />
OM #0445 C39-8, C/P, OB..............................................................$1,195.00<br />
OM #0076.1 NKP B-W Caboose, F/P, LN, OB ...............................$375.00<br />
CB J&L Tank car, C/P, OB...............................................................$295.00<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> Mod Ind Roundhouse Kit.........................................................$159.00<br />
PRB 60’ Greenville Boxcar, F/P GT, New.......................................$ 295.00<br />
Atlas EMD F2/3, AB Set, Both Pwd, F/P SRR, OB.........................$650.00<br />
RY Models (Yoder) Brass C&O Woodside Caboose LN, OB........$375.00<br />
USH PRR N5 Caboose, New w/Trucks, N/P, OB.............................$250.00<br />
OM PS2-CD Covered Hopper, C/P ATSF, OB, LN........................$319.00<br />
PRB SP Gunderson D.Stack Set, LN, OB......................................$1,395.00<br />
Sunnyside PRR N5c Caboose, N/P, OB ...........................................$309.00<br />
MG PRR N8 Caboose, N/P, NOB......................................................$250.00<br />
Alco PRR N6a, C/P or N/P........................................................$each 225.00<br />
Layaway Available<br />
36 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
*<strong>All</strong> Offers Cordially Considered<br />
LSASE for Complete List<br />
Shipping Cost Based On Location<br />
Ohio Residents Add 6.75% Sales Tax<br />
Estates⁄Liquidations<br />
Collection Reductions
Scratch ’n Bash an O <strong>Scale</strong> Caboose<br />
Tom Houle<br />
This project came to life at the suggestion of my two O<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> buddies, Charlie and Jerry. The three of us have been<br />
building O <strong>Scale</strong> layouts, bashing kits, and scratchbuilding<br />
for a long time. Charlie and Jerry are Duluth, South Shore and<br />
Atlantic fans and all three of us are Soo Line fans.<br />
While brainstorming over coffee one day, someone mentioned<br />
the notable lack of DSS&A O <strong>Scale</strong> rolling stock, especially<br />
cabooses. The conversation drifted to the possibility of<br />
creating a pair of DSS&A cabooses from Atlas/Roco extended<br />
vision caboose underframes. These were imported in the 1970s<br />
and they are still in abundance (Photo 1). Many are hiding in<br />
basements. Others can be found at shows, swap meets, eBay,<br />
and Yahoo O <strong>Scale</strong> Groups. They are very nice cars with well<br />
detailed bodies and underframes. Unfortunately, they are<br />
way too modern for the three of us. We collectively model<br />
the 1950s into the ‘60s. We pooled our cabooses and easily<br />
came up with three underframes. We needed three because I<br />
decided to build the two DSS&A cabooses, along with a Soo<br />
caboose.<br />
The project is based on a comprehensive article in the Soo<br />
Line Historical Society’s spring 2002 issue of The Soo magazine.<br />
The article included a history of these wood cabooses<br />
with their steel underframes, drawings for both roads, and<br />
some very good photographs. The Atlas/Roco underframes are<br />
steel and a pretty close match to those we were modeling.<br />
I enlarged the HO drawings in the article to O <strong>Scale</strong> (187%<br />
enlargement) and determined the project was feasible. I would<br />
1<br />
also be able to use the end sills, platforms and steps if I shortened<br />
the frames Except for the window arrangements, tool<br />
box dimensions, cupola railings and truss rod details, the Soo<br />
and DSS&A cabooses are virtually identical.<br />
Having a couple of very good modelers looking over my<br />
shoulder has made a big difference in how I develop and<br />
build my models. Good enough isn’t good enough any more.<br />
There’s a synergy at work that seems to be more that the sum<br />
of the three of us. We’re all motivated do better work than if<br />
we weren’t critiquing each other’s efforts. I want to emphasize<br />
this article is less about how to build a Soo or DSS&A caboose<br />
than it is about adapting the Atlas underframe to any number<br />
of scratchbuilt caboose bodies. Let’s get started.<br />
Underframe<br />
I began by removing the three bodies from their underframes.<br />
They are easily released by pressing on the four tabs<br />
that hold the body to the underframe. I didn’t save the end<br />
railings and ladders. They will be replaced with brass 0.020”<br />
wire handrails and Taurus/Trout Creek brass ladder kits. I also<br />
unplugged and removed the underbody air tanks, brake rigging,<br />
tool boxes, trucks, and couplers. Set these aside as you<br />
can use at least some of them on the new car.<br />
I already knew the underframe would have to be shortened<br />
and, with some modifications, I could use the end platforms,<br />
sills, and steps. I began construction by measuring the distance<br />
between the platform steps, which was 7-25/32”, and compared<br />
that to the same dimension on the Soo/DSS&A drawing<br />
2<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 37
(6-15/32”). I’d have to remove a total of 1-5/16” (Photo 2).<br />
The two existing cross members are spaced further apart<br />
than the Soo/DSS&A’s, but they are very similar in construction.<br />
To shorten the frame by 1-5/16” and achieve the prototype’s<br />
cross member spacing, I laid out three cuts on the Atlas<br />
underframes. I removed 7/16” from the center and another<br />
7/16”at each end of the frame at the bolster faces. This allowed<br />
me to keep the end platforms, steps, and truck bolsters intact. I<br />
made the cuts with a Zona saw and then squared them up. The<br />
frames were reglued on a sheet of glass to ensure they were<br />
aligned. I used CA glue and added 0.030” x 1/2” styrene strips<br />
3<br />
modified end platforms, I had to trim the platform ends. This<br />
completed the underframe assembly. The platform railings,<br />
brake staffs and wheels, and the ladders were added after the<br />
bodies were built up and the roof height verified.<br />
Carbody<br />
The carbody’s sides and ends are cut from Evergreen #4067<br />
car siding. This material is 0.040” thick with a scale 3-1/4”<br />
board spacing. I began construction by laying out the ends,<br />
cutting them with a new #11 blade and a cork-backed steel<br />
rule. Scoring and snapping is great but it tends to leave small<br />
ridges along the edges, so I filed them off before assembly.<br />
These ends were pretty simple, door openings only and no<br />
windows. On this project the car ends fit between the 0.040”<br />
thick car sides. Consequently, I reduced the end’s width by<br />
0.080” to allow for the combined thickness of the two car<br />
sides. I used Grandt Line #52 doors. These D&RGW style<br />
doors were only a scale 5’ 9” high. To achieve the correct<br />
door height, I had to add filler strips to the tops and bottoms of<br />
the doors (Photo 5). When they were glued in place, I added<br />
0.030” x 0.060” trim and then added the sills, a sandwich of<br />
0.030” x 0.080” and 0.040” x 0.060” strips (Photo 6). I glued<br />
0.020” sheet trim across the tops of the ends. The ends are<br />
5<br />
on top of the frames to reinforce the joints (Photo 4).<br />
I had to carefully saw away the frame’s four 1/16” x 1-3/16”<br />
sill extensions at the steps because they would have hung<br />
below the new car sides. You can see these unwanted extensions<br />
in Photo 2. Chances are, no matter what caboose body<br />
4<br />
6<br />
you’re building, you’ll have to remove these extensions (Photo 4).<br />
Using an X-Acto knife with a #11 blade, and some small<br />
files, I carefully reshaped the platform steps from straight lines<br />
to the Soo/DSS&A’s S-curved step profile as seen in the car<br />
end view. Next, I filled in the platform deck recesses with fiveminute<br />
epoxy and added a bit of 0.040” square styrene filler. I<br />
overlaid the steel grill platform decking with 0.020” x 0.100”<br />
scribed styrene decking.<br />
The Soo/DSS&A cabooses have steel end sill channels that<br />
are 7/32” tall and commercially unavailable. I made up new<br />
channels that were 1-5/16” long from 0.030” x 0.156” strips<br />
for the web with 0.030” x 0.080” strips for the flanges. I laid<br />
out the end sills grab iron locations and drilled them out with<br />
a #74 bit, then glued in Tichy #2002 straight wire grabs. I also<br />
reinstalled an air reservoir and cut down Atlas tool boxes for<br />
the two DSS&A cabooses.<br />
At that time I also drilled and tapped the Kadee ® coupler<br />
mountings 2-56 and drilled the bolsters 0.060” for the truck<br />
mounting screws. The Atlas/Roco truck bolsters are the correct<br />
height for Athearn or Weaver trucks and 33” wheelsets. To<br />
allow the caboose body’s 0.040” thick end walls to clear the<br />
38 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
capped at the roof line with 0.030” square strip.<br />
To complete the ends, I laid out the grab iron locations<br />
and drilled #74 holes for Tichy #2002 straight grabs and hand<br />
formed 0.020” brass curved wire railings (Photos 7-8). Forming<br />
these railings is pretty easy if you bend the wire over a ¾”<br />
dia dowel pinned in a vice. Don’t have a ¾” dowel? You can<br />
also form the wire into a smooth natural arc over your thumb.<br />
To simulate the door knobs, I drilled out the locations and<br />
thrusted steel pins through the doors. The pins were cut off<br />
and secured with CA on the inside. As shown in Photo 7, to<br />
ensure a snug fit between the ends and the underframe platforms,<br />
I test fitted each end and filed and filled as required.
7<br />
10<br />
8<br />
I laid out the car sides and at this point, depending on<br />
which caboose you’re building, it’s a good idea to verify the<br />
window arrangement on both sides of your car. In my case,<br />
the DSS&A window arrangement was the same on both sides<br />
(Photo 9), whereas the Soo caboose has three windows on<br />
one side and only one window on the opposite side. On one<br />
hand, I’m a stickler for prototype accuracy. On the other, I<br />
hate scratchbuilding windows. Luckily, the O <strong>Scale</strong> gods were<br />
smiling favorably on my efforts as I was able to find Grandt<br />
9<br />
Line windows that were a close match; so that’s what I used.<br />
After cutting the openings, I installed the windows and<br />
added 0.020” x 0.188” letterboards to the top of the car<br />
sides (Photo 10). These letterboards extended beyond the<br />
ends of the sides and I trimmed them to the correct profile<br />
after the glue dried. After checking that the sides and ends<br />
were squared up, I assembled them into a four-sided body by<br />
joining a side to an end and then repeating the process with<br />
the opposite side and end, using a dead flat surface. A small<br />
sheet of glass is perfect for this operation. I used my five inch<br />
square to ensure I was getting 90-degree joints. After I verified<br />
the joint was square, I flowed plastic cement into the inside<br />
faces of the joint with a brush, then I set each of the L-shaped<br />
assemblies aside for a day to allow the joints to thoroughly<br />
cure. Then I assembled the two halves, checking again for<br />
squareness, and set it aside to dry.<br />
After the plastic solvent cured for a day, I added 0.100” x<br />
0.375” styrene strips to the inside of the car to reinforce it. These<br />
strips were located so they wouldn’t interfere with the underframe.<br />
I also added a 0.200” x 0.375” cross members at the center<br />
of the car. I test fitted the bodies to the underframes and they<br />
fit perfectly. Geez, I must have been doing something right.<br />
With the carbodies still fitted to their respective underframes,<br />
I drilled a 2-56 clearance hole in the center of the<br />
underframe and marked this hole’s location on the 0.200”<br />
x 0.375” cross members. I then drilled and tapped the cross<br />
member to accept a 2-56 x 5/8” RH screw that retains the<br />
body to the underframe and allows removal to service the<br />
battery-powered interior and marker lighting.<br />
Cupolas<br />
With the carbody assembly done, I decided to build up<br />
the cupolas. On these cabooses, I did something I’ve never<br />
done before. I’d decided to make the cupolas removable.<br />
The thought was if the cupolas were stand alone assemblies,<br />
it would be a lot easier to paint their interiors, glaze the<br />
windows, and add a brakey in the cupola seat. Completely<br />
finishing the cupolas made it pretty easy to frame out the<br />
roof openings to match their dimensions. There was only one<br />
problem and I created it. I inadvertently framed and installed<br />
the cupolas on the wrong ends of the cabooses. You’ll note in<br />
the assembly photos, the cupolas are above the windows and<br />
in the painted and decaled car photos they have magically<br />
migrated to the correct location between the windows. Now<br />
I really knew why I’d made the cupolas removable. I removed<br />
the cupolas, the stanchions and roof railings, and sanded off<br />
the roof’s primer coat. A bit of framing surgery was required,<br />
plus re-skinning the roofs but in the end it all worked out. This<br />
is what I call a character-building experience.<br />
I cut my cupola sides and ends from the same Evergreen<br />
scribed siding I used on the carbody. I extended the sides and<br />
ends by 5/32”. These extensions are hidden beneath the roof line.<br />
I could not find any commercial windows to match the DSS&A<br />
and Soo windows, so I scratchbuilt them. <strong>It</strong> was a relatively<br />
simple task as window building goes. I cut out the window openings<br />
first and then cut the sides and ends to size. <strong>All</strong> of the interior<br />
window sashes were cut from 0.020” styrene sheet (Photo 11,<br />
page 40). The end window’s sills are 0.020” x 0.040” strip. The<br />
side windows do not have sills. These cupolas were a bit unique<br />
in that the sides rise vertically and then cant inward. <strong>It</strong>’s a bit<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 39
11<br />
15<br />
12<br />
more work, but it looks neat when it’s done (Photo 12).<br />
When the windows were completely built up, I assembled<br />
one of the 0.040” x 0.375” side walls to one of the ends, then<br />
joined the other side to its end and let them cure for a few<br />
hours before assembling both into a single cupola (using a<br />
small square to ensure 90 degree joints, Photo 13). As shown<br />
in Photo 14, I installed the canted sides next. The cupola roofs<br />
are 0.030” sheet styrene (Photo 15).<br />
Both the DSS&A and Soo cupolas have roof stanchions<br />
13<br />
and U-shaped railings. Initially I used Precision <strong>Scale</strong> Company’s<br />
#32041 plastic queen posts. They were the correct 5”<br />
height but were extremely fragile and didn’t have the through<br />
eyes for threading 0.020” brass wire, making it nearly impossible<br />
to attach the rails. While I was reworking the roofs and<br />
cupola openings, the gang went to work searching for a better<br />
stanchion, preferably one made of brass. Jerry scored big time.<br />
He found a few packs of PSC’s #372 stanchions at Walthers.<br />
These were gorgeous lost wax castings that were the correct<br />
5” height and had the requisite brass eyes for the 0.020” wire.<br />
Unfortunately three packs just weren’t enough. There are 12<br />
stanchions per pack and for the three cabooses we needed a<br />
total of 62. <strong>It</strong> took awhile to get three more packs, but it was<br />
worth the wait.<br />
In Photo 16 you can see how I cut 0.040” cross members<br />
with roof peaks that matched the peaked ends of the car. I<br />
added 0.080” square support strips to the bottoms of these<br />
cross members and then glued them into the carbody, spaced<br />
16<br />
14<br />
40 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
to match the length of the cupola. To center the cupola in the<br />
roof and provide a gluing surface for the roof sheets, I added a<br />
pair of 0.060” x 0.100” styrene strips between the cross members.<br />
After checking for a “snick-fit” (Photo 17) and verifying<br />
each cupola height was correct, I cut two roof panels per car<br />
from 0.040” sheet with cutouts to clear the cupolas. I added<br />
edge-glued 0.020” x 0.040” trim boards flush with the underside<br />
ends of the roof panels.<br />
Roof details<br />
As shown in Photos 18-19, I used Grandt Line #144 running<br />
board supports. After the supports were glued in place<br />
on ½” centers, I flat-filed them all to a uniform height. For the<br />
running boards proper, I used 0.020” x 0.125” styrene strips.
17<br />
20<br />
18<br />
21<br />
19<br />
To ensure consistent board spacing, I inserted short lengths<br />
of 0.030” strip between them. Before I glued the strips to the<br />
supports, I ran a piece of 50 grit sandpaper the length of each<br />
strip for a wood-grain effect. The overall effect is quite nice. I<br />
left the boards approximately 1/32” short where they meet the<br />
cupola. This allows easy removal of the cupolas.<br />
To support the smoke jack, I glued a 0.060” x 0.375”<br />
square plate to the underside of the roof where the smoke<br />
jack is attached. The smoke jacks on these cars are quite tall.<br />
I didn’t have any commercial stacks that were the correct<br />
height and since I had Keil-Line’s #48-249 short smoke jacks<br />
on hand, I used them with modifications. I reduced the severe<br />
roof angle on the stack base, then cut the stack pipe and<br />
spliced in a 5/32” x 1” length of brass tubing (Photo 20-21).<br />
The two white metal pieces were coated with CA and shoved<br />
into the ends of the brass tubing. Make sure your smoke<br />
deflector (draft inducer?) is set at a right angle to the angled<br />
base. I also drilled through the smoke deflector for a better<br />
looking smoke jack.<br />
My cabeese have wire braces that run from the smoke jacks<br />
to the ends of the cupolas. I replicated this interesting feature<br />
with 0.020” brass wire that I formed into a radius to match the<br />
diameter of the smoke jacks. I extended the braces approximately<br />
3/32” to run into the cupola ends, drilling #67 holes in<br />
two places to accept the wire ends. I soldered the wire braces<br />
to the stacks with Tix low-melt solder sticks and flux. I located<br />
the stack’s attachment point on each roof, and then drilled a<br />
#67 pilot hole. I then drilled out the holes to accept the smoke<br />
jacks. To enable removing the cupolas, the stack’s wire braces<br />
are not glued. The trick is to make them look like they are<br />
(Photo 22).<br />
22<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 41
End Platforms<br />
With the carbodies and the underframes completed, it was<br />
time to address the coupler attachments, end railings, brake<br />
staffs, and ladders. I began final assembly by drilling and tapping<br />
the end platforms 2-56 for the Kadee ® coupler boxes. I<br />
used Walthers’ 2-56 x 5/8” RH nylon screws, which extended<br />
through the platform decking and were trimmed flush to the<br />
deck with a #11 blade. Primed and painted, the screw ends<br />
weren’t visible.<br />
I selected Taurus Products/Trout Creek Engineering’s P6002<br />
brass ladder kits for my end ladders. This kit is very delicate<br />
and scale looking and it also allowed me to run the caboose<br />
railing right through one of the ladder’s rung holes. This was a<br />
prominent feature on the prototype and I wanted to replicate it<br />
on the model.<br />
As shown in Photo 23 , these kits are etched from 0.020”<br />
brass sheet and have the rung holes etched in the ladder stiles.<br />
23<br />
the ladders. To beef up these solder joints, I formed 1/16” right<br />
angle bends on the tops of the posts where they joined the<br />
horizontal railings. Photo 24 shows the railing, posts, and ladder<br />
assembly. The 0.020” brake staff has not yet been added.<br />
This will be done after the railings are attached to the ends. I<br />
left the bottom ends of the posts long to facilitate attachment<br />
to the end sills.<br />
Next, I laid out the railing post locations on the end sills<br />
and drilled #74 holes to clear the railing posts. After slipping<br />
each railing assembly into place on its end sill, I cut a piece<br />
of styrene sheet to the correct railing height to hold it in place<br />
while the glue dried. The excess wire post material was then<br />
snipped off and carefully filed flush with the bottoms of the<br />
end sills.<br />
As shown in Photo 25, I added a brake staff at both end<br />
sills and capped off each staff with a PSC #4670 brass brake<br />
wheel. I had initially installed Intermountain plastic dished<br />
brake wheels that were not correct for this caboose. The triumvirate<br />
met and voted to change out the Intermountain brake<br />
wheels and replace them with the correct PSC flat-spoked<br />
brake wheels. The upper end of the brake wheel staff was<br />
CA glued to the railing. The end ladders on these cars attach<br />
directly to the roof ends. I cut the ladders to fit the trim. But<br />
I did not attach them to the roof. To allow body removal, the<br />
ladder ends simply rest against the roof.<br />
25<br />
The kit is flat, but it is cleverly designed to be formed into a<br />
neat ladder assembly. Once the brass sheet is bent 90 degrees<br />
and the ladder sides are held parallel to each other with the<br />
provided jigs, it’s pretty easy to solder in each 0.020” brass<br />
wire rung. I recommend using Tix low melt solder sticks and<br />
flux. A 30-35 watt soldering iron will provide plenty of heat<br />
and ensure nice clean joints with a minimum of solder build<br />
up. The ladder’s hooks are not needed on these cars and were<br />
cut off.<br />
In Photo 24, I laid out the end railings and posts on a scrap<br />
piece of ½” plywood. My railings were 0.020” brass wire. The<br />
RH horizontal railing was threaded through the ladder rung<br />
holes and became the final rung in the ladder. After bending<br />
up the railings, I used masking tape to hold them in place on<br />
the plywood. The handrails were soldered together just like<br />
24<br />
Before priming and painting, I washed the cars in a mild<br />
solution of laundry detergent and water. I brushed everything<br />
with a soft brush, rinsed, and let the cars air dry for a couple<br />
of days. Jerry airbrushed the cars with Floquil #110009 primer.<br />
The decals were custom made by Bob Anson in Jacksonville,<br />
FL. If anyone’s looking for custom decals, you can contact Bob<br />
at [e2picasso@yahoo.com]. Photo 26 shows the finished cars<br />
fresh from the paint shop.<br />
u<br />
42 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
26<br />
Bill of Materials<br />
Evergreen <strong>Scale</strong> Models Styrene<br />
#34067 car siding<br />
#9040 0.040” sheet<br />
#9030 0.030” sheet<br />
#124 0.020” x 0.080” strip<br />
#137 0.030” x 0.156” strip<br />
#361 0.060” x 0.375” strip<br />
#351 0.040” x 0.375” strip<br />
Taurus Products/Trout Creek Engineering<br />
#P6002 Caboose ladder kit<br />
Atlas/Roco<br />
Extended vision caboose underframe<br />
Tichy/CMA<br />
#2002 straight grab irons<br />
Kadee<br />
#804 couplers<br />
Keil-Line<br />
#48-249 smoke jack<br />
Walthers<br />
2-56 x ¾” nylon screws<br />
Grandt Line<br />
#52 end door<br />
#21 windows<br />
#144 roof walk supports<br />
#33 brake pawl and ratchets<br />
K & S<br />
0.020” brass wire<br />
5/32” brass tubing<br />
Precision <strong>Scale</strong><br />
#372 brass stanchions<br />
#4670 brass brake wheels<br />
Floquil<br />
#110009 Primer<br />
Polly <strong>Scale</strong><br />
#414354 Special Oxide Red (Soo)<br />
#414281 Box Car Red (DSS&A)<br />
East Gary<br />
Car Co.<br />
Dept OST<br />
3828 St. Joseph Ct<br />
Lake Station IN 46405<br />
They’re Back!<br />
Former Indianapolis Car Company sides<br />
are now available from new tooling.<br />
Parts #100 & #200<br />
$3.00 each<br />
Orders under $50 please add $4.50 for postage and<br />
handling. SASE for updated list.<br />
CHICAGO “O” SCALE MEET<br />
March 12-14 th , 2010<br />
NEW LOCATION!!!<br />
Westin Lombard Yorktown Center<br />
Show registration – write or email<br />
70 Yorktown Center MARCH MEET – 2636 Hallquist Ave.<br />
Lombard, Illinois 60148 Red Wing, MN 55066 (630) 745-7600<br />
1-800-937-8461 Ask for the Chicago O <strong>Scale</strong> Rate WWW.MARCHMEET.NET<br />
BUY, SELL, TRADE, CLINICS, LAYOUT TOURS & MORE!<br />
Considered the best O <strong>Scale</strong> show of the year------Limited tables available--------Register early for your preprinted badge<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 43
Custom Building, Repair & Painting Services Available Buy-Sell-Trade, Consignments-Appraisals, eBay Sales<br />
Website: www.alleghenyscale.com • Email: oscale@alleghenyscale.com<br />
470 Schooley’s Mountain Road, Suite 8-117, Hackettstown, New Jersey 07840 • Voice - (908) 684-2070 • Fax - (908) 684-8911<br />
Steam<br />
Sunset 3rd, AT&SF "1950" Class 2-8-0, FP, L/N, 2-Rail, Oil Tender, Road No. 1950 .........$875<br />
PRB AT&SF 4-6-4, CP, EX, Original 1930 Version, Pro Paint, Lights, No. 3450 ..............$1,095<br />
Weaver, AT&SF Hudson "Blue Goose", FP, New, 2-Rail, Road No. 3460 ..........................$1,095<br />
Max Gray, AT&SF 4-6-2, CP, EX, Pro Paint, Pittman Can Motor, Road No. 3437 ..........$1,095<br />
WSM, B&O EM-1 2-8-8-4, CP, EX, Pro Paint, 2 Motors, Sander Covers, No. 7618 .......$1,595<br />
Overland, C&O F-19 4-6-2, CP, EX, Pro Paint, Road No. 494, "Geo. Washington" ......$1,595<br />
C&LS, C&O H6 2-6-6-2, FP, New, 12 VB Tender, Road No. 1477 ..........................................$3,795<br />
Key, C&O H8 2-6-6-6, FP, EX, Late Version, Weathered, Road No. 1645 ........................$2,895<br />
Kohs, C&O H8 2-6-6-6, FP, New, Weathered, Road No. 1628 ..............................................$5,895<br />
WSM, C&O T1 2-10-4, UP, L/N, Can Motor, KTM Japan ........................................................... $1,795<br />
PSC, CB&Q S4a 4-6-4, FP, Mint, PSC 17161-1, Road No. 4002, Upgraded ......................$2,595<br />
PSC, D&RGW L-76 2-6-6-2, FP, Mint, PSC 17171-1, Black Boiler, Road No. 3351 ...........$2,495<br />
Key, D&RGW L-105 4-6-6-4, FP, New, Postwar Mod Vers., Black Boiler, No. 3700 .....$3,695<br />
PSC, D&RGW L-131 2-8-8-2, FP, L/N, PSC No. 16857-1, Black Boiler, No. 3600..............$3,895<br />
PSC, D&RGW M-68 4-8-4, FP, New, PSC No. 17247-4, Green Boiler, Road No. 1804 $2,895<br />
Max Gray, Erie K5 4-6-2, UP, New, Unassembled, Spoked Drivers, 1 of 10 Built ........$2,695<br />
Oriental, GN Class N3 2-8-8-0, FP, New, Glacier Park Scheme, Road No. 2010 ...........$2,295<br />
Oriental, GN Class R2 2-8-8-2, FP, New, Vestibule Cab, Road No. 2044 ..........................$2,895<br />
Overland, NYC J1e 4-6-4, CP, L/N, Pro Paint, Cockerham Drive, Road #5336 .............$2,295<br />
Kohs, NYC J3a 4-6-4, FP, New, Scullin Disk Drivers, Road #5425 ......................................$3,795<br />
Westside, NYC J3a 4-6-4, CP, L/N, Pro Paint, Original Version, Road No. 5405 ..........$1,395<br />
Westside, NYC J3a 4-6-4, CP, L/N, Pro Paint, Original Version, Road No. 5414 ...........$1,395<br />
Westside, NYC J3a 4-6-4, CP, L/N, Pro Paint, Fully Streamlined, Road No. 5447 .......$2,295<br />
Westside, NYC J3a 4-6-4, CP, L/N, Pro Paint, Mod. Streamlining, PT-4, No. 5451 ......$2,295<br />
USH, NYC J3a Destreamlined Hudson 4-6-4, CP, EX, PT-4 Tender, Road #5447.........$1,195<br />
Key, NYC K3q 4-6-2, FP, New, Single Window Cab, Road No. 4675 ..................................$2,250<br />
PSC, NYC S1b Crown 4-8-4, CP, New, Pro Paint, Road No. 6021, Exquisite ...................$4,095<br />
Sunset , N&W J 4-8-4, CP, L/N, Pro Paint, Coal, Lights, Road No. 600 ...............................$1,195<br />
PSC, N&W Class S1a 0-8-0, UP, L/N, PSC No. 15699, Road Nos. 200-244 ........................$1,595<br />
Kohs & Co., N&W Y6b 2-8-8-2 , FP, New, Road No. 2200, w/Auxiliary Tender ..............$5,795<br />
PSC 17169-1, N&W Z1b 2-6-6-2, FP, New, Crown Model, Road #1438 .............................$2,295<br />
GPM, NP S4 4-6-4, FP, Mint, Road Nos. 1369 and 1374, Due 12/09 ........................................Call<br />
Overland, NP Z8 2-6-6-4, CP, EX, Coal Version, Weathered, Road No. 5130 ................$2,295<br />
Weaver, PRR A5s 0-4-0, FP, New, Late Version, 2 Rail, Serial No. 6 of 12, Rare .................$595<br />
Overland, PRR HH1 2-8-8-2, CP, New, OMI No. 139, 1 of 10 Produced ............................$2,595<br />
US Hobbies, PRR I1sa 2-10-0, UP, New, Late Run, New Correct Steel Driver Tires.....$1,495<br />
Key, PRR J1a 2-10-4, FP, L/N,210F84 Tender w/Antenna, Road No. 6498 ......................$2,795<br />
Westside, PRR J1a 2-10-4, UP, New, 210F84 Tender w/Custom Antenna, ....................$1,695<br />
Kohs & Co., PRR K4 4-6-2 Prewar Version, FP, New, 130P75 Tender, Road No. 3863 $4,195<br />
Westside, PRR M1 4-8-2, UP, New, Last Run, Full Backhead .................................................$1,495<br />
Max Gray, PRR M1a 4-8-2, UP, Mint, Late Run, 210P75 Tender ............................................$1,095<br />
Overland, PRR M1b 4-8-2, FP, Mint, 210p75 Tender w/Antenna, No. 6753 ...................$2,395<br />
Max Gray, PRR N1s 2-10-2, CP, New, McCafferty Paint and Weathering ........................$1,695<br />
Westside, PRR Q2 4-4-6-4, UP, New, KTM Japan .......................................................................$1,995<br />
Sunset 3rd, PRR S1 6-4-4-6, FP, L/N, Mod. Version, Lightly Weathered, #6100...........$1,195<br />
Overland, RDG T1 4-8-4, UP, Mint, W/Decals, OMI 0150 ........................................................$1,595<br />
PSC , SP AC-9 2-8-8-4, FP, New, Coal Version, Road No. 3800 .............................................$3,295<br />
PSC 17347-1, SP GS-4 4-8-4, FP, New, Black, Road No. 4436 ................................................$2,695<br />
PSC 15839-1, SP MT-4 Crown 4-8-2, FP, New, Gray Boiler, No Skyline, Ser. 4 of 9 ......$2,495<br />
SS/3rd, SP MT-4 4-8-2, FP, New, 2-R, Daylight Scheme, Skyline, Road No. 4352 .......$1,495<br />
OMI No. 0167, SP&S Z-8 4-6-6-4, UP, New, Oil Version, Road Nos. 910-911 ..................$2,695<br />
PSC 16467-1, SRR PS-4 4-6-2, FP, New, Green/Black, Road No. 1401 ..............................$1,695<br />
USH, SRR USRA 0-8-0, CP, L/N, Pro Paint, Green & Gold, Road No. 6531 ...........................$795<br />
44 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
Sunset, SRR USRA Lt 2-8-2, CP, EX, Pro Pt, Black Boiler, Can Motor, Road #6296.......$1,095<br />
Sunset, UP Early Chall. 4-6-6-4, CP, EX, Cockerham Drive, Pro Paint, #3939 ...............$2,395<br />
Sunset, UP "9000" Class 4-12-2, UP, New, Postwar Version ...................................................$1,195<br />
USH, UP C Class 2-8-0, CP, EX, Can Motor, Oil Tender, Road No. 329 ...................................$795<br />
PFM, UP C-57 Class 2-8-0, FP, L/N, Lights, Road No. 739, Samhongsa ............................$1,695<br />
Key, UP FEF-2 Oil Ver., FP, L/N, TT Gray, Silver Stripes, Road #825, Rare .........................$2,695<br />
USH, UP FEF-3 4-8-4, CP, EX, Pro Paint, 2 Tone Gray, Oil Version, Can Motor ...............$1,195<br />
SS/3rd, UP MK Class 2-8-2, FP, Mint, Never Unwrpd, Short Vandy, #2260 ....................$1,095<br />
USH, UP TTT 2-10-2, CP, EX, J White Drive, Light Wthr, Road #5078.................................$1,895<br />
USH, UP TTT 2-10-2 - Custom, CP, EX, BL FWH, Sweeney Stk, Lgr Tender, #5305 ..... $2,195<br />
C&LS, WM M-2 4-6-6-4, FP, L/N, Hinged Smokebox, Road #1208 ....................................$3,495<br />
Diesel<br />
Overland, ALCO FA-1/FB-1 Units, UP, New, OMI Nos. 0356/0356/0358, Per Unit ..........$595<br />
Car Works, B&M ALCO S-1 Switcher, CP, EX, w/DCC and Sound, Road No. 1161 .......... $650<br />
PSC, B&M EMD SW-1 Ph 1, CP, EX, Low Stack, Black w/Red Nose Stripes, #1112 .......... $625<br />
Atlas O, C&O GP-9 Ph II - 2 Units, FP, New, C&OHS Spcl Run, Road #6009/6016............$675<br />
OMI Nos. 0304/0305, EMD E8 A/B Units, UP, L/N, Per Unit ...................................................... $695<br />
OMI Nos. 0292/0293, EMD F3 A/B Units, UP, New, Per Unit .................................................... $625<br />
Oriental, EMD GP-9 Phase III, UP, New, Samhongsa Korea ..................................................... $825<br />
Key, NYC EMD F7 A-B-A Units, FP, New, Last Run, Frt Lightning Stripes .......................$3,595<br />
OMI Nos. 0393-0397, PRR ALCO FA-2/FB-2 Units, CP, New, w/Ant,, Tower Drive .......$1,595<br />
OMI No. 0201A, PRR ALCO DL600B High Hood, UP, New, w/Ant, 2 Available ..............$795<br />
OMI Nos. 0425, 0426, 0425, PRR BLW RF-16 Shark Nose A-B-A Units, UP, Mint, ........$2,995<br />
SS/3rd, PRSL Budd RDC-1, 2 Units, FP, New, 2-R, Pwrd & Dum. Units, #M402/M405 ..$795<br />
Atlas O, P&LE GP7 Units, FP, L/N, 2 Rail DCC/Sound, Powered and Dummy Units ......$575<br />
Atlas O, SRR F3 Ph 1 A/B/A Units, FP, L/N, 2 Rail DCC/Sound, Freight Scheme ............. $895<br />
OMI No. 0322, UP ALCO PA-1, UP, New, 2 Available .....................................................................$750<br />
Hallmark, UP FT A-B Units, CP, EX, Yellow/Gray, Lights, Crew, Road #516/516B ........... $895<br />
OMI No. 0354, UP Standard Turbine, UP, Mint, Round Tender ...........................................$2,995<br />
Atlas O, WM F3 A/B Units, CP, L/N, 2 Rail DCC/Sound, Fireball Scheme, #51A/B ........ $850<br />
Kohs, GG1 - Brunswick 5 Stripe, FP, New, Clarendon, Fixed Coupler, #4840, Rare ...$4,995<br />
Kohs, GG1 - Tuscan 5 Stripe, FP, New, Clarendon, Drop Coupler, #4911 ........................ $5,195<br />
Rolling Stock<br />
PSC, GN HWT Empire Builder 9 Car Set, FP, New, PSC No. 16981 ...................................... $7,595<br />
PSC, Harriman 72' Coach, UP, New, PSC 16031, Open Transom (2 Available) .................$425<br />
PSC, Harriman 72' 72-D-3 Diner, UP, New, PSC No. 15477 ........................................................$425<br />
Various, UP 85' Streamlined Passenger Car Kits, UP, Kemtron, Des Plaines, OSA, Briggs,<br />
Several Versions ...............................................................................................................................................Call<br />
P. Co., PRR X-42 Mail Storage Car, CP, New, Pro Paint, Shadow Keystone, #2541 ..........$350<br />
PSC No. 15519, REA Steel 50' Express Reefer, CP, L/N, Late Vers, Lg. REA Herald ..........$295<br />
Overland, GPEX 47' Pfaudler Steel Milk Car, UP, New, OMI No. 0700 ..................................$295<br />
Div. Point, N&W CF & CH Class Cabooses, FP, New, Several Versions Available ............$395<br />
W&R, NP 24' Wood Caboose, FP, L/N, 2nd Run, Version 3, Interior, Road No. 1644.....$435<br />
RYModels, NYC Cyl. Container Gon, CP, New, Black, F/C Red Cont, #501214 ................. $650<br />
OMI No. 0055, Palace Poultry Car, UP, L/N, W/Trucks .................................................................$575<br />
Kohs, PRR Class N5c Cabin, FP, New, Version 2, "Buy War Bonds", #477009, 1 of 10 ....$675<br />
RYModels, PRR GLca Fishbelly Twin Hopper, UP, New, AB Brakes .......................................$275<br />
PSC, PRR K7a/K8 Stock Cars, UP, New, FM Models, Per Model ...............................................$325<br />
Pac. Ltd., PRR War Emerg. Gon, CP, New, PL-1250B, Clemens Paint, #362528 ................$325<br />
Overland, UP CA-1 Wood Caboose, UP, New, OMI No. 0797 ...................................................$225<br />
Overland, UP CA-4 Steel Caboose, CP, New, OMI No. 0072, Road No. 25132 .................$345<br />
Kohs & Co., VGN Class C10-1 Caboose, FP, New, Road No. 309 ..............................................$595<br />
C&LS, WM "NE" Steel Caboose, FP, L/N, Round Heralds, 2 Versions Available...............$435<br />
Various, Intermountain, RC, FP, Box Cars, Reefers, Tank Cars, Flat Cars - RTR & Kits......Call
NEWS: Dremel® Brand Detail Abrasive Brush; MSRP: $7.99<br />
The Dremel ® brand is expanding its line-up of EZ Lock -<br />
compatible rotary tool accessories with the introduction of<br />
the Detail Abrasive Brush in three different grit strengths.<br />
The brush’s unique, flexible bristles are designed to improve<br />
users’ sanding capabilities by helping them get into tight,<br />
intricate spaces and contoured shapes without damaging<br />
their work piece. Detail Abrasive Brushes can be used on<br />
materials such as wood, aluminum, plastic, metal, steel and<br />
vinyl; and smoothing or de-burring wood after carving or<br />
routing.<br />
The Detail Abrasive Brush is compatible with all multispeed<br />
Dremel rotary tools and fits on both the 402 and<br />
EZ402 mandrels. <strong>It</strong> is recommended that users apply only<br />
light pressure when using the accessory and work at speeds<br />
of 15,000 rotations per minute or below for best performance<br />
and results.<br />
Each bristle on the brush is impregnated with sanding<br />
abrasive that wears down as the accessory is used to expose<br />
new grit, extending the accessory’s life and eliminating the<br />
need for abrasive compound. Each sanding brush is color<br />
coded by grit strength for easy identification. The brown<br />
brush (EZ471SA) contains 36 grit and is best used to remove<br />
light rust from metal or steel. The white brush (EZ472SA)<br />
contains 120 grit and works well to remove light paint from<br />
wood. The red brush (EZ473SA) contains 220 grit and is<br />
ideal for removing tarnish from brass.<br />
The Detail Abrasive Brush is available now at most hardware<br />
stores and home improvement centers nationwide.<br />
Brushes retail in packages of one, for a suggested retail price<br />
of $7.99.<br />
NEWS: #84518 Digital Pull Meter; MSRP: $19.95<br />
Micro-Mark<br />
800-255-1066 • www.micromark.com<br />
The digital drawbar meter displays the pulling force<br />
developed by your locomotive in ounces. Add weight<br />
to your loco and see how the pull increases.<br />
Meter capacity: 264 ounces to the<br />
nearest 0.01 ounce. A Lock<br />
button holds last reading.<br />
Meter includes instructions<br />
for use. For all scales of<br />
model trains.<br />
NEWS: DSL Shops O <strong>Scale</strong> Structures<br />
DSL Shops announces their latest O <strong>Scale</strong> releases: #O215A<br />
Model Shop and #O215B Drug Store. These urethane buildings<br />
come with paper<br />
signs and awning, a<br />
card stock roof, clear<br />
plastic for windows,<br />
chimney and instructions.<br />
Priced at $29.95<br />
each, these very<br />
simple to assemble<br />
and paint structures<br />
are copies of the HO<br />
cardboard kits sold by Ayres in the mid 1950s See your<br />
dealer first or check [www.dslshops.com] for more info.<br />
News: Hex Frog Juicer; MSRP: $69.95 & BullFrog Turnout<br />
Control; MSRP: $6.00 kit, $9.00 ready to use.<br />
Fast Tracks-Quadica Developments Inc., 47 6th Concession<br />
Rd. Brantford, Ontario, Canada N3T 5L7<br />
888-252-3895 • www.fast-tracks.net<br />
Fast Tracks is pleased to announce that they have been<br />
appointed by Tam Valley Depot as the exclusive Internet retailer<br />
for the Hex Frog Juicer automatic frog polarity reverser.<br />
Hex Frog Juicer<br />
The Hex Frog Juicer is an easy to use, electronic controlled<br />
switch that automatically and instantly switches the polarity<br />
of the frog as the engine passes over a switch. <strong>It</strong> eliminates the<br />
need for complicated wiring or electro-mechanical switches,<br />
replacing them with a single device connected to the frog with<br />
one wire. Polarity switching is seamless with no interruption to<br />
engine motion or loss of sound.<br />
Each Hex Frog Juicer can control the polarity of DCC<br />
power for up to six frogs on all types of switches including<br />
turnouts, wyes, 3-ways, single and double slips. Using a Hex<br />
Frog Juicer is especially helpful for double crossovers and<br />
crossings as it dramatically simplifies the wiring for these<br />
types of switches. The Hex Frog Juicer is priced at $69.95<br />
each, is in stock and available to order now from the Fast<br />
Tracks website at [www.fast-tracks.net/frogjuicer]<br />
Manual Turnout Control<br />
Fast Tracks announces the release of the new BullFrog<br />
under mount manual turnout control with a complete line of<br />
supporting accessories.<br />
Complete with integrated control rod mounting, the Bull-<br />
Frog turnout control is priced at $6.00 each for a kit version,<br />
and $9.00 each for a ready to use model, making it one of<br />
the lowest cost manual turnout control solutions available<br />
today. The BullFrog features a small mounting footprint, automatic<br />
power routing with an integrated SPDT switch (with<br />
the option to add a second switch), and a high torque, long<br />
throw wire, making it easy to mount the control under the<br />
layout with minimal alignment problems.<br />
The BullFrog product line also includes a number of<br />
accessories including the TadPole remote control rod mount<br />
for very tight locations, hangers for supporting the control<br />
rod under the layout, joiners for creating control rods of<br />
any length, and complete kits that include the control rod,<br />
mounting hardware and panel knob. The BullFrog turnout<br />
control is laser cut from 2mm plywood and has been endurance<br />
tested for over 100,000 cycles. The BullFrog turnout<br />
control and accessories are compatible for all scales from Z<br />
to O and can be ordered now from Fast Tracks at [www.fasttracks.net]<br />
or by calling their toll free line at 888-252-3895.<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 45
NEWS: Freight Car & Locomotive Decals; MSRP: $6.50<br />
plus shipping<br />
Protocraft, 18498 Half Moon Street, Unit 203, Sonoma CA, 95476<br />
707-935-7011 • www.protocraft.com<br />
Protocraft has introduced a new line of decals suitable<br />
for steam era cars and locomotives. Eight freight car sets are<br />
currently available consisting of mostly box, express and<br />
refrigerator cars. Locomotives include a set for Great Northern<br />
box electric Y-1 class locos. The lettering and heralds<br />
were designed in Adobe Illustrator and are very well done<br />
featuring the correct fonts and dimensional data for each<br />
car. Current road names include Los Angeles & Salt Lake<br />
(automobile cars), Northern Refrigerator Car Co. (NP 50’<br />
express); Minarets & Western, Polson Logging Co., Rayonier<br />
and Weyerhaeuser Timber; a Southern Pacific Harriman<br />
express baggage car (B-60-7/8) with Wells Fargo Co. logos,<br />
or American Railway Express lettering; three Santa Fe sets;<br />
Tonopah & Tidewater and a Western Pacific 50’ automobile<br />
boxcar or 40’ boxcar. The decals should be available and<br />
on the website catalog by the time you read this. Pricing is<br />
$6.50 each and $2.00 shipping for each 3 decal sets.<br />
2<br />
1<br />
3<br />
#5 Turnout Tie Strip and Tieplates; MSRP: $40<br />
Irish Tracklayer 2682 West Palo Alto Avenue<br />
Fresno, CA 93711-1107<br />
www.irishtracklayer.com<br />
Reviewed by Mike Cougill<br />
Irish Tracklayer has developed some innovative new<br />
products that could make handlaid track a reality for many<br />
more modelers. Their new turnout tie strips are laser cut<br />
from sugar pine with the ties themselves measuring a scale<br />
nine inches thick by ten inches wide (Photo 1). They are<br />
available in NMRA and P48 versions with the only difference<br />
being in how the connecting webs between the ties,<br />
which are designed to fit under the rails, are spaced.<br />
A preproduction sample I saw was cut from thin<br />
plywood, but John Houlihan of Irish Tracklayer said he<br />
switched to sugar pine so that the spike holes wouldn’t<br />
have to be pre-drilled. Although I didn’t drive any spikes in<br />
my sample, which had to be returned, past experience tells<br />
me that modelers shouldn’t have any issues driving spikes<br />
in these strips. The turnout tie strips come in three sections<br />
no longer than 11 inches in order to fit IT’s standard shipping<br />
box.<br />
The wood was very clean and free of fuzz. The laser<br />
cuts were as crisp as could be, although as we’ve come to<br />
expect with laser cut wooden parts, the edges were burnt<br />
and very dark which, depending on how you want to color<br />
your ties, could impact the staining and weathering processes.<br />
<strong>All</strong> a modeler has to do is glue the strips down, stain<br />
or weather, then add rail.<br />
My initial thought was that the tie strips could simply be<br />
flipped over for use as a right or left hand turnout, since the<br />
pine has a good face on either side however the laser cut<br />
tie plates also provided are of one sided orientation only.<br />
Made from Strathmore® one or two ply paperboard, the<br />
tieplates are a testament to what modern laser cutting technology<br />
is capable of (Photo 2). These also come in precut<br />
strips to match the ties. The spike holes are pre-drilled by<br />
the laser along with separation lines in the tieplates under<br />
the frog. <strong>It</strong>’s these separation lines that give the tieplates<br />
their one-sided orientation. As shown in Photo 3, the tieplates<br />
match perfectly with a number 5 frog casting from<br />
Right-O-Way.<br />
I’m not certain how I would handle working with these<br />
plates as to whether I would leave the connecting web or<br />
cut it away before laying the rails. Further, since they are<br />
made of paper, I’d have some reservations about using the<br />
traditional method of diluted white glue and water for bonding<br />
the ballast. Once again, since I had to return my samples,<br />
I wasn’t able to determine how they would hold up.<br />
John reports that he will do custom turnouts and tie<br />
plates based on a railroad’s common standards for a set up<br />
fee of $50.00 for each numbered turnout. The customer<br />
must provide the common standards for the railroad of their<br />
choice. John has standards UP, SP, B&M, PRR, N&W and<br />
Frisco however these do not cover all eras. Also in development<br />
is a US Steel Taylor adjustable rail brace. When ordering,<br />
modelers must specify whether they want NMRA or<br />
P48 tie strips along with any frog castings such as ROW’s or<br />
American Switch and Signal’s.<br />
Having a variety of choices about how to do something<br />
is always a good thing, These products may well take some<br />
of the drudgery out of handlaying track for those modelers<br />
who are on the fence about whether they want to go the<br />
route or not. Contact Irish Tracklayer for further information.<br />
46 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
BOOK REVIEW: Coal <strong>Trains</strong>: The History of Railroading and<br />
Coal in the U.S., ISBN 978-0-7603-3359-4; MSRP: $37US;<br />
$40.95CAN<br />
Voyageur Press, 400 First Ave North, Ste 300, Minneapolis<br />
MN 55401<br />
www.voyageurpress.com<br />
Reviewed by Joe Giannovario<br />
In The Beginning...<br />
Railroading and<br />
coal go hand in<br />
hand like bread and<br />
butter. <strong>It</strong>’s hard to<br />
imagine the development<br />
of U.S.<br />
railroads without<br />
the simultaneous<br />
development of the<br />
coal industry. Author<br />
Brian Solomon and<br />
photographer Patrick<br />
Yough have joined<br />
together to produce<br />
this book tracing the<br />
history and development<br />
of coal railroading<br />
in the U.S.<br />
They start this<br />
journey, interesting enough, not in the coal fields of Virginia<br />
and West Virginia but in the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania<br />
where Josiah White and Erskine Hazard developed<br />
methods for the commercial mining of anthracite and effective<br />
ways to burn it. This set off the first coal boom in the<br />
U.S. White and Hazard also created two companies which<br />
were consolidated into the Lehigh Coal And Navigation<br />
Company to mine and distribute the coal.<br />
And so it began. Chapter One tells the coal-related histories<br />
of the <strong>Read</strong>ing, Lehigh Valley, DL&W, Erie, NYO&W,<br />
and CNJ. Chapter Two takes us to the Appalachian coal<br />
fields for a history lesson about the B&O, C&O, N&W,<br />
VGN, and PRR. Chapter Three tells about modern, contemporary<br />
coal operations in the Appalachians. But I found<br />
Chapters Four, Five and Six to be most enlightening as they<br />
deal with modern coal operations in the mid-west and<br />
western states. For example, I did not know that the largest<br />
source of North American coal today comes from Wyoming<br />
and eastern Montana hauled in enormous unit trains primarily<br />
by BNSF or UP. The statistics are astounding. One mine<br />
alone in Wyoming can produced more coal than the top 50<br />
mines of 1958 combined.<br />
Admittedly, coal unit trains are best modeled in smaller<br />
scales but if you want to know the what, where and how of<br />
modern coal railroading, this book is the place to start. And<br />
don’t be fooled by the 125 color and 47 B&W photographs;<br />
this is not just a pretty picture book but a well researched<br />
trove of information with an extensive bibliography.<br />
Coal <strong>Trains</strong> is available now. Check out the other railroad<br />
related titles at the Voyageur Press website.<br />
BOOK REVIEW: A Railroad Atlas of the United States in<br />
1946, Vol. 1 Mid-Atlantic States., Richard C. Carpenter, ISBN<br />
978-0-8018-7331-2; MSRP: $65US<br />
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2715 N Charles St.,<br />
Baltimore MD 21218<br />
www.press.jhu.edu<br />
Reviewed by Joe Giannovario<br />
Tracing Forgotten Trails<br />
In 1990 Richard Carpenter<br />
was driving across northern<br />
Indiana when he noticed a visibly<br />
high fill that could only<br />
have once been railroad roadbed.<br />
As he drove on toward<br />
his home in Connecticut he<br />
noticed other tell-tale traces of<br />
our railroad history. <strong>It</strong> occurred<br />
to him that this history should<br />
not be lost or forgotten and he<br />
embarked on a project to document<br />
the state<br />
of American<br />
Railroads at<br />
the height of<br />
its achievements<br />
in<br />
1946.<br />
Why 1946?<br />
Between 1920<br />
and 1946 only<br />
four national and significant railroad mergers occurred.<br />
Therefore, a snapshot of 1946 railroading would actually<br />
be a pretty good picture of railroading for the preceding<br />
quarter-century. In 1946 steam was still King and people<br />
still rode trains to get to other parts of the country. Nearly<br />
everything moved by rail in 1946 so it’s a historically significant<br />
period. And so was born the Railroad Atlas of the<br />
United States in 1946.<br />
I purchased Volume 1 because it covers the area served<br />
by the N&W, the road I model, and, in particular, the<br />
Abingdon Branch. Unfortunately, I did not learn anything<br />
new about the branch but the wealth of information contained<br />
in this one volume is amazing. Carpenter has hand<br />
drawn the maps and keyed them with symbols and colors<br />
which he explains in the preface to the book.<br />
In addition to the maps are some 22 track plans at various<br />
locations, and indices for coaling stations, interlocking<br />
stations, passenger and non-passenger stations, tunnels and<br />
viaducts totaling 297 pages of information. I've copied a<br />
portion of the map from my local area so you can see the<br />
sort of detail included but you really do need the author’s<br />
key to understand all of the information here.<br />
Carpenter has produced a total of three volumes so far.<br />
Volume 2 covers New York and New England. Volume 3,<br />
just released, covers Indiana, Lower Michigan, and Ohio.<br />
I bought my copy directly from Johns Hopkins University<br />
and so paid full list but used copies are available from several<br />
sources on the net.<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 47
Review: Protocraft PC #112, P48 50 ton Bettendorf<br />
trucks; MSRP: $62.50 pr.<br />
Protocraft, 18498 Half Moon Street, Unit 203, Sonoma CA, 95476<br />
707-935-7011 • www.protocraft.com<br />
Reviewed by Mike Cougill<br />
Along with the Andrews and Vulcan, Bettendorf trucks<br />
were introduced prior to1920s and until being phased out<br />
in the 1970s, they were the most popular replacement<br />
for the once common archbar freight trucks. The archbar<br />
design was banned from interchange service in 1937,<br />
since it was prone to metal fatigue failure of the flat bar<br />
stock used in the truck’s main frame members. The Bettendorf<br />
design along with others of that time featured a one<br />
piece cast sideframe with integral cast journal housings<br />
as opposed to the separate housing more common to the<br />
archbar and some earlier designs.<br />
Protocraft is a great resource for 1/4” scale prototype<br />
modelers, and these P48 brass truck kits are a very accurate<br />
representation of the prototype. The masters for these kits<br />
were made by Oscar Neubert and even the tiniest lettering<br />
is legible and three dimensional! The 64 piece kit is<br />
very complete and features all the components one would<br />
expect to find on a prototype truck such as complete brake<br />
gear and a proper bearing for mounting to the carbody<br />
(Photo 1).<br />
I’ll admit up front, that the kit intimidated me at first<br />
glance. There are many small parts to the brake gear and<br />
lots of holes to drill. Although my experience with brass or<br />
metal is limited (very limited), I was able to work my way<br />
through the assembly with a minimum of problems. The<br />
first step recommended in the instructions was to clean<br />
up the flash on the castings. The amount of flash will vary<br />
somewhat from kit to kit and my cleanup took about fortyfive<br />
minutes of work with a needle file. <strong>It</strong> is recommended<br />
that you carefully check the fit of the sideframes to the<br />
truck bolster to make certain there is freedom of movement<br />
between them. Be careful not to file too much here<br />
as a sloppy fit is not what you want. The sideframes should<br />
be able to slide up and down freely on the bolster as this<br />
provides part of the truck’s equalization with a properly<br />
weighted car.<br />
Once the parts are cleaned up, you plunge right in with<br />
assembling the brake gear. A number of pre-located and<br />
dimpled holes in the dead lever brackets, the Schaeffer<br />
levers and the connecting rods have to be cleaned out with<br />
a #70 drill bit. I did this by hand using a pin vise and hair<br />
clipper oil as a drilling lubricant. This part isn’t as bad as it<br />
sounds and only took a few minutes of careful work. Now<br />
comes the fun part. The brake components are held together<br />
with microscopically tiny brass pins. I found it relatively<br />
easy to insert the pins using a pair of pointed tweezers and<br />
a Magni-visor. Once inserted, the pins can be squeezed<br />
with a pair of pliers which peens them over nicely. The<br />
brake levers are to be mounted at a forty degree angle to<br />
the bolsters. The brake beams that hold the plastic brake<br />
shoes have an angled slot in them that fits over the levers.<br />
Due to my own ignorance, it took me three tries before I<br />
got the brake<br />
beams oriented 1<br />
properly on the<br />
levers (Wrong<br />
angles twice<br />
and backwards<br />
once). Thank<br />
goodness for<br />
extra pins. To<br />
fix my mistakes,<br />
I simply filed<br />
off the peened<br />
over end of the<br />
pin in question<br />
and it came<br />
right out. The 2<br />
instructions<br />
indicate to drill<br />
out a #61 hole<br />
in the bolster<br />
for mounting<br />
the dead lever<br />
bracket, and<br />
I think this is<br />
where I got<br />
confused, as<br />
the diagram<br />
showed the<br />
bracket mounted to the opposite side of the body bolster<br />
from where the hole was located. I finally wound up cutting<br />
the pin off the bracket and I just soldered it in place.<br />
I’m still not certain I have it correct but it works. The brake<br />
shoe hangers were a fussy bit of work. I couldn’t get them<br />
in place, so I just left them off since they wouldn’t be<br />
missed in normal operation (Photo 2).<br />
The rest of the assembly is simple from here. I soldered<br />
the spring platforms to the sideframes so they would stay<br />
put when slipping the sideframes and bolster together. The<br />
33” P48 metal wheelsets are lightly coated with wax to<br />
prevent rust before painting. I cleaned them with hot water<br />
and dish detergent. The instructions clearly say not to use<br />
any heat source to dry the wheels since the plastic insulators<br />
are heat sensitive, so I dried them off by hand with a<br />
paper towel, then inserted them into the sideframes. The<br />
final step for me was to insert the springs. I compressed<br />
them in my long nosed tweezers, and they went in place<br />
without any fuss (I only lost one). The finished trucks have a<br />
nice rolling quality to them and the springs are soft enough<br />
to give good tracking and equalization.<br />
<strong>It</strong> took me several hours over a couple of days to actually<br />
complete the assembly. I spent a lot of time staring at<br />
things and undoing my own mistakes. Now that I have my<br />
feet wet, the second truck should go more smoothly than<br />
the first. While these trucks are not designed for beginners,<br />
they’re not impossibly hard to work with. Anyone who has<br />
assembled a pair of San Juan Car Co. trucks will do fine<br />
with these. Take your time and get familiar with the parts<br />
and you’ll be rewarded with a fine set of trucks for that<br />
showcase freight car.<br />
48 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
A few months ago I happened to be in Lincoln, Illinois.<br />
While there I was wandering around the closed RR station<br />
and freight house downtown. Suddenly the grade crossing<br />
bells and lights went on. <strong>It</strong> turned out to be the daily Chicago/<br />
St. Louis Amtrak train, several hours late. I love grade crossing<br />
signals because they are so in-your-face that they demand<br />
attention. In the same way they make a model RR interesting<br />
to visitors because they are surprised and startled and it is<br />
about the only new thing I have to show visitors since 2009<br />
was a no-growth year on my layout.<br />
I would like to hear your comments about grade crossings.<br />
I had always used the simplest arrangement: one gapped rail<br />
running from, say, four feet to the left to four feet to the right<br />
as in Figure 1.<br />
The power to the gapped rail goes through an occupancy<br />
detector circuit and that circuit’s output controls the grade<br />
crossing circuits. You do need to make the last car on a train<br />
draw electrical power, usually by having lights. But this has<br />
two problems: (1) when the train stops at the station next to<br />
the grade crossing and the DC track power goes to zero the<br />
grade crossing circuit also stops. DCC solves that as the track<br />
power never goes off; and (2) it is not realistic because, on<br />
the prototype, the grade crossing activates when the oncoming<br />
train is a mile away and deactivates when the receding<br />
caboose is a few hundred feet away.<br />
If the trains only go in one direction on your track then the<br />
rail gap positions can be changed to be more realistic, say 5<br />
feet before to 6 inches after. And if the layout is powered by<br />
DC then the voltage polarity on the rails can be used to select<br />
between two gapped rails, one for eastbound trains and one<br />
for westbound trains. But what about DCC where you don’t<br />
know the train direction?<br />
This was the subject of a recent email dialogue with OST’s<br />
publisher Joe Giannovario. I rashly told Joe that it was difficult<br />
to design a realistic grade crossing for a DCC-powered<br />
layout because you could not deduce from the voltage polarity<br />
which direction the train was going. He, of course, called<br />
me out and said “Why?” So I had to figure out a way to do it<br />
and came up with the following.<br />
In Figure 2 (next page) both rails have overlapped gaps as<br />
shown to make two isolated sections of track and there are<br />
two occupancy detectors. The gaps are at positions 1, 2, 3<br />
and 4. Gaps 1and 4 are say, four feet away and gaps 2 and 3<br />
say, six inches away. A two relay controller receives the voltage<br />
from the two occupancy detector outputs and feeds the<br />
grade crossing power. The circuit is shown in Figure 3 on the<br />
next page.<br />
This is how it works. Say a train is moving left to right.<br />
When the loco enters the left isolated track (at point 1) current<br />
from the left occupancy detector output flows through<br />
the right relay’s B contacts and energizes the left relay coil.<br />
Then the left relay closes and the A contacts energize the<br />
grade crossing circuitry and B contacts open the circuit to<br />
the right relay coil; to prevent it from operating, and also to<br />
connect the right track detector also to the left relay coil. The<br />
diode in the circuit prevents a sneak path back to the output.<br />
When the last car on the train passes point 3, the left detector<br />
opens and current no longer flows to the grade crossing circuit.<br />
But the left relay is still energized until the last car passes<br />
point 4. Then the left relay opens and both relays are now<br />
reset and the circuit is ready for another train. Note how symmetric<br />
the circuit is. <strong>It</strong> works the same way for trains in either<br />
Figure 1<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 49
direction. Note also that, if the left relay opened after the train<br />
end passed point 3, then the circuit would reset and immediately<br />
detect the end of the train, between points 3 and 4, as a<br />
new train and cause the grade crossing to energize again.<br />
This sounds complicated but the two relays do all the<br />
work. I put them on a perfboard and then soldered wires<br />
directly to the pins. The top of the relay unit (right) is shown<br />
in the Photo 1 alongside the detector unit. The wiring diagram<br />
is seen in Figure 4, while Photo 2 shows the actual underside<br />
of the unit.<br />
Note that the relay unit does not attach to a power source.<br />
<strong>It</strong> gets its power through the contacts on the occupancy<br />
detector boards. My Walthers crossing gate used 12 volts DC<br />
so I used 12 volt relays and a small 12 volt DC power supply.<br />
Let me know your experience with grade crossings. Are<br />
you satisfied with the simple arrangement? Do you have a<br />
controller that is better than mine? I'd like to hear from you.<br />
Parts list:<br />
2 12 volt DC DPDT relays, Shack (Radio Shack) 275-249<br />
2 Rectifier diodes, 1 ampere is plenty, Shack 276-1103<br />
2 Block Occupancy detectors. Dallee TRAK-DT<br />
1<br />
2<br />
Figure 2<br />
Figure 4<br />
Figure 3<br />
50 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Rutland Railroad Ice House, Chatham, N.Y.<br />
Harold Russell<br />
Rutland Railroad Milk Train Operations<br />
At one time Chatham, New York, was a major railroad<br />
center being the intersection of the Boston and Albany’s<br />
east-west line (the northern extent of the New York Central’s<br />
Harlem Division), and the southern tip of the Rutland out of<br />
Bennington, VT. Besides a small passenger depot, the Rutland<br />
had an enginehouse, turntable, coaling station, and water<br />
tower among other small buildings.<br />
We know that the Rutland had very brisk milk traffic into<br />
Chatham until the late 1950s. There is a good chance that<br />
the ice from the ice house drawn here was used to top off the<br />
milk cans before they traveled further to New York City. This<br />
was especially so during hot weather. Let us briefly examine<br />
the Rutland’s milk operations.<br />
Milk trains were a major revenue source for the Rutland<br />
Railroad that at its peak ran daily milk trains from Ogdensburg,<br />
New York south. Early in the morning milk train No. 8<br />
would leave Ogdensburg making pickups at ten stations on<br />
the way to Alburgh, VT. The train then became No. 88 and<br />
it continued on to Rutland where it was split, one portion,<br />
No. 156, went east through Bellows Falls to Boston and the<br />
remaining portion, still No. 88, headed south through Bennington<br />
to Chatham, NY. At this point the milk cars were<br />
taken by the New York Central to New York City over its Harlem<br />
Branch.<br />
The empty cars would return by a reverse route stopping<br />
at Alburgh where they would be backed into the ice house<br />
there and thoroughly iced for the the next day’s return trip.<br />
The milk trains also carried passengers in a coach or<br />
combine which also accommodated the crew. Between<br />
Alburgh and Rutland they also carried a baggage car.<br />
R. W. Nimke’s book, The Rutland 60 Years of Trying, has<br />
a photograph and a Rutland Railroad Valuation Department<br />
drawing of the small ice house located at Chatham, NY. We<br />
can only speculate its use. Possibly it was used to top off<br />
the ice in the cars waiting for the Central’s pickup. This may<br />
have been especially true during hot summer days. Chances<br />
are it was also used to fill the Rutland’s crews’ ice boxes. Jim<br />
Shaughnessy verified that the Rutland did not run ice cooled<br />
air conditioned passenger equipment so that possibility is<br />
eliminated.<br />
Ice House Construction and Use<br />
Typical ice house construction involved wood studded<br />
walls and shingled roof. The inside of the walls was lined to<br />
the top with wood, chestnut being the preferred material.<br />
Double sided and insulated doors located at multiple levels<br />
were hinged to swing outward. The roof had a ventilation<br />
cupola and/or an end vent. There was no insulation in the<br />
walls as its cavity allowed the circulation of air letting the<br />
warmer air rise to the top and out the cupola. The buildings<br />
had a stone foundation and a gravel floor that sloped toward<br />
the center where a small trench allowed the water from melted<br />
ice to flow outward.<br />
Ice blocks were packed one on top of the other as solidly<br />
as possible between the walls - the layers being separated<br />
by straw or sawdust. Any gap between the ice and the walls<br />
was similarly filled. The bottom layer of sawdust was sloped<br />
toward the center of the ice house so that the ice blocks<br />
would lean toward the middle thus keeping the force of their<br />
weight off the walls.<br />
Ice houses were typically painted a light color to reflect<br />
as much heat as possible. Ice houses were typically loaded<br />
and unloaded using a system of conveyors and slotted wood<br />
ramps. Specially designed picks and tongs were used to aid<br />
the process. The blocks of ice typically weighed about 100-<br />
150 pounds.<br />
Modeling the Rutland’s Ice House<br />
The data in Nimke’s book allowed me to make the drawing<br />
of this small ice house. A small building such as this<br />
would be a good addition to your model railroad. As such,<br />
it occupies little space and can serve your layout’s milk cars<br />
and ice-cooled passenger equipment. Of course, the ice<br />
house would have to be periodically restocked so it would<br />
be necessary to move a box car to it. You can use basswood<br />
or styrene siding and roofing materials. The hinges and door<br />
handles can be cut from strips of thin brass. I suggest you<br />
paint the building a light gray color.<br />
After placing the building on the layout, surround it with<br />
wet, muddy ground with a small stream of water coming from<br />
its rear. Lush green grass could surround the stream. The front<br />
of the ice house might have gravel up to track side. Most ice<br />
house doors faced north or east to avoid the prevailing winds.<br />
Possibly a bench could be placed up against the building<br />
with some ice handling tools nearby.<br />
More Information<br />
Copyright restrictions do not allow us to publish photographs<br />
of the ice house. However, you can see photographs<br />
of this ice house by visiting:<br />
NEB&W Guide to Structures<br />
http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/article.php?article=5567<br />
Information for this article came from various Internet<br />
sources:<br />
1. Milk Train by Steve Mumley. http://users.rcn.com/<br />
jimdu4/Milk<strong>Trains</strong>/themilk.htm<br />
2. Historic Patterson, New York.<br />
http//www.historicpatterson.org/Exhibits/ExhRailroads1.php<br />
3. Boxborough’s Last Ice House<br />
http//www.multimgmt.com/BHSociety/bhs3.htm<br />
4. Harry Gottlieb: Filling the Ice House 1934<br />
http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanartmuseum/3313921947/<br />
and<br />
5. The Rutland 60 Years of Trying by R.W. Nimke.<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 51
9" 3"<br />
Rutland Railroad Ice House<br />
Drawing is full size for O <strong>Scale</strong><br />
Drawn by Harold Russell<br />
52 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
9" 3"<br />
18'-6"<br />
Plan view is not to<br />
scale.<br />
For reference only.<br />
3'-9"<br />
16'-6"<br />
4'-6"<br />
5'-3"<br />
20'-6"<br />
3'-0"<br />
14'-6"<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 53
John Dunn sent this photo<br />
of a Golden Gate Depot PRR<br />
BM-70 postal-baggage car.<br />
Dunn weathered the car with<br />
Conti Crayons. He also added<br />
Precision <strong>Scale</strong> Co. air hoses<br />
and diaphragm face plate. The<br />
mail door ladder was located<br />
in the wrong place on the mail<br />
end of the car as-delivered<br />
because of interference with<br />
the truck swing. John relocated<br />
the ladder under the<br />
door as per the prototype but<br />
the ladder is attached to the<br />
truck frame.<br />
A hot steamy day in NE Tenn.<br />
in August, at the Hampton<br />
Stone Works finishing shop.<br />
The fire in the tank engine is<br />
banked for the weekend.<br />
The factory building is 1652,<br />
by actual count, individual pieces<br />
of ‘stone’ CA’d to each other<br />
with no backing. The interior<br />
has actual compression beams<br />
working with functioning tension<br />
rods to help reinforce the walls.<br />
The whole scene was created<br />
by Ed Reutling.<br />
54 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Above: At twilight, a variety of Central Ontario Rwy (CORY) and CNR equipment slumbers at the Lilleyburg<br />
engine facility on the Model Railroad Club of Toronto layout. Lilleyburg is the southern terminus of<br />
the CORY, and is the regular host to CN equipment due to long standing trackage rights.<br />
David Maclean sent the photo.<br />
Even though we are going to<br />
run a series by Tom Mix beginning<br />
next issue, we never get<br />
tired of looking at his work.<br />
Tom scratchbuilds his own<br />
locomotives to P48 standards.<br />
At left is another example of<br />
his fine handiwork.<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 55
2010 O <strong>Scale</strong><br />
National<br />
Convention<br />
The 2010 O <strong>Scale</strong> National Convention will be held June 30<br />
- July 3, Wednesday - Saturday, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara,<br />
Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco. June 30 is set up day<br />
and July 1 - 3 are days of buy/sell, clinics, contests, and layout visits.<br />
Registration is $35, tables are $45 each (electricity is free), hotel<br />
rooms are $109 plus tax for 1-4 occupancy. Registration and table<br />
fees increase by $5 after May 31.<br />
2010 will also be the 20th anniversary of O <strong>Scale</strong> West (OSW).<br />
The OSW organizing committee has moved the 2010 OSW from<br />
it usual early February time frame to the summer, and has added<br />
convention-level activities. In 2011 OSW will return to its normal<br />
February schedule and format.<br />
Thus, the 2010 National includes and is sponsored by the 20th<br />
Annual OSW. Since the organization and management of the<br />
National will be by the normal OSW committee, attendees can<br />
expect to experience the easy going atmosphere, well-organized<br />
activities, excellent host hotel and friendly staff, and large number<br />
of layouts open for visiting that are typical of OSW meets.<br />
Since we have lots of experience organizing and managing buy/<br />
sell, clinics, contests, and layout visit activities, we are able to put<br />
extra effort into the activities that were added for the convention.<br />
Banquet<br />
The Hyatt Regency folks have been superb by working closely<br />
with us to come up with a quality banquet meal priced at $50.<br />
There will be a no-host bar before the banquet begins. The banquet<br />
will be held outside on the hotel’s patio, and we’ll start a little<br />
later so it will be dark enough for any projected presentations to be<br />
seen easily. Our banquet speaker is Art Lloyd, whose railroading<br />
experience spans being a Train Master for the Western Pacific, to<br />
Amtrak, to his present day work on regional rail transit systems.<br />
Museum Tour<br />
This tour is to the world-class California State Railroad Museum<br />
in Sacramento on June 30. The cost will be $30 including transportation<br />
and museum admission. The group will travel to/from<br />
Sacramento on Amtrak Capitol Corridor<br />
trains. The Museum is a short walk from the<br />
station.<br />
For the Long Distance Traveler<br />
We’ve created what we call the Grand<br />
Tour for those who want to take time before<br />
and/or after the convention to visit the many<br />
railroad-related attractions (museums, preserved<br />
railroads, layouts, model displays),<br />
national parks, and other attractions that exist in the greater western<br />
U.S. One can start the tour at Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland,<br />
San Diego, or Los Angeles. From any of those points one can<br />
drive to the convention, visiting layouts and attractions along the<br />
way. After the convention one can drive a different tour route to<br />
their departure airport. We are making arrangements with layout<br />
owners who are located on tour routes to be available for contact<br />
by phone to set up a visit. Some of these layouts are world class<br />
and have never been open to the public before. Our web site,<br />
www.2010oscalenational.com, has more information and will be<br />
updated as new information becomes available.<br />
Counting the many layouts on the Grand Tour, there will be<br />
more than 40 layouts open for visiting. The visitation schedule for<br />
the approximately 30 local layouts spans Sunday, June 27, through<br />
Sunday, July 4, which will allow dedicated folks to see all of them.<br />
Contests<br />
The 2010 convention contests will be a departure from the<br />
normal OSW popular vote contests in that in that we are adding a<br />
judged (NMRA rules) contest. <strong>It</strong> will be possible to enter a model in<br />
both the judged and popular vote contests and a model could win<br />
its category in both contests.<br />
Convention Car<br />
We are close to signing a contract for the convention car which<br />
will be the Lionel scale proportioned milk car decorated for Chateau<br />
Martin winery. These cars were used to transport wine in bulk<br />
from California to New York City where it was bottled. Watch for<br />
an article about this car and wine transport by rail.<br />
I hope this information has you interested in attending the convention.<br />
Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.<br />
See the convention ad in this issue for contact information.<br />
-Rod Miller, Convention Chairman<br />
56 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09
Jus <strong>Trains</strong><br />
Info (302) 453-0465<br />
Orders (888) 453-9742<br />
*Mon-Fri 9-6 *<br />
Fax Orders (302) 368-6447<br />
215 Newark Shopping Center<br />
Newark, DE 19711<br />
Most Orders over $200 Free Ship<br />
Store open 7 days a week<br />
MC VISA DISCOVER<br />
Sunset/Third Rail<br />
No Deposit on Reservations<br />
CNW H-1 4-8-4 1245<br />
NYC. PLE H-10 2-8-2 1245<br />
Santa Fe 2900 Class 4-8-4 1345<br />
Virginian 2-10-10-2, EOB 1899<br />
UP FEF 3 Versions 1199<br />
In-Stock 2 or 3 Rail<br />
NYC J3a Super Hudson 1245<br />
SP 4-6-0 M-6, M-9 Mogul DEAL!<br />
CP 4-4-4 Jubilee TMCC 999<br />
2-10-4 “Colorado” 2 Heaters Call<br />
DMIR, B&LE, CB&Q DEAL!<br />
1938 Dreyfuss Hudson EOB 1175<br />
SP AM-2 Cab Forward, EOB 1675<br />
PRR O-1 2-Unit Electric, TMCC 899<br />
Golden Gate Depot<br />
IN-STOCK<br />
NYC 21” 6-pk 575 2-Pk 259<br />
P70 20” Coach 4-Pk 399<br />
LIRR, PRSL, PRR 12#<br />
Heavyweight 20” 4-Pk 399<br />
PRR 20” Head-End Set 359<br />
Pullman 12-1 Sleeper 109<br />
PRR & Pullman<br />
Coaling Tower $195<br />
Reserve<br />
21” SP Daylt Alum 5-Pk 575<br />
SP Articulated Diner Set 575<br />
20” Diner/Observation 2-Pk 249<br />
Weaver Models 2009<br />
REA or B&O Express Troop<br />
2 or 3 R $70 3/$200 3#<br />
MR 4-6-4 J6a Baltic, 2# 999<br />
Troop Sleeper 6# 85<br />
Troop Kitchen 4# 85<br />
Troop Hospital 4# 85<br />
Any 6 for 489 Delivered<br />
MOW Troop Cars 50 2/$95<br />
Monon, N&W, CB&Q, C&O,<br />
GTW,Erie,WM,L&N,Lack<br />
Wartime Gondola $25 or 4/$90 4#<br />
N&W, MEC, Sou, LN, B&M<br />
New Haven I-5 TMCC/EOB 999<br />
80’ Alum 5-Car $549<br />
PRR, NYC, NP, GN, L&N,<br />
AK. CNJ, CN, GTW, N&W<br />
UP Gray, SLSW, KCS, LV 4-Pk 299<br />
K-Line Circus ’09<br />
18” Heavyweight Car 89<br />
#70 CT, Advert x2, Obs x 2<br />
21688 18” Heavywt Coach 2Pk 177<br />
Gold Unit Replica Tractor Set 38<br />
Combo Flat w/Boxcar & wagon 45<br />
Wood Gondola w/Cicus Equipment 48<br />
22250 Dining Dept Billboard Reefer 65<br />
Combo Flat/Stock Car w/Wagon 38<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> Dining Woodside Reefer 59<br />
K-Line 2009 Product<br />
Broadway Lmt 18” 4-Pk 425<br />
Broadway Lmt 18” 2-Pk 222<br />
Southern FM Trainmaster 359<br />
Southern 18” Alum 4-Pk 425<br />
Southern 18” Alum 2-Pk 222<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> Smoking Caboose 59<br />
MR, Southern<br />
21” Alum 2-Pk 259 Coach 132<br />
Milw Rd, Grt Northern<br />
18” Aluminum Business Car 119<br />
NYC, SF Black Mesa<br />
<strong>Scale</strong><br />
21667 Red River Co. Boxcab 78<br />
21639 Pan Am Railways Boxcar 37<br />
21640 UP Modern Steel Reefer 35<br />
21643 PRR Die Cast Gondola 48<br />
PRR 16 Wheel Flat w/Transform 62<br />
21645 SP 43’ Alum Mod Hopper 59<br />
22414 Linde Box w/Alum Tank 47<br />
22447 Wabash DC 2-Bay Hopper 42<br />
Rutland Milk Car w/Platform 111<br />
Mtn View Creamery Milk Depot 87<br />
Gargraves<br />
O Gauge<br />
37” Flex Tin $5.55 Cs 50 259<br />
37” Flex Stainless Phantom Case 305<br />
42, 72, 100” Tin Switch Man 34 Rem 53<br />
Above w/DZ-2500 TMCC $59<br />
RC Uncplr #107 $23 Op. #108 $28<br />
Gantry Crane Track $20 Stainless $22<br />
90 Degree Crossing $19 DVD 9<br />
Now with Wood Ties<br />
Circle 032/ $39 042/ $45 054/ $59<br />
063/ $62 072/ $67 080/ $85<br />
089/ $90 096/ $92 106/$99<br />
Call on DZ Products<br />
Transformers<br />
Lionel ZW 425 180W Brick 75<br />
MTH Z-4000 385 Z-1000 Brick 59<br />
DCS System 255 Legacy #990 299<br />
TMCC Cab-1 68 Command Base 68<br />
TMCC Command Set 125<br />
TPC 400 165 TPC 300 124<br />
Williams <strong>Trains</strong><br />
Golden Memories<br />
F-3 AA $239 ABA $335<br />
Wab,IC,B&O,MR,Sou,NH,RG,CP<br />
WP, SF Red/Sil, SF Blk/Red, TS, NYC<br />
15” Aluminum 4-Pk 229 2-Pk 119<br />
GG-1 Girls Freight Set 335<br />
Steam Girls Freight Set 379<br />
GG-1 Girl’s Passenger Set 335<br />
18” Alum Animal Car 102 2-Pk 199 1520W F-3 Texas Special Set 285<br />
1464W UP 50 th Anniversary Set 320<br />
2-car add-on $80 Full Set $395<br />
PRR GG-1 Congressional Set 410<br />
18” Aluminum Coach or Shop Car 119<br />
2-car add-on $115 Full Set $515<br />
15” Aluminum Advertising Car 85<br />
N&W 4-8-4 J Class Steam 259<br />
GG-1 179 PRR x 4<br />
NW-2 C&O, SF, Seabd 155<br />
FA-1 AA 225 B 80 ABA 299<br />
B&O, LV, L&N, NYC, PRR, RI,<br />
SF,WM,LNE,GN<br />
PA-1 AA 225 B 80 ABA 299<br />
SF, PRR, RG, UP, D&H, NYC, CP<br />
F-7 AA 205 B 70 ABA 269<br />
Am, ACL, B&O, Burl, C&O, GN,<br />
Lack, NH, PRR, UP<br />
Shark AA 219 B 75 ABA 289<br />
B&O, D&H, PRR x 2, NYC, Demo<br />
E-7 AA 245 B 105 ABA 345<br />
ACL, B&O, Burl, C&O, NYC, UP,<br />
Prr Tuscan, Sou, MR, Tex Spec<br />
Dash 9 Power 149 BNSF, CSX,<br />
NS, SF, UP, CNW, Amtrak, Con, SP<br />
GP38 139 Dmy 80 BNSF, Chessie,<br />
NH, NS, SF, GT, AK, GM&O, DTI, PC<br />
BL-2 Powered 139 BAR, B&M,<br />
C&O,C&EI,GMDemo,FEC,Monon,<br />
RI Red/Black, WM-Fire, MP<br />
FM Trainmaster 155 CP, JC,<br />
MR, NYC,Rdg,SP,Wabash,N&W<br />
NW-2 155 B&O, Con, LV, NYC,<br />
PRR,UP,MR,GN,Monon,JC<br />
U33C Power 149 CSX, D&H, MR<br />
SF, SP, UP, NH, PRR, <strong>Read</strong>ing, WP<br />
SD90 Power 149 BNSF, CSX,<br />
Demo, NS, BN, Con, Amtrak, SF<br />
UP,MP,CNW,MKT,RG,SP,WP<br />
Genesis Power & Dmy 219<br />
Die Cast <strong>Scale</strong> Hudson 369<br />
NYC, B&O, GN, SF, JC, CP<br />
GG-1 <strong>Scale</strong> Electric 255<br />
PRR x 5, PC, CR<br />
EF-4 Rectifier 165 NH, CR,<br />
N&W, VGN x 2, PRR Blk<br />
72’ (18”) Streamline 4-Pk 195<br />
72’ Madison 4-Pk 239 2-Pk 120<br />
60’Amfleet3-Pk 155 Amtrak x 2<br />
2009 Lionel Product<br />
Vision Line<br />
PRR 0-8-8-0 CC2s Steam 1399<br />
SF 2-10-10-2 Steam 1799<br />
Buy both PRR & SF get $300<br />
GE ES44AC Evol Hybrid 699<br />
Die-Cast Shell<br />
UP 3GS21B Genset Switch 539<br />
Die-Cast, 3 smoke units<br />
Buy both diesels get $50<br />
Op. Wind Turbine 3-Pk 185<br />
Ethanol Tank 3-Pk, Sound 216<br />
Ethanol Tank 3-Pk 152<br />
PRR Op. Stock Car Sound 120<br />
Can National Coal Train 639<br />
Stourbridge Lion Set 385<br />
Anthracite Coal 2-Car 95<br />
Wabash FM, Legacy 415<br />
N&W GP7, Legacy 419<br />
NH EF-4 Rectifier TMCC 315<br />
SF SD-40, TMCC 323<br />
Rotary Dump w/Conveyor 499<br />
50,000 Gallon Water Tank 113<br />
Sunoco Industrial Tank 52<br />
Standard O<br />
UP Bathtub Gondola 3-Pk 139<br />
Husky 2-Pk Maersk, UP 159<br />
CA-4 Heritage Caboose 70<br />
DRG, SP, CNW<br />
Northeast Cab N&W, Wab 67<br />
SF Wedge Plow Flatcar 67<br />
SF Idler Flatcar w/Load 56<br />
ATSF Water Tank Tank 52<br />
SF Tool Car 60<br />
WP Heritage 60’ Box 63<br />
Freight $60 SF Tool , N&W 3-Bay<br />
DRGW DS Box, DT&I Reefer,<br />
DRGW 40’ Flat, B&M Coke Flat<br />
Katy or MP Heritage Hopper 60<br />
Wabash PS-4 Piggyback Flat 73<br />
In-Stock<br />
Mikado WP, UP, SF, MR 699<br />
TMCC, Railsounds, Odys<br />
2-8-0 Rdg, NYC, B&O, WM 389<br />
TMCC, Railsounds, Fat Boy, Cruise<br />
UP FEF w/Legacy Grey only 989<br />
NYC F-12e 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler 575
MTH 2009 Vol II<br />
2 or 3 Rail Steam<br />
MTH 2009 Vol II<br />
Diesels Power 359 Dmy 169<br />
MTH<br />
UP M10000 Diesel Passenger 649<br />
M1000 Coach $85 2#<br />
2008 DAP<br />
Atlas 2-Rail<br />
NYC 4-4-0 Empire State 639<br />
Pass Set $222<br />
Orient Express 2-3-1 Pac. 999<br />
Black, Green, Brown re-run<br />
NYC Mohawk 2 or 3 Rail 999<br />
L-3a, 3b, 3c L-4a, 4b<br />
L-4a Mohawk Freight Set 1079<br />
DMIR 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone 1299<br />
Yellowstone Freight Set 1399<br />
4-6-0 Camelback Steam 819<br />
JC, NYO&W, <strong>Read</strong>ing<br />
Princess Coronation Steam 1079<br />
London, Midland, & Scot, British<br />
LMS 4-Car 365 Bag/Pass 95<br />
GP38-2 B&M, BN, CP, D&H<br />
Alco PA ABA 639 ABBA 755<br />
Southern, DRG, UP B 139<br />
FT ABA 639 ABBA 755<br />
Erie, NYOW, Seaboard, MoPac<br />
F40PH 3-R Power 389 Dmy 169<br />
Alaska, Amtrak, CAR, VIA<br />
Premier Passenger Cars 5-Pk 335<br />
2-Pk 137 Full Vista 77 RPO 77<br />
GP-7 359 Dmy 169 BAR, Erie<br />
R-11 Subway 4-Car 449 2-Pk 175<br />
N&W J Passenger Set 1079<br />
2-Car 137 RPO 77 Vista 77<br />
N&W J Express Mail Set 1079<br />
NH East Wind EP-3 Pass Set 819<br />
Zephyr 4-Unit Sets 2 types 649<br />
FEC SD70M-2 Twin-Stack 649<br />
UP SD70ACe Twin Stack Set 649<br />
Maersk GP-60M Twin-stack 649<br />
Amtrak Superliners 335/172<br />
Sharknose AB $488 A 145<br />
NYC, PRR, B&O<br />
KCS 5pk 335 2pk 137 Vista 75<br />
Santa Fe 2-10-0 Decapod 899<br />
Railking<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> Diesels Pwr 259 Dmy 129<br />
FM<br />
VGN, Chessie, JC, SP<br />
2111 <strong>Read</strong>ing GP-35, DC 3# 250<br />
2113 Savannah & Atlanta 250<br />
2114 WM GP-35, DC 250<br />
2115 NKP GP-35, DC 250<br />
GP-35 also in PRR, CNW, GA<br />
RS-11 LV, Conrail, NH, SP<br />
VO1000 Autotrain, PRR, NKP, CNW<br />
MP15DC Am, NS, G&W, BNSF<br />
F-3 ABA 425 B&O, MR, Wab, WP<br />
2235 MR Hiawatha Power B 250<br />
2-10-0 Russian Decapod 899<br />
Erie, Pitt Shaw& N, W. Md<br />
4-6-4 Royal Hudson 899<br />
BC, Southern, CP-Royal Tour<br />
GP-9 359 Dmy 169 C&O, UP<br />
NJ Transit ALP46 399 Dmy 189<br />
0-6-0 USRA Steam 519<br />
Erie, VGN 2-8-8-8-2 Triplex 1299<br />
N&W 4-8-4J-Class 999 2 #’s<br />
Diesels 2 or 3 Rail<br />
NJ Transit ALP44 389 Dmy 169<br />
PRR Modified P5a $489<br />
PRR FF-1 $599<br />
B&O GE I/R Box Cab 399<br />
SW-1 259 JC, RI, C&O, GN<br />
Brill Trolley w/PS2.0 199<br />
NYT, Pitt, Phila Sub Trans, MTA<br />
SW-1 Switcher 259 CNW, MR,<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> Diesels Pwr 259 Dmy 129<br />
GP-7 GN, L&N<br />
7890 Ann Arbor RS-1, DC 299<br />
Other RS-1: NH, RI, C&O<br />
7805 Jersey Central SD-35 275<br />
3GS21B Genset 389 <strong>Scale</strong> 399<br />
CSX, BNSF, NS, Army, UP, NRE<br />
Diesels 389 Dmy 169 <strong>Scale</strong> 399<br />
ES44DC KCS, CSX, CN, NS<br />
SD70Mac AK, BNSF, CSX<br />
AEM-7 Electric 389 Dmy 169<br />
Amtrak x 3, MARC, Septa<br />
Amfleet 4-Passenger 277 2-Pk 142<br />
Septa, MARC, Amtrak x 2<br />
EP-3 Electric 739 NH x 3<br />
4-6-4 Royal Hudson 899<br />
BC, Southern, CP-Royal Tour<br />
60’ Flat w/Trash Containers 57<br />
East Carbon x2, Gen. Am., Joe Trans<br />
European<br />
GP-9 Buff & Pitt, CN<br />
RS-3 Erie, LV, NH, SP&S<br />
FP45 Maersk,MRL,SF,MR<br />
7822 CSX SD-35, DC 275<br />
7823 Penn Central SD-35, DC 275<br />
Dash 8, DC Und, UP, BC, SP 299<br />
Dummy for above 195<br />
Dash-8W CN, CSX, SF, UP<br />
Dash 8<br />
Conrail, CSX x 2, UP<br />
U30C Chessie, MR, PRR, SP<br />
GP-35 PRR, NYC, GN, AK, GMO<br />
C&O M-1 Stm Turbine Pass Set 899<br />
SD45 MR,GNx2,SF,UP<br />
SD70ACe<br />
SD70M-2<br />
BHP Billiton, KCS, UP<br />
NS, CN<br />
ES44AC 399 385 169<br />
Demo, CP, UP<br />
Specialty Set<br />
Am. Freedom PA Passenger 599<br />
GE Evolution Hybrid Set 449/479<br />
GN 2-8-8-2 R-2 Freight Set 1399<br />
NYC J1e Hudson Passenger 999<br />
CNW E-4 Streamlined Pass 999<br />
SP Cab Forward Freight Set 1389<br />
Erie Triplex Freight Set 1389<br />
PRR P5a Beer Train Set 819<br />
AA16 NOHAB 3-R 399 2-R 449<br />
GN, Denmark, GM Demo, Norway,<br />
Belgium, Luxembourg, Hungary<br />
TRAXX F140 AC2 399 2R 449<br />
Demo, SBB Cargo, Veolia, Europe<br />
64’ 19 th Century Coach 76<br />
LIRR, B&O 3-Pk 225<br />
2009 Dealer Appreciation<br />
Limited Quantities<br />
UP DDA40X Diesel Loco 649<br />
UP Pass 5pk 335 2pk 137 Vista 40<br />
BMT 2500 Subway 3-Car 399/269<br />
R40 Subway 4-Car 445 2-Car 175 Engineering Version Orient 999<br />
VO1000 Power<br />
259 NP, UP,<br />
Burl, Patapsco & Black Rivers<br />
2008 Vol II RailKing<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> Size Diesel 255 Dmy 129<br />
C628 D&H, LV, N&W, SF<br />
RailKing – <strong>Scale</strong> Size<br />
0-8-0 Steam Switcher 359<br />
IC, Sou, NYC, NKP, NP, PLE<br />
GP-9 USCG, FEC, PRR, SP 255<br />
MP-15AC CP, CSX, MR, UP 255<br />
RS-11 DW&P, NYC, NP, PRR 255<br />
R142A MTA Sub 5-pk 369 2-pk 125<br />
<strong>Scale</strong>Trax -INSTOCK<br />
10” 3.00 O31 or O54 Curve 3.00<br />
O72 3.75 O80 4.45 1 ¾” 4-Pk 7.75<br />
30” Rigid or Flex 8.65 ITAD $23<br />
90, 45 or 22.5 Xing 16 Op. Track 16<br />
Remote Switch O31, O54 or O72 $38<br />
Switch #4 $44 #6 $51 Bumper 13<br />
7840 BNSF Patch Job -8, DC 299<br />
7841 BNSF Patch Job Dmy 195<br />
7848 GE Demo Dash 8, DC 299<br />
GP60M SF, DC 299<br />
<strong>All</strong> Atlas Rolling<br />
Stock $25-$40<br />
20-3279-2N&W Class A 2-6-6-4 1150<br />
K-Line 2-R Shay $499<br />
Lackawanna, PLC<br />
www.justrains.com
Just <strong>Trains</strong> TM Free Shipping over $200 on all Korber Orders (888) 453-9742 Made in USA www.justrains.com<br />
302 One Stall Diesel Shed w/Shop 69<br />
901 Action Machinery 6 x 8 25<br />
917 Gen Lt & Power Sub Station 32<br />
959 Midland Supply 8x6 35<br />
304 3-Stall Roundhouse, 30”D 189<br />
304A Xtra Stall or 304B Extender 45<br />
902 Jaybar Company 6 x 8 27<br />
921 JLC Manufacturing 65<br />
960 John’s Cutlery 6x8 25<br />
305 Sandhouse, 16 x 6 45<br />
966 Lehigh Engineering 6 x 8 25<br />
903 Skyline Steel 6 x 8 25<br />
950 American Flag Co. 14x9 69<br />
306 2-Stall Diesel Shed 25 x 11 69<br />
306A Extender 12.5 x 11 27<br />
905 Blackshear Refrig. Transport 59<br />
967 Shoe Co. 7 skylts 20 x 9 x 11 69<br />
307 3-Stall Trolley Barn 23 x 11 95<br />
953 Joe’s Pickle Factory 14 x 9 69<br />
968 Freight Terminal 8 x 15 49<br />
308 Quincy Mining Co. 47<br />
908 Shanahan Freight 20 x 8 x 9H 75<br />
954 Buck Island Canning 8 x 12 59<br />
969 Gen Lt & Pwr Office 6x13x12 65<br />
310 Mitchell Textile Co. 39<br />
911 Perfect Tool Co. 8 x 16 55<br />
955 RJK Tool&Die 9x14 55<br />
P56 Cut Stone P81 Random Stone 10<br />
3115 Grain Silo, 7 x 34 x 22 H 135<br />
912 Roller Bearing Co. 9 x 28 89<br />
P83 Concrete 10 P57 Double 13<br />
957 Lewis & Sons Machine Shop 25<br />
915 Quaker Foods 9 x 12 49<br />
D929 Roof Top Water Tank D30 12<br />
315 Grain Silo, 7 x 19 x 22 H 85<br />
956 James Company 13 x 8 x 9H 55<br />
320 3-Stall Roundhouse 26” Deep 159<br />
916 General Light & Power 48”L 175<br />
958 Mill Works 11 x 7 w/Tower 49<br />
New Modular System Kit 74.95<br />
Unlimited configurations 24 walls<br />
Just <strong>Trains</strong> (888) 453-9742
Buy–Sell–Trade Events<br />
Buy-Sell-Trade ads are $5 for 30 words plus your address information. Additional words are $0.25 each. Subscribers are permitted one<br />
free ad per subscription cycle . <strong>All</strong> B-S-T ads are prepaid. You may send ads by postal service with a check or money order. Ads sent by<br />
email or called in must use a credit card. See our contact info on page 2.<br />
FREE O SCALE LIST: List of O <strong>Scale</strong> shows for 2009.<br />
Send LSSAE to Bob Retallack, Dept OST09, 2224 Adner<br />
Ct, Columbus, OH 43220.<br />
WANTED: Small N&W custom-built or scratchbuilt<br />
steam, 4-8-0, 2-8-0, 4-6-0. Also looking for N&W<br />
brass parts, e.g., pilot, cylinders, domes, tenders, etc.<br />
Contact Joe Giannovario, jag@oscalemag.com or call<br />
610-363-7117.<br />
WANTED: Ambroid special run 50' Milw. boxcars,<br />
Hallmark comp gons, Sunset WWII emergency boxcars,<br />
PRB WWII comp gons, Lobaugh 50' reefers, WWII era<br />
boxcars what have you? Mail only. Jim Seacrest, PO<br />
Box 6397, Lincoln, NE 68506-0397<br />
FOR SALE: Two USH UP 2-10-2s, Cab# 5071 & 5080;<br />
USH UP 4-8-2 #7004; OVL UP 4-6-2 #3211; Key C&O<br />
<strong>All</strong>egheny; WSM C&O T1 2-10-4. <strong>All</strong> models custom<br />
painted, lightly weathered and lighted by Harry Hieke,<br />
Jr. Call Harry Bender before 8PM EST, 410-361-1889.<br />
WANTED: CN, CV, GT, GTW, DW&P steam/diesel era<br />
freight, passenger, MoW and caboose (vans). What<br />
have you? Mail only. Jim Seacrest, PO Box 6397,<br />
Lincoln, NE 68506.<br />
FOR SALE: Brass and die-cast parts for <strong>All</strong> Nation/<br />
Babbitt steam locomotives, frames, drivers, rods, valve<br />
gear, boilers, cabs, tenders, and details. Also restoration<br />
and repairs available. Some complete kits available on<br />
a limited basis. Some older kits and built up kits also<br />
available on a limited basis. Write and include $1 for<br />
a catalog. Babbitt Railway Supply Co., 715 Barger St,<br />
Mayfield KY 42066. Call 270-247-0303 between 8 am<br />
and 8 pm CST, or email [boyceyates@bellsouth.net].<br />
To ensure your event listing makes it into the proper issue, please note the following deadlines for publication:<br />
Jan/ Feb issue: November 1 of the prior year. March/April issue: Jan. 1. May/June issue: March 1. July/August issue: May 1.<br />
Sept. /Oct. issue: July 1. Nov. /Dec. issue: Sept. 1<br />
November 2009<br />
7: Stamford CT<br />
Stamford Model RR Club O <strong>Scale</strong>rs,<br />
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Free admission,<br />
coffee and donuts. Layout in operation<br />
throughout. Bring your favorite models<br />
and projects to show. White elephant<br />
table available. No dealer tables.<br />
Located at St John’s Episcopal Church,<br />
Stamford Ct. Corner Grove and Elm Sts.<br />
Exit 8 Connecticut Tpke. Park across the<br />
street. Contact Jim Mardiguian 718 347<br />
3159, dlwh2466@hotmail.com<br />
Weekends starting the 27th: North<br />
Haledon NJ<br />
Model Engineers Railroad Club of<br />
North Jersey, 75th Anniversary - Annual<br />
Open House. Club is located at 569<br />
High Mountain Road, North Haledon,<br />
New Jersey 07508. Open weekends:<br />
Fridays 7:00 - 10:00 P.M., Saturdays &<br />
Sundays 1:00 - 5:00 P.M. Admission:<br />
$5.00, children free with adult. For<br />
more info contact, Paul Harbord 973-<br />
427-4905 before 9:00 pm EST, or email<br />
pharbord@optonline.net.<br />
December 2009<br />
Weekends through the 13th: North<br />
Haledon NJ<br />
Model Engineers Railroad Club of<br />
North Jersey, 75th Anniversary - Annual<br />
60 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
WANTED: The O-<strong>Scale</strong> 2 Rail Club is a modular<br />
train club looking for members or those to follow this<br />
standard and start a club. We are using a portable 2' x<br />
4' foot table format. Follow the modular standards for<br />
placement of the two track mainline, wiring, and table<br />
height. Visit the web site at: [www.oscale-2rail-club.<br />
com]. Request a free PDF of the O-scale 2 rail club<br />
standards guide from: oscale2rail@live.com<br />
FOR SALE: New Sunset 2-Rail engines: 2-Rail UP Big<br />
Boy, $1500; 2-Rail UP Challenger $1500, 2-rail UP<br />
4-12-2 $1500, 2-Rail B&O EM1 2-8-8-4, $1500. Email:<br />
woodsbymarius@msn.com, or call 505-898-6956.<br />
FOR SALE: O SCALE ENGINES and freight cars from<br />
the 1970s in good to excellent condition. AHM 0-8-0<br />
yard switcher and freight cars; Two Atlas F9s, industrial<br />
switcher and freight cars. Contact Chet Thomas at 904-<br />
220-0593 or at [cttrains@aol.com].<br />
WANTED: Steam/Diesel era, DM&IR, Soo Line,<br />
DSS&A. Frt., pass., MoW, cabooses, NO ORE CARS.<br />
Joe Fischer pass. & head end cars. What have you? Mail<br />
contact only. Jim Seacrest, PO Box 6397, Lincoln, NE<br />
68506-0397<br />
PAINTING, WEATHERING, minor repair on brass only.<br />
Will build resin kits depending on time period. Also will<br />
paint backdrops. Call or write Phil Ginkus, 508-832-<br />
6942, 7 Mt. View Ave, Auburn MA 01501.<br />
FOR SALE: O <strong>Scale</strong> cardstock buildings, quality<br />
metal and plastic detail parts, backdrops. Free catalog.<br />
Pioneer Valley Models, 35 Yale St, South Hadley, MA<br />
01075-2636<br />
Open House. Club is located at 569<br />
High Mountain Road, North Haledon,<br />
New Jersey 07508. Open weekends:<br />
Fridays 7:00 - 10:00 P.M., Saturdays &<br />
Sundays 1:00 - 5:00 P.M. Admission:<br />
$5.00, children free with adult. For<br />
more info contact, Paul Harbord 973-<br />
427-4905 before 9:00 pm EST, or email<br />
pharbord@optonline.net<br />
March 2010<br />
12-14: Lombard IL<br />
Midwest March Meet 2010. New location!<br />
Westin Lombard Yorktown Center,<br />
70 Yorktown Center, Lombard IL<br />
60148. Call 800-937-8461 and ask for<br />
the Chicago O <strong>Scale</strong> room rate. Show<br />
registration write to March Meet, 2636<br />
Hallquist Ave, Red Wing MN 55066 or<br />
call 630-745-7600. By email contact<br />
meetinfo@aol.com.<br />
June 2010<br />
30th to July 3rd: Santa Clara CA<br />
The 2010 O <strong>Scale</strong> National is being<br />
held in lieu of the 2010 O <strong>Scale</strong> West.<br />
The hotel room rate is $109/night plus<br />
10% room tax, for up to 4 people in<br />
the room. Registration is $35, $40 After<br />
April 30, 2010. Vendor tables (72”) are<br />
$45, $50 after April 30, 2010. A banquet<br />
will be held at 7:30 PM Friday outside<br />
the hotel. For more details, contact<br />
WANTED: LTD AMT Steam/Diesel era GN, NP, C&NW,<br />
CM&O engines, passenger cars, freight cars, MoW, cabooses,<br />
What have you? Mail only please. Jim Seacrest,<br />
PO Box 6397, Lincoln NE 68506.<br />
FOR SALE: <strong>All</strong> engines F/P Mint & TRO. SP AC-12<br />
#4294 PSC, $4950; SP 2-8-0 Glacier Park Models<br />
#2811, $2200; SP MT-4 and MT-5 PSC (latest run)<br />
$2750; SP P-10 PSC (Skyline casing/deskirted) w/120<br />
C-8 tender and Sofuie drive $2500; P-8 PSC w/120<br />
c_8 tender, Cockerham drive, $2500; SP 60' Shopped<br />
coaches PSC U/P new (3) $300; SP 72' Diner PSC U/P<br />
new $350. Reasonable offers considered. Call Office<br />
650-347-4402 or email bantell@pacbell.net. Bruce<br />
Antell, 50 S San Mateo Dr, Ste 105, San Mateo, CA<br />
94401-3857<br />
WANTED: AHM C-Liners, powered, non-powered,<br />
body shells. Also want brass C-Liners. Call Harvey Merz<br />
701-523-5557.<br />
FOR SALE: 2 Rail Sunset/3rd Rail PRR N1s 2-10-2 LN<br />
boxed, $900; 2 rail Sunset PRR Q1a #9860 4-4-6-4 LN<br />
boxed $1000; Five car set of 3rd Rail Pullman cars in<br />
original boxes: 1x combine, 1x baggage, 3x Pullmans,<br />
$1000 for the set. Buyers to pay shipping. Contact:<br />
626-791-5300, Dennis Bagby, 2233 N. Suree Ellen Ln,<br />
Altadena, CA 91001<br />
FOR SALE: FtD.D.M.&S. decal sets. Will do 2 locos and<br />
several cars; $18.50 per set. Call Mike at 515-353-4292<br />
or email bluffcreektrains@wccta.net.<br />
the O <strong>Scale</strong> National Convention, c/o<br />
876 Boyce Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301-<br />
3003 or call Rod Miller at 650-329-<br />
0424 between 9:00 AM Pacific Time<br />
and 9:00 PM Pacific Time. Email: rod@<br />
rodmiller.com.<br />
July 2010<br />
11-18: Milwaukee WI<br />
NMRA National Convention & 75th<br />
Anniv. The National Model Railroad<br />
Association (NMRA) will be celebrating<br />
its 75th birthday in 2010. As part of the<br />
festivities the National Convention will<br />
be held in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the<br />
birthplace of the NMRA. We are planning<br />
a, rip roaring Midwestern, good<br />
time for all, both model railroader and<br />
general interest attendee alike. Dates<br />
for the convention are Sunday July 11th<br />
to Sunday July 18th. On Sunday the<br />
11th, we are going to kick off the week<br />
with a Beer and Brat Fest (a Milwaukee<br />
Favorite) at Zeidler Union Square<br />
Park, just a stone’s throw away from the<br />
convention site and hotel. Contact Ken<br />
Jaglinski, Vice-Chair. Contact mjaglinski@wi.rr.com
2010 O <strong>Scale</strong> National 25<br />
AAA Turntables 16<br />
<strong>All</strong>egheny <strong>Scale</strong> Models 44<br />
Atlas O<br />
IFC<br />
Bachmann 22<br />
Baldwin Forge & Machine 10<br />
Brummy’s Ballast 34<br />
BTS 19<br />
Bullfrog Snot 10<br />
Chicago O <strong>Scale</strong> Meet 43<br />
Custom Signals 14<br />
Deichman’s Depot 25<br />
East Gary Car Co. 43<br />
Get Real Productions 61<br />
Golden Gate Depot BC<br />
Howard Zane 10<br />
Irish Tracklayer 25<br />
Just <strong>Trains</strong> 57,58,59<br />
JV Models 10<br />
Keil-Line 10<br />
Key Model Imports 14<br />
LaBelle Woodworking Co. 26<br />
Micro-Mark 28<br />
Model Building Services 34<br />
Mt. Albert <strong>Scale</strong> Models 10<br />
MTH Electric <strong>Trains</strong> IBC<br />
Mullett River 29<br />
NCE Corp 36<br />
O <strong>Scale</strong> Realty 28<br />
O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> 14<br />
Public Delivery Track 26<br />
Rails Unlimited 10<br />
RGSRR Hobbies 10<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> University 34<br />
Scenic Express 15<br />
SMARTT 13<br />
SMR <strong>Trains</strong> 34<br />
SpecCast 20<br />
Statement of Ownership 25<br />
Stevenson Preservation Lines 10<br />
Sumpter Valley Depot 26<br />
Sunset⁄3rd Rail 8<br />
Underground Railway Press 25<br />
UpBids.net 34<br />
Valley Model <strong>Trains</strong> 26<br />
Advertisers Index<br />
Gorilla Glue 25<br />
P&D Hobby Shop 14<br />
Wasatch Model Co. 29<br />
Guide to Modern O <strong>Scale</strong> 16<br />
Pieces of the Puzzle 16<br />
Weaver 20<br />
Hackworth Model <strong>Trains</strong> 36<br />
Protocraft 16<br />
Nov/Dec ’09 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 61
Joe Giannovario<br />
An OST <strong>Read</strong>er Poll<br />
I’ve been participating in some interesting discussions<br />
online and one particular thread generated a series of questions<br />
about what is important to O <strong>Scale</strong>rs when it comes to<br />
a commercially manufactured model, especially locomotives<br />
since they generally are the most expensive items on a model<br />
railroad.<br />
I promised my online conferees to post an edited version<br />
of these questions as a survey both here in the magazine and<br />
online. I’d appreciate it if you, our readers, would answer the<br />
survey either by writing to me or by going to the OST websit e<br />
and click on the link to the survey.<br />
O <strong>Scale</strong> Modeler’s Poll: Answer each question with (A)<br />
important or (B) not important:<br />
1. Model is dimensionally accurate<br />
2. Accurate castings and details<br />
3. <strong>All</strong> wheel sets gauged to current NMRA standards<br />
4. Drive wheels sprung<br />
5. Drive wheels equalized<br />
6. Drive wheels both sprung and equalized<br />
7. Ease of maintenance/disassembly<br />
8. Factory painted and lettered<br />
9. Constant intensity lighting<br />
10. Directional lighting<br />
11. LED lamps<br />
12. On steam engines, lighted class lamps<br />
13. Factory Command Control (DCS/TMCC/DCC) system<br />
14. If Command Control equipped, CC with sound<br />
15. If not Command Control equipped, sound cams on<br />
drive wheels<br />
16 Command Control ready<br />
17. Smoke units, steam or diesel<br />
18. Low current, high torque motor<br />
19. Slow speed operation for switching<br />
20. Dual motors in articulateds<br />
21. Dual motors in diesels<br />
22. Written Warranty<br />
23. Minimum radius stated on box<br />
24. Minimum radius no greater than 60”<br />
25. Limited quantity<br />
The blog will keep a real-time tabulation of responses. I’ll<br />
collect written responses and try to give you an update in this<br />
space in the January 2010 issue.<br />
Gift Suggestions<br />
<strong>It</strong>’s that time of year when people start asking “What would<br />
you like for [insert your preferred ethnic holiday season]?”<br />
Supplying an answer is always a risky proposition because our<br />
tastes as O <strong>Scale</strong>rs are pretty specific and unique. So, OST is<br />
here to help you this holiday season. I’ve asked a variety of O<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> modelers 3 questions:<br />
1) If you could buy one book, which one would it be?<br />
Cost limit $100<br />
2) If you could buy one tool, which one would it be?<br />
Cost limit $50<br />
3) If you could buy one model - kit or RTR, what would it be?<br />
Cost limit $150<br />
62 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Nov/Dec ’09<br />
Here are some of the answers I received:<br />
Mike Cougill, Managing Editor OST — Book: Pullman-<br />
Standard Freight Cars 1900-1960 by Edward S. Kaminski from<br />
Signature Press or copies of the Gregg Train Shed Cyclopedia<br />
reprints. “The more info I have for a given project, the more I<br />
enjoy modeling it.”<br />
Gene Deimling, P48 Master Modeler —Book: Steam at<br />
<strong>All</strong>andale, 1998, Canadian Branchline Miniatures (Orillia,<br />
ON) by Ian Wilson; Tool: 7-piece Wiha screw driver set from<br />
MicroMark; Model: Southern Car & Foundry 60’ Harriman<br />
Baggage car kit (Due out before Christmas according to Jon<br />
Cagle).<br />
Tom Thorpe, Benchwork Guru (CurvedBenchwork.com)<br />
— Book: John Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation,<br />
Kalmbach; Tool: Dremel flex-shaft and the new quickchange<br />
mandrels; Model: Any caboose. You can never have<br />
too many cabeese!<br />
Brian Scace, Former Editor OST — Book: A Guide to Modern<br />
O <strong>Scale</strong>, 2nd Ed. or a subscription to your favorite railroad<br />
historical society’s newsletter; Tool: As many straight and bent<br />
forceps as you can get for $50; Model: Any of Mullet River’s<br />
freight car or caboose kits.<br />
Frank Verrico, DCC Guru at Model Rectifier Corp. —<br />
Tool; A pin vise and a set of 61-80 number drills, or a Kadee O<br />
<strong>Scale</strong> coupler height gage; Model; Any MTH Premier Rolling<br />
stock and MTH 2-Rail trucks for converting the rolling stock.<br />
Ted Byrne, PowerUp columnist for OST — Book: The<br />
Story of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 1827-1927 in two<br />
volumes and published to celebrate the 100th birthday of the<br />
railroad in 1928; Tool: Resistance Soldering unit; Model: Old<br />
Pullman curved turnouts 48”/59” or 63”/83”.<br />
Joe Giannovario, Publisher OST — Book: A Railroad<br />
Atlas of the United States in 1946, Vol. 1 Mid-Atlantic States.,<br />
by Richard C. Carpenter (see the review in this issue); Tool:<br />
A digital caliper (about $20 online); Model: Southern Car &<br />
Foundry’s 40’ Harriman RPO.<br />
So, there you have it. Leave this issue of OST around and<br />
open to this page and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get one of<br />
these neat gifts.<br />
<strong>About</strong> Traction Action<br />
I’d like to thank Martin Brechbiel for sitting in this issue for<br />
Roger Parker. Roger is going on hiatus for a couple issues so<br />
we’re in need of a pitch-hitter in the traction column. If you are<br />
a traction modeler and you’d like to try your hand at writing<br />
for a magazine drop me or Mike Cougill a note with a sample<br />
of your writing.<br />
And Finally...<br />
This was a tough year on everyone: modelers, retailers, and<br />
manufacturers, but we seem to have weathered the worst of<br />
the economy. OST has actually increased its subscription base<br />
and we’ve held onto most of our advertisers. Thank you both<br />
for helping us keep this endeavor alive and growing.<br />
For the coming year, we wish all of you good health, good<br />
friends and good times.<br />
Keep Highballin’<br />
u
O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> mth 10-2009.qxp 7/2/2009 3:32 PM Page 1<br />
ANATOMY OF A DIESEL<br />
AVAILABLE IN 2 AND 3-RAIL VERSIONS<br />
M.T.H. Premier Line engines are full O scale models,<br />
1/48 the size of their prototypes. Premier Line<br />
engines, like the ES44DC shown in this ad, are as<br />
detailed as we can reasonably make them, and feature<br />
a large number of added-on details. Premier<br />
engines also come equipped with elaborate lighting<br />
features including flashing ditch lights, lighted number<br />
boards and cab interior illumination.<br />
Look closely at any Premier Line model and you'll<br />
find a combination of superb detailing, prototype<br />
accuracy, rugged construction, and smooth,<br />
dependable operation that is unmatched by others.<br />
SEE IT IN<br />
ACTION<br />
ON THE WEB<br />
FEATURES INCLUDE:<br />
•1:48 <strong>Scale</strong> Modern Diesels<br />
•Equipped With Proto-Sound 2.0 Digital Sound<br />
•Variable Intensity Operating Smoke<br />
•Locomotive Speed Control In <strong>Scale</strong><br />
MPH Increments<br />
•Flashing Ditch Lights & Operating<br />
Horn & Bell<br />
•Operates On AC or DC Power<br />
•Available With Hi-Rail or <strong>Scale</strong> Wheels<br />
•Operate On 3-Rail or 2-Rail Track<br />
www.mthtrains.com/PMdiesel<br />
©2009 M.T.H.Electric <strong>Trains</strong> 7020 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia, MD 21046
PRR CONGRESSIONAL LTD.<br />
COMING 2010<br />
SUPER SCALE<br />
Here comes a very ACCURATE, SCALE model of the PRR GG-1(Smooth Sided #4908-#4913) in 2<br />
Rail O <strong>Scale</strong>. Complete with cab interior detail and working pantographs this powerful GG-1 is made<br />
to pull the GGD 12 Car Congressional Limited train described below.<br />
Less than 50 Engines and sets of cars will be produced in 2 Rail. Many sets have already been<br />
reserved, so don’t delay, 1-800-3RD-RAIL Today. This beautiful GG-1 model will be produced in<br />
LIFE-TIME brass, with two motors and “Quiet Drive” mechanism, directional constant voltage lighting<br />
and fully detailed cab interior with crew figures. $999.95 MSRP.<br />
Look for this exciting offering to arrive in the fall of 2010.<br />
THIRD RAIL DIVISION OF SUNSET MODELS INC.<br />
22 Beta Court · San Ramon, CA 94583 · 925-820-7701 · fax to 925-820-7709 · www.3rdrail.com<br />
FULL LENGTH SCALE CONGRESSIONAL LIMITED CARS IN ALUMINUM<br />
Get the RIGHT cars for the RIGHT Locomotive. Designed to match the 3rd Rail (GG-1 Smooth Sided), these GGD<br />
Aluminum cars will be the first Aluminum cars to have scale length, scale window arrangements, scale interiors with<br />
lots of “Little People” and LED lighting, frictionless needle point axles. These cars will be lighter than previous GGD<br />
Aluminum Cars.<br />
Available in three 4 car sets. Order all 3 sets for a total of 12 cars.<br />
Estimated retail price is $150 / Car.<br />
- Set 1 (observation, coffee shop, kitchen, diner)<br />
- Set 2 (parlor, conference-parlor, 2 coaches)<br />
- Set 3 (3 coaches, parlor)<br />
Made to reservations, contact your dealer or either Sunset Models or GGD to order. Coming 2010.<br />
RESERVE ENGINE AND CARS FROM EITHER 3RD RAIL OR GGD!<br />
GOLDEN GATE DEPOT LLC<br />
231 MARKET PLACE, SUITE 223, SAN RAMON, CA 94583<br />
www.goldengatedepot.com