o Scale Train 18

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EditorBrian Scace

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Advertising ManagerJeb Kriigel

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ContributorsTed Byrne

Gene DeimlingBobber GibbsCarey Hinch

Hobo D. HirailerJace Kahn

Neville Rossiter

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Cover: A Milwaukee Road Hiawatha rolls through a pass on the O Scale layout of the East Bay Model Engineers.

Centerspread: A standard gauge freight rolls by at ground level while a narrow gauge freight traverses a grand trestle on the East Bay Model Engineers’ layout. Both cover photo and centerspread courtesy of the East Bay Model Engineers.

Jan/Feb ’05 - O Scale Trains • �

Features 4 EastBayModelEngineersCelebrateGoldenSpike

O Scale modelers put the finishing touches on over 3000 feet of main-line track. Jeff Heller tells the story

14 BuildingPlasticKitsTools and tips for building plastic kits from William Kendall

19 ModernizeaUSRATenderDo what the real railroads did. Rebuild that tender. Sam Shumaker gives you the dope on how he did his.

22 OScaleInfluencesNot all influences have passed from this veil. John Humphreys is raising the bar down-under at age 35. Neville Rossiter gives us the scoop.

24 BuildingaSmallOScaleLayout–Part1A seven-part series on building a small O Scale layout to fit an apart-ment. Watch as Mike Culham rebuilds his Great Central Railway.

35 BrassBashingaKTMSD40M-2He’s at it again! Roland Marx turns brass into gold.

Departments 10 EasementsfortheLearningCurve–BrianScace 12 TheModernImage-CareyHinch 20 Modeler’sShelf,moreonpp52&53 29 NarrowMinded–BobberGibbs 30 TheWorkshop–NevilleRossiter 38 PoweringUp–TedByrne 40 ReaderFeedback–LetterstotheEditor 42 FineScaleModeling–GeneDeimling 46 ProductNews&Reviews 54 TheGoodOldDays-JaceKahn 56 ConfessionsofaHiRailer–HoboD.Hirailer 58 Buy-Sell-TradeAds 59 AdvertiserIndex 60 EventsListing 62 Observations–JoeGiannovario

Celebrating the art of

1:48 modelingIssue #18Jan/Feb 2005

Vol. 4, No. 1

OST is a proud Member of the Model Railroad Industry Association

� • O Scale Trains - Jan/Feb ’05

On November 1st, 2003, the final spike was driven on the last stretch of mainline on the O Scale layout at the Golden State Model Railroad Museum, home of the East Bay Model Engineers Society. This marked the completion of the Third Division of one of the largest O Scale layouts in the U.S. The layout measures 175 feet long by an average of 30 feet wide with the three divi-sions extending from 36” to over 9 feet above the floor. More than 3000 feet of handlaid mainline provides a pretty respect-able run allowing even the biggest of the Big Boys and Allegh-enies a chance to stretch their legs.History

The East Bay Model Engineers Society was founded in 1933 and is one of the oldest model railroad clubs in the nation. The club started its first layout, in O Scale, in 1934 in the basement

of Hardy’s bookstore in Oakland. EBMES expanded in 1936 and moved to the baggage room of the Western Pacific depot. After a brief move in 1939 to the Key System offices, the club moved in April, 1940, to what would become its longtime home, a Santa Fe warehouse at 4075 Halleck Street in Oakland. For the next 40 years the club built layouts in O, HO, and N Scales.

The O Scale layout was roughly 63x100 feet and consisted of several separate divisions. The Santa Fe Western was the stan-dard gauge railroad, the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern ran trac-tion equipment, and there were two narrow gauge railroads, the On3 Denver and South Park and the On30 Poterville Western.

In 1985 we relocated to our current building, located in Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline in Point Richmond, California. The building was very large, but needed substantial renova-

Jan/Feb ’05 - O Scale Trains • 5

tions. We needed to clean and renovate the interior as well as put on a new roof. Construction of the layouts you see today began in 1989. We opened our doors to the public in 1991.O Scale Today

Today the O Scale lay-out is about 70% complete. The completion of the Third Division marks the last of the major track-laying phase, although some siding and industrial tracks await completion. The track plan is basically a point-to-point schematic, with return loops at each end. A train covers more than 27 scale miles of railroad running from one end to the other. In typi-cal operating sessions, with normal time “waiting in the hole” for oncoming trains, it will take a train two hours or more to go from the Depar-ture Yard through all three divisions and back to the Arrival Yard, without ever going over the same piece of track. That’s a respectable size layout, particularly in O Scale! Yard tracks and sidings are about 55 feet long, allowing us to run some pretty impressive trains.

In addition to the standard gauge railroad, we also have a large area devoted to narrow gauge (On3). Currently about 25% complete, the narrow gauge will eventually have about 250 feet of mainline. Naturally, mining and logging operations will predominate. This area features a large mine structure salvaged from the home layout of Charlie Trombly, a former member of the club, as well as a hydraulic gold mine, something not often modeled.

Construction is also progressing on an extensive traction layout. Roadbed and most of the track is down. Temporary wiring allows limited operation at this time. Eventually the entire traction layout will be wired for both two-rail and overhead operation.Construction

The benchwork is built in the traditional open grid style. The track is built over 1⁄4” x 1” spline sub-roadbed, nine laminations wide, with Homasote roadbed. Virtually all trackage is hand-laid on ties we cut ourselves. Rail is about 35% steel and 65% nickel silver, code 148. Standard radius is ten feet, minimum radius in a few areas is about eight feet. Yards are on a plywood base with Homasote sheet. Turnouts are a combination of Old Pullman kits and scratchbuilt. Some flextrack was used in the passenger terminal. Apparently, no one had a great desire to handlay track while lying prone on their stomach. Switchmas-ter switch machines are used to throw all turnouts. Scenery

Mountain scenery dominates most of the layout. Some of the tallest peaks will tower 16 feet above the floor. Traditional hardshell built over a cardboard lattice forms the foundation. To this, we add hundreds of rock castings made from commercial rubber molds. Some are pre-cast and affixed with a “batter” of Hydrocal, many others are cast in place. You quickly discover that you don’t want to get an itch while holding rock molds in place waiting for the plaster to set!


Color for the rock castings is generally water soluble dyes of various colors applied with spray bottles. The two-fisted gun-slinger approach can color a large area in a short time. Larger areas of soil are painted with a concoction of Latex earth col-ored paints found on the reject shelf at the local hardware store. Soil and rock are collected from natural sources. The mining districts of California and Nevada provide most of the material. We fill coffee cans with actual mine tailings of various colors and textures, screen them and finally attach them to the scenery using Borden’s Concrete Fortifier. This product looks a lot like the glue/water mixture traditionally used, but sets more quickly and is very strong. Loose dirt bonded with this stuff is almost like rock once set, but can be chipped away if necessary.

Hundreds of trees have been planted so far. As with most layouts, many more are needed. Trees are a variety of out-of-the box and scratchbuilt types. A type of dried f l o w e r g r o w s a l l a r o u n d t h e p a r k whe re the c lub i s located, providing a great starting point for homemade trees. In the fall we gather the flower stems, which already look like a t r e e t r u n k w i t h branches, then use 3M Spray Adhesive to add ground foam. T h e r e i s e v e n a b u r n e d - o u t a r e a where a forest f ire swept through, tak-ing out a trestle on the narrow gauge.Power and Control

Our layout is divid-ed into four divisions, Arrival, Departure, Mid-way and Zenith. Each division consists of four or more mainline blocks, plus yard tracks and sid-ings. Each division’s con-trol panel has two cabs, each of which can select power from two local DC power supplies or four global radio controlled (RC) power supplies. Each division block can be assigned to either cab. Our panels are designed to easily allow alternate power systems to be added. Two divis ions now have DCC (North Coast Engineering) in addition to local DC and RC power. We are cur-rently investigating TMCC as an additional control

choice. All power supplies are rated at ten amps to allow opera-tion of long trains with multi-unit locomotive consists.

The layout is equipped with signals over the entire mainline. Currently the signals show turnout routing. Once the wiring upgrade is complete, signals will show block occupancy, allow-ing engineers to drive their trains according to signal aspect. LEDs on the control panels indicate route selection, and opti-cal detectors in a couple of key areas prevent an operator from inadvertently throwing a switch under a train, a lesson we’ve learned the hard way. Structures

Structures on the layout are a mix of kitbashed, kit, and scratchbuilt. We were, fortunately, able to save many structures from the old layout; some are more than 60 years old. It is fun


to recognize a building on the layout in a photograph from an old issue of Model Railroader. Many bridges were also saved and we have been able to incorporate most of them into the new layout. One addition is a massive steel arch bridge that we had custom built of welded steel. This bridge will easily support the weight of a couple of our members.

A large city scene dominates the entrance to the layout building. Many structures are highly detailed and weathered. Over 50 scale vehicles fill the streets, from rundown old trucks to 1970-era muscle cars. Most are from the late fifties to the mid-sixties. A loop of trolley track runs throughout the city. Eventually this will become part of an urban switching railroad servicing numerous industrial spurs. A large stub ended passen-ger terminal dominates the center of the city.Operation

With the panel options we have, several operating modes are possible depending on crew numbers and available equipment. The two main operating modes are Engineer mode, and Dis-patcher mode. In Engineer mode, engineers are assigned trains to drive with RC handheld controls from division to division, with the division dispatchers controlling train movements and setting routes within divisions. In Dispatcher mode, the division Dispatcher handles both dispatcher and engineer roles. Both modes can also function together.

Operation is primarily geared toward our visitors. We try to keep as much action going as possible. Since most of the trains are owned by the members, they tend to stay together with little or no switching of cars. The Departure and Arrival Yards are the two terminals. Basic operation is to dispatch trains from Depar-ture, where they can either run laps of the Departure loop, or be sent up to Midway. As the Midway Yard fills with trains, the Midway operator will begin turning them on the reverse loop and sending them back down to the Arrival Yard. Another loop connecting Arrival and Departure allows trains to return to their original starting position. The Third Division extends from Mid-

way to Zenith, the highest point on the railroad. Dispatchers have a choice of routing trains to Zenith via the Low Line or the High Line. A continuous-run connection allows trains to remain on the Third Division and loop continuously, a great feature when the operating crew is shorthanded. Since we often have


more trains than motive power, occasional engine swaps and light movements add variety. Although very large, the lay-out can actually be run by one (very busy) person. Once routes have been set up on the control panels, it is possible to stand on the upper balcony with an Aristocraft throttle in each hand and loop two trains in opposite directions. Just don’t try to chew gum! There are, however, positions for as many as seven operators. Communications are by radio since the layout is 175 feet long. The building can also get somewhat loud when several trains are running and the viewing aisle is full of visitors.

MembersWe currently have about ten active members in O Scale. We work on the layout every Friday evening, as well as an occasional

Saturday. During the winter months, when the museum is closed, we have more frequent work parties. Memberships are available to anyone with an interest in trains; no experience is necessary. We’re here to have fun! If you are interested in giving O Scale a try, or have some O Scale equipment that needs a little exercise, stop by or give us a call.

Information on visiting our museum is available on our web-site at: http://www.gsmrm.org ◆

Top(l to r): Jim Ambrose, President, with daughter Katie, Dave Johnson, Andy Olson, kid below him-Thomas Ambrose, Marty Campbell, Ed Martinez, Jim Trenkle, Jeff Heller Just Below Bridge (l to r): Mike Leahy, Jeff RoweBottom (l to r): Gene Chamberlin, Fred Sill

THE GREAT SCALE MODEL TRAIN SHOW

And The All-American High-Rail & Collectors Train ShowNew

100’s of tables of scale and hi-rail trains and displays

For details and hotel information about both Showsvisit www.gsmts.com or contact: The Ellicott City Scale Model Railroad Association [email protected]

February 5 & 6, 2005Maryland State Fairgrounds Timonium, MD

All new hands-on clinics!

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10 • O Scale Trains - Jan/Feb ’05

When many of you folks have asked me about my railroad, I usually dug my toe in the dirt and admitted that I was “between layouts”. My 20'x30' Boston & Albany can be categorized as “stored ser-viceable”. Being at my parents’ house, it gets run on the boy’s occasional visit to Grandma’s House (often geared to a trunk full of locomotive reviews I need to get done) and otherwise lies pretty dormant. This is hardly optimal.

Now, over at the Snappy Patter Ranch things are a little different. I often used the fact that there was only about 12x20 feet of space available as an excuse not to build. Upon reflection, however, I found time, not space, to be my most uncom-mon commodity. I’ve listed some of the major time issues, because this may start sounding very familiar to many of you:

• A toddler. I love this kid and feel strongly about spending time playing with him. It’s the Doting Daddy Duty! Add to that some Mommy time (if possible) and you get the idea.

• Maintenance time. This category is more insidious than you might think. Family maintenance chores, maintenance of the estate, honey-do, warehouse store safari, bathe-the-boy (Son! The cat is not a washcloth!), &c.

• A time intensive career. Mine is also somewhat bizarre and unpredict-able. Add to it a couple of classes a year to teach and some scholarly writing here and there, and the bi-monthly editing drill for this august publication along with the six-times-a-year swill I pump, a sample of which you are reading now.

• My career is somewhat transient. I expect to move (yet again) in two years.

So why would anyone in their right mind even think about a railroad under these circumstances? To borrow from the toddler lexicon, “I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!” Let’s look at my “wanna” list, which may be similar to your’s:

I like highly detailed locomotives and rolling stock. I have a pretty nice string of ponies, if I do say so myself, and I want to ride them.

I like mainline standard gauge 1940’s era New England railroading.

I like operation. I also like operat-ing sessions with a crew who has similar

interest. This means switchlists, sched-ules, trainsheets, and all that stuff in a setting large enough to accommodate several folks who have similar interest.

When I’m by myself and can steal a half-hour, I also like to be the “guy at the grade crossing” and just sit and watch a J2 with the “New England States” meet a Berk with an oil train. My boy likes that, too.

If you haven’t noticed, this exercise is starting to look suspiciously like a slightly convoluted version of John Armstrong’s “Givens and Druthers” list, where the giv-ens are our time constraints, and the dru-thers are our desires.

For quite a while now, I’ve been a pro-ponent of several solutions to this time-versus-wanna dilemma. You can build and detail various components of your future dream, such as locomotives, rolling stock, structures, and the like. Modules or dioramas may come next, also with an eye to that wonderful day when you can hook them together into that dream layout after you’ve moved for the last time. Scal-ing back the overall size of the railroad by choosing a shortline, narrow gauge, or traction theme can get you running in a shorter time. Contracting out the actual layout construction or the club venue may get you there, too. I’m still a proponent of all these options.

These are all good solutions for many of you, given what your druthers list pans out to be, compared to your givens. As for me, I’ve built enough rolling stock and struc-tures for the time being. I want to put it all to work. I’ve tried modules and dioramas, and they don’t hold my interest for long, simply because they don’t support my “continuous running” bullet or my desire to operate with friends on my pre-dictated schedule. Shortlines, traction, and narrow gauge just aren’t my mainline New Eng-land thing. I’m not going to pay someone to build it for me just to tear it down in two years. The club venue in my area is strong, but the number of serious operation nuts is pretty weak, and the opportunities for operating sessions are rare.

I’m done whining, now, because there is an epiphany from what is actually a pretty heretical (for the more traditional craftsman-type O Scaler) concept. In the 2004 issue of Model Railroad Planning,

David Barrow has an article explaining his (and others in the NMRA Operations Special Interest Group) “minimalist” con-cept. Like most detail-hound O Scalers, my first reaction was to consign the idea to some lunatic fringe and move on to the other stuff about designing interchanges, signaling, and the other cool stuff that had details and other forms of sex and vio-lence. Meanwhile, I tore out yet another diorama that had ceased to interest.

While finding solace in strong drink, I had occasion to re-read the issue (it was in the bathroom). It occurred to me that, though my reasons were different than David’s, the givens and druthers list was pushing me in a similar direction, so I decided to give this a whirl. Here was an approach that would tax my time the least, yet accomplish almost everything on the druthers side of my list for the two years or so that remained before moving again. I thought about the approach, and came up with my list of traditional things I could live without:

Complex land forms. Accepting table-work rather than open benchwork means that scenery forms would be difficult. The advantage in reduced time of construc-tion, though, is massive. A series of 3'x 8' tables (an O Scale version of David’s “tile” concept) could be hustled about, joined together, and modified with impunity. A whole new configuration can be had with a very minimal investment in time. Bore-dom can be replaced with flexibility.

Scenery and details. The blasphemy of this deletion will probably send the torchlit lynch mob my way again. However, detailed scenery is a real time-eater that could easily consume my two-year window without ever turning a wheel. It had to go.

Non-essential structures. Structures are neatly positioned to define industry loca-tions with things like vehicles and figures placed to help define era and function. None are fixed permanently in location, and all must have a purpose in either the operating scheme, era definition, or as viewblocks.

Really sincere trackwork. Another time eater, easily replaced with flex-track and my existing stock of Roco #6 switches. Roadbed and ballast went by the boards, too. The stuff is robust, nailed down direct-ly to the tablework, and soldered together.

Complex wiring. The rail is the bus, being all soldered. Leads are dropped only to control blocks. All turnouts have groundthrows or mechanical lever controls.

Complex control systems. A conscious choice here. DCC, DCS, TMCC, and all the other letters in the alphabet could have been useful here, but I didn’t want to invest precious time in locomotive instal-


lation, fussing with “speed curves” and other control option minutia, or the main-tenance issues involved.

I chose, as a tacit nod to the prototype world, to represent a portion of the Bos-ton and Maine’s Portland line that shared roadbed with the B&A’s Grand Junction branch to East Boston. This allows me mainline B&M, to satisfy the continuous running provision. The B&A line is mostly industrial switching, swapping cars with B&M in interchange, and allows for an interesting operations scenario in tight quarters. To get to several industries, the B&A must interlock across the B&M main. The coordination issues add operational interest (read play value).

So what have I gained, here? I started construction in September, 2004. By the time you read this, I hope to have had sev-eral folks over for operating sessions. While I had to negotiate for a couple uninter-rupted Saturdays to get it started, most of the construction has been done by steal-ing a half-hour here and an hour there. Time invested in maintenance is minimal, because robustness has taken precedence over finesse. Neatness and simplicity replaced scenery and detail. The tablework “tiles” were all built with masonite skirting and pine facia, so the effect is still visually pleasing. Best of all, I’m up and running in a short time with all the things on my dru-thers list and about 20 months of enjoy-ment still to be had.

So what happens after 20 months? I plan to move the “stored serviceable” rail-road to my new digs, and finish it with all the scenery and details that we love. You see, I’ll (hopefully!) be retired.

Let’s go Exploring! ◆

� Coming soon – SP Sugar Beet Gondola

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Send your articles to OST and get ppaid!We’re always looking for “how-to” and construction articles on all aspects of O Scale modeling. Send your articles and ideas to the publisher and we’ll let you know within a few weeks if it’s

accepted for publication. See our website for Author’s Guidelines or send SSAE for a hard copy.

Envisioning a particular bridge fitting a given space is easy. Designing and building that bridge to fit a given space is the challenge. Commercial kits do not always fit, especially on a curve. It is your railroad, and there is no law to follow in the semi-prototype realm. Just because you like running steam engines doesn’t mean you can’t run a high horsepower Dash 8 around the line when you see fit. Updating your layout to reflect current practices and construction is modeling. There are no limits to the imagination; it’s all based on your experience. Your railroad is your creation and whatever you say goes. That’s what model railroading means.

Next issue we will leave the mainlines for the engine service facility, as we look at a modern BNSF turntable for ideas on how a Class 1 railroad has modernized its service equipment. ◆


Bridge Basics: Modern SpansWelcome to the premier of the newest OST column. As the

name implies, the scope of this column will involve the model-ing of modern era O Scale subjects. We will take a look at what modeling modern era O Scale can involve and how to make an O Scale railroad every bit as realistic and factual as modern life. I hope to show you how your railroad can duplicate as genuine a scene as you can imagine.

For the column opener I want to look at examples of two bridge designs that can be used to bring your trains into the modern era. The first bridge span is clean and simple. However, it does owe its creation to the steam era. In Figure 1, I show a large river inlet that had to be crossed with a double track mainline and still allow for water traffic underneath. In the real world this bridge could not hold the tonnage of even a single train, much less two trains, on its unsupported curved double span. This type of ballasted deck bridge should require several supports along the curved span. The wide spacing of supports was needed to allow for barge traffic to pass under the track into the dock area below.

In the model world, physics can be stretched. The bridge actu-ally supports many times the weight that would be possible in the real world thanks to its model construction materials. A real arch bridge can be designed so that no part of it has to withstand any tension forces. The span of these piers is far greater than would be designed in the real world. Concrete construction is well suited to the arched bridge design. When reinforced concrete is used, a more elegant and sometimes less costly arch can be constructed. What you create with such a project is a feeling of modern main-line railroading brought forth from an earlier era. Whether it’s a 2-8-4 thundering across or the latest AC4400 is up to you. This bridge retains a look of simplicity while expressing the feel of industry and engineering.

The next example (Figure 2) is a design element for straight spans. Actually it is the bridge pier, constructed as a poured-in-place concrete support that makes this bridge’s design current. Its slender straight lines reflect its high strength materials and modern engineering. It is a representation of what a modern railroad would choose for the money, economical, quick, and functional. Combine this pier with wooden abutments to show how a railroad would be modernizing the mainline. A support such as this would work well with the new Atlas (www.atlaso.com) O Scale deck girder bridge.

The concrete pier and curved span bridge construction can be as simple as dimensional lumber, balsa wood or even foam board. For the span bridge, match the same track radius centerline, then add one and one-half inches inside and outside to the radius for cutting. Use Figure 3 as a reference for cutting a curved wood deck. Keep the bridge thickness at no less than two inches with foam construction. For bridge supports, use white pine or foam cut to length and width as required. Using foam, shape and attach the arches from the pier to the underside of the bridge. Finish the materials by sanding to final shape. A bridge built in the steam era and latter revitalized will not need to show its true age. Applying straight concrete color can represent the facade. A light India ink wash (50/50 mix of India ink and alcohol) can be used as a weath-ering effect. A thinned mixture of Floquil Rust can be ran down the sides to show where internal reinforcing steel corrosion may be happening (You’d better get a bridge crew on that!).

Illustrations by the author

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Jan/Feb ’05 - O Scale Trains • 1�

O Scale Trains Magazine presentsA Guide To Modern O Scaleby Brian Scace

Now Available From O Scale Trains Magazine

A Guide To Modern O Scaleby Brian Scace

A Guide To Modern O ScaleFor the first time, here is a guide to O Scale two rail. This book was written by O Scale modelers with years of experience in the hobby and they share that experience with wit and wisdom. We’ll show you how to get started in 2-rail O Scale, what you need and where to get it.

Of particular use is the list of Resourc-es at the end of each chapter.

Get your copy today from your local O Scale hobby shop or direct from O Scale Trains, just $14.95 plus $3 s&h. VISA & Mastercard Accepted.

Here’s a peek at the Table of Contents:1. Welcome, and a little History2. Concept of Operation3. Locomotives4. Rolling Stock and Couplers5. Space Prep and Benchwork6. Track and Track Plans with Joe Giannovario7. Structures and Scenery with Neville Rossiter8. Wiring and Control Systems with Ted Byrne 9. Narrow Gauge with Bobber Gibbs10. Consider Traction 11. Proto 48 with Gene Deimling12. Tools with Neville Rossiter 13. Useful Tables, Tips, and Short Notes14. Sources, Conventions, and Meets15. Glossary of Terms

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Beverage. They’re typical ofstructures found all overAmerica and fit any steam- or diesel-era layout.Best of all, the narrow profilesallow them to be used almostanywhere space is limited—perfect for smoothing the transition from 3-D scenery to printed backdrop.

O Background Buildings Set933-2717 $39.98December 2004

O/O-27 KITNEW

Painted and Ready to Use!

Can’t find a hobby shop near you? Call 1-800-4TRAINS(1-800-487-2467) or visit walthers.com.

Delivery date shown was accurate at press time; for updates, please see walthers.com. ©2004 Wm. K. Walthers, Inc.

2-3/8 x 12-7/8 x 8-1/4" Tall

City Litho Co.

2-1/2 x 7-1/4 x 12" Tall

Black Rock Beverage

1� • O Scale Trains - Jan/Feb ’05

Hopefully some of you, by now, have built a wooden kit after reading my last article (OST#12, Jan/Feb ’04). This time, we’ll look at plastic as a modeling materi-al. Plastic is probably even easier to work with than wood. If, as a child, you ever built a plastic model airplane you already have some idea of how to proceed. Build-ing kits is the easiest way to develop the

skills, not only produce beautiful mod-els, but also to learn to scratchbuild. By observing how the kit manufacturer puts his kit together you get an idea of how to make and attach pieces by scratch, and you gain familiarity with the material and tools.

There are several manu-facturers who offer plas-tic kits for both structures and rolling stock. Also, the availability of plastic detail pa r t s i s phenomena l . Grandt line, Back Shop, Precision Scale, Tichy, and Keil Line are among the manufacturers. Plast ic s t ruc tura l shapes and sheets are available from Evergreen Styrene and Plastruct, for example. Basically, the same tools are used for plastic as for

wood construction: hobby knife, hobby saw, pin vise and drills, needle files/sand paper, squares, plastic nippers, and plas-tic glue. Obviously, the last two are plas-tic-specific tools.

The first thing to do after opening the kit box is to count all of the pieces to be certain that all of them are there. Next read the instructions. As you gain

experience you may decide to depart from the sequence utilized in the instruc-tions. This is usually done to comple te sub-assemblies and to paint some parts prior to attaching them. For your first few kits, I suggest you fol-low the order of the instructions. Next, arrange a workspace that will not be disturbed, and

gather your tools, kit, and other materials together. You’ll know what other materi-als are needed, because you’ve already read the instructions, didn’t you! The InterMountain gondola kit, for instance, advises that a weight be obtained prior to construction. As an inveterate scrounger

I had a sheet of heating duct available. This was obtained for free from some construction scraps. It is serenity produc-ing to have everything available before you start.

It is best to lightly wash all the parts in warm water with a small amount of dish detergent prior to assembly. Mold release agents frequently are still on the plastic, and these agents will ruin a paint job. Paint will not adhere to them. I use an old soft toothbrush to scrub lightly. Then rinse the parts well (since paint will not adhere to soap, either) and let dry.

Years ago, I used a hobby knife or the “bend the joint back and forth” method to remove plastic parts from their cast-ing sprue (the “trees” that the actual parts come attached to). Since obtaining my first pair of sprue nippers, I can’t believe that I ever worked without them. Fine nosed scissors (like nail scissors) or toenail nippers might work at a pinch. Remove only those parts from the sprue that you plan to use right away; this not only prevents loss but also minimizes breakage. Once removed, use a needle file to remove flash and the little nibs or tabs left behind by the cutters. If you will not be assembling immediately, I have found plastic zip-close sandwich bags to be a reasonable way to keep parts proper-ly sorted and to avoid loss. Before assem-bling, check fit the parts. This step saves putting the wrong parts together, and also lets you know if minor adjustments need


to be made. Adjustments can be things like a couple of passes with your file or perhaps enlarging a pre-drilled hole.

Personally, I have all three of the common types of plastic cement; brush-on liquid, syringe liquid, and tube cement. Each of the three types of plastic cement has their own virtues. I think that you will have to try all three and see which you prefer. Occa-sionally I still use tube cement, but generally I prefer the liquid type in a bottle with a hypodermic metal spout. I find this enables me to get the right amount into the joint in the easiest manner. Tube cement works well for me in attaching pieces with large contact areas. With the brush-on type, use an old fine tipped (“0”) brush for application. The brush in the bottle is too coarse for most applications. Since plastic cement will eat away and mar any surface it comes into contact with, the goal is to use as little as possible in just the right place. Once dry, very fine sand paper is used to remove any spills or excess. Sometimes the cement will form a weld-like bead between two pieces. A needle file or an emery board can be used to remove this.

Just like working with wood, it is best to let major glue jobs dry overnight. Rubber bands, clothespins, and wooden blocks can be used to hold parts together and form jigs to ensure square comers. Something as simple as blocks of two-by-four can be utilized. While one section is drying, you can move ahead to complete another section. That way you can have sev-eral sub-sections drying overnight.

Patience is vital, and I have learned not to work on models when I begin to feel rushed. The objective is to enjoy yourself, and not feel any pressure to complete something right now. One virtue of plastic is that, if you do glue the wrong pieces together, you can disassemble the parts and try again. Just add some liq-uid plastic cement to the joint, wait a few moments until it has softened the joint again, and then pull it apart to do over. But, it is better to do it right the first time since cleaning up an error can be difficult; invariably the joint does not separate cleanly, and you will have to dress the edges and surrounding plastic with knife, files, and sand paper. Generally this is better than having to throw a mistake away, however.

Many of the smaller parts of plastic kits are now made in something generically called “engineering plastic”. These types of plastic are not as brittle as styrene, and thus are superior for steps, brake lines, and other small parts that are likely to be bro-ken if the model is roughly handled. These types of plastic are not soluble by ordinary styrene plastic cement, though. CA glue, Epoxy, or Super Glue is needed to attach these bits. I rarely have trouble with the brake rigging since it usually has pins which plug into pre-drilled holes. Use a toothpick, or several tooth picks, to get the CA glue into the hole for the brake rigging, grab irons, and other parts made with this material. Sometimes you will need to use a fine drill in a pin vise to drill out or enlarge the hole to readily accept the part. Usu-ally, if the grab irons are styrene I will bend brass wire into grab iron shape and use it instead of the fragile plastic. Since fragile bits in styrene are read-ily broken when the finished model is handled, I suggest replacing those you can with brass or engineering plastic.

Plastic cars are light and need added weight. Lead stick-on tire weights work

well (Avoid used tire weights, as the brake dust on them is a health hazard- Ed.). They should be placed as low as possible. The floor of a boxcar is good. Sometimes they can be attached under the car and remain hidden by the sills. If you decide to put them inside anything, plan ahead and do so before you close up the model. Another way of adding weight where it does the most good is to replace any plastic axles and wheels with metal. Northwest Short Line makes wheels on axles to replace any sets on the market.

There are several types of paint made especially for plastic. Personally, I have never had any trouble with Floquil, but use your favorite. On your initial reading of the instructions note any areas which you believe would be easier to paint prior to assembly. If possible paint them while still on the casting sprue. The sprue makes a good handle, and by turning it around all surfaces can be reached. If you over-paint any areas to be glued, gently scrape the paint off with the side of a knife blade. Cement will not join painted pieces. Frequently, with things like grab irons or roofwalks, a slip of paper can be placed under the part on the model so that you will not run over while you’re touching up after assembly. Decals are best attached on a gloss finish. Once they are properly attached and dry, a matte clear finish can be applied to give a more realistic appearance.

The models in the photos are a boxcar by San Juan Car Co. and the Intermountain gondola. Both were built following the kit instructions. Excluding drying time, they took about five nights (perhaps ten hours) of work in all. Squares and jigs were used to get square comers. I painted the interior of the boxcar a wood color prior to attaching the roof. That was a whole lot easier than trying to paint the interior of an assembled box. Even the really detailed ready-to-run cars made these days have nothing on these kits. I believe anyone can build one, and you will gain immense pleasure from knowing that you built it yourself.

Hopefully, I have given you a hint at how easy it is to work with plastic. With the above tips, you really should have no problem in building a first-rate model. Beyond kits, plastic sheets and structural forms are available in hobby shops and via mail. You can use them to add personality to your own car. Also, they can be used make kit joints stronger. I find extra bracing is especially useful with structure models. Plastic sheet is eas-ily cut with a razor saw, or by scoring and bending. Once you have built a couple of kits, I am certain that you will be tempted to scratchbuild your own rolling stock, structures, and scenic items. With care, and a little experience, building in plastic is easy. ◆

SunSet ModelS Inc.37 South Fourth Street · Campbell, CA 95008 · 408-866-1727 · fax to 408-866-5674 · www.3rdrail.com

C&O Greenbriers The J-3 (600-604) and J-3a (614)

The C&O J series were named after Virginian Statesmen, Thomas Jefferson (#600), Patrick Henry(#601), Benjamin Harrison(#602), James Madison(#603) and Edmund Randolph (#604), these powerful Northern Locomotives were used for 1st class passenger trains such as the “George Washington” or the “Sportsman”.

These modernized J3 has the headlight on the pilot and is equipped with Baker valve gear.

Any collection is not complete without the “Greenbriers”.

The most famous Greenbrier of them all is #614a J-3a. This model will be pre-sented with the original operating tender.

Sunset Models is proud to present these one-of-a-kind, highly collectible (lessthan20ofeachcab#), superior detailed Greenbriers restored in 1/48th scale lifetime brass. Complete with super detailed cab interior, directional lighting, sprung drivers with steel tires and our exclusive “Quiet Drive Mechanism”. Only$1099.95SuggestedRetail

Reserve your 1/48th Scale Greenbrier Today! Coming in Early 2005.

Photo courteSy of harold Volrath

DOMINION MODELS

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1/43rd

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1941 Packard (White or Gray) by Motor City . . . $275.001954 Studebaker (Green) by Brooklin . . . $85.00


620 Wright Loop Williamstown, N.J. 08094 — 2-RAIL

SS PRR I-1, 2-10-0 Original Unptd (Short Tndr.) $1,120

SS PRR Q-2, 4-4-6-4 F⁄P $1,480

SS PRR S-1 6-4-4-6 F⁄P Shrd ⁄ Unshrd $1500 ea

SS PRR S-2 6-8-6 F/P TDR trucks $850

SS PRR FF2 electric F⁄P $ 850

SS PRR P5a electric F⁄P Modified (baby GG1) $750

SS PRR T-1 4-4-4-4 Baldwin version $1600

SS PRR E-6 4-4-2 Original U⁄P $725

SS PRR N-1 2-10-2 F⁄p $1,150

SS PRR P70, Coach, baggage, F/P int, lights ea. $310

SS PRR G-5 4-6-0 U⁄P $850

SS PRR Q1 4-6-4-4 F/P shrouded $1500

SS B&O 2-8-0 F/P $750

CB PRR E8 Diesel A&B U/P $750

WSM PRR Q-2 4-4-6-4 U⁄P $2,500

WSM PRR M1, 4-8-2 U⁄P Cab detail (NOB) $1,380

WSM PRR M1a, 4-8-2 C⁄P extra detail, by H. Hieke $1,500

SS PRR K4s, 4-6-2 Pre & Post war, F/P $620

Ss B&O S1, 2-10-2 F/P, lots of detail $1,230

ALC PRR K-4 4-6-2 U⁄P Brdway Ltd, Streamlined $1,400

WIL PRR T-1 4-4-4-4 U⁄P 2-railed by Trackside $1,100

WIL PRR L-1, 2-8-2 2-railed by Trackside $750

Gem PRR B6sb 0-6-0 Used, ptd, wthr’d, driver wear $500

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Important notice regarding First Class Mail subscription availability.Many of you have asked us to provide a First Class Mail subscription. Well, your pleas have been heard. Starting with the July issue, we will offer First Class Mail service for $40 a year. We will also upgrade those of you with current subscrip-

tions at $1.65 per issue, but you will have to call the office to find out the exact cost since that will depend on how many issues you have left. So, if you’ve had bad postal service in your area, you may want to upgrade your subscription.

P&D Hobby ShopP&D Hobby ShopP&D Hobby Shop31280Groesbeck,Fraser,MI48026

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PDP2201K-Repowerkit,RedCabooseGP9,P&DbrassEMDBlombergtrucks

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Power or Repower Kits for Red Caboose GPsPower or Repower Kits for Red Caboose GPs

The P&D TWIN TOWER DRIVE for the Red Caboose GP body kit is function-ally equivalent to the P&D power units already available for the P&D F units, GPs, RSDs, and the Weaver FAs, FBs, RS-3s and GP-38s. The Red Caboose power kits provide only the neces-sary power related parts to supplement the Red Caboose GP body kit. These power kits fully uti-lize the underframe (plat-form), deck, air tanks, fuel tanks, motor mounts and screws that are furnished in the Red Caboose body kit. These P&D Twin Tower Drive kits can also be used to repower existing Red Caboose GPs. Two kits are offered: #PDP2200K has plastic Blomberg trucks, while #PDP2201K features the P&D brass Blomberg trucks, which are truly some of the finest trucks on the market. Each kit also includes a power-ful Pittman motor and all the necessary parts to complete the installation. Detailed instructions are included.


In 1918 the United States Rail-way Administration (USRA) took control of America’s railroads as part of the nation’s participation in World War 1. The USRA designed some 18 “standardized” steam locomotives from 0-6-0 switchers up to 2-8-8-2 Mallet articulateds. The New York Central purchased several USRA 0-8-0’s (NYC class U3) from Alco and Lima.

After the war was over and steel became readily available again, the NYC, like many other railroads, rebuilt their USRA equipment to bet-ter meet company needs. For the Central, that included reconfigur-ing the tenders on their switchers, including the U3, to what was called a “clear-vision” design. This allowed

for slightly higher coal capacity and permitted better rear vision needed for switching duties.

Many USRA models have been imported with the as-built stock USRA tender. I started with a Precision Scale Co. USRA 0-8-0 kit, but you could do this with a U.S. Hobbies, Westside, or Sunset USRA tender as well.

I’m modeling a NYC U3c 0-8-0 with a 27-foot tank and the clear-vision bunker. After studying photos and plans, I concluded that the entire deck would need to be rebuilt, the sides cut down and the new bunker made from scratch. Also, the front of the water legs had to changed from round to flat.

I made all the new parts from 0.016” half-hard brass. As there was not quite enough original material to flatten the rounded water

legs, I had to make two extra pieces to finish off this part of the ten-der. A new deck, slope sheet, and new side sheets were made for the narrower coal bunker. While I used the stock tender floor, I made side sills from K&S 3⁄16” U channel. I used a second 1⁄4” channel as the center sill and fitted it with brake rigging. I also used the Andrews trucks from the stock kit.

The rest of the locomotive kit was built using the PSC supplied kit parts unless I found a part that I thought was better detailed, such as the stack from Central Locomotive Works. The locomotive has com-plete cab detail and sliding window sashes. The interior of the cab is lined with Evergreen plastic tongue-and-groove siding to simulate the real wood interior of the prototype. The kit had no tail beam, so I had to make one complete with hex bolts to mount it. I also added ash pan hatch covers. The power train consists of a Pittman 9432 can motor connected to a KTM 25:1 U100 gear box. It runs like a fine

watch.So, all this work

for a lowly 0-8-0 switcher? Well, I cou ldn’t pu t the thing down once I’d started! Besides, there is the satisfac-tion of completion once the project is done. ◆


Below: Carl Cornish built this wonderful O Scale factory from scratch. Carl is offering his kit and custom building services (Timeless Structures) to the general O Scale public. He can be contacted by email [carl9005@

msn.com], or at 1203-C Erin Way Myrtle Beach, SC 29577.

Right and below: Ron Gribler sent this photo of a scratchbuilt hamburger stand with a full interior.


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“WHAT’S NEW?”A Passion for Trains - RR Photography of Richard Steinheimer .58.50A Splendid Ride - Kansas City Streetcars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.50Bangor & Aroostook RR in Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48.00Beaver Valley Railroad Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23.25Boca Grande- Once a Railroad Town - Fischer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27.25Boston Trolleys in Color V1 North Side / V 2 South Side . . . . . . .each 48.00Burlington Zephyrs Photo Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27.25Burlington’s Zephyrs - Zimmerman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.50Canadian Pacific - Stand Fast, Craigellachie - McDonnell . . . . . . .36.00Central RR Co. of New Jersey Steam Motive Power 1935-1956 . . . .27.25Chasing Trains - reprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57.50Chicago, South Shore & South Bend in Color Vol 1 . . . . . . . . . . . .48.00Delaware & Hudson in Color Vol 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48.00Denver Street Railways Vol 2 1901-1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70.00Faster Than the Limiteds - CERA 137 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50.00Florence & Cripple Creek - just reprinted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54.00Follow the Flag - History of the Wabash Railroad - Grant . . . . . . .45.00From Small Town to Downtown- Jewett Car Company . . . . . . . .45.00From the Dining Car - Porterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.00Grand Trunk Western in Color Vol 1or Vol 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . .each 48.00Great Richmond Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.50H 15-44 & H16-44 - F-M’s Distinctive Road Switchers . . . . . . . . . .27.25The Haywire - Manistique & Lake Superior Railroad . . . . . . . . . . .31.50Historic Journeys by Rail Central RR of NJ-Stations, Structures . . . . . .27.25Lackawanna Railroad in Color Vol 3 Transition Years . . . . . . . . . .48.00Lima - A History - Hirsimaki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55.00Locomotive Cyclopedia Vol II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65.00Log Trains of Southern Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39.00Louisville & Nashville Color Guide to Frt. & Pass. Vol 2 . . . . . . . . .48.00Mason Steam Locomotives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48.00Milwaukee Road 261 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23.25Milwaukee Road Pass. Service-Hiawatha to Amtrak-Dorin . . . . .27.25Missouri Pacific in Color Vol 1Era of the Eagles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48.00Monongahela Railway: History & Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.00New Haven in Color Vol. 1 Battle for Profits 1945-61/

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Locomotives - 2 railAtlas..GP-9's..B&O, Erie, WM, SP, ATSF..$339-$379New..C424/C425..EL, D&H, NW, CP, Rdg..$219/389/425RS-1..LIRR, Rut, CNJ, NH, RI, SF, WT, M&E..$325-$359SALE..SD-35, Dash 8, GP-35..selected ones..$299SW's..RRiv, LV, Rdg, Susq, CNJ, DMIR, NYC..$225-$329MTH..New PRR H-3..$669; CNJ P-47 Pacific...$7490-8-0, 4-4-0, Hudson, 2-10-4, H-9, EP-3 electric..callWeaver....K-4, L-1, GG-1, C-630, NKP Berk...callLittle Joe Electric..$735. USRA Light Pacific..$649VO-1000..B&O, CNJ, GN, LV, MILW, PRR, UP, WM..$259SALE..RS-11..CN, CV, CNW, MEC, PRR, SOU..$219RS-3's, U25's, GP-38's..B&M, BN, C&O, CP, CSX, D&H,EL, ICG, LV, L&N, MEC, MILW, NH, NKP. NYC, PRR,Rdg, Rutland, Susq, more..Pwr..$219-$249; Dum..$159Shaft drive RS-3's, GP-38's, FA/FB's..$99-$150

Passenger SetsWeaver..SALE Pullman-Bradleys..4/ $349; 2/ $189New..Troop sleeper, kitchen car, Express, bunk car..$62-$80K-line..80' cars..Amtk, DRGW, PRR, NYC, more..call

Box Cars - 2 railPecos River..NYC, SOU, SP, SF, CBQ, WAB...$35..C&O, B&O, WM, PM, Erie, NKP; UP, SF end door..$45Atlas..40' Wood..P&R, B&O, C&O, CBQ, CNJ, CNW, EJE

NYC, N&W, PRR, Rdg, SP, SSW, WM, B&M, WAG..$47-$5540' Steel..Erie, NH, SP, PRR, NYC, CNW, GN, Susq..$48-$5240' 1960's..Erie, L&N, MEC, PRR, NYC, MILW, B&M..$3050'..NH, RG, BAR, DH, NYC, MILW, MKT, SAL, SF..$55-$57

53'..Aloha, Purina, B&M, BN, CNW, FEC, MP, UP..$35-$5060'..MKT, NS, CSX, B&O, EL, RG, Sou, NW..$39-$49Weaver..ACL, ACY, ATSF, BAR, B&O, B&M, CBQ, CGW,CIM, CNJ, CN, C&O, CP, CV, CR, D&H, DTSL,EL,GN, IC,MEC, LV, L&N, MP, NYC, NW, NH, NP, PC, PLE, PRR, Rut,Sou, SP, TPW, UP, WP, R&N, Rbox, MRL, more..$25-$32

Refrigerator Cars - 2 railWvr/Crown..B&M, CV, CN, NYC, NP, BAR, REA, Hoods,Whitehse, Dubuque, Nrn Refrig, Beers, more..$25-$3257'..BAR, MEC, PA Produce, NW, MILW ..15 roads..$30-$50Atlas..36' & 40'..Custom ptd CNJ..20+ others..$45 and up 40' steel..IC, DLW, NP, ATSF, PFE, BAR, MDT, ART..$51

Covered Hoppers - 2 railWeaver PS-2.. Bakers, Jack Frost, Wayne Feed, PurinaRevere, Goiden Loaf, BN, CBQ, CNJ, CNW, CP, CR, CSXDLW, DTI, EL, LV, NH, NYC, PRR, Rdg, WAB, UP..$25-$32Wvr C'flow or Grain..CR, CP, LV, NYC, PRR, WC,MRL, BN, UP, SP, RI, CNW, MNS, 20+ roads..$25-$29

Atlas..ACF 34'..Erie, NKP, Borax, NH, UP, SSW...$55Cyl..DLW, BN, Trona, NYC, WGrace, GN, PRR..$35-$45Airslide..CNJ, LV, D&H, CSX, PRR, UP, Jfrost..$35-$49

PS-4427..RG, SF, MILW, LV, SOO, Wayne Fd, PRR...$55

Hopper Cars - 2 railAtlas..SALE..Wartime Composite hoppers..$40Fishbelly and USRA 2 bay..15 roads..$40-$47Ore..BLE, CN, DMIR, UP..$27. H21..PRR, NW, PC..$55-$64Weaver..2, 3, 4-bay and Comp..B&A, BAR, B&M, CBQCP, CR, CNJ, C&O, D&H, DLW, Erie, EL, IC, GT, NH, NS

NYC, NKP, NW, PRR, Rdg, SAL, SF, WAB, WM..$25-$32

Tank Cars - 2 railWeaver..Jfrost, GULF, BN, Trusweet, Allied, ADM, ArmyEthyl, Diamond, Hooker, DuPont, Sun,Bakers..$30 -$35

Atlas..60'..Propane, CNTX, GLNX, ACFX, more..$37-$5240'..SHPX, UTLX, Hooker, Staley, Gulf..17 roads..$5550'..ACFX, Olin, Diamond, Hooker, Stauffer..$59

Flat Cars, Stock Cars, MofWAtlas..89' flats..$50-$65. Trailers..$25. Auto Carriers..$85Pulpwood flats..ACL, ATSF, BN, D&H, IC, L&N..$47-$50Front runners......no trailer..$45; With trailer........$67Wvr Flats..DH, Rdg, CN, Erie, LV, BN, TTX, Army..$25-$30Stock..CNW, Armour, RG, PRR, Rdg, Erie, UP..$27-$32MTH..Plows, Cranes, Schnabel, dump cars, etc..callScale signals..1 and 2 head color, PRR, B&O, dwarf,semaphore, cantilever, highway flashers, 20+ types..$20-$50

Gondolas - 2 railAtlas..CBQ, CNJ, GN, MP, NW, NYC, PRR, Rdg..$32Wvr..CNJ, PRR, LV, RI, SF, Rdg, UP, NKP, BM, MEC..$27

Cabeese - 2 rail, 3 rail scaleWvr.. BM, NH, NYC, Erie, LHR, LV, DH, more..$25-$45K-line, MTH..N-8, N5c, NE'rn, Bay w..15 roads..$35-$60Atlas..BN, CR, NKP, RFP, Rut, GN, Chessie, RG..$50-$75

The Public Delivery Track

The Public Delivery Track • [email protected] PO Box 1035 • Drexel Hill, PA 19026610-259-4945 • VISA•MC•DISC•AMEX

The layout was recently displayed at the local model train show here in Perth, where it won “The Best Model Railroad Layout”. John intends to add more modules to Thomson in the future. ◆

LAYOUT NAME: Walhalla Goldfields Railway.SCALE: On30PROTOTYPE: Victorian Railways narrow gauge (Australia)PERIOD: 1940STYLE: Enclosed “shadow box” with fiddle yard.GRADES: None


Text By Neville Rossiter & John HumphreyPhotos by Neville Rossiter

In this issue, Neville Rossiter proves that an O Scale Influence doesn’t necessarily have to be one of our elder statesmen who has held forth for years. Neville introduces us to the work of one of our younger generation of O Scalers, just an average guy who does some very un-average work. Here’s Neville:BACKGROUND:

John Humphrey, at age 35, is a very skilled modeler who has worked with narrow gauge most of his modeling life. He has a very nice Sn3 US layout and has just finished this On30 mod-ule. John is a good friend of mine and, when I asked him if he would let me write an article for OST, he readily accepted. Here is his story.

THE PROTOTYPE:Thomson is on the 30” gauge railroad, which ran 261⁄4 miles

between the towns of Moe and Walhalla in the mountainous southeastern section in the state of Victoria on the East Coast of Australia. This was one of four narrow gauge lines run by the Government of Victoria in Australia. The line was originally opened to support the gold mining in Walhalla, but, by the time the railroad reached the town, the mining had all but ceased. The transportation of timber became the line’s principle out-bound traffic, with stores and supplies the major inbound traffic. Many timber tramways connected with the railroad, providing raw logs and sawn timber.THE MODEL:

So far, John has modeled only one section of the line, the station (depot) of Thomson. The layout is freelance in design, but follows typical Victorian Railways narrow gauge practices.

Walhalla Goldfields Railway

Poly-Fiber foliage.BACKDROP: Custom painted 1⁄8"- MasoniteLOCOMOTIVES:NA Class 2-6-2 (Etched brass and white metal kit from Broad Gauge Models, Australia.2-6-0 (Kitbashed Bachmann On30 Loco)R-T-R Bachmann On30 T-boiler ShaysROLLING STOCK: Australian, Ian Lindsay Models resin kitsCONTROLS: Digitrax DCC, with Soundtraxx decoders in all locomotives.


BENCHWORK HEIGHT: 48" to track levelROADBED: 1⁄8" Masonite glued to a Styrofoam base.TRACK: PECO code 75 HO flextrack (hidden with ballast) TURNOUTS: PECO code 75 HO “medium radius” (Ties have been replaced where visible), controlled by Caboose Industries manual switchstands.SCENERY: Carved Styrofoam, covered with plaster for texture.Woodland Scenics ground foam and real dirt.Australian gum trees (eucalyptus) created using a twisted wire frame, covered in “No More Gaps” with Woodland Scenics


Every so often, something comes along which causes us to make big changes in our lives. This happened to my wife and I at the beginning of 2004. As a result we had to sell our house and move into an apart-ment. The Great Central had to be dismantled, but part of it was saved and sold to a fellow O Scale mod-eler. He will be using it as part of a new layout that he is building.

This then left me without a lay-out and with only a ten foot by ten foot second bedroom in the apartment. The thought of having another O Scale layout seemed to be impossible. I started thinking of going back to HO, but gave myself a great big shake. (What was I thinking, Duh!) The old saying “ If there’s a will, there’s a way.” came to mind and I started working out what type of layout I could build in the area I would have.

I had a couple of choices. I could model the end of a branch line or an industrial switching area. After mulling it over for a while and taking a look around the old indus-trial area near the apartment, the decision was made. An industrial switching layout was for me; it had the type of operation that I liked, local switching.

How was I going to build a lay-out in this small space? After com-ing across some British layouts on the Web, I took a closer look at some of the concepts that the Brit-ish modelers were doing with their layouts in small areas. I read Ian Rice’s book, Small, Smart & Practi-cal Track Plans, from front-to-back and back-to-front several times and decided he had some great ideas that I could use. One of the things discussed was a “cassette” unit as a staging area. This would work for me, as I did not have the space for a yard. We will discuss this, and how I built it, in Part Three of this article.

After lots of doodling and bouncing ideas off the O Scale modelers group and a friend in British Columbia (Thank you, guys, for all your help!), I came up with a

Building a Small O Scale LayoutPart One

Michael Culham

Building a Small O Scale LayoutPart One

Michael Culham


plan for the new layout. It would be U-shaped along three walls of the room. With this in mind I drew up a full scale drawing of the layout with all the track work and buildings marked out. With the drawing in hand I was then ready to build my new layout. Because this will be an O Scale layout built in an area of only 38 square feet that I had to work in, I thought it would be good to share my experience building this layout with you. So over the next year I will, step-by-step, show you how I am building the new Great Central Railway. I hope that it will be helpful to any new comers to this, the “King of Scales”, show-ing them that you do not need a warehouse to build an O Scale layout. Maybe I will show some of you seasoned modelers out there some new tricks that can be used on your layouts.

All great layouts start from the ground and work up, and the GCR is no exception, so this month we will start with the bench work. Now keeping in mind that we were moving to an apartment; sawing, drilling and stuff like that would be out of the question. Bench work would have to be built, somehow, if I wanted a layout. Why not build it before I moved and just move it as well? I could build it as a sectional layout and then take it apart, move it, and reassemble it at the apartment. With only three weeks before moving day, I had to get busy. Luckily I have a great wife who let me spend a couple of days during each of those weeks building my bench work.

I forgot to mention, as well as my layout going into this small room, there would be my computer and its desk, my modeling desk, a filing cabinet, a book shelf and a display case, all this in an area of one hundred square feet. I can hear the laughter now. “No way!” you say!

Well guess what? I did it and I have space to move around in. I could not swing a cat around but two to three people will be able to operate the layout with lots of elbow room and breath-ing space. Now lets get started.Building the Bench Work

As I explained, the layout had to share the room with a lot of other items, so I decided that the computer desk, computer and work desk would go under the layout. This would mean that the bottom of the layout had to be at least 50” off the floor. Therefore, I decided that the top of the bench work would be 54” high, with the backdrop going another 30” above that. This would give me a 11⁄2” clearance from the lowest point on the ceiling.

Next I worked out on the plan for the layout where the break points would be for the sections. Once this was done, I could go

ahead and build the benchwork sec-tions.

The benchwork is built in the standard box frame made of 1x4 clear pine with a 1⁄4” plywood top (Fig. 1), and then a 1⁄4” foam layer on top as my track base. I like using the foam on my layout as it is easy to work with; you can cut and carve it with a sharp knife to make ditches and ponds. However, it will not be added to the layout until after it is set up in the apartment, so it will not get damaged in the move.The Legs

Next I made the legs out of 2x2 and 1x6 for the spacer plates (Fig. 2). Once the legs are made, they are inserted into pockets on the bottom of the benchwork (Photo 1).

The pockets were made of pieces of 2x2 and 1x4 (Fig. 3). These are

Photo 1


screwed into the four corners of one section of the benchwork. Only two legs are required for each sub-sequent section. The leg-less end is secured to the previous sections using 3⁄8” dowel guide pins and 1⁄4” carriage bolts (Photo 2). 1x2 braces are added, running from the legs to the table frame for stability. The resulting structure is free-standing (I can’t fasten it to the walls in the apartment).

Once the frames and legs were made, I assembled them in the back yard of my old house (Photo 3). This got some of my neigh-

bors curious as to what I was doing, and trying to guess what the strange object was that I was building three weeks before moving.The Backdrop

Now that the benchwork was done, I could start build-ing the framing for the backdrop. First, I made uprights out of 1x3. These were screwed to the back of the benchwork so that,

w h e n n e e d -ed, the back-drops could be removed. I then m a d e c r o s s members out of 1x2 (Photos 4&5 and Fig. 4). One thing to remem-ber is that each sect ion of the benchwork will n e e d i t s o w n backdrop frame. In my case, four frames had to be made.

W i t h t h e backdrop frames all made, a sur-face of 1⁄8” hard-board was cut to fit each section a n d s c r e w e d onto the framing

Photo 2

Photo 3

(Photo 6). I then painted the backdrop a sky blue.

Bear in mind that this whole layout was being built in my back yard. At the end of each work session, the layout section had to be disassembled and stored in the garage to be reassem-bled the next time I worked on it. This added to the mystery of the strange thing being built in my yard.The Lighting Valance and Fascia

Now that the structure, legs and backdrop are built, all that is left is the lighting valance and fascia board on the front of the benchwork. The fascia is made of 1⁄8” hardboard cut in strips six inches wide. These are then screwed to the bench work (Photo 7). With this done I started to make the lighting valance.

The valance frame (Fig. 5) is made of 1x2 with a 1⁄8” hard-board face on it. These were also made in three sections, two sides and one center section, so they could be removed. I secured the side sections to the backdrop with shelf hangers. The front section also used shelf hangers to secure it to the side sections. With all the lighting valance and fascia done, it was

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8


time to paint them, and the legs, in a green matching my com-puter desk (Photo 8). With that, the benchwork was considered finished and ready for the apartment. It was disassembled and readied for the move (Photo 9). Layout kit, any one?

The Layout MoveWell, the big day came to move the layout. My friend Trevor

and I loaded it into the truck and headed over to the apartment. The assembly of the layout was done in less than one hour. (Photos 10a-c). It fit like a glove.

Photo 9 It was an interesting experience, building the layout bench-work in a different location from where it was going to be used. I was quite pleased with the outcome. Now that we have moved into the apartment and settled in, I have installed the foam and started the trackwork. This will be the topic of Part Two in this series.

So until next time, Happy Modeling. ◆

1-877-531-5275 TOLL FREE 1-585-334-8810 LOCAL 1-585-334-1003 FAX [email protected] P.O. Box 577 Henrietta NY 14467

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Photo 10a

Photo 10c

Photo 10b



Last weekend, I had to choose between two signifi-cant O Scale events that were scheduled for the same day. One required a ten-hour drive from my home in Canada, and the other meant a six-hour drive. I’m now satisfied that I made the best choice for me, for now, and I’ll tell you why after some preamble.

After I reviewed an RY Models GE 45-ton centercab in Issue #14 of O Scale Trains Magazine, I decided to order a Proto48 version for a dual-gauge modular project I intended to build. Over the next few weeks, however, I began to question my own reasoning. Since my own Northway Railroad is built to NMRA O standards, I began to waffle on the order because I knew that the Proto48 version would be used only occasionally on the modular display and I would not be able to operate it on my home layout. I changed my mind back and forth several times while I pondered the situation.

I have often said that if I was just getting into O Scale model railroading, I’d probably build to Proto48 standards. However, I now accept that I have neither the desire nor the energy to make all the necessary changes to my medium-size layout for the sake of an expensive modification that most people would never know about or appreciate. I also accept that I don’t need to be the world’s greatest modeler to enjoy playing with trains. What I enjoyed most about our hobby when I lived in Niagara Falls was the social inter-action; getting together with one or more friends and operating trains according to the seemingly impossible orders of a demented dispatcher. I enjoyed the challenges, the problem solving, and the working together as a group to complete the shift, and the com-ments and joking about it afterwards while enjoying some refresh-ments and discussing trains.

Since I moved four years ago to my new home, about an hour and a half north of Toronto, I have not heard of any other O Scalers anywhere near my home, but I have considered scheduling a once-a-month open house to try to attract and develop some new enthu-siasts. Finally, early last week, I made my decision and ordered a regular O, rather than the Proto48 version, 45-tonner via the Inter-net. Rich Yoder replied immediately to tell me he could bring it with him to the Cleveland show on Saturday if I was intending to attend. That was when things started to get really complicated.

You see, as much as I enjoy operating my standard-gauge trains, I really love my narrow-gauge trains and I had just rescheduled some events and found that I might be able to attend the 2004 Mid-Hudson On30 Maxi-Meet in New Paltz, NY, on Saturday. I began to make some hurried inquiries on the Otrains and On30Conspiracy mailing lists to see if anyone from the Toronto area was planning to attend either the Cleveland Show or the Mid-Hudson Meet and I was pleased with the immediate response. As founder, owner and moderator of both Yahoo groups on the Internet, I am always amazed at the power, speed and convenience of the home com-puter.

Within hours, I was offered the opportunity to drive for four hours to Churchville, NY, and then ride for another six hours with a fellow conspirator in his vehicle to New Paltz. On the Otrains list, I learned that an old friend from the Niagara area would be driving to the Cleveland Show with room for one passenger, but the most interesting news came from Rich Yoder. He advised that a longtime O Scaler from Ontario was planning to attend and I might want to get in touch with him. Rich told me that this fellow lived in Collin-gwood, ON, but had no idea where that was. To make a long story short, when I drive three miles to the west and cross the Wasaga Beach town line, I enter the Town of Collingwood. After a couple of phone calls, I found myself in this fellow’s large train room, watch-ing his long CP and TH&B trains operating flawlessly around his superb folded dogbone layout.

I was invited to accompany him to Cleveland and if it had been on any other date, I would have jumped at the opportunity. Instead, he agreed to take delivery of my 45-tonner from Rich Yoder and bring it back with him.

NarrowMindedBobber Gibbs

NarrowMindedBobber Gibbs

So, instead of a leisurely ride from my home directly to the Cleveland show, at 6am on Friday I left Wasaga Beach alone and arrived at Churchville by 10. By 10:30 we were back on the New York State Thruway and at 5pm we arrived to join a dozen early-birds at Pasquale’s restaurant in New Paltz. After a leisurely meal, we all went to our host’s home for “vespers” and a renewing of some old friendships. Just before we said good night and retired to our respective motel rooms, we gathered on our host’s front deck and paid homage to O Scale under a full moon that looked like a giant “O”. A dozen modelers gave forth with a hearty group howl that prompted an immediate and sustained response from dogs for miles around. It was a good night that promised a great day to fol-low.

Early on Saturday, we set up in a large and well-lit hall. By mid-morning, about 40 narrow-gaugers were enthusiastically examining O Scale models, kits, DCC equipment, detail parts, structure kits, scenery methods and magazines, trading and buying models and generally enjoying the day and each other’s company. There were several modular layouts and an open offer to test your new equip-ment on those tracks. After lunch, it was pointed out that the large wall clock looked suspiciously like a giant “O” so all 40 attendees joined in for another tribute to O Scale with a rousing group howl that will long be remembered. As promised, I finally introduced the long-awaited “On30 Secret Handshake” to the group and, by 4pm, we were all back on the roads, spreading out in all directions with our new purchases and renewed enthusiasm.

The highlight of the day for me turned out to be the 12 hours in transit that I spent with my new friend, David Wingrove, as we discussed the American federal election, politics in general, some similarities and differences between Americans and Canadians and, mostly, O Scale narrow-gauge trains. To my surprise, David stole the show with his display of about 17 On30 power units that he had recently built, kitbashed or imagineered. His modeling is excellent and his finishing and weathering is exquisite. (see page 53)

Now, I have attended many O Scale, On3 and On2 meets across the continent over the years. I must recognize that there is an unabashed glee and infectious spirit among On30 modelers who, for the most part, are a little less serious about intricate detail and fidelity to prototype while they delight in creating sensational mod-els that look good and operate well. I suggest that there may now be more On30 modelers than standard O, Proto48, On3 and On2 modelers combined and that bodes well for all O Scalers in the future.

See dozens of photos of the 2004 Mid-Hudson On30 Maxi-Meet at: http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/2004_fall_maxi-meet/ and try to attend an On30 meet. You might be pleasantly surprised.

References: http://www.richyodermodels.com/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/On30conspiracy/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Otrains/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proto48/ http://www.oscalemag.com/

Happy rails to you until we meet again. Bobber Gibbs [email protected] ◆

�0 • O Scale Trains - Jan/Feb ’05

In this month’s Workshop, I would like to write about my experiences at the Model Railway Show that was held here in Perth, West Australia. I am not going into details about how I built the layout, but give readers an idea of what is involved in setting up a layout at a show and maybe encourage those who haven’t tried to give it a go.

The show is an annual event, and runs for three days over a long weekend that includes Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There is a day allowed for setting up on the Friday before the event.

This year I entered a layout called the Brooklyn Terminal Railroad (BTR). The BTR is a two-rail modular switching layout con-sisting of seven modules, giving a total of fifty four feet. It is loosely based on one of the many terminal railroads that were once plentiful around New York Harbor.

To move a layout of this size required two autos and two trailers. The trailers are covered, fairly high (we call them furniture moving trailers here in Australia) and can be hired out on a daily basis from your local service station.

On the Thursday night before the show we loaded the trailers, and drove down early on Friday morning to the Perth show-grounds. The floor of the pavilion was already marked out for our space and we proceeded to unload the layout, which took no more than an hour. By midday we had the layout connected and running. The afternoon was spent tidying up and touch-ing up any areas that were missed during construction as, due to the size of the lay-out, it had never been previously com-pletely assembled.

The layout can be controlled with two operators, each having a cab with half the layout under their control. We found that, after a while, we could turn trains around at each end very quickly so that the pub-lic always had something to watch. I think that, with a switching layout where trains are not continuously racing pass the pub-lic, you need to have lots of details to amuse them while they are waiting for a train. This is where the BTR excelled, with all its numerous highly detailed scenes.

Some of the important points for a suc-cessful large switching layout at a show are:

• Have lots of details and small scenes

to amuse the public.• Make the track plan interesting, but

not to difficult, and have plenty of indus-tries to switch so the operators don’t get bored.

• Recruit plenty of operators and help-ers; you can never have enough.

• Check all your rolling stock and locos before the show, especially the couplers. It’s nice to have all Kadees, but I found that Weaver and Atlas couplers were not a great problem.

• I used hand uncouplers (McDonalds’ coffee stirrers), but now I use the new O Scale hand uncouplers from Micro Mark.

• Try to have someone out front talking to the public (I was given that job most of the time!)

• Have some kind of communication between the operators. That way they are not shouting at each other. We used hand telephones and spoke to each other quite regularly throughout the sessions. Next year we will use headsets.

• Every morning, I would be at the pavil-ion early and clean the track with a Cen-treline track cleaner using solvent on the rollers. The loco wheels were also cleaned every morning using the cradle that was in my article in OST #4 Sept, 2002.

• Try and have all turnouts controlled electrically from control panels that are located in front of the operators, as well as many isolated sections for the locos. Dis-regard this point if you are using DCC.

What makes a person want to do this for three days a year?

It’s a great chance to share a large lay-out with your friends that you normally couldn’t set up at home. I really enjoyed the experience and, hopefully, will be back next year. ◆

Jan/Feb ’05 - O Scale Trains • �1

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Sometimes, you just get lucky! Like many model railroaders, I have a wish list for locomotives I am looking for. From time to time, I take a look at the webpages of several brass dealers, always in search of my personal “most wanted” model. On one such list I found a KTM SD45, described as in excellent condition, never assembled or run, unpainted and stored for more than thirty years in the original box. For their age, these old KTM/USH locomotives are very well detailed and scale sized. In my opinion, they are always a worthwhile buy for an advanced modeler as an excellent starting point for a little “upgrade”.

Four days after my order was taken, I got the parcel, the fastest delivery from the U.S. I’ve ever experienced. When I opened it, I saw that the description was accurate. Unbelievable! The parts were still wrapped in the original paper from the Japanese man-ufacturer! The kit, just two major groups with the shell and the frame, was assembled quickly with eight little screws, and the first test run ever for this locomotive was completed. It ran like a sewing machine, fresh out of the box, although with a little gear noise from a lack of lubrication.

Now, it was time for some thoughts about how to do some upgrades. A few modifications to the shell, plus some “add-on” parts, would be necessary to get a nice prototypically correct model. My choice for the paint scheme, of course, was a lease unit, as I wanted to model a prototype currently in service. While study-ing countless pictures in the Internet, I found what I was looking for – a lease unit, still in service, wearing a colorful paint scheme.

Thankfully, the type and position of the hand brake matched the configuration on the model. Most of the SD45s still in service have a brake wheel located on the rear of the long hood, rather than in the short hood position of the KTM model.

The prototype of choice turned out to be CEFX SD40M-2, #2805. An SD40M-2 is really an SD45, rebuilt to SD40-2 standards. Many of the SD45s you find in existence today are rebuilds of this sort. The prototype conversion entails the replace-ment of the old 20-cylinder 645-series prime mover with a new 16-cylinder engine, and the addition of some electronics. These modifications are not visible from the outside; just the stack posi-tion is few inches different from the as-built SD45, because the original prime mover was longer than the replacement. The fuel consumption and maintainability of the old engine was the main reason for the rebuilding.

At one point this locomotive was on a long-term leasing con-tract to, and wore the paint scheme of, the Union Pacific. After the lease ran out, the locomotive was returned to the lessor. The former UP lettering was merely painted over, instead of a complete repainting. Usually the CIT units wear a blue scheme, except their SD90’s which are maroon and silver.

Now I will tell you which parts were replaced and about the “add-ons” to upgrade the model. The model comprises three major assemblies, the shell, the walkway with the front and rear pilot and the frame with fuel tank, air tanks and trucks. Let’s begin with the shell. The modifications are:

• Blanking off the rear number boards, because the CEFX didn’t have them.

• Replacement of the fan housings and exhaust stack with bet-ter castings

• The addition of sunshades, a cab mounted air conditioner

Just out of the box Old/new frame


choice of gear ratio. It is the first belt driven tower of this design that I have used, and I am very satisfied with the construction, durability, and noiseless performance. I intend to use the design for two other locomotives that are still in progress. The motor and slow gearing makes for an overpowered locomotive, but the high torque of the motor allows smooth, powerful slow speeds with-out a flywheel.

The old frame, made of bent sheet metal, was used as a tem-plate for drilling the numerous holes to allow attachment of the fuel tank and shell without any modification. The KTM tank was re-used, but it needed a large “add on” part, the retention tank, which was built from a thick sheet of brass and placed at the rear of the original. The original insulation plate for the truck mount-ings was re-used, as well. Of course, the KTM builder’s plate with the number was re-attached.

Now we turn our attention to the truck side frames. I removed the cast-on lower brake cylinders, which are poorly shaped by today’s standards, and replaced them with Precision Scale cast-ings placed in the later (upper position) configuration. The lower brake cylinder position represents the original configuration found on the prototype in the early years.

Lastly, I changed out the wheels and the axles. The KTM wheels have a tread of 0.172”, and I want a more accurate look-ing tread of 0.145”. Therefore, it was necessary to install new

turned axles in the gearboxes that fit the KTM gears and replace-ment wheels from Northwest Short Line. This is not a real chal-lenge if you have a small lathe, and the KTM components are made to metric dimensions, which makes it easier for me. By the way, in Europe, double insulated wheels are the norm, so a new all-wheel electrical pick up for smooth operation was installed, too.

But, what is a nicely detailed model without the perfect paint job? To get good results takes some effort and patience. Start with a careful and thorough cleaning of the model. In this case, a little detergent and a lot of hot water were used. I always use a primer on my models, as paints sometimes don’t adhere well to brass. My tried-and-true primer over the years is Revell’s Basic Color. You can find it in a good hobby shop catering to plastic modelers. It is available in spray cans or ready-to-use for airbrushes. I can get a smoother surface and a thinner coat using an airbrush. After curing, it is an excellent base coat for my favorite water-based acrylic colors. I started by spraying the shell and the side panels of the walkway assembly with Badger’s UP Yellow. Now comes the rather time consuming task of carefully masking the shell and walkways to prepare them for the next color, UP Grey. I also used UP Grey to paint the fuel tank and the trucks. A good masking tape is necessary, used with a lot of care and thoroughness, as the overspray will find every gap. After the grey is applied, care-fully remove all the masking tape. When the grey is cured, start masking again, this time for the red nose. This is an easy task. A

and antenna board.The air conditioner is a story onto itself. Unfortunately the cor-

rect type for the prototype, a “Vapor” type, isn’t available in O Scale. Only the “Prime” type is offered. The differences between them are significant, so I had to make my own lost wax casting. I started by making a styrene pattern. An HO Scale super-detail-ing part was very helpful to find the right dimensions, because of the lack of prototype drawings. Good pictures are rare, too. After some hours of effort, I was able to produce a nice pattern. A couple of days later, I had the castings (with a few extras for future projects).

The antenna board is of soldered construction, made from lit-tle brass nails and a thin brass plate. I found the needed pictures and measurements in an older modeler magazine.

Next came the walkway assembly. The front and rear foot-boards were removed and, at the front pilot, a “handmade” plow was installed. The plow was mocked up from cardstock to deter-mine the correct size and shape. The resulting pattern was used as a template for the final version. It is interesting to note how many different styles of plows the UP used on the front of their locomotives. The plow itself was then built up from sheet brass and formed to its final shape using a small saw, files, and a lot of heat from a blow torch to soften the brass. Heating the brass to a glow makes it soft like lead for a limited time. As it cools, you can form it into the correct shape. HO modelers are lucky; all types of plows are commercial available.

The frame assembly was where the major work was waiting. I wanted a new one, with better relief, that looked more proto-typical. The new frame was built up using sheet brass and milled L profiles. All parts were soldered together. The resulting frame, with the structural members of the prototype simulated, is much stiffer. That becomes important in positioning the new motor (my usual Faulhaber, in this case the new Type 3257) and the tooth-belt driven center tower. The speed is limited to 55 mph by the

Belt drive

New castings on the long hood

Rear end modifications

Jan/Feb ’05 - O Scale Trains • ��

little more of a challenge is the masking for the anti-glare panel on top of the short hood; it took thirty minutes of masking just for a twenty-second shot of Light Grey. Finally, the entire model was covered in a clear gloss. Once cured, that glossy surface gives you the best surface for decals.

Now it’s time to letter the model. In this case, there is a mix of waterslide decals and dry transfers. I always apply the dry trans-fers to Microscale’ s clear Trimfilm. That way, you can get the cor-rect spacing between letters working on a flat surface, rather than on the complex surface of the model itself. This is much easier than trying to letter a number board on the end of the hood, one transfer at a time! This method allows you to get the spacing right, then handle the transfers like a waterslide decal.

Next step, after allowing the decals to dry, wash the model

Cab and front after reworking The best shot – just my opinion !

with water to remove the remnants of the decal glue. After letting it dry again, apply a couple of thin coats of clear, my choice was Badger’s Clear Satin, on all the parts.

Assembling the model is always the final step in the project. Two blocks of lead came with the unassembled locomotive. In my opinion, that much weight just isn’t needed for a six-axle locomotive, especially with all axles powered. I split them and installed just half the weight. The test runs confirmed the wisdom of this decision.

Though, here and there, I made a few little compromises (I never did change the exhaust stack position) the result is a solid, smooth-running SD40M-2 which looks quite elegant in front of a train of modern freight cars. ◆

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The DCC column has been appearing in O Scale Trains for two years now and it is time to broaden the focus. So we have renamed it “Powering Up”. One reason is that Digital Command Control (DCC) is not the only game in town. If you came to O Scale from HO or N, you are famil-iar with DCC and may even have control equipment that you can reuse for your O Scale layout.

But, if you came from 3-Rail, you are familiar with Lionel’s TrainMaster Com-mand Control (TMCC) and, after reading the series by Don Woodwell in O Scale Trains last year (Issues # 8, 9 and 10), you know it can be converted to 2-Rail using equipment from Train America Studios. If this is your situation, maybe you'll choose to reuse your Lionel controller.

And now, MTH Electric Trains (aka Mike's Train House) has entered the O Scale 2-Rail arena. Their new Proto-Scale 3/2 capability allows locomotives to switch from three-rail to two-rail opera-tion, by means of wheel replacements and power redirection. Their Digital Command System (DCS) thus carries over to 2-Rail. It is newer and so has more features than TMCC and it partly overlaps TMCC.

This is not all good news! Three incom-patible control systems cause confusion in the O Scale 2-Rail world and can pre-vent any one of them from thriving enough to provide all the new capabilities that we might want. So we need to talk more about the controller wars. But leave that for another day.

A second reason to broaden the focus is that there is much more electronic activ-ity going on that is of interest to O Scalers. We have talked about the realistic sound that is available now and track detection that fits nicely with command control, and there is more to say on both those sub-jects.Light Emitting Diodes

But, in this issue, I want to go back to the subject that I have mentioned before, Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). LEDs are tak-ing over the world. You’ve seen those trail-er truck tail lights and the traffic stoplights that are a bunch of dots rather than one big light. You’ve seen the LED flashlights that are super bright and run all night. At

the panel discussion at the recent O Scale National Convention in Washington, I gave out a red LED to everyone attending; that’s how inexpensive they are. The typical reaction was, "What are these things and what am I supposed to do with them?" So I want to gather the information on LEDs into one place.

First, the good news: LEDs are offshoots from the semiconductor (i.e. transistor) industry. An LED is a little plastic blob with light coming out one end and two wires coming out the other end.

The first ones were red, but now green, white, yellow and blue are available. Red

is the least expensive, but all are fairly cheap. The plastic itself can be colored or clear. LED’s can have a plastic lens on the front to focus the light or it can just emit diffused light. The common diameters are 3 mm (called T-1 and about 5.7" in O Scale) and 5 mm (called T-13⁄4 and about 9.5" in O Scale) but other diameters and some square units also exist. So they are almost the perfect size for O Scale signals and lights. LEDs take very little electric power and last almost forever. A typical LED requires about 20 ma. (0.02 ampere) at 1 to 2 volts, but some go down to 2 ma. So you can light all your passenger cars with a small amount of power.

Now, the other news (not bad news really, but needing some care): LEDs are powered by direct current, not AC or DC voltage, so if you connect an LED direct-ly to a battery or train supply, it will be destroyed. Recall, AC voltage reverses polarity, such as a transformer output or the track power when using command control. DC voltage has one polarity as from a bat-tery, or DC train speed controller. Refer to the OST book, A Guide To Modern O Scale, for more electrical background.

A simple LED circuit is a DC voltage source in series with a resistor, to limit

the current, and the LED. In fact, you can make an LED tester this way with a 9-volt battery in series with a resistor to limit the current.

If you do this you will see that the lon-ger wire on the LED is always the + wire and the shorter wire is the - wire. It will not light if reversed. Choose the resistor value by using Ohm’s law: resistance equals volt-age divided by current. In this case we sup-

ply 9 volts and the LED uses about 2 volts, so 7 volts appears across the resistor. For a current of 20 ma. (0.02 amp), the resistance is (9 - 2) / .02 or 350 ohms (actually 330 or 360 are the closest standard values). Often another regular diode is placed backwards in parallel with the LED to protect it in case the voltage polarity gets accidentally reversed.

Command control locomotive decoders typically have special outputs to produce DC for lights, so this calculation would apply there, but check the decoder instruc-tions. Now how do we get the power for the LED on a train layout?

Well we steal a little bit from some other source of power on the layout. Often a convenient source is voltage across the track rails. Then we need to use one or both of two special circuits.

1. A bridge rectifier turns AC voltage into pulsating DC voltage. Then, a fil-ter capacitor smooths it out to relatively smooth DC. The lead marked + is the posi-tive output and the opposite lead is the negative output. The other two leads are the inputs in either order.

Four diodes can also be connected


together to make a bridge rectifier, as shown in Figure 4, but be sure to get the white bands oriented correctly.

2. A constant current limiter accepts DC voltage and doles it out at a controlled rate of current. It works using a resistor placed in series with it and the load (in this case the LED). The limiter

measures the voltage across this resistor and does not let it exceed 1.2 volts. So, if the resistor is 60 ohms, then the current will not exceed 0.02 amps, again calculated by Ohm’s law. In other words, the resistor

value determines the current. The circuit is as shown.The most incompatible situation is that we want to power

the LED from a variable AC voltage such as a Lionel-type train controller. This would also occur with DC train control, which is DC of either polarity depending on the direction of train travel. First we need the bridge rectifier to convert the track voltage from AC to DC. Then, if we do not want the LED to get brighter and

dimmer, we need to use a constant cur-rent controller. That sounds complicated but both these devices are small and inex-pensive. Moreover, several LEDs can be connected in series.

If the AC voltage level is constant, as it would be with track power from com-mand control power, then we can use the same circuit, but it is simpler to replace the current limiter with a resistor. For example,

assume the track voltage was 18 volts AC, the bridge rectifier would use up about 1.5 volts, and an LED would use about 2 volts, leaving 14.5 volts across the resistor .For 20 ma., and using Ohm’s law as above, the resistor would be (18 - 1.5 - 2) / .02 or 720 ohms. If we are lighting an old-time passenger car with four yellow or amber lights (in series of course), then they would take 4 times 2 volts and the resistor would drop about 8 volts and be 8 / .02 or 400 ohms, for which 420 is the closest standard size. If we have variable DC, then the rectifier is omitted and the current control above is unchanged.

Typical bridge rectifiers should have 0.05 amp current capacity and 50 volt reverse voltage capability or more. Examples are Radio Shack 276-1152A or Digi-Key W005GGI or RB1151MS. Current regulators should also have at least 0.05 amp current capacity. Examples are Digi-Key LM317LZNS or the slightly larger Radio Shack 276-1778. Any filter capacitor of at least 50 volt capability and 50 or more microfarads will work. Radio Shack also sells indi-vidual diodes, 276-1101 and LED assortments, 276-1622.

Here are some other experiments:To see how an LED block signal would look, extend the LED

tester circuit above to have two LEDs in series, one red and one green. Then connect a switch across them, simulating the extra contacts on a turnout controller. Switching the electrical switch will switch the LEDs. You can drop small washers over the lights to look more like a block signal.

Two-color LEDs are available, for example, one LED can produce red or green light. Lighting both colors at the same time will produce a yellow light. This could be used to make a single signal block control. Blinking LEDs are also available. They could be used to make crossing gate lights.

Have fun. ◆

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When The Time Comes...Sooner or later (hopefully later than

sooner!) we’re all going to be operating that “great model railroad in the sky” where no maintenance is required, wir-ing never has shorts, no derailments and turnouts always work right (or left). So, what will happen to all that “stuff” you have squirreled away in your basement?

I’m no lawyer, but I’ve been in seri-ous model railroading since 1948. Dur-ing the past 15 years, I’ve been involved in disposing of several O Scaler friends’ equipment and “stuff”. Here are a couple of things I’ve learned in the process:

First - Make a Will! An attorney can do this for you. In it you will be issuing instructions as to the disposition of your estate. Don’t forget that all your railroad-ing stuff is part of your estate, so your will should include instructions as to what to do with it all.

Here’s an example of what can hap-pen if there is no will. In Pennsylvania if there is no will, the estate goes to the nearest surviving relative, or, if there are no survivors, the State. (It doesn’t matter whether or not you like your surviving relative. It could be cousin or someone even more distant.) In our area there was an active O Scaler (and a great friend) who died very suddenly of cardiac arrest. Unmarried, he had no will. The estate went to a sister with whom he had little or no contact and who certainly had no interest in trains. Her attorney, who also knew nothing of model railroading, sug-gested they break all his stuff into three lots, engines, cars, and everything else, and auction it off. I became aware of this situation, called, and said this type of auction will never work as this man had three rooms and a basement full of trains (scale and tinplate), books, pic-tures, papers, and mountains of stuff. They accepted my opinion and got an auctioneer who inventoried everything and held the auction. Unfortunately, the auctioneer was a local man who knew nothing about trains. As a result, brass cars were selling for $20 and the high-est price a locomotive brought was $250. This auction went on for two days. I have no idea as to what the total value received was, but it was only a fraction of what it should have been. The whole episode was a disaster, all for lack of that piece of paper, a will.

Second - Select a friend, or someone

you know is an experienced model rail-roader, to be in charge of disposing all your stuff. (If possible, note their name in your will). Preferably this person should be younger than you and be knowledge-able about your scale. (Probably, if you’re in O Scale, that person should be an O Scaler). [By the way, make sure that per-son knows about this and agrees to it! -Ed]

Third - Have a good inventory, par-ticularly of locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, books and other major items. This inventory should include a descrip-tion of the item, the date you acquired the item, and, if possible, an estimated value (you may be way off base on that one, but take a guess anyhow). An inven-tory will be a major benefit for the person in charge of the disposition. If you don’t do it, he’ll have to.

About twenty years ago a local hobby shop owner said to me, “Do you remem-ber Johnny So&so?” I did, and the shop owner stated that his daughter had called and wanted to know if he could recom-mend someone to dispose of Johnny’s stuff. I called the daughter, found out where she lived, and went to visit her. She had moved everything to her base-ment. Everything was in boxes, neatly organized, but no inventory. Johnny had been an old time O Scaler, from the 1920’s.

A friend and I spent two weeks of eve-nings opening every box and inventory-ing their contents. OH MY!- Parts!, Parts!, Parts! We were like kids in a candy shop! We found several freight cars built by Paul Egolf and hand lettered by George Stock (I wish I could decal that good!), two PRR K4’s built by Egolf in 1929 with wooden boilers, a Hines Mikado, Walther’s Poly-Drives, you name it, it was there. And, oh yes, a complete set of Model Railroader (He was an original subscriber), a com-plete set of Model Craftsman/RMC, plus Railroad magazines dating from the teens until the subscriptions ran out following his death. The upside of this was that we disposed of everything and turned nearly $20,000 to his daughter (and this was twenty years ago).

We had to do the inventory in the above situation, but that list proved to be invaluable. The list became the record we used to record each item, its sales price, what was sold, and, it was a reference for advertising. That inventory made it easy.

If you ever get the chance to dispose of someone’s stuff it can be rewarding. If

you’re doing it for remuneration, play it square, keep good records, and negotiate your terms, in writing, on the front end.

George Eschbach, Penna.Brian writes: This is, on the one hand, a very sensi-

tive subject to many of us. For all of us, however, the proper disposition of our “stuff”, as George calls it, is a responsi-bility we have to our loved ones. We, at OST, would love to hear from folks in the legal profession, whose specialty is in this field, who can expand on this subject for the benefit of us all.

Small Spaces WantedI took up model railroading a few

years ago when I retired and, while N Scale is fine in some ways, O Scale is where I want to eventually go. Your mag-azine is a great source of information and inspiration. The articles of most interest to me, and perhaps to other would-be O Scalers, are the “layout in a small space” type, such as in the current issue. I appre-ciate that the creativity required to design these does not grow on trees, but I hope you can keep them coming because they open one’s eyes to the possibilities for O Scale in modest sized rooms.

Ted Horvath, CanadaJoe says: Ted, we aim to please. Starting in this

issue is a multi-part article on building a layout in a small space by fellow country-man Mike Culham.

Mix Makes MagicI know this is a little late, but I just

wanted to say how much I enjoyed the Tom Mix article about building locomo-tive drivers (OST#13). It answered three questions I have had for some time: (1) Can I make my own locomotive wheels?, (2) What do I make them out of and where do I get it?, and (3) How do you make spoked wheels?

The article really fired up my curios-ity. Now I feel confident about building models of early diesels with strange driv-er sizes and spoked wheels. Thanks! Tom Mix obviously has a lot of talent, and I would love to see more articles like this in the future.

Marty Iftody, Canada

We Asked For ItYou solicited comments in your latest

Observations column (OST#17). Here is my 21⁄2 cents worth. I would support an increased number of pages with the associated rise in subscription rate. As for advertisement - never enough. Have you considered a page of business card size ads for the smaller guys? Would for the


time being consider slightly less content and more ads. I would like to see more how-to articles. A number of these have appeared in the Yahoo group page, such as wiring for the Atlas turnouts, installing Kadees on various manufactures’ cars, 3-Rail to 2-Rail conversions, etc., but OST would be a great place for these types of how-tos.

Norm Delucchi, Ariz.

Mystery Loco Still MysteryJust received Issue 17 and saw Carl

Phillips’ letter about the “Mystery Loco-motive”. No, I am not the builder. I am the fella from Texas who sold the Bill Eldridge estate. I say “sold” cause the last of his steam and Diesel engines were sold at the Southwest O Scale meet in Oklahoma City this past October. I did not see this engine in the estate. As Carl stated, Bill was his own man and did things his way. Carl may have built the engine, but Bill would have lettered it for his own road, The Dakota Texas Gulf.

I had found a lot of correspondence in Bill’s collection that was signed “Carl” and for some time I never knew Carl was. When I advertised the collection for sale, Carl called we chatted about the various engines he built or modified for bill. One of the selling points to all the engines I sold was they ran very well. As Carl said Bill wanted to “run ‘em”.

Now how’s that for throwing more fat in the fire? Aside from the above, this issue had a lot of us here in Hous-ton reminiscing about old times. Seems two of my O Scale friends here were school mates of Jack Amerine who was a reporter for the local newspaper here for a good while. You will probably be con-tacted by one or more of them. We had a good time telling tales, and, yes, he was definitely an influence.

David Ray, Houston, Texas

More Construction WantedYou asked what we would like to see

in the mag. I enjoy late night relaxation reading about well-known personalities and their pikes or models. Also enjoy the historical perspectives about the devel-opment of the hobby in the same way. However, the incentive to buy the maga-zine is construction articles and model-ing tips. Loco construction is pretty well covered by your competitor (although the detailing is not). Again, it’s the modeling that is the incentive.

Each magazine has to find it’s niche to survive and those of us that have been around a while know what the niches are. The topic disappearing from the mags (with probably the exception of

Mainline Modeler) is the construction articles. Have to be a little bit careful about that since all of the mags would say they carry construction articles. I make a distinction among those articles - some talk about doing it and show some (sometimes beautiful) photographs. How-ever, there is a difference between “talk-ing about how to do it” and “doing it”. It’s the latter that is appealing. (No slurs upon our Aussie friend since the photos did show pretty much how to do it in the current issue.)

I’ve enjoyed the modeling tips, i.e., the opening box car door on the IM car - but would like to see more of this. I wouldn’t mind seeing some expanded writing from Gene Deimling, prototype modeling and how to do it (not where to get the info - I know that for things I’m interested in) .

Sure I like to operate, but I like build-ing a lot more.

Bill Becker, WisconsinJoe replies: Finding good construction articles

is one of our priorities, Bill. We’d like to see a lot more ourselves. We’ll be run-ning a “how-to” scratchbuild a steam-era caboose in upcoming issues and also an article on building some steam servicing facilities. If anyone out there is building a project now, take photos and keep notes so you can write it up and share it with the rest of us.

Trolleys Anyone?I want to compliment you and your

staff on your publication, which I have been picking up locally. It is nice to see an O-Scale publication that appears on time and on schedule, and contains a broad spectrum of topics.

I am finally doing some planning and building for my traction system. I was fortunate to have the late Arthur Ford of Middleboro, MA, build a lot of trolleys for me, which will soon be running.

If you are interested, I would be will-ing to contribute a short topic about Arthur and his model building. Arthur was a true gentleman. It always amazed me how realistic his trolleys sounded going on O-scale switch points, just like the real thing.

Roger C. ParkerJoe Replies: Roger, YES, definitely write this up and

send it in. And for the rest of you trac-tions guys, we’d like to see your work, too!

More On Jack AmerineI was running trains with David Ray

yesterday when he showed me the item

in the current issue of O Scale Trains (#17) regarding Delwyn “Jack” Amer-ine. Delwyn and I went back many years beginning with the Boy Scout period of our lives when we bicycled all over Houston to view the railroad scene. We built small switching layouts and had other HO projects together, and when older took a number of trips in search of steam shortlines and other railroads. I remember his Corvette period as well as the hand drawn checks he used prior to the time the banks required machine readable numbers. So I know that you captured his spirit very well.

Since I knew him back when I was still allowed to call him Delwyn, which was even then not his correct name as his birth certificate spelled it Delwin. He simply got tired of dotting the “i.” Once he moved East we didn’t see much of each other. I would drop by on an occasional business trip and every few years he would return to Texas to see his mother. When he died his ex-wife called a mutual friend to inform us of his pass-ing. However, this friend failed to get any of the “where, when, and why” type of information and he had no idea of how to get hold of his ex. The information in your article told us more than any of us knew previously.

Given that, I’d appreciate any addi-tional information you may have regard-ing Jack’s death such as date, place of burial, copy of the obit (if any), etc. There are still a number of active modelers in Houston who remember him who would also appreciate the information.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

George C. Werner, Houston, TexasJoe Replies: George, here’s Jack’s obit from the

August 11, 1998, Philadelphia Inquirer — Delwyn Roger “Jack” Amerine, 63, a draftsman, died last Tuesday at his Cher-ry Hill home of a heart attack. Born in Houston, he had lived in Cherry Hill for 20 years. Mr. Amerine was a draftsman for Hubbard Engineering in Haddon-field, an author and a designer. He was a model-railroad collector and historian. He was active as a Republican. He was a graduate of Southern Methodist Uni-versity with degrees in economics and journalism.


With news and information on Proto48

Building Ladders

When I first started building models in HO, freight car ladders were mostly made from punched brass. They looked better than the printed-on variety found on cardboard sides or the cast-on vari-ety. I started modeling in O when I saw my first All-Nation or Athearn kit with steel punched ladders. They seemed to have some definition to them, not just a flat shape. I realized that the look of O and its detailing potential was huge. In a few years, I started to see differences in prototype designs; all boxcars weren’t the same height or with identical details. This created a dilemma, since you can only get a limited selection of ladders in O. I’ve tried various methods of making ladders until I came upon the technique described below.

The technique involves the fabrication of a simple jig/fixture that permits you to solder together brass wire and square stock. There is nothing revolutionary in my discovery. In fact, I may have seen it described before by someone else, but don’t remember where.

To start with, you will need to get

some sheet styrene or ABS around 0.030” thick, several short lengths of wood and block of pine or similar wood. I make my ladders out of 0.015” diameter brass wire and 1⁄32” square brass bar stock. This will make a ladder that has scale sized rungs of 3⁄4” in diameter, which is what the prototype measured. I chose to use square stock for runners, but you could use milled brass angle stock of a simi-lar size. The angle stock requires a little more care in building the fixture, how-ever. I don’t find the square stock to be objectionable when the completed lad-

der is viewed on the model. The first step is, using a square, to lay out parallel lines on the pine block to guide the place-ment of the wood strips. Let glue hold-ing the first strips dry before you attempt to glue the second wood strip. Insert the brass bar stock to set the proper width. Carefully measure to insure that the bars are parallel. You need to glue a piece of wood across the bottom of the fixture to act as a stop for the rung fixture and to line up the bars. Rung spacing is set by a C shaped plastic jig. I use an engraver to scribe parallel lines in the sheet plas-tic. You should do your scribing prior to cutting out the center section and reduc-ing it to a size to fit the wood fixture. The scribing is best done with a tool like the one sold by Micro Mark. It has a chisel point and actually removes material rath-er than pushing it back like a knife blade does. The grooves will hold the brass wire in place and parallel while you sol-der them to the brass bars. You will likely have to add a shim to the wood fixture to raise the bottom of the wire and plastic

jig to the same height as the top of the brass bars. This avoids any problems with the wire lifting from the jig while you are soldering.

The brass bars may require some minor shaping before you solder them into the final ladder. Some ladders have rounded ends, so look at prototype pho-tos to determine if this is required. It is a minor touch but one that adds realism.

Before you start soldering, you’ll need to clean the brass wire and square stock using emery paper or sandpaper so the solder will flow properly. I use a water-

soluble flux and a small soldering iron. Tin the bars before inserting them in the jig. Tape the wire in the plastic jig and place it over the bars. Apply the liquid flux and tin the soldering iron tip. Try not to get too much solder onto the tip. The trick in soldering is to move quickly and use the

tip of a screwdriver as a heat sink. Press down on the brass strip with the blade as it enters the plastic jig.

You need to move the soldering iron on and off the joint quickly, or it will start melting things and burning the wood. If the brass parts are clean and fluxed, the solder will flow nicely, forming a small fillet around the wire. Once the joints are complete, you can remove the wire from the tape and plastic jig. Trim the wires flush the bars. The next step is to use an abrasive wheel to grind a taper on the wire end. This will give the appear-ance of the prototype. Clean the assem-bled ladder in lacquer thinner. As a final step, I like to drop the completed ladders into a chemical blackener to provide a primer base for paint.

It sounds like a lot of work but it real-ly isn’t. Once the jig is fabricated, the assembly process goes fairly quickly. You can get scale looking ladders that have the right number of rungs and spacing for your next car project. The ladders can take some amount of handling without


fear of breakage. Try this on you next car project. I think that you will like it. Proto48 News

I haven’t mentioned our Proto48 website lately. Check out the site at http://www.proto48.org to find a lot of useful bits of information in our gauge. There are modeling techniques and tips, as well as lots of pictures of equipment and layouts. We carry previous versions of the news section on the website, as well as a complete set of standards and sources for products and services.

As a reminder, The O Scale West (February 24 & 25) and Chicago O Meet (March 18 to the 20th) are coming up. These meets are excellent places to meet others interested in Proto48 and finescale modeling. Both meets normally have side meet-ings on Proto48. Go to the meet websites to find out more details. In the fall, you can go to the Indy show that is hosted by James Canter, an avid Proto48 modeler. Yahoo Groups also offers a Proto48 forum hosted by Bobber Gibbs, OST Colum-nist. You can join the group, learn more about the gauge and possibly be entertained by the mail traffic. Go to http://www.yahoogroupsFinescale Modeling

I would like to showcase a fine modeler and his work. The individual is Stan Schwedler of Phoenix, Arizona. He is the co-owner of Coronado Scale Models. Stan and his brother have been building fine models for many years. In the past, their work has appeared in the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette and Finelines. Stan has been doing some very nice Proto48 standard gauge models in recent years. Two such examples are included in this column. The first is a scratchbuilt model of an early 1900s Illinois River Packet boxcar, and the second is a Southern Railway SU class boxcar. Both cars were done in sty-rene with San Juan couplers, trucks and brake parts. The mod-els were painted and weathered, then subjected to a fiberglass brush to wear down the paint. This technique can be used to represent chipped or worn paint. Lee Gustafson took the pho-tos, during the 2004 Narrow Gauge Convention. ◆

O SCALE WEST

15th Annual Meet

Thur. - Sun. February 24-27, 2005Westin Hotel Santa Clara

5101 Great America ParkwaySanta Clara, CA 95054

408-986-0700

Thursday Feb. 24: videos, layout visits, clinics Fri.-Sat Feb. 25-26: sales/exhibits, contests, layout visits, etc.

Sunday Feb. 27: layout visits

Registration: $25 individual or family, $30 after December 31Table Rentals: $35 each, $45 each after December 31

To receive a newsletter with all the details send an LSSAE to:O Scale West, Dept. 2R

876 Boyce AvenuePalo Alto, CA 94301-3003

See www.oscalewest.com for the latest on the meet, and todownload the newsletter and the registration form.


WWW.EHOBBYTOOLS.COMSerious Tools for Serious Modelers

Visit our website and see hundreds of useful hobby tools: clamps & vises, Dremel tools & acces-sories, drill bits and pin vises, electrical accessories, files & sanding supplies, glues, hobby knives,

magnifiers, pliers, scissors, saws, tweezers and a whole lot more!

EHOBBYTOOLS.COM, 4 Tupelo Lane, Langhorne, PA 19047 • Order toll-free US & Canada 888.469.0404, (10AM -8 PM Eastern)

Mention O Scale Trains Magazine when you order and receive a free pair of needle-nose clamps!

Dremel Cut off disks:20 - $3.50100 - $12.00

Needle nose clamps2 for $2.50. Two or more sets @ $2 each

Swivel-head Pin vise with 4 collets. Holds #80 to 1/8”, $5.00

20 piece drill bit set, #61 - #80, $12.00Diamond tipped, $18

Magnifying visor, 2.2x to 4.8x, with extra 5x loupe, $15.00

It is Fall 1942. The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal rages. The U.S. Loses 9 ships.Coal Goes to War !

The Pennsylvania Railroad H21a steel hopper car. Manufactured by Atlas O, L.L.C. exclusively for the Middle Division.26 car numbers in 4 different PRR paint schemes. Available now in 3 rail and 2 rail direct or through your favorite Atlas O retailer.

www.middledivision.com Middle Division � P.O. Box 332 � New Cumberland, PA 17070 phone 1.866.643.3481

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NEWS: Bachmann Industries1400 E Erie AvePhiladelphia PA 19124215-533-1600 • www.bachmanntrains.com

E-Z Command® Digital Command Control System, MSRP: $95Bachmann Trains has introduced a new DCC system, E-Z Com-

mand® Digital Command Control System. Bachmann has used the latest digital t e c h -nology to bring modelers a DCC system that is easy to use and affordable. E-Z Command® allows model-ers to digitally control speed, lighting, sound, and direction of multiple locomo-tives. E-Z Com-mand® simplifies the programming process with intuitive, main-track programming.

E-Z Command® Systems Features include:• Plug-and-play compatibility with all NMRA-compliant DC

and DCC systems• Digitially controlled speed, direction, sound, and lighting of

multiple locomotives from any manufacturer• Simplified, on-track programming• 128 speed steps for smooth operation• Plug-in wiringThe system has a maximum amperage rating of 1 ampere mak-

ing it useful for On30 and possibly some On3 locomotives, but not for most standard gauge O Scale locomotives. Still, at under

NEWSTrackside on the Pennsylvania Vol. 2, By Jeff ScherbISBN 0-9655365-6-4 Published byHighlands Station, Inc, 2600 S. Parker Rd. Suite 1-211,Aurora Co. 80015 888-338-1700Price: $16.95

Highlands Station, Inc., publishers of Model Railroading magazine, has announced the release of Trackside on the Pennsylvania Vol. 2 - Structures of the Standard Railroad of the World. Printed on 80# paper and 100# cover stock, this horizontal-format (10.875” w x 8.375” h) saddlestitched soft-cover book by Jeff Scherb features newly redrawn PRR plans of trackside structures such as signal & switch buildings, passen-ger stations, combination stations, yard & shop buildings and freight houses. A “must own” for PRR enthusiasts and modelers this book is also a great resource for any modeler interested in scratchbuilding or detailing structures. This new volume is the companion to Trackside on the Pennsylvania - Standard Plans of the Standard Railroad of the World: Structures, Bridg-es, Signals and Signs. Published in 2002, that volume featured redrawn PRR standard plans of trackside structures, bridges & culverts, signals, and signs. This new 96 page book is available now at hobby shops or can be ordered direct by calling toll free 1-888-338-1700.


NEWS: Etched Brass Locomotive PlatesWilbur Epperly1115 Main StBarboursville WV 25504304-736-7765 (evenings) • www.candoplates.com

Wilbur Epperly sent word that he has more etched brass plates in stock now, mostly for N&W and C&O steam, but more are coming soon including ALCO-GE, Baldwin, Lima-Hamilton Diesel builder plates and Baldwin, ALCO and Lima steam locomotive builder plates. Contact him at the address

NEWS: Overland Models3808 W kilgore Ave, Muncie IN 47304765-289-4257 • www.overlandmodels.com

Overland Models is proud to announce the release of a number of new and re-run SD70M/ SD75M/ SD70MAC/ SD60MAC/ SD70ACe and SD70M-2 locomotives all from Elec-tro-Motive Division. This series of models includes the brand new EMD SD70ACe Demonstrator GM71 (OMI Product #CA-1101-1). The SD70ACe and its DC counterpart, the SD70M-2 are EMD’s newest emissions compliant locomotives. These locomotives have demonstrated on the CSX, KCS, and Union Pacific railroads. This winter they will travel into Canada for further testing. CSX has 30 SD70ACe’s on its roster and Union Pacific has just placed an order for 115 units. Overland Mod-els is producing the new EMD locomotives under license of General Motors Electro-Motive Division. The suggested retail price of the SD70ACe shown is $2,299.00. Please contact your Overland Models dealer today for these O Scale two rail mod-els made in Korea by Ajin Precision Mfg.

REVIEW: Milwaukee Road S-3 4-8-4, MSRP $995.00Weaver ModelsPO Box 231Northumberland PA 17857570-473-9434 • www.weavermodels.com

reviewed by Brian Scace

Weaver Models is offering a CMStP&P Northern, in both two-rail and three-rail configurations. This is a brass model of a prototype familiar to those of us who keep an eye on the pre-served steam world, and represents one of a family of similar medium-sized Northerns built by the American Locomotive Company during the late ‘30s and early ‘40s. Close relatives of these engines were built for D&H and Rock Island. Here’s what I saw when I opened the box.

This model is neatly constructed. Major components are built using the techniques we are familiar with, formed sheet brass, coinings, and castings, all assembled into the finished whole in a straight, true, and robust fashion. I must admit that I like the robust feel of modern brass built for the operator seg-ment of the market. Remember the old days when you opened the box and the first thing you did was carefully go through the packing material in search of all the little castings that had

fallen off?Paint is applied very neatly, with crisp graphics and mask-

ing. I, personally, like the idea of rods that aren’t as shiny as the bumpers on a ‘57 Chevy. The rodwork here is shiny, but not that obnoxious chrome color I’ve come to love and paint over as soon as possible. Works for me!

That does bring up a point. I am of the school that says, “If you don’t like something, fix it rather than complain about it.” This is the case with the pilot wheels on my sample. They are undersized by quite a bit. The good folks at Weaver are deal-ing with that on future models, and changing them out on this one is an easy exercise. This also applies to the pilot height. To get the clearances required for three-rail flanges, the pilot deck is set high. Although changing the pilot wheels goes a long way toward visually mitigating this, some of us 2-Rail folk will choose to lower the pilot, as well.

That said, it was time to subject our Northern to Scace’s test-ing methods. I admit, I was approaching this one with some trepidation, as I had found some of their earlier brass engines somewhat buzzy in the gearbox. Not the case here! This one took off smooth and quiet, capably horsing around a respect-able string of freight cars ranging from those that rolled like a dream to those that rolled like a sled. The speed range was quite controllable, using my Controlmaster-20 power supplies. A tip of the fedora is hereby rendered to Joe Hayter, and the cast of thousands at Weaver, for this welcome improvement over ear-lier efforts.

The lighting functions appropriately, with (thankfully) no red markers on the tender. Like other ready-to-run steam, I still rec-ommend a slide switch hidden somewhere to turn off the class lights up front when not needed, which in the “Scale World” is most of the time. There is, also present, a flashing light up front simulating the oscillating warning light found on the pro-totype. Although it doesn’t really oscillate (which would be a difficult engineering task for a production model), it does look neat enough to make the kid in me turn off the room lights and let ‘er rip.

Most of you can now stop reading and make your choices with some confidence. Notes for the Neurotic:

There is room, of course, for the more neurotic among us to noodle this model up with various details and such. First on my hit list are the afore-mentioned undersized pilot truck wheels. I did this conversion on my Weaver New Haven I5 Hudson; it took me about an hour to do, and the effect was striking.

Lowering the pilot may take a little more effort, but it is do-able. Also, some additional details on the all-weather cab/tender area should yield closure of that gap with the accompa-nying “I did that” satisfaction.

All in all, this is a model intended for the operators among us, with good running characteristics, a nice finish and presentation straight out of the box. However, for the crafts-man and inveterate tinker, the model represents a good base for

detailing up to the level of the $3000 world, for the MSRP of $995, a handful of castings, and a little sweat equity.


NEWS: Sunset/3rd Rail37 S. Fourth Street Campbell, CA 950081-800-3RD-RAIL • www.3rdrail.com

Sunset/3rd Rail has announced a number of new models and projects. First up is the NP/SPS Challengers. The NP Z-6 has great detail and is available in three engine numbers: 5100, 5116 and 5120. Only 20 of each number will be made in 3-Rail and ten of each in 2-Rail, coming in late 2004 for around $1600.

Sunset also announced the following projects. If they interest you, please put in your reservation or call your dealer. Produc-tion is based on reservations.

• N&W K-2a Streamlined 4-8-2: The cousin to the famous N&W J. It is often mistaken for the classic lines of the J.

• PRR E-44 Electric Locomotive. An important locomotive to the electrification of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

• Heinz Vinegar and Pickle Car: a fun and traditional freight pair.• CB&Q S-4 Hudsons.

REVIEW: Lionel 0-6-0 saddle tankLionel LLC50625 Richard W BlvdChesterfield MI 48051www.lionel.com


Here’s a somewhat bizarre review, I must admit, but stick with me here. What we have here is an inexpensive way to get a pretty nice 0-6-0T for that industrial switching layout or port diorama. Let’s look at the locomotive, first.

Lionel is producing the li’l guy shown in the photo. The prototype is an Alco 0-6-0T built for the Leetonia and Cherry Valley Railroad Company in 1910. Drawings for this engine are found in Kalmbach’s MR Cyclopedia, Volume One, Steam on page 32. This is a pretty typical industrial sized steam locomotive, which is why it attracted my eye.

For a paltry $99 retail, you can get one of these for your very own. The model itself is quite nice, well built and solid, and follows the drawings admirably for such an inexpensive locomotive. The rodwork is stamped and simplistic, pur-posely loose and a little over-sized to accommodate 3-Rail operating characteristics. It is all there, however, so you can either replace it with castings (that idea is mentioned further along in this review) or darken, weather, and ignore the existing rodwork. They are only available in 3-Rail, however, so a little more subterfuge is called for.

I sent the locomotive to Bob Stevenson (Stevenson Preserva-tion Lines, 2326 230th St., Boone, IA 50036) to see what he could do for us. He came up with a nice conversion kit for it, and sent it back to me. Here’s Bob to explain the details:

“Here is what the modeler will have to do to change out the wheel sets:

1. Remove all of the side rods and main rod using a 5mm socket. Be careful not to lose the metal spacer between the main rod and side rods.

2. Turn the model over and remove the two center-rail pick-ups which are held on with one Phillips screw each.

3. The wheels are held in with a metal plate that has two Phillips screws at the front and two at the back. Take the plate off, and then lift the wheel sets out, being careful not to lose the two very small springs under the center wheel set. The center wheel set is the only one with springs.

4. Reinstall the new wheel sets in the reverse order, mak-ing sure that the axle bearings go into their slots and the little dimple is facing down toward the center of the boiler (engine is upside down while doing this). A drop of Loctite on the threads of the side rod screws will keep them from coming loose when engine is in operation.

“I will be able to offer the conversion wheel sets for $110 including postage by reusing the axles, drive gear and some of the wheel centers. I would only want the wheel sets from the modeler, not the whole engine. If they want me to take the engine apart and reinstall it would cost ABOUT an additional $75 depending on what you come up with for electric pick-ups and the cost and time to install. If the modeler wants to do their own machining and quartering, I would sell the three un-machined wheel center castings for the un-insulated side at $5 each and the six tires for $3 each for a total of $38 including postage. As time allows I want to come up with better looking side rod castings and dummy couplers to install. These changes

would of course cost more.”Once I got the engine back from Bob, it was time to deal

with the AC electrical systems inside. I opened ‘er up, and did a serious circuit-board-ectomy, removing all the electronics and leaving behind the motor (which is a DC can motor mounted on its nose). You electronics gurus might be able to leave some of the stuff downstream of the rectifier in place and figure out how to trigger the built-in whistle with a DCC point or some-thing; I just scooped it all out.

The next issue was pick-ups, formed with spring-brass wire, a couple of dimpled brass discs soldered on the ends for the wheels to wear against, all stuck on the bottom with some epoxy. This works, but is inelegant, so I intend to revisit the mounting using circuit board material screwed to the bottom plate, with the pickups soldered in place. I also couldn’t resist retaining the smoke unit so I can play with it a little later, too.

Bear in mind that my switches (Oh, yeah, turnouts.) are old Roco #6. I had no problem with stalling over this size, but you will have to experiment with any sizes that have longer insu-lated frogs.

What’s left is to mount couplers (plenty of room under this thing to do it!) and put some steps on the beams (a little heavy for my tastes on the front beam, and non-existing on the rear). Updating the headlights and playing with some of the other details will get it up to snuff and ready for a little paint.

As you can imagine, the vertical can motor drive is a little frisky on the high end, but I found the locomotive quite control-lable with my standard MRC Controlmaster 20. There is enough room to control at switching speeds without changing the gear ratios, using modern power supplies.

For something like $200 total, and a little sweat equity that really is a lot of fun, you can have a nice industrial steam loco-motive that isn’t yet another B&O “Little Joe”. Works for me! Hey, Neville, this sounds like the perfect thing for your Brook-lyn Docks, too!


Stevenson Preservation Lines2326 230th StBoone IA 50036Lionel 0-6-0 Conversion Kit


REVIEW: ATSF 3460 class 4-6-4, MSRP: $999.95M.T.H. Electric Trains7020 Columbia Gateway DriveColumbia MD 21046410-381-2580 • www.railking.com

reviewed by Joe Giannovario & Jeb Kriigel

The Prototype In 1938 the Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered six

new 4-6-4’s to the Santa Fe. The first of this new class, 3460, became known as the now-famous Blue Goose, and is the only one of the six to be streamlined. The new M.T.H. 3460 class offering is typical of the remaining five locomotives.

The Santa Fe used these engines in heavy fast passenger service on the main line between La Junta, Colorado and Chi-cago, Illinois. Smaller 3450 class 4-6-4’s traveled the Santa Fe rails from Colorado into California.

In size, weight and power, these 3460 class engines were among the largest of the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement ever built. Their boilers worked at 300 psi and the engine exerted 49,300 lbs. of tractive force.

The drivers were the distinctive Baldwin disc-type at a stag-gering 84 inches in diameter. Tender trucks were distinctive, too, looking somewhat more like Commonwealth six-wheel passenger trucks than typical tender trucks.

Drawings of the Blue Goose appeared in the May 1939 issue of Model Railroader, while more general drawings of the 3460 class were published in the June 1948 MR and in the MR Cyclopedia, Volume 1, Steam Locomotives.The Model

We started by comparing the dimensions of the model against the MR Cyclopedia drawings. We found minor and major differences in wheelbases and diameters. For example, all the truck wheels on the model are 35 inches in diameter. That’s correct only for the pilot truck. However, you can’t really see the wheels inside the trailing truck nor the tender trucks, so this doesn’t make a whole lot of difference visu-ally and saves a bit-o-money in manufacturing costs. The big “uh-oh” is the driver diameter. The model’s drivers scale out to only 77 inches and it is visually noticeable. The rear driver should come up behind the power reverse on the engineer’s side and on this model it’s a good bit below that. Sometimes, it’s okay to use smaller-than-prototypical diameter drivers to give an engine a more massive look, but 7 inches is too big a difference. You notice it right away.

At first, based on the drawings and photos in the MR Cyclopedia, we concluded that several of the details on this model (ATSF #3463) were incorrect, such as whistle place-ment, boiler check valve location and crosshead guides. We went digging online and found several photos of #3463 taken

in Topeka, Kansas. We can say that M.T.H. got most all the details right. The crosshead guides are incorrect but whistle, check valves and the other details appear correct.

The model is beautifully detailed and finished. From a foot away it looks like a brass model with piping, piping and more piping. None of the detail is cast into the boiler; it’s all added separately. The bell and whistle cords are especially nice. The window frames in the cab slide as do the roof hatches, just like we expect of our brass imports. The stack smoke-lifter operates. The pilot is nicely detailed with appropriate hoses. The paint is flawless and the lettering excellent.

On the down-side, the cable connecting the engine and tender is bulky and the gap between the engine and tender is typical of 3-Rail/2-Rail combo locomotives, i.e., too large. The hinges on the smokebox front seem overly large.Performance

This loco came to us brand new and had not been run pre-viously. Since it was the two rail scale version, we placed it on two rail Atlas track, powered her up with M.T.H. DCS and she responded immediately. The loco was run in forward and then reverse at a scale 3 mph on the DCS display. There was no binding or tightness in the running gear. After increasing the power slowly we put her through the paces by running up to 30 mph. No problem at all. Very smooth operation. We added smoke fluid and turned on the smoke unit. Big puffs of smoke synchronized to the chuffs and driver revolutions. Way Cool! The bell was nice and clear but the whistle was basic generic M.T.H. (which is a bit disappointing). The Santa Fe Hudsons probably had a distinctive whistle, as most steam locos do, but we could be wrong.

After running for a few minutes it was time to put the loco to work so we attached a Kadee coupler to the back of the tender (holes and screws are provided). We then backed #3463 up to a mixed freight consist of 32 scale cars and increased the power. The locomotive’s drivers slipped. We could actually slip the drivers. So, in prototypical fashion, we started her out very slowly, pulled out the slack in the train, and increased power until she dug in and took off. Once she got going there was no problem. Great sounds. Great smoke. Great action. We ran the locomotive up to a scale 50 mph and it ran great through the whole test run. It was just pure fun to operate.Overall Impression

If you are an aficionado of ATSF steam, you’ll be very disap-pointed by the too-small drivers. Then you’re stuck with hunting down a Max Gray version of this massive Hudson, if you can find one. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a finely built model of a Santa Fe 4-6-4 that’s pretty close to scale, runs like a Swiss watch, has all the bells and whistles (literally), and costs less than a thousand bucks, this one is for you.

REVIEW: Atlas-O ’37 AAR Box Car and 17,000 gal. Tank CarAtlas-O378 Florence AveHillside NJ 07205908-687-0880 • www.atlaso.com


The good folks at Atlas-O sent me a couple of their new-est freight cars to review the other day, the new 17,360 gal-lon modern-era tank car, and a sample of their re-issue of the Intermountain ‘37 boxcar.

Let’s have a quick look at the tank first. Now, I’m a steam-era guy, so don’t expect a long exhaustive treatise on dimensions. These kinds of cars could get me interested in doing a second era, though. The variety of freight equipment today does hold a fascination for me, and chemical traffic is one of the last bastions

of traditional carload freight today. Besides, I like tank cars as much as you Pennsy and N&W folk like hoppers.

This tank is quite nice. The walkways are of see-through design, and the appliances, such as grabs and stirrups, are robust without being clunky. The wheels are of appropri-ate size for the tonnage rating of these cars, and I like the rotating bearing caps on the trucks, while retaining nice free-rolling qualities. That is an accomplishment.

Our car is painted for ACF. The paint and striping is neatly applied with good masking and coverage. Weight is appropriate, and the center of gravity is low, where it belongs. Atlas’ couplers are installed, and the car behaved very well in a train on my less-than-stellar trackwork. Pushing it through reversed turnouts at far-too-frisky speeds didn’t produce anti-social behavior, either. All in all, a neatly constructed, clean, well-behaved, era-typical modern tank car.

The increase in variety of decent and typical modern cars makes me wonder. Let’s see… CSX spins off the old B&A, a cou-ple of C-425s (Atlas is going to do them!) painted for the resulting new regional road, some power-by-the-hour stuff added in the mix, the current new freight equipment, hmmm.

Meanwhile, back to reality. As most of you know by know, Atlas-O has acquired the molds for the former Intermountain line of O Scale steam-era freight cars. The line included a USRA two-pocket hopper, a composite gondola, a steel PFE-prototype refrigerator, and an 8000-gallon riveted tank car. Arguably the granddaddy of the prototype-neurotic plastic freight car move-ment in O Scale was the Intermountain 1937 AAR steel box-

car. Initially offered in kit form with prototype-appropriate paint schemes and details, these cars were, and are, the benchmark against which plastic freight cars were judged. Some later cars may be “better”, but the Intermountain box has held up to scru-tiny surprisingly well over the last fifteen years or so. My only

real issues with them were the delicacy of the details (the price you paid for styrene ladders and stirrups with appropriately thin cross-sections) and the lack of cut levers.

I knew, as many of us “feared”, that Atlas was going to re-engineer these cars to deal with some of the robustness issues previously mentioned, and I have to admit that I have been somewhat concerned that these cars’ fidelity would take a hit as a result. Still, I couldn’t resist a head-to-head comparison between the sample and one of my own Intermountain kits that I had built years ago. At first blush, my optimism was on the rise. The new version didn’t look clunky at all! Let’s take a closer look with some calipers in hand.

The ladders are comparable; there was not enough differ-ence in cross-section of the rungs to say one was any thicker than the other. I had to make some allowance for the fact that the new car was painted in the orange New Haven scheme, and orange is a notoriously difficult color to shoot thin and get

good coverage (The coverage on our sample is very nice, by the

way). The grabs are a tad thicker, not enough to be obnoxious, and certainly not enough to be sure that paint coat differences aren’t the cause, either.

The brake rigging is just as nice as the old kit. The end detail, brake wheel, retainer, all that good stuff is still just as nice. So, with a sigh of relief that comes with the realization that the car hasn’t suffered (I should have known!), my inquisitive mind quickly asked, “So, what’s new?”.

What is new is that this car is handle-able. All those things that we used to be so careful of have been replaced with metal. The stirrups, just as thin as the old ones, are metal. They’re nice and solid. The ladders and grabs are, too. Weight is appropriately placed for a nice low center of gravity. The car is as solid as any other Atlas-O car, without loss of fidelity. The robustness issues of the Intermountain car seem to be most successfully dealt with.

There’s more. The metal roofwalk on this car is a marked



Buy⁄Sell⁄Trade Consignments

Jim Hackworth

MODEL TRAINS(and Subsidiary JH Consulting)

2631 Edgevale Road, Columbus OH 43221-1113Phone:614-4514517 Fax:6144514557

Email: [email protected] • Web: www.jhmtrains.com

Layaway Available Estates⁄LiquidationsCollection Reductions

LSASE for Complete ListShipping 6% - $6.00 Min., $12.00 MaxOhio Residents Add 6.75% Sales Tax

NEW SERVICE: We can now offer custom painting, finishing and repair. Call, fax, or email for details.

WSM PRR Q2, 4-4-6-4, N/P, OB, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,200.00WSM PRR J1a, 2-10-4, C/P, OB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,950.00WSM PRR M1, 4-8-2, Kleinscmidt Dr, C/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,750.00 USH PRR K4, 4-6-2, Kleinschmidt Dr, C/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,695.00USH NKP 2-8-4, C/P or N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ea $1,350.00MG PRR 2-10-2 N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,775.00 USH C&O 2-8-4, C/P, Runs good, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,375.00MG NYC J1e, 4-6-4, Nice, N/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,375.00MG NYC J3a, 4-6-4, Nice, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,375.00 CB PRR GG1, C/P Tuscan 5-stripe, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,300.00USH PRR M1a, 4-8-2, C/P, OB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,375.00USH NYC L4b, C/P, Kleinscmidt Dr, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,195.00 MG B&O 2-8-8-4, C/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,450.00AN B&O 4-6-0, C/P runs good, NOB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $525.00USH PRR K4, 4-6-2, N/P NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $975.00MG Prr E6, 4-4-2, N/P NOB, can motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,175.00MG SP MT4 w/Icken Gears, C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,895.00USH NYC H10, 2-8-2, Mint, N/P, OB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,475.00 OM NP A5 4-8-4, C/P, Mint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,895.00SS PRR I1 2-10-0, long tender, N/P OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,150.00OM Alco S3, N/P. OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $675.00OM BL2 w/Type B pilot, N/P, OB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $895.00

PSC PRR X28 1-1/2 dr boxcar, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $225.00Weaver PRR M1a, 4-8-2, f/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $695.00MG SP GS5, 4-8-4, C/P, Lites, Nice, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,595.00OM #0277 GP38 w/0 dynamic brake, new, OB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $895.00OM CSX GE AC4400, Just Out, F/P new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,795.00USH B&O 0-4-0, N/P, NOB, w/tender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $525.00SS N&W J 4-8-4 Rebuilt w/Sound, C/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,500.00WSM PRR M1/K4 Tender Only, C/P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $295.00PRB GP15, F/P Chessie, LN, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $675.00GEM PRR A5, 0-4-0, N/P, OB, Ex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $525.00USH PRR I1, 2-10-0, long tender, ptd by Bill Wolfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,450.00OM CSX SD70M #700, F/P, OB, LN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,775.00Custom Built PRR GG1, Ptd Green, 5-Stripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $575.00OL GN 2-D-2 #5001/5002 Set, C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,495.00KTM #705 Panel Hopper C/P NYC, NOB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $179.00OM #0011 UP Ca-11 Caboose, N/P, LN, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $295.00CB PRR P70 Coach, C/P, NOB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $395.00PL#300 PRR R-7 Reefer, C/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $295.00Priester C.Built Morrell Reefers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each $159.00MG #120 TT Flats, C/P PRR w/USH RB Tks(25 available) . . . . . . . .each $129.00MG PRR N8 Caboose, N/P, NOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $250.00Alco PRR N6a, C/P or N/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each $225.00CB PRR N8 Caboose, N/P, OB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $295.00Lionel 13 car NYC Smithsonian set, F/P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALLSunset 14 car Congressional set, C/P, Lites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALLCustom built 5 car Kettle Valley set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL

improvement over the plastic Intermountain one. It is thinner, with a very fine “see-through” grid, and is better than many brass imports, let alone mainstream plastic cars. It is a real improvement.

Atlas’ standard trucks and couplers are installed. The paint and lettering are well done. Assembly is clean and tight. With little or no sacrifice, the handle-ability of these cars is much improved. There are improvements, such as the roofwalk, as well. I would love to see more plain red ‘40s-era schemes in addition to the colorful stuff, myself, much like the original Intermountain schemes.

So now, my issues have been reduced to one. Still, no cut-levers!


Left: Dave Larson’s military train took Second Place (Favorite Train) at the 2004 O Scale West meet.

Middle: John Morely sent this photo from his layout. He must have known our publisher is a Corvette fan.

That’s an auto rack full of 1957 Vettes.

Below: Dover Station, by Walter Olevsky, was scratch built to 1⁄4" scale from Evergreen plastic and commercial castings. The roof shingles are from

Model Tech of Ohio and look and feel very real. The model is freelanced to represent a small suburban passenger station that may have been constructed in the mid 1870s to the latter part of the 1880s. The upper electrical connections (3 separate wires) and the advertising signs date the in-use era to about the

1920's or 30's.


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Two examples of David Wingrove's work. (see Narrow Minded, page 29)


When Joe G. invited me to manage a column on O Scale his-tory, my goal was to afford a space for the exchange of informa-tion, and Ron Morse has stepped up to the plate with material on his favorite locomotive prototype, one which has enjoyed a major role in O Scale modeling almost from the beginning. In fact, O Scale as we know it dates from the same period as the introduction of the NYC 4-6-4 Hudson, although, sadly for the prototype, it has survived much longer. If other readers would like to take a turn as guest columnist, perhaps to offer compa-rable pieces on the PRR K4s or GG-1 or what have you, that is one of ways I see the column’s serving its constituency.Models of New York Central’s Hudsonsby Ron Morse

Breaths there a man with soul so dead that he hasn’t at least once yearned for the chance to see a New York Central Hudson roll down the right of way... anywhere? Well, maybe. At least for me, that would be the dream come true. Although I used to see them on a daily basis (well, I could have) when I was a kid, I still never got/get tired of looking at NYC Hudsons. At one time I had over 20 models in nearly every scale: N, HO, OO, S and O, plus many non-operating “desk” models.

Perhaps the most famous model ever done was the Lionel 700E. The 700E is still the one to compare to when talking about “non-scale” models. Although the past few years have seen excellent models done by other toy train manufactur-ers, the 700E still sets the heart of the toy train collectors beating faster.

Many years ago I did some research on the Hudsons that had been built in O Scale and never did send it anywhere to be published. I thought it was time to update my information and get it out for all to see. A chart is enclosed to do some com-parisons of the older die-cast locomotives. Although there have been several versions of O Scale Hudsons imported in brass since the 1960’s, the old diecast ones are what we are dealing with here.

The Lionel 700E: The first really scale mass-produced loco-motive in O Scale, was the Lionel 700E. Thousands of these 1⁄4” Scale models were built in various configurations, including some with finer flanges for use on the Lionel “T” rail and scale rail. A semi-scale version was also offered (the 763E). The 763E could be had in several versions as well, and the most sought after version of that is the black with scale tender. The most common one was gray with a “Vanderbilt” tender. These were produced in the late 1930s and nothing came close to them until the Hudson Products diecast copy of the 700E came out in the 1960s.

Scale Craft, Chicago, Illinois (known as “Scale Models” until mid-1941): This 1⁄4” scale locomotive seems to have had the least amount of advertising, as I could only find three ads for it in Model Railroader! It appeared in an ad in October, 1934, no photo, no price; November, 1936, no photo or price; and March, 1939, no photo, but a price of $49.50. I do not have a complete set of the 1935 or 1937 MRs so there may have been other ads in that time frame.

Mi-Loco (Lee B Green), Cleveland, Ohio: There were eight ads for this 17⁄64” scale loco in MR between January, 1935 and December, 1935. I could find no other ads for Mi-Loco. The November ad showed a price of $69.50, ready-to-run.

Min-I-Scale, Detroit, Michigan: At least 19 ads for this 17⁄64” scale locomotive appeared between September, 1937 and September, 1939; each pictured the loco and many showed freight and passenger cars as well. It was offered at $55 for the kit and $70 built-up from September, 1937 to May, 1938. From September,

1938 to June, 1939 the price dropped to $47.50 and only the kit price was shown. The ads gave a minimum radius of 36”. One ad read “...castings have the tensile strength of 50,000 psi against cast iron of 26,000 psi”

It is also interesting to note that Scale Craft had many ads for the K4 while only three for the Hudson! All three compa-nies offered freight and passenger car kits. Ads for these compa-nies were also found in Model Craftsman (now Railroad Model Craftsman) but were even less frequent there.

At one time I had models from Scale Craft, Mi-Loco, Min-I-Scale and Lionel on my layout together. There were many dif-ferences between them all. At the present time I only have two of the Lionel Hudsons and they both have been converted to two rail operation and run well. The Min-l-Scale locomotive that I had was never painted and was full of lead; it weighed 26 pounds! This engine had cast-on boiler detail and rivets on the cab. The Mi-Loco that I owned was built to outside third rail pick-up and had a large K&D motor. I had it converted to 2 Rail using a Pittman motor, and it ran well. The tender trucks on this engine had an unusual setup in that the center wheels were on a half axle so that a center mounting screw could be used to mount the trucks to the tender. Pipes were not cast into the boiler but were added by the builder and the cab had no rivet detail. None of these locomotives were offered after WWII.

Pre-War NYC Hudson ModelsManufacturer Scale Dates ValveGear Original price (Notes)Scale Craft 1⁄4 1934-40 Baker $49.50 (4)Mi-Loco 17⁄64 1935 Walschaert $69.50 (2)Min-I-Scale 17⁄64 1937-39 Walschaert (1) (3)Lionel 700E 1⁄4 1938-41 Baker $59.50 kit (5) (6) NOTES(1) I have a catalog dated 9/39 that shows the price of $47.50 kit and $65 built up. See text for other pricing.(2) Appears to have an aluminum boiler and tender shell. The name “Mi-Loco” is cast into the bottom of the pilot deck.(3) White metal boiler and tender shell.(4) Bronze boiler, aluminum tender shell.(5) White metal boiler and tender shells. Early production castings were subject to crystallizing and hard to find in good shape.(6) $75 Built-up in 1939

Present day diecast Hudsons are now or have been made by Lionel, MTH (3-Rail and 2-Rail), Williams and K-Line. Brass models have been made by: USH, Max Gray, Kohs, Overland, Sunset, Westside, Williams, Precision Scale, Weaver, and the Lionel/Smithsonian 1938 streamlined version.

Ron’s contribution reminds us that, until a generation or so ago, model railroading was almost entirely about contemporary prototype. In the early days, Ed Alexander’s modeling of Civil War railroads (and even more his model of the DeWitt Clinton) was very much the exception, and even now, quite early pro-totypes—say pre-1920—are comparatively rare. When model railroading developed into what we recognize as distinct from mere toys (ca. 1935), the NYC Hudson was one of the most recognizable locomotives in the United States, partly because of their ubiquity on NYC named passenger trains, but especially as the power-of-choice for perhaps the very best-known of all, the Twentieth Century Limited. It was no coincidence that early manufacturers thought a model of it would sell well, and not

Guide for the above information; I have found it an enormous-ly useful reference work. It was originally produced by Model Graphics of Waukegan IL in 1973 as a three-volume set, and may still be found for sale at shows, often quite reasonably (I own at least two sets). It is very helpful in the identification of most of the Katsumi production as imported by Max Gray, and then US Hobbies. I wish I knew more about them, but I do know they also reprinted all of the known Max Gray catalog sheets and bound them together (I own one of those) and adver-tised photoetched brass kits for O Scale freight cars. I doubt the latter were big sellers, as their prices for the time were on the stiff side.

The literature on NYC Hudsons is considerable, although a good starting point might be Al Stauffer’s Thoroughbreds (and if you buy one, you will benefit a fellow O Scaler). ◆


just in O Scale. Lionel also offered it in OO, while American Flyer offered Hudsons in both S and in their HO line. I think the first steam locomotive imported by Pacific Fast Mail was the Tenshodo model in HO, just as the prototypes were going to scrap in the mid-1950’s. It is one of the great sorrows of all US railfans that not a one was preserved.

Perhaps the number of early Hudsons still available second-hand in the early 1950’s deterred its being offered in the Inter-national line, but Max Gray chose the J-3 as one of his early Japanese imports, offering it with the twelve-wheel short tender and a choice of Boxpok or Scullin drivers. Later he imported the Dreyfus streamlined version with centipede tender (as used on the Twentieth-Century), and a still-later option of it as de-streamlined. Afterward, US Hobbies also offered the J-1, and still more imports of both of these classes of the Hudson in O Scale have been produced, right up into the present day. It has been and continues to be an enormously popular prototype, even for those who never saw one first-hand.

I might add that I checked my Max Gray Pocket Spotters

The Original EMD “E” Passenger UnitsThe EA, E-1, E-3, E-4, E-5 & E-6 Next to the PA’s the Classic EMD “E” has the prettiest nose in town and that’s the way Key Imports will build them big and beautiful in “O” scale. All units are painted and lettered starting with the original EA on the B&O #51 (A/B) and the Santa Fe E-1 #2 (A/B), the E-3, -4, -5 and the E-6 beginning with the AT&SF down to the Union Pacific and a dozen roads in between. Most are A/B combinations with a few exceptions.*

P.O. Box 1848 Rogue River, OR 97537* Visit our website at http://

www.keyimportsinc.com

Ron Morse’s Hudson: Top model is a Mi-Loco. The bottom model is a Mini Scale.


A great scale movement is underway...York: Just the mention of that place

generates emotion beyond words. As a Hi-Railer I have come to appreciate what many train collectors call “the greatest show on earth”, for it truly is just that. With attendance at 17,000 to 31,000 per event, it is definitely the place to be if you are looking to buy or sell model trains. York is more than just a big train show. It is a mecca that pulls at the hearts and souls of boys and men twice a year.

As a Hi-Railer in transition, York is where I first met people who modeled like me, scale and near-scale locomo-tives operating in a scale environment and running on three-rail track. That is also where I first encountered 2-Rail and heard members whisper, ”Yea, those are two-rail scale” in sort of a reverent tone to the master modelers.

By now, you know I believe that all serious modelers tend to model in degrees. New products and new infor-mation give us cause to rebuild, remake, tweak, and redo a lot of our projects. What we once considered to be good modeling a few years back, we now call mediocre. We are constantly pursu-ing perfection, not satisfied with the way things are and driven to improve. That is what true scale modeling is whether it is 3-Rail or 2-Rail. That very pursuit will be the driving force that will lead some of us to choose scale.

It is quite simply a matter of personal taste. Some very serious modelers are quite content with scale layouts operating on three-rail track. Others prefer to pursue scale fidelity with both a two-rail layout and scale equipment. Beware, nit-pick-ers and rivet counters, there is no right or wrong in this. You model to the degree with which you are comfortable.

York is a place for ideas. Tom Peters wrote a management book a while back called In Search of Excellence. In his book he describes a leadership style that por-trays effective managers who manage by wandering around asking questions. In my search for modeling excellence I enjoy wandering around train shows observing new products and ideas, and

asking questions. York is a great place to search and learn.

As I was looking around in the halls at York this fall I noticed several friends from both the Hi-Rail and Scale sides of the hobby, pursuing their individual search for new ideas. York is not just for tinplate or 3-Rail modelers; (although, at this show most of my 2-Rail friends were traveling incognito, much like my 3-Rail friends were when they attended the O Scale National). We were all modelers who were there to learn.

Some have mentioned that the hobby is dying; others remark that it is in a state of remission (not getting better, not get-ting worse, just staying the same). But, I believe that the hobby is very much alive, just evolving and changing. A great scale movement is underway that will benefit all serious modelers. Just like we don’t model like we use to, we don’t col-lect like we used to. This whole thing of a hobby is just becoming something dif-ferent from what it was. Like one ad says, “These ain’t yer Daddy’s trains”. It is hard to accept change as we get older, and the average TCA York attendee is definitely getting older and wiser (we hope.)

My point is this: York is a great show, with thousands of dealers, thousands of attendees and thousand of ideas. Don’t resist change; go with the flow. Keep an open mind to new methods and products. York is an event like no other. Just the very size of the show generates interest with ideas and concepts about the hobby from manufacturers, even down to the small cottage industries. But most of all, York is a place; a place to meet fellow modelers who share the same passion for this great hobby. Just imagine what would happen if the old lines between 3-Rail and 2-Rail scale actually merged. We would all be called scale modelers. Who cares if you model in 3-Rail or 2-Rail, anyway! Scale and realism is the direction in which we are headed. That old dividing line is fast disappearing. We are crossing over and entering a new age of modeling. Stay turned, for more information is just ahead. ◆

Stevenson Preservation LinesO Gauge Kits and Parts from past

Master ModelersCatalog 2002-1 Price: $1.00

Baldwin Model Locomotive WorksLobaughAdams & SonsLenoirKansas City KitHines LinesAlexanderPearce Tool Co.

Bob Stevenson, 2326 230th St. Boone, IA 50036

T-BONE MODELS

“O” ScaleCUSTOM PAINTING & REPAIR

Dealer for Pacific LimitedSunset & Weaver-

T-Bone Models James Christensen32264 Cleveland

Cottage Grove, OR 97424-9381email [email protected]

541-942-5237Send SASE for information

Schomberg Scale ModelsPO Box 88

Schomberg, OntarioCanada L0G 1T0

905-939-0694

O Scale Detail Parts and

NORM’S O SCALETrains & More

Buy, Sell, [email protected]

41 Roosevelt Trail, Route 302. S. Casco, ME 04077

Ph: 207-655-2550


Send your photos to OST Modeler’s Shelf.See your models in print! Send photos by postal mail or email and we will put them in

the magazine for everyone to enjoy. If you don’t want to end up seeing our publisher’s N&W collection, send something today!

Whitehall HobbiesSpecializing in Brass Locomotives1431 Windrush Circle, Blacklick, Ohio 43004 Voice: (614) 861-0018 - Fax: (614) [email protected]

Key NYC E7 A-A, latest run F/P, new, never run . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2595

Key SP E7 A&B, latest run F⁄P Daylight, new, never run (pair) . . .$2595

Key PRR E7 B unit, F/P Tuscan, buff stripes, new, never run . . . .$1250

PSC SP AC-9 2-8-8-4 Coal 222 R-1 Tender F⁄P - Black Boiler New . . .$3195

OMI UP FEF-3, F⁄P, Road# 844, new, never run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2550

PSC C&O T1 2-10-4, C⁄P, like new condition, reduced . . . . . . . . . . .$1600

OMI UP DD40X F⁄P Road# 6931, like new w⁄Cockerham drive . . .$2250

Kohs & Co ., PRR GG1, F/P #4803, 5 stripe, gold leaf Futura, new, never run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2800

PSC NP Z5 2-8-8-4, F/P Rd# 5006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3295

OMI WM H-9, 2-8-0, C/P by OMI #812, like new . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1150

Key UP Challenger, 4-6-6-4, FP Rd#3977, oil version, two-tone grey, silver stripe . New, never run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3650

Key UP Challenger, unptd, coal version . New, never run . . . . . . .$3195

PSC NYC F12e 4-6-0, 5000 gal . tender, F/P, new, never run . . . . .$1195

OMI N&W J 4-8-4, F/P #611, Excursion Version, new, never run .$1650

Key PRR E8 AA, FP Brunswick Green, gold stripe . New . . . . . . . .$2695

Westside NYC J3a 4-6-4, C/P #5447, streamlined, Boxpok . . . . .$2095

Kohs NYC J3a 4-6-4 F/P #5437, builder's photo edition, 1 of 10 with white tires and running board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3500

Good selection of latest run Key F3 & FP7, most roads AB set . .$2495

Key UP FEF3 4-8-4, unptd, coal version, rare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2495

Key D&RGW L95, 2-8-8-2, F/P #3400, grn boiler, new, never run . . .$3795

PSC D&RGW L-131, 2-8-8-2, FP Rd#3600, black boiler (one of a kind), boiler tube pilot and tri-color herald w/D&RGW spelled out . New, never run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3895

OMI UP FEF-3, F/P #835, w/triple stacks, new, never run . . . . . . .$2550

Key PRR J1 and J1a, 2-10-4, F/P all numbers available . . . . . . . . .$3250

PSC DM&IR M4 2-8-8-4, F/P w/black jacket, Worthington FW s/n1 . . . . . $5000

Fine Arts NYC passenger cars,-never out of box, CALL . . . . . . . . . . . ea $800

Photos are available on request .

—————————

Ask about new unlisted items . We carry nearly every imported brass

line .

Get Started in 2-Rail ScaleRealistic • Accurate • Affordable

Come Discover Modern O-Scale Models at These 2-Rail O-Scale MeetsFebruary 24 - 26, 2005, San Francisco, CA area15th Annual O Scale West MeetLSSAE for information to:O Scale West, Dept. OSK876 Boyce AvenuePalo Alto, CA 94301-3003

June, 2006, Teaneck, NJ area2006 O Scale National ConventionLSSAE for information to:Robert Lavezzi C/O New York Society of Model Engineers341 HobokenCarlstadt, NJ 07072

September 23 - 24, 2005, Indianapolis, IN areaIndianapolis Midwest "O" Scale Fall MeetLSSAE for information to:James Canter, Dept. OSK1203 Rotherham LaneBeech Grove, IN 46107-3323

Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2005, Oklahoma City, OK areaSouthwest O Scale MeetLSSAE for information to:George B. Wallace, Dept. OSK11937 Stratford DriveOklahoma City, OK 73120

June 15- 18, 2005, St. Louis area2005 O Scale National ConventionLSSAE for information to:2005 O Scale National, Dept. OSKP.O. Box 4357St. Louis MO 63123

Look for 2-rail O scale atyour local train shows

2-rail O scale modelers exhibit, and at many shows,set up operating 2-rail O scale layouts.

Visit www.oscalekings.org for links to many 2-rail O-scale sites.This ad runs twice a year, so check it in 6 months for meets that have been added or changed dates.

For an illustrated brochure please send an LSSAE #12 envelope to: O Scale Kings, 304 Christopher Place, Union, MO 63084-2931. Ad sponsored by O Scale Kings and the above listed 2-rail O scale meets.

How To:


Buy–Sell–TradeBuy-Sell-Trade ads are $5 for 30 words plus your address information. Additional words are $0.25 each. Subscribers are permitted one free ad per subscription cycle. All B-S-T ads are prepaid. You may send ads by postal service with a check or money order. Ads sent by email or called in must use a credit card. See our contact info on page 2.

LARGEST INVENTORY INTERMOUNTAIN BUILT-UP GONDOLAS, HOP-PERS, BOX CARS, REEFERS, TANKERS... $39, If you demand INTER-MOUNTAIN quality, buy while they are available. SASE for listings. Phone: 727-391-3135, John Clemens, 5273 97 Way N, St. Peters-burg, FL 33708-3752

PACIFIC LIMITED First run USRA box cars arrived in the following road names: Southern Pacific, Milwaukee, C&NW, Clinchfield, Ann Arbor, RDG, D&H, NYC, RF&P, CNJ, Maine Central. SASE Listings. Ph: 727-391-3135. John Clemens, 5273 97 Way N, St. Petersburg, FL 33708-3752

INTERMOUNTAIN BUILT-UP CARS - Gondolas: CB&Q, C&O, NYC, SP, MoPac, PRR, SL&SF; Box cars, refrigerators, hoppers, tankers, $39 plus $10 shipping. SASE for three pages of listings. Phone: 727-391-3135, John Clemens, 5273 97 Way N, St. Petersburg, FL 33708-3752

FOR SALE: O Scale brass etched C&O and N&W, round, oval and rect-angular number plates. Ten different builder’s plates like Lima, Baldwin, Alco,and Rodgers. Geo Washington Cameo, cylinder stars, 2 superheat-er and B&O Capitol Dome logo and much more. Call 304-736-7765 evenings, or go to www.candoplates.com. Wilbur Epperly, 1115 Main St, Barboursville, WV 25504-1504

WANTED: Father with two young boys is looking for moderately priced rolling stock, structure, and trackwork kits to introduce the boys to O Scale. Call Dave at 805-685-3257.

FOR SALE: 2-6-6-6 C&O Allegheny #1604, MTH 2 rail, no plastic, never run. With or w/o oak and acrylic show case: $975 plus shipping. Bruce Jahn, 925-455-9409, [email protected]

FOR SALE: 3rd Rail, all items like new in original boxes. PRR N1,

2-10-2, 2-Rail, #9860, $1200; ATSF 2-10-4, 2-Rail, #5022, $1300; PRR T1, 4-4-4-4, 2-Rail, #5511, $1400; PRR J1a, 2-10-4, 3-Rail, #6443, $1500; PRR I-1 2-10-0 w/long tender, 3-Rail, $1100; PRR I-1, 2-10-0 w/short tender, 3-Rail, $1000; PRR Q1 4-6-4-4, 2-Rail, #9860, $1500, PRR P5 Boxcab, 3-Rail, #4703, $500; PRR/BM 62 Commuter car, baggage, 2-Rail, #5205, $275; PRR/BM 54 Commuter car, com-bine, 2-Rail, #4552, $275; PRR/BM 54 Commuter car, passenger, 2-Rail, #496, $275; PRR/BM 54 Commuter car, passenger, 2-Rail, #465, $275; PRR/BM 54 Commuter car, passenger, 2-Rail, #130, $275. Sunset PRR E6, 4-4-2, 2-Rail, #460, $700. Dennis Bagby, 2233 N. Suree Ellen Ln, Altadena, CA 91001

FOR SALE: Rich Yoder PRR GLa and GLca hoppers, $179; H21a’s $189; Speeder, painted, motorized, $249; Overland H31c hopper, $185; Pacific Limited H21a hoppers, $225, H22a $259. Contact Jim, 410-584-7737, [email protected]

WANTED: Reasonably priced set of 3 US Hobbies Scullin Disc drivers for J3a Hudson as well as a Gloor Craft Coaling Tower kit and Seuthe smoke unit(s). Email: [email protected], 973-743-4855, Dennis Hultay, 40 Clark Ave, Bloomfield, NJ 07003-3713

WANTED: CLW PA/B body, Acme, Ace Exacta passenger trucks. Always interested in parts collections, basket cases, etc. Ph: 440-417-1892, Jerold Townsend, 985 Abbey Dr, Madison, OH 44057

FOR SALE: Sunset 3rd Rail PRR steam: M1b, recent issue, new, $975, S1 6-4-4-6 duplex, new $1275, High Iron K4 postwar version $585, N1s 2-10-2 $850, PRR Y-3 2-8-8-2 $1490. Jim 410-584-7737.

FOR SALE: USH PRR L1, 2-8-2, CP; OMI SD-50, new; OMI Erie motor car, new; SS PRR P70 coach, B60 baggage; CW PRR N5 caboose; Atlas SD-35 WM; Weaver NYC 2-8-0; two GM&O Pullman-Bradley coaches. Ph: 330-758-1561, Bob Burns, 7455 Westview, Youngstown, OH 44512.

WANTED: Would like to buy old Saginaw locomotives (H10, G5, E6). Please contact Bob Morgan, 190 Sharp Hill Rd, Wilton CT 06897, or phone 203-762-3829.

FOR SALE: Key SP PA3/PB3 f/p red/grey, excellent $2600; OMI ATSF FT A/B, brass, like new $1500; OMI EMD E7A, brass, like new $750; PRB ATSF steel caboose, brass, steam-era, like new $275. Ph: 404-237-

OST#14: Yards, Part 1 - Herm BotzowSecond Life - Reworking of a KTM GP-35 - Roland MarxThe Berlin Branch of the B&M - Jim TavernaModeler's Tricks, A Handy HO Part for O Scalers - Ron GriblerHand Laying Switches - Ed ReutlingModeler's Tricks, Painted Wheels with Shiny Treads - Ron GriblerMarch Meet Photos - Brian ScaceEasement GraphHall of Fame - Bob O'Neill

OST#16: Cherel Valley RailroadLayout in a Small Space: 11'x19'Yards, Part 3 Division Point YardRed Caboose Reefer Kit BashBuilding the Depot at Early WintersAn Old Atlas Caboose RevisitedSome Thoughts for Scratchbuilders on Finding DimensionsHow large is that sand box?

OST#13: The SOUTHERN - Stuart RamseyA Chicago Great Western Caboose - Al KrolBright Headlights - Stuart RamseyBitten by the Bug... - Carey HinchA Sector Plate for the Harmony Creek & Southern - Ron GriblerO Scale National 2004 Layout PhotosJust Another Plain Switcher - Roland MarxBuilding 69" Drivers for a Burlington 2-6-2 Prairie - Tom MixWorking Lighted Switch Stands - Charlie MorrillWM Boxcar Conversion - Don McFallLocomotive Wheel Cleaner - David Stewart

OST#12: The Great Central Railway - Mike CulhamSandstone Bluffs - Herm BotzowConverting a Lionel Gondola to Two Rail - Mike CulhamO Scale National 2004 - Part 2, Brian ScaceWorking Caboose Markers - Marty IftodyBuilding Traditional Wooden Kits - Wm. KendallConsiderations For Laying Track - George Muller

OST#15: Tall Pines Timber Co. - Bob DupontInstalling Kadee Couplers on a Weaver Gon - Ron GriblerThe Acme Steel Fabricating Co. - Mike CulhamScratchbuild a Roundhouse - Charlie FlichmannA Brief Conversation with M.T.H.'s Andy Edelman - Jeb KriigelYards, Part 2 - Herm BotzowBob's Carry Box - Bob O'NeilBuilding Rerailers - Ted Byrne

We still have a few OST T-shirts available $12.00 includes postage (L & XL - Steam or Diesel)

OST#17:O Scale Influences - John ArmstrongO Scale Influences - Gil StovicekO Scale Influences - Willard jonesLayout Lighting and Nighttime PhotographyThe Granville Island Model Train MuseumThe Workshop - Neville RossiterEasements for the Learning Curve - Brian ScaceModelers ShelfThe Good Old Days - Jace KahnReader Feedback - Letters to the EditorConfessions of a HiRailer - Hobo D. Hirailer Narrow Minded - Bobber GibbsFine Scale Modeling - Gene Deimling

O Scale Trains Magazine Back Issues Available • $5.95 plus postage


Accurate O Scale 31

Allegheny Scale Models 59

AM Hobbies 31

AtlasO 37, IBC

BTS 34

Central Locomotive Works 31

Crusader Rail Services 39

Custom Signals 9

Diecast Direct 9

Digistar 27

Dominion Models 17

Eagles Nest Miniatures 28

Ehobbytools.com 44

Get Real Productions 53

Gorilla Glue 21

Great Scale Model Train Show 8

Guide to Modern O Scale 13

Hackworth Model Trains 51

Advertisers IndexHouse of Duddy 9

JAK Tool & Model 23

Just Trains 61

Keil-Line Products 17

Key Imports 55

LaBelle Woodworking Co. 17

Middle Division 44

Model Tech Studios 39

MTH Electric Trains IFC

NCE Corp 34

Norm’s O Scale 56

O Scale Kings 57

O Scale Realty 57

O Scale West 43

OST Back Issues 58

Old Pullman 44

Overland Models 45

P&D Hobby Shop 18

Paper Creek Model Works 51

PRR Brass 17

Public Delivery Track 21

Rail Photos Unlimited 31

Rons Books 21

Russian River RR Co. 31

San Juan Car Co. 11

Scale University 11

Scaled World 28

Schomberg 56

Stevenson Preservation Lines 56

Suncoast Models 43

Sunset⁄3rd Rail 16, BC

T Bone Models 56

Walthers 13

Weaver 28

Whitehall Hobbies 57

Woodland Scenics 31

Allegheny Scale ModelsO Scale Locomotives & Rolling Stock

Website: www.alleghenyscale.com • Email: [email protected] Schooley’s Mountain Road, Suite 8-117, Hackettstown, New Jersey 07840

Voice - (908) 684-2070 • Fax - (908) 684-8911Steam LocomotivesAT&SF Texas Type 2-10-4, USH, UP, Late Run, L/N, ...........................................................................$1,350C&O T1 2-10-4, WS, UP, New, ...................................................................................................................$2,000GN E-6 Class 4-6-0, PFM, FP, Glacier Park, New, .................................................................................$1,250GN R2 2-8-8-2, ORI, UP, Vestibule Cab, New, .........................................................................................$2,450NP Z-8 4-6-6-4, OMI, UP, New ........................................................................................................................CallN&W Z1b 2-6-6-2, PSC, FP, New - No. 1462, ..........................................................................................$1,395NYC K-5 Pacific, SS, UP, L/N, ......................................................................................................................$875PRR J1 2-10-4, WS, UP, New, .....................................................................................................................$2,000UP Challenger 4-6-6-4, KEY, FP, Gray, Silver Stripes, New......................................................................CallUP Challenger 4-6-6-4, KEY, FP, Gray, Yellow Stripes, New ....................................................................CallUP Early Challenger 4-6-6-4, SS, CP, Cockerham Dual Drive, ............................................................$2,750UP FEF-2 4-8-4, KEY, UP, Coal, 1 of 10, ..................................................................................................$2,795WM I-2 Decapod 2-10-0, OMI, CP, New, .................................................................................................$2,295

Diesel LocomotivesALCO C424 Ph 1, OMI, UP, New, ................................................................................................................$695AT&SF EMD F3 A-B, KEY, FP, Ph 2, New, ............................................................................................$2,750Monon EMD SW-1, PSC, FP, New, ..............................................................................................................$725N&W C36-7, OMI, UP, New, .........................................................................................................................$850NS C39-8, OMI, UP, New, ..............................................................................................................................$850NYC ALCO PA-PB, KEY, FP, Lightning Stripe, New, ..........................................................................$2,695NYC EMD E8 A-A, KEY, FP, Lightning Stripe, New, ...........................................................................$2,495NYC FM H-12-44, OMI, CP, Lightning Stripe, New, ............................................................................$1,245PRR ALCO PA-PB, KEY, FP, Brunswick 5 stripe, New, ......................................................................$2,595PRR ALCO RS-11, CLS, UP, New, ...........................................................................................................$1,195PRR EMD E8 A-A, KEY, FP, Brunswick 5 stripe, New, .......................................................................$2,595SP ALCO PA-PB, KEY, FP, Daylight, New, ............................................................................................$2,695SP EMD E9 A-A, KEY, FP, Black Widow, New, .....................................................................................$2,595UP EMD E9 A-B, KEY, FP, New, ..............................................................................................................$2,295UP EMD F7 A-B, KEY, FP, L/N, ...............................................................................................................$2,000WP EMD F3 A-B, KEY, FP, New, .............................................................................................................$2,150

Rolling StockBaldwin Scale Test Car, OMI, UP, New, ......................................................................................................$225CB&Q NE-1 28’ Caboose, ORI, UP, New, ...................................................................................................$375Conrail Steel Coil Car, OMI, CP, New, ........................................................................................................$425DM&IR Wood Caboose, PSC, UP, New, .....................................................................................................$350GATX 6 Dome Wine Car, PSC, FP, New, ....................................................................................................$350GN X580/X683 Wood Caboose, BCRK, FP, New, .....................................................................................$400GN Truss Rod Box Car, PLTD, UP, New, ....................................................................................................$395IGA Wood Reefer, HILL, FP, Billboard Scheme, New, ............................................................................$375Jones & Laughlin Tank Car, CNJB, UP, New, ............................................................................................$395LV Steel Caboose, OMI, UP, New, ................................................................................................................$275MDT Composite Reefer, PLTD, UP, New, ...................................................................................................$350NKP Wood Caboose, OMI, UP, New, ...........................................................................................................$325NP 24’ Wood Caboose – 1700 Series, W&R, UP, New, ..............................................................................$355NYC 18000 Series 30’ Wood Caboose, PSC, UP, New, ..............................................................................$375NYC Pacemaker Caboose, CNJB, UP, New, ...............................................................................................$350NYC 19000 Series Wood Caboose, CNJB, UP, New, .................................................................................$295P&LE - NYC USRA Design Steel Box Car, PLTD, UP, New, ..................................................................$375Palace Poultry Car, OMI, UP, New, ..............................................................................................................$395PFE 50’ Wooden Ice Reefer, PSC, UP, New, ................................................................................................$325PRR K7a Stock Car, PSC, CP, L/N, .............................................................................................................$285PRR X-23 Work Car with Panel Door, PLTD, CP, Gray Scheme, .........................................................$295PRR X-42 Mail Storage Car, PCO, UP, New, .............................................................................................$395RI “OSB” Outside Braced Wood Caboose, OMI, UP, New, ....................................................................$325SP C-30-5/6 Bay Window Caboose, PSC, FP, New, ...................................................................................$350SP Greenville 70’ 100 Ton Gondola, PRB, FP, New, ..................................................................................$275Heavyweight Dining Car, PSC, UP, New, ....................................................................................................$425NYC Standard 70’ Heavyweight Coach, PSC, UP, New, ..........................................................................$425NYC Standard 70’ Heavyweight Combine, PSC, UP, New, .....................................................................$425PRR B70 Baggage, PSC, UP, New, ...............................................................................................................$400PRR B70 Baggage, PSC, FP, New, ................................................................................................................$450Pullman HWT Solarium, PSC, UP, New, ....................................................................................................$425Pullman Standard HWT Observation, PSC, UP, New, .............................................................................$450Harriman Passenger Cars - Various Styles, PSC, UP, New, .....................................................................$445


EventsEventsnet

May 20057: Merchantville, New JerseyCherry Valley Model RR Club Swap Meet Held at the Grace Epis-copal Church, 7 E. Maple Ave. Merchantville, NJ. Admission $4.00 (spouses & children under 14 are free), tables are $16.00 for the first table (includes one admission) and $12.00 for each additional table. Info/reservations, SASE – CVMRC PO Box 192, Maple Shade, NJ 08052, Harry Hieke (856) 625-5506 between 6 & 9 pm or Dave Richter (215) 639-3864. Contact [email protected]

June 200515-18: Collinsville, Illinois(Near St Louis) 2005 O Scale National Convention - The Trail of the Frisco Flyer, hosted by the Big Bend Railroad Club at the Gateway Center. Registration: $45, single-day pass $25. Contact Forest Trent, 304 Christopher Place, Union, MO 63084. Email: [email protected], www.geocities.com/bbrrclub

August 20056: Denver, PennsylvaniaEastern “O” Scalers Swap meet At the Denver Fire Hall, 4th & Locust Sts. - 9:00 am - 1:00 pm. Adm. $5; (spouses & children under 14 are free), tables are $16.00 for the first table (includes one admission) and $12.00 for each additional table. Dealer’s set-up Fri-day evening 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm and Saturday morning 7:00 am to 9:00 am. Info/reservations, SASE – EOS, PO Box 1781, Bensalem PA 19020; (215) 639-3864. Bring an index card with your name, address etc., for a $1.00 off your admission. Contact [email protected] website

September 20053: Merchantville, New JerseyCherry Valley Model RR Club Swap Meet Held at the Grace Epis-copal Church, 7 E. Maple Ave. Merchantville, NJ. Admission $4.00 (spouses & children under 14 are free), tables are $16.00 for the first table (includes one admission) and $12.00 for each additional table. Info/reservations, SASE – CVMRC PO Box 192, Maple Shade, NJ 08052, Harry Hieke (856) 625-5506 between 6 & 9 pm or Dave Richter (215) 639-3864. Contact [email protected]

November 20055: Wind Gap, PennsylvaniaEastern “O” Scalers Swap meet At the Plainfield Fire Hall, 6480 Sul-livan Trail – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Adm. $5; (spouses & children under 14 are free), $16.00 for the first table (includes one admission) and $12.00 for each additional table. Dealer’s set-up Friday evening 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm and Saturday morning 7:00 am to 9:00 am. Info/reservations, SASE – EOS, PO Box 1781, Bensalem PA 19020; (215) 639-3864. Bring an index card with your name, address etc., for a $1.00 off your admission. Contact [email protected]

January 20058-9: Albany, GeorgiaFlint River Model RR Club Show & Sale, Knights of Columbus Hall, 2009 Gillionville Rd, Albany, Ga. Adults $3, under 12 free. Sat. 9-5, Sun. 11-4. Contact Jimmie Swann, 229-883-3517

15: St. Paul, MinnesotaTwin City Model Railroad Museum Hobby Sale at Bandana Square. Sale is 9 am to 3 pm, $3 admission, under 5 yo FREE. TCMRM, 1021 Bandana Blvd. E, Ste 222, St Paul, MN 55108, 651-647-9628. Contact [email protected]

29-30: Wilmington NC 28409Cape Fear Model Railroad Club’s 8th Annual Model Railroad Show and Sale Wilmington, NC, will be held at the American Legion Post 10 Building, 720 Pine Grove Drive, Wilmington NC 28409. Satur-day hours are 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday hours are 10 pm to 4 pm. Admission is $4.00 for adults, $2.00 for children and children 5 and under are free. Show will include 43 vendor tables, “HO”, “O”, and “N” modular layouts and free clinics. For more information, please call Ben Jackson at (910) 270-2696. Contact [email protected]

February 200513: Parma, OhioParma High School Railroad Show at the Parma Senior High School, 6285 W 54th St, from 10 am to 2:30 pm. Admission is $4. Contact Bob Frieden, 9695 Chillicothe Rd. Kirtland, OH 44094, 440-256-8141.

24-26: Santa Clara, CaliforniaO Scale West is designed to provide a spectrum of fun and interest-ing activities for the O Scale model railroader, including a swap meet, contests, clinics, movies, and layout visits. Approximately 200 tables are rented by O Scale modelers, O Scale collectors, O Scale hobbyshops and brass dealers, and manufacturers of O Scale prod-ucts. Every year approximately 25 home and club O Scale layouts are opened by their owners/members for visiting by O Scale West attendees. Contact: Rod Miller [email protected]

27: Eastlake, OhioEastlake North High School RR Show at the Eastlake North High School, 34041 Stevens Blvd., from 10 am to 2:30 pm. Admission is $4. Contact Bob Frieden, 9695 Chillicothe Rd. Kirtland, OH 44094, 440-256-8141.

March 20055: Wind Gap, PennsylvaniaEastern “O” Scalers Swap Meet At the Plainfield Fire Hall, 6480 Sullivan Trail – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. Adm. $5; (spouses & children under 14 are free), $16.00 for the first table (includes one admis-sion) and $12.00 for each additional table. Dealer’s set-up Friday evening 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm and Saturday morning 7:00 am to 9:00 am. Info/reservations, SASE – EOS, PO Box 1781, Bensalem PA 19020; (215) 639-3864. Bring an index card with your name, address etc., for a $1.00 off your admission. Contact eostrains@att.

A current list of events is now available at our website [http://www.oscalemag.com]. If you have an event you’d like listed, we have a submission form at the website (the preferred method), or you can mail the info to our office address given on page 3.


JusTrainsOrders (888) 453-9742

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Downtown DecoDD29-31 Hotel Station Importer 99DD25/26 Wrong/Right Side 5 kits 119DD202 Rainbow Beverage 5” x 36 ” 65DD3 Palace Hotel, DD8 Fireworks 59DD32 Apartment Building 59Background Flats 50” L x 2” D 129Pillow Fact ., Urban Housing, FishMktDD36 2-Stall Engine House 139DD38 Rocky Flats Station 59

Walthers CornerstoneTheatre w/Op. Marque 99 Del.Silver Dollar Café, Melissa’s Deli 30

Interlocking Twr 34Sur-Sweet 42

Phoenix Fuel Oil 37 Water Tank 37Crazy Ken Auto 42 Lumber Yard 48Pumping Station 49 Speeder Set 28

Trackside Struct. Set 40Gold. Valley Depot 49 Xing Gate 24

Rte 66 Motel 69 Motel Cabin 20Dave’s Super Service Station $40

Atlas O GaugeC424/425 2R 389 TMCC 415 EL, RDG, DH, BN, CP, NW Dmy 209GP60M/ B 2R 389 TMCC 425

SF, BNSF (Warbonnet or Heritage) Dummy 209 Pwr & Dmy Set $625Erie- Built 2R 349 TMCC 389

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Dmy 185 3-R Pw/Dmy 525 2-R 5102003 Locomotive of the Year

Rdg, BN, SP, Sav & Atl, WM, NKP CN, C of GA, E-L, PRR, BurlingtonSD-35 Dmy 185 TMCC 375 CSX, PC, SP, N&W Pwr/Dmy $545Dash 8 3-R 349 Conrail, Susq, Amtrak53’ Evans Box 2-R 52 3-R 48 Lou. Pac., Mtn Pine, Ogden, UP, BC50 Ton War Hopper 2R 48 3R 44 GA, L&N Alton, Arbor, B&O, C&OPRR Exclusive 8# 49 4/190 8/370 War Bonds 2 New # 2 or 3 Rail60’ Auto Parts Box 2R 52 3R 48 CN, C&O, WM, RDG, UP50’ PS-1 Box Car 2R 55 3R 52GB&W, WP, DSS&A, N&W , MR +$2E/V Caboose 2R 59 3R 56Chessie Sa fety red or yel, RG, SF, Rdg

Std Cupola Undec, NS40’ Re-Built Wood Rfr 2R 55 3R 52 Berkshire Ham, Hardy, MDT, Oak, PFEMiddle Div. PRR H21a 2R 63 3R 59H21a Hopper 8 # 2R 55 3R 52 N&W, PC, Virginian 8# 399 3-RUSRA Dbl Sheath Box 2R 46 3R 43B&M, FEC, M&St.L, NYC, TB&H, Rut40’ 1937 AAR Box 2R 50 3R 47

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2004 Volume I & II 2-Rail Axles available for all DieselsRS-3 Southern, CNJ, WMD 299F59PH NC, Metrolink, Sounder 299F40PH Cal Train, Tri-Rail 299Amtrak F40PH 2 # Our Run 279GP38 VRE, SF, UP, PRSL, LIRR 299 LIRR 18” Alum 4-Pk $339F-7/3 AA 4 motor, TMCC, Cruise 419B&O, GN, MR, NYC, PRR, Rdg, SP, UP

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Bombardier Commuter Car 4-Pk4636A/B Cal Train 4636C/D Metrolink4636E/F Sounder 4636G/H Tri-Rail4636J/K VRE 18” 365 21” 429 2-Rail Kits for Passengers $20/car

EP-5 w/Cruise Horn 149 RS 249NH 15” 4-Pk 225 18 ” 4-Pk 250NH 21” 6- Pk 450 EV Caboose 40Berkshire whis 599 Cmd 699Shay whis 579 Cmd & RS 699 2-Rail Shay Available @ $699W.MD Fireball Plymouth Set 129D&H 2-Bay Exclusive 38 4/140 DelB&O 4-Bay Exclusive 38 4/140 DelVoltmeter Car 44 Op. Milk Car 75Incredible Woodsides 3R 44 4 /172NW, PFE, 5 Heinz, McLhaney, Peacock,Oppenheimer, Roberts, Chateau, Nash,Century, Robin Hood, Merchants,A&P, Carnation, Columbia, Doggie,IGA, Kingans, Libby’s, MC, Hennery,Monarc, N. Refrig, Rath’s, Wilson, MillerBeer(2) Now in 2-Rail for $47 or 4/$185 DelGold Line Smoking Caboose 47BW: SP, UP E/V: CNJ, Rdg, WM, PRSLWoodside: PRR, ATSF, B&M, C&O, IC, NYC ,B&A, RG, VAOff-Center: SF, Clinchfield, UP4-Bay DC Hoppers 38 4#/149 DelSou, E-M, FM, MR, RG, SP, Hooker,UP2-Bay O/B Hopper 38 4 # 149 DelATSF, B&O, C&O, PRR, Peabody, CBQDC 2-Bay Hopper 38 4#/ 149 Del MR, Erie, C&O, Rdg, PRR, LV, NYCClinchfield 2-Bay 4-Pk $139 8 # $264Ford DC 2-Bay $42 3-Pk $119

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LionelClose-outs

HO Challenger Ret $700 Sale $275HO Veranda Ret. $500 Sale $225Swing Bridge 175 Lighthouse 69 Save up to 73% on Scale BuildingsAll Bungalows $11 Most Houses $11Bakery, Toy, Candy Store, Market 16Tavern, 5&10, Hardware, Estate 1614093 Sgl Signal Bridge 21 Double 2522931 Cantilever 25 22934 Walkout 2522944 Semaphore 21 24101 Color Sig 2214142 Amtrak Superliner 4-Pk 24514173 Drawbridge 65 SF Tugboat 8914199 Swing Set 29 #41 Army 11524511 CB&Q FT AA w/RS 18928218 Lehigh Valley C-420 28924137 Mr. Spiffs & Puddles (69.95 ) 2524140 Bowdish Homestead (149.95) 49Maiden Rescue 25 Barber Shop 75

2004 Volume II31989 Overland Freight Express 66931736 Canadian Pac. Grain Train569Alco PA AA NH, RG 575 ABA 6890-8-0 Steam NP, B&A, CB&Q 529FA/FPA NYC, CN AA 499 ABA615Alum FEC, SF, B&O, SP, PRR 2-Pk 20718” Alum StationSounds Diners 207Railsounds Boxcar or Tender 75Speeder Shed 24 Op. Lumberjacks 45Op. Zoo, Gas Station, Firehouse 109 Rolling Stock Convert to 2-RailPS-2 Covered Hoppers 41 2-Pk 82 Clinchfield, B&M, N&WOffset 2-Bay DC Hoppers 44 2-Pk 88

GN, GB&W, B&OPS-1 Box B&M, IC, SF, TP&W 41Flats w/piggyback trailers 62 2-Pk 123

PRR, GN, SP, C&OHusky Stacks 62 2-Pk 123

BN, SP, CSX, TTXNew Cabooses 63 E/ V BN, SF

B/ W C &NW, PC, Sou, NYC, CP RailCylindrical Hoppers 44 2-Pk 87

Gov. of Canada, Canadian National31714 Amtrak Acela Set 164931720 FEC Champion Pass Set 92951008 Burlington Pioneer Zephyr 92938092 Pickering Lumber Heisler 999SD 40 JC 355 SD-40 T2 SPSF 35518” Alum. 4-Pk SF, B&O 389Double Door Box Car 45 4/175Del

PRR, UP, GM&O, EriePS-4 Flat Car 37 4/145 DelE/V Caboose Seabd, CN, Burl 64Slag Car 3-Pk US Steel, Republic 119Hot Metal Car 3-Pk USS, Republic 132Log Car 3-Pk Pickering, Cass Scenic 95

K-Line Blow-Outs4603A Amtrak 21” Alum 2-Pk 1254603B Am 21” Alum Horizon 2-Pk 125

Both Sets $2294603C Amtrak 15” Horizon 2-Pk 994603D Am 15” Alum 2-Pk 99

Both Sets $179Making F40PH w/TMCC for $279 2#PRR F-7 ABA w/Horn 200Each unit powered B&O AB 149

4680E PRR FOM Alum. 15” 4-Car 1954601A AFT 4-Car Display Set 1754602-20003 Alaska 16” Business Car 69

C&NW 21” Bi-Level4-Pk 299 2-Pks 169 All 8 $549

4688A SP Daylt 15” Alum 2-Car 99

Spirit Of 76 Blow-Out 2401-1776S RS-3 w/RS, Smoke 225 7601A 3-Pk (DE, PA, NJ ) one 3-Pk 60 7604A 3-Pk (GA, CT, MA ) any 2 =115 7607A 3-Pk (MD, SC, NH) any 3 =160 7610A 3-PK (VA, NC, RI) all 4 =1957601-7611 NY Box $20 Caboose $23

Complete Set ($850) for $425Op. Swing Bridge, Speeder Shed 105Auto Showroom 115 Grist Mill 62

MRC TransformersAH501 Pure Power 130W 145AH601 Dual Pure Power 270W 225AG990 Power G 10 Amp DC 169MRC312 Sound Station , 18 sounds 59MRC6200 Trainpower 6200, 3.6 Amp 79MRC444 Control Master 20, 5 Amp 159

2-Rail OfferingsK-Line Shay, DC Powered 679

Undec, Lack Coal , Pac. LumberWoodside Reefers for $47 4/$185 DelNW, PFE, Heinz, McLhaney, Peacock,Oppenheimer, Roberts, Chateau, Nash,Century, Robin Hood, Merchants

*Atlas 2-Rail Track*US Prototype Track System,Code1487024/5 #5 Turnout (36”) 42.957021/2 #7.5 Turnout (40.5”) 47.95Wye Switch 39.95 Switch Machine 8.7536" Radius Full Curve 3.70 Half 2.5540.5 Rad. Full Curve 4.35 1/3 2-Pk 5.1540” Flex Track 8.75 Case (18) $14910” Straight 2.60 Case (48) $1194 _ ” Straight 2.00 1 _” 4-Pk 5.25Crossings: 90 or 45 Degree 11.40

We stock Entire Line in 2-RType G Signal 2-R 52 4-Pk 195SD-35 Dmy 185 DC 349 CSX, PC, SP, N&W Pwr/Dmy $525Erie- Builts 3R 359 Dmy 185 PD 529 NYC, PRR, UP MR$559

Atlas Engine SaleSW DMIR, Rdg, Susquehanna 199SD35 TMCC JC, ACL, WM, VMV 315SD35 DC 275 B&O, PRR, WC, N&W, Con, GA, L&N, MRLRS-1 TMCC PRR,LIRR, SF, 315RS-1 DC JC, MR, RI 299Dash 8 CB, UP, Susquehanna 275AEM/ALP MARC, Septa, NJT 159GP35 TMCC Und, GMO, EMD, WP 325GP35 DC BN, SP, N&W, Rdg, NYC, Demo, GM&O, WP, Undec HN 335GP35 Dummy N&W, SP, BN, GMO 18540’ Airslide Hoppers 42 4/159

PRR, CSX, Brach’sPS-1 50’ Box Car 50 4/189 2# per Road RG, B&M, WMExt. Vision Caboose 50 2/95

Burl, DM&IR, Chessie, SFUSRA Single-Sheathed Box Cars 46

CRR of NJ, Rdg, WM

Sunset B&O S1a 2-10-2 1049Sunset NYC Mohawk 4-8-2 975Sunset Q- 2 4-6-4-4 Skirted 1195Sunset Erie 0-8- 8-0 Camelback 995Sunset Burl O-5 2-10-4 104944 Tonner SF, SP, PRR 275All Weaver Rolling Stock is AvailableWeaver G1/G2a Reading 4-6-2 595Pullman Bradley Cars 399 2-pk 205

CNJ, LV, Pullman, Rdg,1614S Hiawatha Smooth Cch/Par 245

Atlas TrackRemote Switch , Steel or Nickel 44.95

O36 O45 O54 O72 Wye#5 Double-Slip Switch 119O72/O54 Curved Switch or #5 557.5 (O81) High Speed Switch 5840” Rigid 11.00 Case (12) $1 2540”Flex/Concrete 12.00 CS $13510” or O54 2.95 Case (48) $135O27 Curve 3.30 3 Circles (24 ) 75O36 Curve 2.95 2 Circles (24 ) 68O45 Curve 3.30 2 Circles (24 ) 75O63 Curve 3.70 2 Circles (32) 114O72 Curve 4.35 2 Circles (32 ) 132O81 Curve 5.10 1 Circle (16 ) 77O90 Curve 6.00 1 Circle (16 ) 102O99 Curve 6.90 1 Circle (16 ) 104Amtrak 21” Coaches 40 2/75

Korber Models304 3-Stall Roundhouse, 30”D 189304A Xtra Stall or 304B Extender 45305 Sandhouse, 16 x 6 39315 Grain Silo, 7 x 19 x 22 H 69902 Jaybar Corporation 23903 Skyline Steel 23905 Blackshear Refrig . Transport 49908 Shanahan Freight Company 67912 Roller Bearing Company 79916 Gen. Lt & Power, 12 x 48 93917 Gen Lt & Power Sub Station 32950 American Flag Co. 14 x 9 59953 Joe’s Pickle Factory 14 x 9 59969 Gen Lt & Pwr Office 6x13x12 59 USA Made Family Operated


Happy New Year!Wow, another year has passed and, as they say, time flies

when you’re having fun. Brother (and sister), lemme tell ya, we’ve been having some fun at the magazine!

This past year has been a time for growth and matura-tion. We have close to 1500 subscribers now. We’re in about 250 hobby shops as opposed to just over 70 a year ago, and we’re pushing over 6000 to 7000 magazines out the door every issue, and that number is growing steadily. The num-ber of advertisers went from 30+ to over 50. Through all these growing pains we have not missed a ship date for the magazine.

What all of the above means is that we’re in for the long-haul. My deepest appreciation goes out to everyone who makes OST the best O Scale magazine on the rack.

We’re gettin’ respect, too. We’re now receiving samples for review from every major O Scale manufacturer. This issue we have Lionel, MTH and Weaver products. Next issue we’ll have some K-Line 2-Rail to talk about, Atlas and probably more Sunset, too. One vendor told us recently that OST is “it” when it comes to advertising to the 2-Rail marketplace. We like that feeling! It also means we’re doing a good job representing the O Scale market. Some manufacturers are even asking for our input on new products and we’re glad to oblige.Welcome to the Modern Age

This issue we welcome on board Carey Hinch as our new Modern Image column contributor. Carey’s been on the masthead for a while as our “resident” graphic artist, but he’s also an accomplished modeler who likes the modern Diesel era. So, we ask him to wear two hats and contribute some modern-era articles. Brian, myself and Jeb are all dyed-in-the-wool steam-freaks (although I have caught Brian leering at Diesels now and again), so Carey brings some balance to the mag.

Ted Byrne is back this issue and he has expanded the scope of his writing from strictly DCC to all electronics. This issue in Powering Up, his new column, Ted talks about LEDs. Ted is also working on a side-by-side feature comparison of DCC vs MTH’s DCS vs Lionel’s TMCC for later in the year. The modern O Scaler certainly has a lot of choices for con-trol systems now.

One place we’re still deficient is traction. I have just not

been able to attract another traction contributor. I can’t even dredge up a traction-themed article. I know you’re out there because you write me letters asking for traction content. Well, you ain’t gonna git it if one of you don’t write it! I wish we had the resources where I could say to the staff, “Whip up a traction article.” It just doesn’t happen that way. So, if you, or someone you know is traction modeling, send me some great stuff to share with the other traction lovers out there.

Last issue I asked for feedback on ads versus content and page count. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the myriad responses but many of you replied that you wouldn’t mind more ads and a bit less content. So, for the time being, we will hold the line at 64 pages and try to give you both more ads and more content. Legalities

I have noticed in recent months that some other maga-zine publishers have taken stands on certain hobby-related legal issues. Bob Hundman, publisher of Mainline Modeler, wrote two pages about the Union Pacific licensing fracas. Mr. Hundman feels the UP is way out of line and is danger-ously close to causing a major economic crisis in the model railroad hobby. As it turns out, I agree with Mr. Hundman, and the efforts of UP, CSX and NS to license their fallen-flags to the model railroad hobby has far reaching implications.

What I don’t get are the articles and the editorializing about the MTH – Lionel lawsuit. Guys, we’re hobby maga-zines, not law journals. We’re not investigative reporters. I just don’t see what is to be gained by devoting precious con-tent space to the details of this lawsuit. For the few that want to gloat over Lionel’s misfortunes and misdeeds, or rail at MTH’s Mike Wolf for attacking the venerable, 100 year-old firm, let them search the Web or get the appropriate Michi-gan newspapers. Naming names and quoting emails isn’t helping the O Scale modeler get more enjoyment out of this hobby.

We at OST had made a conscious decision to not take a position, voice our personal opinions, nor even mention the lawsuit up to this point because, in the long run, regardless of how the suit is settled, we’ll still have an O Scale hobby. It won’t really much matter to the hobby who wins or loses, so why get your shorts in a twist over it?

Let’s end on a more postive note — I predict by the end of 2005 AtlasO will produce a small steam locomotive.

Meanwhile, keep high ballin’ ◆

Atlas O, LLC. • 378 Florence Avenue • Hillside, NJ 07205 • www.atlasO.com

O 8,000 & O 33,000 GALLON TANK CARS

BIG & BIGGER

Visit Your Local Hobby Store Today!

For the NEW 2004/2005 Atlas O Scale Locomotive & Freight Car Catalog, please send $5 ($7 outside the US) to Atlas O, LLC, Dept. D, 378 Florence Avenue, Hillside, NJ 07205

O 8,000 Gallon Tank Car Features Include:• NEW! Optional 3-Rail Scale Adjust-A-CouplerTM System included• Die-cast chassis • Metal grab irons, handrails and stirrups• Minimum diameter curve: O-31 (3-rail)• Minimum radius curve: 24" (2-Rail)

(Item #7411)

(Item #6407)

(Item #7412)

(Item #9656)

(Item #9652)

(Item #9653)

O 33,000 Gallon Tank Car Features Include:• True 1/4" scale dimensions and details • Realistic see-through walkways• Separately-applied grab irons • Die-cast articulated couplers• Die-cast sprung 100-ton roller-bearing trucks with separately-applied brake detail• Minimum diameter curve: O-45 (3-rail) • Minimum radius curve: 36" (2-rail)

ITEM# ITEM#3-RAIL ROAD NAME 2-RAIL

O 33,000 GALLON TANK CAR - NEW ROAD NAMES!6400 Undecorated 74006409 ACFX (White) 74096410 Cal Gas (Gray/White/Red) 74106411 GLNX (Blue/White) 74116412 Wanda Petroleum (Silver/Red) 7412

O 33,000 GALLON TANK CAR NEW ROAD NUMBERS!

6407 CNTX (Black/White) 7407Two road numbers are available per road name.

Please note: Atlas "O" body mounted scale couplerscan be used on both 2-rail and 3-rail versions.

ITEM# ITEM#3-RAIL ROAD NAME 2-RAIL

O 8,000 GALLON TANK CAR - NEW BODY STYLE!8650 Undecorated 96508651 Navy Gas 96518652 New England Alcohol 96528653 Shipper's Car Line 96538654 Staley 96548655 Wolf's Head Oil 9655

O 8,000 GALLON TANK CAR - LIMITED EDITION

8656 Bakelite 9656

Two road numbers are available per road name except Shipper's Car Line, Staley and Wolf's Head Oil which will have four numbers per road name.

The ACF® "whale body" 33,156 gallon tank car wasdesigned to haul liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) andanhydrous ammonia. The Atlas O model captures thelook and feel of the prototype with state-of-the-artdetailing and construction.

NEWROAD

NAMES!

The ACF® 8,000 Gallon Type 27 Tank Car was one of themost popular standard design riveted tank cars of thefirst half of the twentieth century.

NEWBODYSTYLE!

O 8K-33K GalTnkCr-OST-Full-1104 11/10/04 1:46 PM Page 1

SunSet ModelS Inc.37 South Fourth Street · Campbell, CA 95008 · 408-866-1727 · fax to 408-866-5674 · www.3rdrail.com

The heaviesT MOunTains

The designers at Baldwin Locomotive Works, Eddystone created the R Class 4-8-2 for the B&M. “TheHeaviestMountainsEverBuiltintheUnitedStates.” These dual purpose R Class loco-motives were at home on hot shot freight or passenger runs. a MuSt for any collector or oPerator.

Sunset Models is bringing you the B&M R1-a in stunning brass detail and in very limited quantities. Designed to run on 48” Radius 2R or 054 3 Rail track, if you are a B&M fan, you don’t want to miss this, as it may neverbeavailableinOScaleagain.

Alert:There are only a few reservation spaces left. Only 25 of each cab number produced.

CallyourDealeror408-866-1727Today!ComingFebruary5th2005$1099.95 Suggested Retail Reserve Now for $999.95

UnpaintedPre-ProductionSample

IncredIble

detaIl

Documents

o Scale Train 18