Hobbyline HO scale Fairbanks Morse H-10-44 in Lehigh Valley colors...

...a gift from an online modeler friend. I've wanted one of these for awhile, in any form, from any manufacturer. The look is pure brute and the car body was designed by the same guy who did the Pennsy GG1.






Made in a time when the hobby was less refined...come on, can you imagine the caterwauling from the peanut gallery if Atlas stamped their logo on the SIDE of any of their models. And check out the screw on the top of the hood...shameless, I tell you, shameless...thinking some goob could actually enjoy the hobby with such a blatant display of non-scale hardware. That boxing glove for a coupler actually mates with most knuckle couplers today and was only used by HObbyline on their equipment. It just gets cooler with each inspection...


This torpedo tube is actually a device to eliminate light bleed thru the shell and concentrate it towards the headlight, a rather forward thinking detail that sees little use still today.


Then there's these giant spur gears in the cab, just waiting to puree some hapless HO scale crew that manages to fall into their clutches.

A great piece of modeling history, it appears to have been offered as part of several sets in 1955 -- in Lehigh Valley, C&O and AT&SF paint as a passenger train and in C&O and AT&SF paint in two freight sets. Pennsylvania paint eventually was offered but it wasn't long afterwards that HObbyline became Bowser and the diesel models stopped, most likely before 1960.

Many thanks buddy...it will be a cherished beastie in my fleet...

Keyser Model Kits P.O./P.O. Tours 4-6-0 locomotive in HO scale...

...and even all that may be wrong. I have found very little information on this other that the original owner and photographer's pictures. It will be on its way here shortly to join my growing stash of kits set aside to keep my fingers busy when work runs out. I have found nothing on the net except for a few auction listings and so would appreciate any history out there if you readers would know of it...

Northwest Short Line 18 ton HO scale Shay...yet again...

...October 1973 Model Railroader magazine ad...

Northwest Short Line 18 ton HO scale Shay...again...

...the original introductory ad, October, 1973, Railroad Model Craftsman magazine...




Contrary to the ad, it does not come with all wheels driven...a production glitch that never was rectified as far as I know. Since most brass locomotives are sold to collectors who then turn them into shelf queens, it's highly unlikely few owners even knew of it--then or now.

Atlas N scale turntable modification...

Freebies are good, but sometimes they come with bugs that have to be surmounted. This one was working fine actually, the bug being built into it by Atlas.

The table's wiring is very simple, each rail has a spring loaded brush that contacts a plate underneath that is divided for track polarity. As the table spins, the polarity is corrected automatically for the roundhouse leads, so that locomotives travel on and off the table without have to worry about direction of travel. A simple and effective device, its one flaw being the location of the dividing point. In this case, the location placed two of my five roundhouse leads with polarity opposed to the track on the table...


Undaunted, I fearlessly drilled the rivets, thinking I will just rotate it 90 degrees and all would be right in the world...thinking being the key word here...sigh...


Alas, those rivets carry current to the contacts, so another plan was devised...by replacing the strip contacts underneath with wires, reattaching one and relocating the other (noted in green), I was able to remount the contact plate...


I then soldered jumpers to the original breaks (in yellow) in the plate, and cut new breaks (in green) in by scoring the metal with a knife. This placed the circuit in a way that powered all my roundhouse leads properly, so that the locomotives could roll onto and off the table with the necessary polarity issues straightened out. I made sure that none of these new connections interfered with the path of the sprung brushes...


Speaking of those brushes...


...the best way I've found to reinstall them was to put them in their respective holes...


...and...while holding them in place with a piece of paper, carefully flip the table right side up, place it into the pit circle and, while pushing down firmly but carefully on the table, slowly slide the paper out. This ensures that the brushes remain assembled and in place when you secure the table to the pit ring...

American Train & Track Corp. HO scale Plymouth diesel...March 1968...

...finally identified, won in a friendly bet with a hobby shop owner, $5 if it didn't run, $10 if it did.

I won...





The company only lasted about 10 years and is most well known for its model of the Alco Century 415, later picked up by Life-Like. It used mechanism parts and truck sideframes from the AHM RS2 locomotives.

AHM/Rivarossi passenger cars....

One of the things I do to all of my rolling stock is change over the plastic wheelsets for metal. The rolling action of metal to metal is a natural track cleaner, and the sound itself is quite pleasing.

Unfortunately, the price of aftermarket wheelsets can often exceed the price of the car, limiting me to what I can scrounge in a box lot or bargain at a local swap meet. Fortunately for me this go 'round, I found myself with a large quantity of the older Rivarossi wheelsets with nickle silver wheels, the type they used up until the mid-1960s...a drop-in fit for the later cars...


A little work with some Goo Gone on the treads and a spin into a Bright Boy block to clean up the needle point axle ends and my train was quietly swishing around the loop. Sure the flanges are deep enough to cut a Sicilian pizza with the works, but free is free and that's fine with me...

Marklin 3 rail HO/OO turnout...

...a junk box freebie, a pair were given to me because they were missing parts. Eager to get them working again, I'd give them an occasional stern look or two for the next 5 years.


Overcome with a mechanical epiphany two nights ago, I immediately assaulted a variety of wires and springs in my parts bins. After flaying the entrails of several paperclips closing in on a working cure, I came up with this...


Once installed, it looked like this...


Don't ask for measurements...if you want one, I'll bend it out for you and you can play from there.

Fleischmann HO scale 4 wheel "bobber" caboose...

...or..."How to replace missing smoke jacks, using Kadee coupler casting sprues, without using words."

Alco Models HO scale Union Pacific ALCO C-855...

...well...the drive train anyway, part of a recent box load of ancient HO history...


Included were these two Lindsay "Teaspoon of Power" drives, the L-140 HO gauge 4 wheel power unit with flywheel and the L-142 single end motor. The little boogers are rated for 1.5 amps, enough to fry three of anything offered today. The L-140 has an ingenious design that allows it to extend its wheelbase .170" to fit a variety of models. The gear box simply slides along the long end where the flywheel is, then locks in place with a set screw. The flywheel can also be flipped to make for more room as needed.

Lindsay Products...

...just a sniff of the box load of model railroading history that landed in my lap this week...

IHC HO scale Fairbanks Morse C-Liner...

The best improvement one can make to low end motive power is to increase power pickup, thus sending pure, unobstructed juice to the already handicapped motors they come with. Fortunately, IHC made it easy to do...they simply were too chintzy to put an extra set of wipers and wire in. They did however, put in all the necessary details to add a set yourself...

Note the bracket holding the stock wiper...


...is present on the sides with no wipers...


...making it simply a matter of fabricating another pair, mounting them like the stock ones, and wiring them in...


...just make sure to clean the excess flux of the soldered joints...


...and that your wiring is properly oriented.



The results are fantastic, it crawls through plastic turnout frogs without stalling and has much better low speed control. Because it now has eight wheel pickup, it is also not as easily affected by dirty track.

February 1960 Model Railroader magazine cover....

...my birth month and year...apparently remembered as one of their worst covers ever.

...sigh...

Alexander Scale Models HO scale Industrial Brownhoist...

...a.k.a. "Little Hook".

Year in and year out, I saw this in a little ad in the pages of Model Railroader magazine and always wanted to assemble one myself...


...November 1960 ad...

What better way to celebrate another mile marker in my mortality, my first pair of bifocals, than with an intricate, board-by-board kit like this...


...sigh...

Mantua HO scale 0-4-0 "Shifter"...

...a gift from an online friend. They came with the simple drive rods of most toy trains but, for a couple dollars, one could buy the optional full valve gear kit...




Before...


...after.
Sadly, when they were first offered, the slide gear was made with zinc castings that were prone to becoming brittle with age from crystallization or "Zinc-mites", the bane of all model train collectors and enthusiasts. This set was no different, obtained in the usual box lot of goodies I'm always looking for...


However...I found that the later plastic ones were a fairly easy retrofit. The peened rivet that held the original to the slide rod keeps a good grip when carefully pinched into the plastic one and the hole is already predrilled...

A full set of valve gear makes for a much more complete looking steamer, and would please the original giver of the model who, like me, is a tinkerer of the first order and an old school modeler as well...



Yes...this old girl now sports one plastic, and one cast slide rod but, since you can only see one side at a time, I figured no one would notice that the other is of a different material. I do have a plastic south paw rod should this one decide to go south on me in the future.

Mantua HO scale 4-6-4 Heavy Pacific, circa 1980...

...a nice runner--when you can get juice to the motor--they are plagued with contact issues that come from a combination of zinc castings, steel axles and brass wheels working against each other by their various corrosion and rust abilities. The older ones have a separate bell and hanger that protrudes over the smoke-box and headlight. They are now offered under the Mantua Classics name by Model Power.

One way to improve pickup is to remove as many contact points as possible, bringing the electricity to the motor is as directly as one's abilities and materials on hand are able to muster. I made these pickups with some strip brass, 2 round terminals that fit around the bolster and some wire...








Knowing modelers will immediately see the impending screw-up--since fixed--...unknowing modelers get to find out on their own...

The fix works great, completely bypassing the zinc floor of the tender and the trucks, though the original source points of power remain. Adding 3 ounces of lead helps it stay in contact and track better.

Northwest Short Line 18 ton HO scale Shay...again...

It just looks better here than it does sitting on some white paper...its empty eye socket now filled with an M.V. Products .166" light lens.

Pittmann, K.T.M. Sagami...

...a box full of model railroading history came my way, filled with open framed wonders of yesteryear, gear boxes and can motors including Sagamis, which haven't been available since the Kobe, Japan factory was destroyed in the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995.

They come from the estate of a modeler who obviously knew what he wanted in running qualities and pursued that end thru the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. I will eventually feature several of the older motors to show the evidence of balancing the armatures that used to be done before precision motors became available and affordable.

This is just a small sampling of what came my way...

Ken McMillan's West Hades & Beelzebub S scale 4-6-2 Pacific...

...an unbelievable chance find in an Edmonton, Alberta pawn shop, a piece of model railroading history that is one of the scratchbuilt masterpieces of yesteryear...

From the PNR NMRA Region 6 Highball, Summer 2010, page 6...

Ken McMillan Passes

Ken McMillan passed away on May 31, 2010 at the age of 86.

Ken built and operated the West Hades & Beelzebub - a mostly scratch-built S scale layout.

His prize-winning brass steam engines were controlled with a home-built CTC-16 system.

The entire layout operated flawlessly.

Who can forget dumping live ore loads in his automatic rotary dumper, complete with a working kickback track?

The craftsmanship on the layout was surpassed only by Ken's hospitality to guest operators.

Several of us were honoured to take part in operating sessions late into the evening, the first exposure to operations for many.

Many of us also remember Ken's voice - he was known in some circles as "Edmonton's Frank Sinatra" - and was a frequent singer at Edmonton-area karaoke bars.

One of the treats of the 6th Division spring meet in 1978 was Ken's after-banquet singing.

Ken will be remembered fondly by all who had the good fortune to know him

---Mark Johnson






---owner photos