du-bousquetaire

Nick: I model seriously the PRR in 1/32 scale the Accucraft cars are generic, that is they don't represent a particular prototype, so they could be offered in many liveries. The only car that is bang on PRR in their line up is the 6-10 sleeper and that was used on the East -West blue ribbon trains going from New York, Philly and Washington to Chicago, Saint Louis and big mid west cities like Cleveland, Cincinnaty, Columbus and so on. The G5 on the other hand were used mainly hauling suburban trains in Pittsburgh, Chicago (the "Valpo dummy") and on the Long Island RR some suburban trains and branch line trains also in other cities like Philly-Reading. These consisted mainly of P54 coaches (a shorty 60' coach with the owl windows on the ends) or P70 coaches. Matching a G5 which was made for quick starts for subburban and local services but had a fairly slow maximum speed with a Pullman sleeper would be wrong. I would be you I would wait for the Gall line kits. Also the PRR never had a LW baggage, had a diferent design of coach (the P85 series) different diner and observation in the smooth side variety. Aside from that they are a very good buy for the money as coaches can be quite pricey, as a matter of fact most modelers, because they don't scratchbuild have no idea that it is almost as difficult to make a coach as to make a loco (at least an electic or diesel with electric drive). Hence the prices... You can see what they look like on the PRR equipment diagrams and other sites. or in books.

Its the same here fellows, we seem to have the same breed of Gremlins in France. Although it would surprise many, it would seem that running in live steam is more reliable than running electrics.: No track cleaning, no slugs that creep around the tracks in the cutting and wreak havock when a low slung motor block derails over them (Or at least with live steam the worse that can happen is a derail...). No fear of rain or residual humidity (very common, here this year in particular). Although my DCS is now quite stable since I followed Raymonds advice: 1. get a Bridgewerks, 2. protect with 5 amp fuses in case of shorts. Most of my pointwork is homebuilt and has continuous current through the entire point, with results that if a switch is thrown in the wrong direction and you run into it from the frog end you will short when you reach the next point (On crossovers). On some afternoons because of distraction I can change 4 fuses! And it all is worse when friends come along or at Get Togethers. But I wouldn't change hobbyes for a fortune.

Great models Jens, the workmanship is superb. Great to see some other fans who run digital in the garden in Europe. Although I use DCS because it is with MTH diesels and electrics. My European are still analogue I use both with an Aristo Craft train engeneer. of course it is an either or system. Keep up the good work. Have you met the people at the hotel Krogen in Denmark? They model in gauge one also.

Very nice track Jens, You will have to double head (vorspan in German) when that BR 01 takes the passenger rake up the grade makes for interesting action stop to add on helper engines, etc. Very nice bridges ands indoor layout. too.

An EMD E 7 or an E8 would be my vote. Also a Baldwin Centipede, or an ALCO RSD 7 or RSD 15. I like those Alcos like the trucs very much and the nose profile with the sand box seems like good design to me

Marklin also did the Limat I think the first Swiss loco.

Great ideas folks : I cast my vote for the nickel Plate Berkshire too.

Great Yardtrain keep on handing in your wants folks this can really help the manufacturers determine what is most likely to sell. About wide radius that's the beauty with outdoor railroading most of the limitations we used to have indoors disapear except in some difficult cases.

I got into the high dollar stuff because I came into gauge one for live steam, although I was very lucky my first loco was a Basset and Lowke GNR Atlantic, I restored it and traded it a few years later for an Aster PLM pacific. That was my first and only loco for years. All I was able to buy was the Ouest oscillator 0-6-0. Then I scratch built a SNCF 2-D -2 9100 (a 4-8-4 electric) and a couple of French railcars, So I was running electrics and steam from the start. Then JVR offered me his 1-4-1 R at a bargain price. So I had another engine. Then the boys at Fulgurex knew me because we ran at exhibitions next to their stand. When I moved to the country they offered me a 2-3-2 U1 kit for a bargain price, and to pay for it I started to sell my HO collection in earnest. It sold so well I was later able to buy from JVR his Chapelon at a very bargain price... So my stud grew then I got a good job and bought new the 140C at list price and the Accucraft T1 Both were my first locos paid at list price! For the K4 which had not been planned for, I sold my PLM pacific to finance it., So all in all I only bought two engines at the real list price in my collection, otherwise I am like you guys i can't really afford those beauties. My last purchase visible on this forum cost me $50 it's a Lionel GP7. Now fitted with NWSL wheelsets it doesn't wobble any more, looks fine and has much better electrical pick up. Total cost was a bout less than a $100 bucks. So don't get me wrong when I defend brass they really give you your moneys worth is what I mean. When you build an Aster kit you begin to realise all the work that has been put into it for quite a reasonable price, compared to what you have in your hand. That is what I meant. I would like to see gauge one be a more democratic scale, unfortunatly right now, it's the collectors that run the show... Do send in your wants that 's what can help the manufacturers know what we want, happy steaming or railroading.

I totally agree, except that at one point your passion for model railroads warrants the extra effort to buy a more expensive model. Also I was insisting on the fact that so far the Aster, Accucraft models are a great deal for the price they sell at. In one case you have the mass produced model made from very expensive dies and molds, that still costs quite a large sum of money for a mass produced product. On the other side you have manufactured model in metals that last, adjusted and machined to good or excellent standards, that when you consider the amount of work involved in making it, is a steal. But I have no conflict with mass produced models at all and have quite a bitof them. I sincerly think we need both. Also the electric versions at Accucraft at least are sensibly cheaper than the live steam ones on the average I would say a good thousand bucks cheaper. There are still some SP F4 or F5 2-10-2 going at around $2500. Your second point is where we totally agree, and that is why I feel that Forums like this one can play a big role in helping the manufactureres determine what models would sell most. It's not a question of big engine or small engine, agreed but how well the engine is reproduced and runs, that is what made a big difference in the examples you cited. And as I asked other people who joined this forum in another post, the best way to help this is for every body to tell what is on their want list. If nobody answers this plea they (the manufacturer like MTH) will never know what just people want. It isn't a tug of war of who yells most, it's a chance to pitch in and say just which engine is your dream engine. That's what can help the manufacturers, if a lot of people answer this very simple question: what engine would you like? Please pitch in your ballot.

Besides smoke fluid not really looking anywhere like real loco smoke. Weather it's a diesel where the smoke should be much blacker or steam where it should be more abundant and steamy, unlike the cigarette like smoke that comes out of smoke units. The fact is that in an A-B-A lash up only the lead and trailing units smoke. the B unit doesn't. Which considering the high price MTH sells these dumy units is really a bad deal, they should put in a smoke unit at that price for those who want one. It is very visible on the D & H Alco PA1 A - B -A lash up in the video. All in all I do without smoke effects altogether it is too much a kidy type gadget for me. It also keeps oil from falling all over the body and chassis, which is no picnic too. I get enough projections of that sort from my live steamers. By the way our steamers don't smoke either (unless it's a very cold and humid day) the only way you can tell it is steam, is from the safety valves plume or when one pops off. i really don't miss it at all...

Hi Bob: I am glad you got your hands on one of these J&M cars they are so far the best that has been offered on the market, although they are a bit on the heavy side, traction wise. It's Ok if you don't have any big grades. I have a 1.8% grade out of my indoor terminal and when I take them up with my MTH GG1 I take them up three or four at a time. The GG1 wiill take the whole rake up, but I prefer being on the safe side about stripping the gears. It is one of my favourite locos. With my scratchbuilt B60 baggage and my D 78 diner I can align 7 heavyweight now! When I use the PA1 A A set it takes the whole thing up easy. Thats one of the reasons, I tell people that MTH locos are good mechanically, they take that kind of beating rather well. Out on the main which is horizontal and wide (11' radius and over) curves it can handle the whole drag plus some lightweights. These cars roll pretty well though and once going give a lot of cinetic energy to a train. This car is an accurate reproduction of the PRR observation used before the fleet of modernism cars introduced in 1938. Ditto for the NYC. the smoker baggage is also correct as well as the 12 section sleeper, only the diner seems a bit too much of NYC origin. Thats why I built my D 78.

Those cars are, including the price hike are a deal; most gauge one metal cars with sprung trucks and interior are in the $1000 range to $1300. So people shouldn't complain about simple detailing and so on. You can always super detail yours if you feel up to it. They feature roller bearing (or rather ball bearing) trucks which ensure a very small tractive effort needed to move them around. I find the dummy couplers not a real problem. except on the ends of a consist (I only have one 10-6 pullman to complement my set of David Leech coaches and pullmans.) Their aluminum construction makes for sturdy yet lightweight coaches: Hurray! The only pitfall seems to concearns taking the interior out carefully and putting it back in carefully, it seems that you need anothe pair of hands to do that safely. This is important for 1) superdetailing the interior and 2) installing lighting. For this, may I suggest giving up entirely the traditional approach of track power and going to 10 leds either in a ribbon or with wires leading to a battery pack and switch which you can place under the skirting! These go for about 1€ in certain department stores. they are most useful to the live steamers, besides it's wonderful to do a night train that doesn't blink all the time! Enjoy!

I guess every body would want a different engine, there again this one has already been offered in gauge one. (although admitedly at a very different price, but what people in G scale should understand is that the price for these brass locos is largely justified, building from scratch such a loco represents thousands of skilled workman hours, and when you consider that, they are still quite a good deal for the money). However I like well made stuff that is more democratically priced also like what MTH does very well. But as a serious and live steam fan I defend these firms that turn out fantastic models in metal that are a great value for the price they cost. It would be good if all members of this forum say what their favourite engine would be then the manufacturer can make their choices knowing what people would really like. Actually what seems to be the determining factor in producing gauge one locos at the present, is if it's a classic (IE. a loco that sold well in the other scales- HO and O scale) and two if the prototype loco has been preserved. This in turn really limits what is available dramatically: this is why for instance in live steam we have now a considerable number of express or big modern engines but very few freight engines or local engines. Only the "star" locos get modeled by the manufacturers. Meaning that we end up with varied passenger or prestige studs and no good freight locos or switchers... Quite a dilemna, I serously think that these forums could help manufacturers make other more useful choices, and that would be good fotr the business and for the fans. Send in your want lists, that is what forums can di well.

I think that UP and SP have been very well catered for by both Aster and Accucraft, and so does the Allegheny; so my vote would go for engines that haven't been produced yet in gauge one such as the Y6 or earlier USRA articulated which I think woiuld be just as popular as the 611. Ditto the AT&SF 4-8-4 (in particular the later versions with the huge tenders with the buckeye 8 wheel trucks)which could also permit to release one of the big Texas Madam Queens, which sports many common parts. I sincerly feel that it is indecent to see all those SP and UP models and no AT&SF ones. They also could come out with a Santa Fe hudson (a real scale model one not just a repaint of a NYC J3. I just looked at a map of freight traffic density in the US today and the AT&SF or BNSF main line handles a much larger volume of freight than the UP does! The 611 is already announced by Accucraft so why duplicate it? I don't think gauge one can cope with two identical models being produced by two diferent manufactureres, yet, ditto the K4. Why not an I1 Descapod or hyppo? that would be a welcome addition for us Pennsy fans. or a J1 this could be made in C & O or Pennsy although there is a good deal to make different (cab, front end and tender) if you want to stay accurate. I was thinking about the H10 2-8-0 because they just released one in HO and it fitted the small or medium size loco category that they had talked about, besides I would be a sucker for one, myself. And it would be a very handy little loco to have around, remember that the Pennsy sold quite a few to short lines...

One of my friends Loïk scratchbuilt this one with a good deal of help from John Van Riemsdijk who designed the Aster model. It is here being tried out in February in my garden on my 60th birthday, it was freezing out on that day.

Hi there: Has any body gotten any news from the pipeline as to what that new "small or medium size" steam engine MTH is thinking about producing, might be? I just looked at their HO PRR H 10 and it sure looks delicious to me... There was a lot of talk about it just before their 2015 catalogue came out, then radio silence... I would also like to know what other diesels, electrics or cars and coaches they might want to produce in the near futur in their gauge one 1/32 line. It is about time some new things came out soon. (I must confess that nothing in their last catalogue appealed to me, however I would have liked to encourage them). I hope that new releases will give me the chance to do so.

Well It's not just a question of drivers, the AT&SF engines were a different design altogether. also they were built by Baldwin wereas the Central was an Alco customer. Modifying the MTH hudson into a true model of the Santa Fe hudson would be quite a project: Aside from the 84" Baldwin disc drivers different from the J3 boxpock drivers, you would have to modify the pilot into a very pointed boiler tube pilot, remove the right hand air pump and place in its stead the Worthington hot water pump, remove the baker valve gear and replace it with a Walshaerts, change the croshead, change the feedwater heater heating chamber with a Worthington one and remove the front chimney (booster exhaust) replace chimney with a much larger one replace the sand dome with a much larger one, install Santa Fe style illuminated number boards,redo some of the running boards and relocate air tank, remove steam turret shrouding on both sides of the firebox, relocate slightly the steam dome, rebuild the cab into a sportcab (name for a cab with an inclined front) of Santa Fe. then you would literally junk the NYC tender and scratch build a Santa Fe one, everything is diferent, size, shape, trucks, rivet details etc. You are looking at a heavy, heavy kitbashing job. Drawings of the Santa Fe hudsons are on page 208-209 of the MR cyclopedia. I think it would be an easier job for instance, to use a Hudson boiler and tender and put it on a daylight frame to make a Mohawk out of it, you would have to scratch build a trailing truck though. There used to be articles on company esthetics in steam locos in the model railroader as I don't follow them any more I have no idea if they still do, it looks like 99% diesel though. Just for starters though close coupling engine and tender (provided your curves let you do that) would make a big improvement at very little work. By the way does any body know what glue to use on the MTH polycarbonate? I mean a glue that really bonds the parts by melting the plastic together.

Great site jerry and it puts things right about scale and performlance of MTH locos. It is beggining to dwindle down on many forums that the MTH mechanicals are reliable for long enjoyment of your product. This has not always been the case from other manufacturers. Metal gears, bearings, good motors flywheels and the DCS system of regulation give fantastic advantages over most of the competition. They haul long trains over steep gradients (steep by prototypical standards where anything over 2% was considered uneconomical) and on wide radius curves.This in turns makes our trains look real. Great layout with good curves good scenic potential don't necessarily need to have a complex track plan, most railroads spend huge sums symplifying their track charts to save money on maintenace, nowadays. They will keep the complexity however only if the trafic justifies it. Of course if you run a layout with 4% grades do what the Moffat road did put two mallet at the point, followed by ten cars then another two mallets in the middle and another cut of ten cars then another two mallets shoving in the rear+ the bobber. it could go up that with say 8' or 9' radius curves, but it was a very special company and running it was sheer terror for the heroic crews! You won't strip your gear then for sure! Enjoy your trains folks!

This is fabulous Jens, How about getting a design out fort the single level budd cars while you are at it, I would be very interested because I want to make a set of Senator cars for my PRR theme. But they could be used on a lot of other roads: NYC, AT&SF, Burlington, SP, GN, ACL, Southern etc. And I am in Europe too.

I just gutted out all the sound board electronics and it is now working nicely. But I have a violent wheel woble that can't be corrected. I have ordered some NW Short lines wheelsets to re place the original wheels, I hope this solves the problem. I will probably have to machine the bushes to bring them to the right inside diameter for a push fit. Will report when that has been done, the engine otherwise can be made into a quite nice and accurate 1/32 scale GP9. It was Garry Raymond who did a feature on it way back in Outdoor Railroader magazine.

I also agree on terms of realism or so called realism of these high end models made for the collectors for the European market: My 1-4-1 TC has hatches that open all over the place. For instance small round domes over the firebox inspection plugs for boiler washouts every three weeks: They open! it's crazy but who needs that detail to be functional? The side water tank hatches open inside is a sieve like on the real thing - again who needs that? The smokebox door opens revealing the Lemaitre exhaust and so on. All this detailing is useless. On the other hand the crosshead guide which in reality is fixed to a very difficult braket to make (I know I am making one for my scratchbuilt live steam model of same) is just loose and isn't fixed at all, curtailing my original intention to buy this engine to finnish my own live steam version quicker, I am better off rebuilding it from scratch and selling it to some Shelve queen admirer. Ditto the Cossart valve gear which is fascinating on these locos, which I saw in service and rode on, is dummy with an articulation where there was none in real life and is driven from a belt drive from the axle... Totaly useless! So so much for these high end models. I also have a friend who owns a Fine Art Dreyfuss Hudson, since my pike is electric and steam I told him why don't you bring it around so we could run it? He answered that every time he moves it from the glass case he looses a part or two... So he won't move it any more! Meanwhile our prices are double or triple of other countries, and people in the business say gauge one, won't pick up in France. No wonder!

From the looks of it it seems that it follows their Narrow gauge cars profile running on gauge one track IE compatible with LGB. I doubt if it could be used in 1/32 scale.

Yes I guess they are pretty rare, it's just that I remember riding behind the ex PRR ones on Amtrak early Boston New Haven runs when I was in college in New York city. I would just love to make an E 7 lash up it would be fantastic In Brunswick green and gold leaf. Once I saw one on an English auction I bet on it but someone else got the bird. Those MDC cars have been indeed taken up by Piko now who have redone work on them but they havent figured out what a gold mine it would be if they just gave them the scale dimensions. By the way after having done many fake liveries and paint schemes for a few years, they are now offering them in pretty good paint schemes like the Reading hopper and box car , NYC Pacemaker service box car and B&O hoppers and Timesaver liveries. I dont know if the flat car is 1/32 (or near it) or G scale most of their own designs are very large, it could even be a narrow gauge car like the caboose. So not ideal to model in 1/32 scale.