I have been a model railroader for well over 55 years. Have been a modeler in HO since 1953. I have had three careers in electronics, including digital and am retired now. I work part-time as a sales advisor at a local hobby shop. Though I am not against DCC, the local HO portion of our model railroadclub is installing DCC, which means that I will not run my equipment there. If I were beginning in model railroading, I would probably go with DCC. As it is, I have too many DCC “unfriendly” locomotives. When Atlas decided to install DCC on their HO locomotives, that meant that I can no longer buy Atlas DCC equipped locomotives because I will not pay for something I cannot use. Let the “deep-pocket” new modelers buy their own DCC decoders. I will buy locomotives with a plug-in set up for DCC. I know that is a bit more, but not the quantum leap in price ($30 to $50) that Atlas has issued.
I like your magazine. Keep up the good work, even if we do not agree on some things
Harry L.C.T. Andrews, Jr.
via the internet
I just started a subscription to your newsletter. I am getting back into N-scale and plan to model steam powered railroads in the Pacific Northwest. I love the articulated locomotives in HO scale but can’t afford the brass and custom articulated locomotives that were available in N-scale. I noticed that Con-Cor and Life-Like have recently come out with reasonably-priced articulated locomotives. Have you done reviews on these or are you planning one in the near future and how could I get a copy? I read your last two issues and you are doing a wonderful job reviewing equipment for all the scales (I also have a garden scale railroad). You are right not to get into the crafting side of the hobby — there are a variety of publications providing that service. Thanks for the help.
Z. Harry Whitley
via the internet
I am a huge fan of articulated steam locomotives and have gotten into N-scale this year, so I’m also thinking about just what you are asking. In an editorial conference, we have pretty well agreed that we have not ever done an N-scale articulated steam locomotive from anyone. I contacted both companies and have some news. While Con-Cor is in the planning stages of their next articulated project, Life-Like is getting set to release its 2-8-8-2 N&W Y6b — and I’m going to review it as soon as it comes available in a month or so! Stay tuned—Ed.
I have two Superliner Amtrak cars. One sightseer lounge, and a coach. They are built from Walthers. They are 85 scale feet long. And when I run them over my 22 inch radius curves on my layout, the ends of the cars touch and want to derail. Does this mean that I need to make a larger radius curve, or am I doing something wrong? Thanks a lot!
John Redinger
Newport, PA
I got out my pair and rolled them around the test layout which has 18 and 24 inch curves on the two inside loops. The Walthers Superliners would not negotiate the 18 inch and only barely managed the 24 inch. Even on 24, they look ridiculous. An 85 foot car is designed for very broad curves and even the 30 inch curves of the outer loop seem to accentuate their length. Check into Larger View this month; the issue of scale comes up there. Always go with the broadest curves your space will allow. —Ed.
I recently found a copy of your July 2002 editorial whilst researching Trevithick on the web. You may be interested to hear of the celebrations we are planning in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales to celebrate the bi-centenary of that historic journey from Penydarren, Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon on 21st February 1804. Rather than elaborate further, may I refer you to www.trevithick2004.co.uk for further details and advise that this will be updated as things proceed.
Your first sentence is a little misleading for, whilst there were tracks of the types described, the Penydarren or Merthyr Tramroad had L-shaped iron plates set on stone blocks. At the end of each rail was a notch and a spike was driven down through the matching notches in adjacent rails into a wooden peg set into the stone blocks, thereby holding the rail firmly in position. It was largely as a result of these iron rails being unable to cope with the weight of the locomotive that Trevithick’s Penydarren locomotive was not such a success as it might have been and the development of steam powered locomotives was largely left to others to develop. I would be interested to hear if you had any responses to your proposal as a model railway exhibition is one of the events planned together with displays on the work of Richard Trevithick. The actual design of the Penydarren locomotive is not known, but was believed to be based on his smaller Coalbrookdale locomotive of 1803 (it is not known whether this ever actually ran) but possibly modified to be more like his subsequent Gateshead engine of 1805.
The full size working replica constructed by the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum is based on this latter presumption. The ironworks of Merthyr Tydfil provided rails for many of the pioneering railways throughout the world including the United States.
Glyn Bowen (Member of Trevithick 2004 Working Group)
via the internet
I’m not surprised that our canny friends from across the pond are planning a celebration of Dear Richard’s accomplishments. While several people have written regarding the topic, I have not heard of any celebrations or product releases underway so far. Some of these things take a while to put together, the reason why I brought up the topic two years early.—Ed.
I greatly enjoy your publication and it is a wealth of information, so I was wondering if you might be able to help with the following question. I am interested in Baldwin diesels and would like to know if there are any on display and where, or better yet, are any still operational? Needless to say my main interest is with the C & O, but so far the Historical Society has not come up with any information.
James C. (Jim) Martin
435 Maplewood Dr.
Vinton, VA. 24179
Chessicat@worldnet.att.net
Baldwin Locomotive Works produced 3208 diesel locomotives between 1925 and 1956, and some 47 are known to exist, most on display and some still operational. I found a website which lists the survivors at http://www.ole.net/~rcraig/PRSVDbaldwin.HTML. I belong to the Southern Oregon Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and our chapter is the proud owner of a Baldwin S-8 which is still operational. It is the former Medco #8 and is the only Baldwin switcher ever built with dynamic brakes. Most of the survivors are switchers, but a pair of boxcabs are still around. Supposedly the Escanaba & Lake Superior has a pair of Sharknosed RF16s (former NYC then D&H units) but these haven’t been seen in over twenty years. The rest of the surviving Baldwins are scattered all over North America. As far as I can tell, none of them are former C&O units. If other readers know of others not covered at the above website, let us know.—Ed.
I know you’re probably tired of hearing this but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your locomotive reviews. They have guided me towards several purchases, all of which I’m very pleased with. I’m a big DCC fan so I’m always interested in knowing if a locomotive is DCC-ready and if a decoder installation with be an easy fit. Any DCC information you can provide in future locomotive reviews would be a big help. The large color advertisements in MRN are real eye catchers. I saw the ad for Tayden Design’s “UltimateData RR Edition” and ordered it right away. I’ve been looking for an Inventory Control Software package for my locomotives for a while but never came across one until I read your magazine. This is a great product that has finally got my inventory under control and it’s fun and easy to use. Now in the October issue I’m reading about Logic Rail Technologies signals that are controlled using a photocell. Just what I’m looking for. Gee, I love this hobby.
Terry Ketcham
Etowah, NC
I don’t get tired of hearing any of the things you said, even though we hear them often. I love it when people realize what our large pages and snappy color is all about. Not only have we added Russ Boehm’s “Straight Talk on DCC” column, our writers (including me) are striving to tell the DCC story where appropriate. —Ed.
While visiting a wholesaler buddy, I scanned the October 2002 issue for new products. Although I’m not an N scaler, I have been a fan of Espee (that’s old Southern Pacific slang to the uninitiated and younger set) steam for most of the last 40 years. I therefore couldn’t help rereading your quick overview of SP GS-4 class locomotives in WWII-years service. Ooops!
Seeing as how GS-4s were all new from the Lima factory starting in 1941, with additions to the fleet following closely thereafter, I gather that you are liklely confusing the black and skirtless Con-Cor version with the later, skirtless and single headlight-equipped GS-6 group of locomotives.
In short, Con-Cor may well be marketing its miniatures as “war babies” but no GS-4s were deskirted and painted black during the mid ‘40s. Those earlier GS engines, some of the original GS-2 and similar GS-3 classes may have lost their vivid hues in favor of somber black, but even those kept their skirts on until the end of hostilities and then some.
What Con-Cor’s model most closely represents is the early to late 1950s, end-of-steam GS-4s. Except for Con-Cor’s maintaining their dies with the earlier front end positioning of the train number indicator boards (which got moved to a near-center spot on the skyline casings of the GSs after headlight glare made them hard to see in their original locations) the model really can’t be accurately termed a war-era version.
Glad to see you nipped that outside bearing pilot truck assembly away — the model is much improved as a result. Those modelers looking for a bit more 1950s historic authenticity would do well to eliminate the pilot stripes as SP was prone to painting the GS pilots solid aluminum by this late date. Finally, the use of white wheel tires on in-service GS-class engines was an extreme rarity, even from the beginning. Basic black centers and tires rims was the general rule for all SP steam after the turn-of-the 19th century with few variances.
Kevin Bunker
Portland, OR
Actually, you arrived an issue late. In the prior issue (September 2002), we ran a review on #4433 in Daylight colors and covered when it arrived on the roster. No, I don’t confuse anything with the single headlight GS-6s, one of which is still in existence the last I heard. You are right about the skirts but please refer to Arnold S. Menke’s website at http://www.urbaneagle.com/sp/GSpaint.html and you will find that some GS-4s (at least six) were painted black, although 4430 didn’t happen to be one of them. In the previous issue we also showed a photo from Tony Johnson’s collection of 4433 in skirtless black from late 1950 with the numberboard back in the middle. The GS-4’s were delivered with aluminum-bronze paint on the outside of the tires and there were stars painted on the axle ends to indicate they had standard journal bearings with spring pad lubricators. It is doubtful that these features were maintained, so they would have turned approximately black within a few months. The Con-Cor model represents a black GS-4 probably as it would have existed after the war, since during the war the skirts were still on. The term “Wartime Version” comes from the manufacturer. This isn’t the first time a model has hit into a confusing period of history; rail photography was discouraged during WWII (see O. Winston Link’s The Last Great Steam Railroad in America for confirmation of that fact.) As a result, collecting photographic evidence from that period is very difficult. Whatever the truth may be, Con-Cor has produced their model the way it is, and it is a lovely product. It is up to the individual to weight the facts available and decide whether to buy it or not. Thanks for adding to what’s available!—Ed.
Just read your editorial today. All too often women are left out of the model railroad hobby for no other reason than they are women. Men seem to have some preconceived idea that the opposite sex doesn’t like trains or know what to do with them. I work in a hobby shop that sells dollhouse miniatures and the women I deal with could show many guys a thing or two about modeling. Many of them do landscaping for their houses besides building them. Some even build these houses from scratch and to scale. Has anyone ever thought of using a paint brush to paint flowers on bushes? My wife did and she could care less about model railroading, but the effect she got was astounding. It totally changed the appearance of the area. Have you ever thought about doing a column aimed at the women that love trains as much as the guys do? You have one for young people and another for S gaugers. Model railroading can be a terrific family hobby. More people should try it. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I just had to say something.
No name
via the internet
Please convey my thanks to Dale (Wadsworth, October 2002 Letters) for his great response. Makes one wonder where/how Dale learned all of that. Had to have been a railroader with the Alaska RR.
I can relate to Rocky’s Plane Trip Derailed by Caboose but don’t have near the story. I had purchased an Alaska RR caboose in Anchorage and in boarding the plane in Fairbanks for the return trip home I had the caboose in my carry on. It was spotted by the x-ray and they had to look through the carry on and take the caboose out of the box before they were satisfied. Fortunately, I did not experience Rocky’s situation.
Between you, Dale, and Charlie’s Alaska Trains in Anchorage, I have enough info on the Alaska RR to keep me busy for years. In due time I will have an Alaska RR train put together, but not on near the scale Dale was thinking. If I had the time, money and know-how, Dale’s ideas would be great to put together. I am still learning and enjoy your News.
D.S. Bond
via the internet
Mixing DC and DCC
To Russ Boehm:
I have just read your column on DCC. I am one of those Luddites who is resistant to change. I have several engines and am not rushing into a new technology. I do have a few Atlas engines with the decoders installed which results in the lights not working well under regular DC power. There is a downside to every improvement that is offered the public. You get to buy what you do not want or need and pay more in the process with a reduction in performance. Once Life-Like started adding the DCC plug in their units they run much slower to sluggish. I would like to read an evaluation of the Atlas DCC system and how it compares to the more exotic expensive spreads. Also can you hook up your layout to both DCC and DC at the same time without melting something. I have no desire to retrofit my engines with plugs as I think soldering is better left to people who know what they are doing.
David Wise
via the internet
Thanks for taking time to write regarding your observations with your Atlas locomotives. I am waiting for the latest Atlas releases to review and have planned to compare the DC vs. DCC basic performance attributes of locomotives I review. I think it would be good to know the starting voltage, minimum speed, and current draw in comparison to the stock unit.
I will assume you have made all the normal checks for clean track and wheels as part of your troubleshooting procedure. Having said that, I wonder if you have contacted Atlas or the hobby shop where you purchased the locomotives. I don’t think Atlas would agree that this is a normal condition. I don’t own any Atlas units so I can’t comment on their running characteristics just yet. I will do so as soon as possible.
Now, as far as Life-Like goes, I own the 2-8-8-2 articulated and in Bachmann, I have all the Spectrum steam series but one, some with doubles. I have not had any trouble with any of them on DC. They ran like clocks. Conversions to DCC have not all been flawless but difficulties have been corrected with relative ease and none were inherent to the DCC signal. I will be talking about these engines in a column on decoder installation and won’t include the details here.
Regarding the mix of DCC and DC, the answer is yes, you can run both but there are conditions. One way to have both is a simple DPDT switch that toggles between power sources. The condition is that you physically remove all the decoder-equipped locomotives, store them on an isolated storage track, or clearly understand how your decoders respond to a DC signal. Early in the DCC game, layouts with cab control would isolate one cab circuit from the DC power source and use it for DCC. You can also run one DC locomotive on a DCC layout with some systems, like Digitrax.—Russ
e-mail us a letter at: letters@modelrailroadnews.com
or Send them to:
LETTERS c/o Model Railroad News
P.O. Box 1080 • Merlin, OR 97532-1080
Fax: 541-955-0346
