John Bull and Lafayette train sets.

[WoundedBear]

That's quite the intricate trackwork on the turntable leads. Was that prototypical?

Sid

[Terry Toenges]

I just took a closer look at the turntable track. I've never seen it done like that. That was a good way to be able to fit all the tracks along the turntable.

[rich1998]

For the time period, it could have happened.
I have seen some unusual track work for that time period. It might be a combination.
It would look better without the plastic frogs but still some nice track work.

Rich

[toptrain1]

Terry,  I can see you have appreciated the amount of work it takes to connect 9 stalls of a roundhouse to the turntable.
And Terry, No I won't be doing that. The locomotive depot which is the the roundhouse, Locomotive shop and machine shop I don't think I could remove it from the warped plywood it is fastened to. The track work from roundhouse to the turn table is only visual and not functional. It would all needed to be redone. None of the doors open like a operating building would need. The car maintenance build and the trainshed and depot could be used. Placing doors on the Trainshed 3 entrances would be necessary.

Sid, yes it is prototypical. I have seen it in old photos of smaller 40 and 50 foot turntables. There is no way you can get the track to the turntable without all the crossings. 9 stalls, 18 rails, 16 of which must cross. The easiest way turned out to be the installation of the 8 frogs, and leading the tracks in and out of the frogs..


frank

[bbmiroku]

While the overlapping leads to the turntable would be prototypical for any number of railroads, usually the overlap would be much closer to the turntable.  But in this case, that would make the turntable significantly larger, which wouldn't look right with the tiny engines of yesteryear.
I know that the DeWitt Clinton and all three cars in the set can fit within the standard 9"-long straight sectional track, which would seem to be just about the right size to make the overlapping leads look more prototypically convincing.

[toptrain1]

bbmiroku, The 1844 map showed a around 40' to 50' turntable. That is what I made. I think it was a 40'. I would have to measure it again.
frank

[Warflight]

Say what you will about these train sets, but, they ARE what got me into Model Railroading. They are what got me interested in Bachmann, and after a 20 year break, they are what got me BACK into model railroading.


People tend to bash on them all the time, but they are amazing little engines, and plastic gears or not (show me a Bachmann that doesn't have plastic gears) they last longer than people putting them on the shelves may think. I mean, how would one know how long they last if they never leave the shelf?

Hell, I have a Pegasus, that I installed DCC and sound in (using a Digitrax 8-bit N scale sound decoder) that has been running like a champ since I bought it two years ago.



I have a friend named "Mo" who recently put DCC into a DeWitt Clinton (simply because everyone told him he couldn't) Next step is DCC and sound (N scale decoders can be easily hidden on the tender, if you shave some detail down, and use some painted medical tape as a "tarp")

The best way to run people out of this hobby, is to criticize them for the trains they are interested in. I, myself, am interested in Early Steam. Bachmann makes the Early Steam I like, and Model Railroaders are the first to tell me how wrong I am for liking what I like.

Sorry for the rant. But these really are decent little engines.







My layout is EZ Track (because I was once told not to build a layout with EZ Track) and most of my buildings are Plasticville.

Model railroading is FUN!

[Terry Toenges]

You've done great with yours "Warflight". Some folks are pretty finicky about what they will run on their layouts.  Me, not so much.  I used to run those little ones around and around and around without issue.

[rich1998]

They are quite nice. He had some inspiration. Mostly pre-Civil War locos. Very nice set up.

I tried running them but the worm chewed up the plastic worm gear.

Rich

[Warflight]

They are a lot of fun.

When I got back into Model Railroading, after my 20 year hiatus, the first engines I bought were ALL of them. In sets, of course (which is why I had so much EZ track to build a layout with)

I started with the Pegasus, then the DeWitt Clinton (I have bought THREE of the DeWitt Clinton, and all three did fail me... one, the wheels on the tender kept falling off, and the other two were shorted out upon arrival) The Lafayette, the "King of Prussia", and the engine that got me interested in model railroading back in the 80s, the John Bull. (I could never afford it back in the 80s... but I have it now!)



Part of the joy of my layout, is that it's a movie set, depicting the "Wild West"... so it's amazing what I can get away with on my layout.

I actually have a diesel that pulls my track cleaner cars, for MofW...

[bbmiroku]

I have the DeWitt Clinton, the Prussia, and the John Bull.  I like the DWC and JB because the weight of the motor is right over the "driving wheels" (in the tender).  The Prussia, on the other hand, has the motor weight spread out over the pair of driving wheels and the leading bogie, giving it slightly less pulling power.  I keep them relatively slowly looping on my Christmas layout.

[Warflight]

Take a look at my "Pegasus"... I added weight... from metal weights on the front, and the back head, to metal details, and a metal "pilot" (they were "pilots" before they were "Engineers")

For it to work as DCC and sound, I put weight in every place I could. Even the smoke stack is shaved pewter (who am I kidding? It's lead, from black powder bullets) mixed with "Elmer's Glue All"

It wasn't too hard... just a bit of thinking is all.

[toptrain1]

warflight, I do like those photos of the 1830's locos. The layout is very well detailed.  I am still trying out the way to post single photos from flicker and I did one here is a second view . It is from the east end of the Locomotive depot building still looking east to the trainshed and the rear of the depot building.
frank



well this one worked.

[toptrain1]

*Here is the third photo. A view from hudson street looking west. It is from the front of the depot.

[Warflight]

That's fantastic!

One of the things I did for my Norris, was attach a coupler.





I used an old plastic long shank McHenry coupler, and cut down the shank, removed the tab under the tender, and glued it in. It's stiff, but doesn't seem to be an issue for an engine that small. Though, next time, just for "S&G"s, I may attempt a Kadee whisker coupler with pocket.


I also added a removable cab to the engine, but in all honesty, that cab really didn't thrill me. I was trying to go more for a "Steampunk" look (remember, modeling a movie studio) and it was okay, I suppose... but felt like it was trying to be something else.





I mean, it was okay from certain angles... but it obscured a lot of the detail I was trying to put into it.




Fortunately, I designed it to snap on, and snap off, so if I change my mind, I can always change it.