newbie with a question

[sunhuntin]

greetings all! my name is charley and i live in little ol new zealand. im a member of the wanganui model railway club and collect the trackmaster/tomy thomas the tank engine ranges.

i just picked up my first "real" loco yesterday, the bachmann 4-4-0 jupiter and was wondering if excursion cars would look ok as rolling stock? i also bought a model power canadian classic HO set and 1 wagon from that set is the same size as my loco. so would the excursion cars be too big? its hard to tell from photos. i dont want to use standard boxcars or tankers as everyone at the club im a member of has those. i want something unique.

looking forward to any replies.

[jward]

roundhouse makes a line of 1890s wooden freight and passenger cars that would look great with this locomotive. mantua also offers 1800s cars appropriate for use with this loco. i also believe bachmann has a set featuring 1800s cars as well.

[richg]

The excursion cars should work and you can call it an excursion train.
The other brand mentioned, I cannot comment on them. Not a Bachmann product. The Bach Man does not like other brand sources mentioned as the Bachmann forums would eventually be overcome by other brand discussions.

Rich

[sunhuntin]

thanks jward and rich. sorry for mentioning the other range, but i couldnt figure out another way of explaining the size difference. i just tried running the jupe with a bachmann CN box car i bought and it looked a bit rediculous, the car towers over the loco, lol.
the excursion cars wouldnt look too big for the loco?

the shop i got my loco from gave me last years catalogue and i saw one set that was based on stagecoach cars which looked nifty. they would suit the jupiter but again i dont know about the size difference.
be neat if there was a program where you could use a picture of the loco and select different wagons and it would show how they would look in real life. the store i went to has a great range but they mainly focus on diesels and freight trucks.

thanks again. i will check out the suggestions

[jward]

The excursion cars should work and you can call it an excursion train.
The other brand mentioned, I cannot comment on them. Not a Bachmann product. The Bach Man does not like other brand sources mentioned as the Bachmann forums would eventually be overcome by other brand discussions.

Rich

You may mention and discuss the products of other manufacturers, but please don't use our board for their announcements. Also, please refrain from criticizing other manufacturers, as they are not here to respond.


the above paragraph is taken word for word from the forum code of conduct.
reasonable comments about other manufacturers products are permitted, and honestly they give the forum credibility it wouldn't have if it were only about bachmann's products. the way i see it, as long as you don't stand to gain personally from mentioning another product line, you are allowed to mention them.....

[BaltoOhioRRfan]

roundhouse makes a line of 1890s wooden freight and passenger cars that would look great with this locomotive. mantua also offers 1800s cars appropriate for use with this loco. i also believe bachmann has a set featuring 1800s cars as well.

I bought a set of the roundhouse 50 Ft Overlands in the Central Pacific Railroad Of California for the Jupiter engine and they go great behind it. They would be prototypical for the engine you have.

I also have all(but the log cars which i want!) of the mantua  old time freight cars and they are also nice cars.


Theres a pic of my Jupiter by bachmann with the roundhouse coaches

[sunhuntin]

balto, your train looks great! might have to review my excursion car idea, though i like the idea of having a few people actually in the cars.

jward, thanks for that. i read that a few mins ago on the main board. its a good guideline/rule to have.

[NarrowMinded]

richg,
Bachmann doesn't have a problem with mentioning other brands here, Ive seen various admins mention other brands, what they frown on is Bashing the quality of other brands because they are not here to defend their products,  Ive read that a number of times in differant posts over the years.

NM

[Doneldon]

sunny-

That Jupiter loco is based on a prototype from nearly 150 years ago. It was an appropriate size and power range for the time but would be completely useless on a modern railroad. However, your idea of using it in excursion service is an excellent one. Excursion/tourist railroads don't concern themselves with prototype or size matchups, nor should they. They use the functioning motive power they have available with whatever rolling stock will fit their needs. So your idea is right on the button. Enjoy your railfan trips!
                                                                                                 -- D

[sunhuntin]

thanks, doneldon. spent the entire day almost on ebay and google looking at ideas for stock. i love the roundhouse passenger wagons but seems im set on the open excursion cars.  figure 1 or 2 of those, with passengers, should be more than enough. it struggled to pull more than 2 wagons from the other set so dont want to overload it.

im going to plan and build a layout for it, so will post photos once i get that organised. found a station with foot bridge that i like so thats a start.

[BaltoOhioRRfan]

thanks, doneldon. spent the entire day almost on ebay and google looking at ideas for stock. i love the roundhouse passenger wagons but seems im set on the open excursion cars.  figure 1 or 2 of those, with passengers, should be more than enough. it struggled to pull more than 2 wagons from the other set so dont want to overload it.

im going to plan and build a layout for it, so will post photos once i get that organised. found a station with foot bridge that i like so thats a start.

I've got two of the excursion cars, i had planned on two 4 car trains of them for tourist travel on a musuem part of my layout. but the cost put that plan on hold and i used the two i had for other things.
I devoted them to my dogs funeral train i made up, just for her, 4 cars and a locomotive


each car number and the engine number deal with something about her
The first excursion car was converted into a "casket car"


not trying to hijack the thread, just posting uses for the cars even with a main railroad use.

[sunhuntin]

what a neat idea, balto. i found measurements on google and the height of the car is about the same as the smoke stack on the jupiter, which seems massive. how do your cars look behind your jupe?

[BaltoOhioRRfan]

which ones? excursion? that 4-4-0 is nearly the same size as the 4-4-0 picture in the funearl train

[Jim Banner]

Last time I rode an excursion train, it had some old commuter cars and a couple of open cars made from old gondolas.  The open cars were pretty simple, a wood framed roof supported on multiple 4 x 4 posts and a hand rail about 4' off the inside floor.  I don't remember if the posts were bolted to the sides or were in stake pockets.  The centers of the ends of the gons were cut out to permit a "bridge" from car to car to be inserted, allowing passengers to walk the length of the train while traveling.  The gons were rather beat up and the only effort made to restore them was to cover the bottoms with sheets of plywood to prevent tripping.  One of them had some rough wood benches, the other was Standing Room Only which worked out well as it was next to the Bar Car.   These would make a great kit bash project starting with either some old gondolas or some old flat cars or maybe a few of both.

Jim   

[Doneldon]

sunny-

Jim's right about the open gons. I've seen and ridden in many of them over the years. I would think your American would pull at least two or three. Don't skimp on proper weight for the gons (or other cars) as that will cause derailment problems. If your loco seems a little anemic, add some weight to it. You can add weight until you are at about half of the current draw of the stall draw. Much more than that tends to stress the motor and drive train, especially so if the gears are plastic. At the same time, don't add so much weight that you can pull a dozen cars. Locos like yours pulled trains that were very short by today's standards, six or eight cars max on level track. And that was cars from the era which were very much smaller than today's railcars. A single loaded gon or hopper today would weigh at least as much as your loco and tender.
                                                                                                                       -- D