The 10 wheeler pictured is former Alaska Railroad (it once had a narrow gauge division), U.S. Army (it was obtained to run on the White Pass during WW II when the Army operated the White Pass & Yukon Route).  It was owned by a private individual for some time, then sold to the Huckleberry Railroad in Flint, Michigan.

It is a beautiful locomotive.  The people at Huckleberry just recently painted it to its green U.S. Army colors. 

This is also the operation that owns and operates the K-27 464 which they have also done an incredible restoration job on.  My wife hails from Jackson, MI, so whenever we visit in the summer I take a ride at the Huckleberry operation.  Very friendly people as well.

The answer to my question was answered on another board.  The 2-6-0, due to it being the initial release and the locomotive that goes in the train sets for Dept. 54, Christmas Village and the special release sets, not to mention all the ones purchased by model railroaders, has supposedly crossed the million unit mark in sales.

If that is true, wow!

Some one was kind enough to post a line drawing of roughly scale size over on the On30 Conspiracy site of the newly announced On30 4-4-0.

I held up my cabbage stack that was supplied with my OF 2-8-0, which is now an oil burner, next to the computer monitor.  Needless to say, the 4-4-0's days as a coal burner will be over the day it arrives in my hot little hands. 

I will obtain the steel cab version and swap with someone for the early version tender trucks.  It will get a steam water siphon on its tender like the Argent Lumber Company locomotives.

A general assortment of jacks, tool boxes, steam and water hoses, etc. will be added as well!

I realize the initial run will be without sound, but I do hope the tender comes drilled for sound.  This will make a great backwoods locomotive - just the thing the foreman ordered to get his loggers into, and out of, the woods quickly each day!

Mr. Bachmann,

I for one am happy to hear about the announced 4-4-0!  I know you are pretty busy at the moment, but when you get a chance, would love for you to take, and post on this site, some photos of the pilot models.

I, for a variety of reasons, would really like to see good, clear photos of the following if you could:

1) a head on shot of the front pilot and coupler.
2) a head on shot of the tender and coupler from a rear view.
3) a underside shot of the tender.
4) a underside shot of the running gear and front pilot.
5) a nice level side view.

One final question.  Do you know if the cabbage stack that came with the 2-8-0 will fit this particular locomotive?

Thanks. 

I plan to start saving my nickels and dimes now!

Kevin

YES!  Two ET&WNC 10 wheelers made their way to the White Pass and briefly operated there during WWII.  They were destroyed in a fire.

So, you can safely pretend that your ten wheeler lettered for the White Pass is legitimate.

Good sources of information are White Pass & Yukon Route by Stan Cohen and Railroads of Alaska and finally a book titled, I think, Railroads of Alaska/Yukon.

Oh, and if you can find it, Narrow Gauge Railways of Canada.

Boerries Burkhardt maintains an excellent site about the White Pass and there is a White Pass list on the Yahool groups - they can answer just about any question you would have there.

Hope this helps.

First of all, the initial photos that show the two pre-production
models from above are not very flattering.

When you see a good side view, the locomotives look much better.

The tender trucks on the wood cab version - early version I guess -
are really cool! Many narrow gauge locomotives had these kinds of
trucks, but you never see them on models. Warning: complaint - the
steel cab version does not seem to have these trucks but rather arch
bar type tender trucks.

I hope Bachmann makes these trucks available separately as these would
be the ones I would want with a steel cab version. If not, I'll just
have to swap with someone.

The spacing of the drivers is further apart in actuality when viewed
from the side than they appear to be when viewed from the top. Also,
the locomotive, visually at least, appears to have a wider driver
spacing than the Mt. Gretna 4-4-0.

If someone out there can figure out how to do it, this locomotive
would look really cool as an outside frame locomotive. It is very
similar in profile to the 4-4-0s that made their way to South America.

It also looks like it has an extended smokebox that is plastic which
would allow it to be separated from its boiler to shorten the length
of the boiler.

I can think of lots of things to do to alter this one.  If I had a wood burning version, it will need a footboar pilot, hoses around the steam dome, lots of tool boxes, possibly a fluted sand dome to have mismatched domes, a huge cordwood pile, a water siphon on the tender similar to those used by the Argent Lumber Company.  The ideas of how this tiny 4-4-0 could be converted from a cast-off common carrier passenger locomotive to a woods logging locomotive are just almost too many.

The decision now for me is do I get just one. I would love to see one
mocked up with the Bachmann cabbage stack so I could visualize what it
looked like as a wood burner. Or, will it be an oil burner?

This little locomotive is pretty cool all in all. It's different
that's for sure. I guess people wanted an 18-8-C or nothing at all.

I just need to be able to raise the couplers to On3 coupler height in
order to justify purchasing at least one. If anyone has been able to
touch one physically, I would love to know if this coupler conversion
is possible!

As far as the naysayers - I am not sure why they feel the need to post
their decision not to purchase a 4-4-0. I did not buy a Shay or
Climax or any of the Porters or other locomotives as I did not like
them, too small, etc. I do have two 2-6-0s, a 2-8-0 and a Porter for
my 9 year old daughter who likes trains and thought it was CUTE! Note,
it really is her's, I don't run it. I did not post my complaints or
decisions not to purchase - didn't want to rain on someone else's day
so to speak. I know lots of guys were really excited about ALL of the
locomotives I did not purchase.

I guess most people have forgotten the old adage "if you have nothing
nice to say, say nothing at all."

Final comment: I have reserved and paid a substantial part of the
price for my dream narrow gauge super power, one of the upcoming
MMI/PSC Sumpter Valley 2-6-6-2s in On30. I can't wait to pose this
giant next to this tiny 4-4-0! It would make a really cool photograph!

Imagine this as well, pose the 4-4-0, then a MMI K-36, then an O
standard gauge 2-8-4 or something like that, in a photo where you can
see the size difference, tiny narrow gauge dwarfed by giant narrow
gauge power, dwarfed by standard gauge power. It would make a cool photo!






   
Sat Jul 28, 2007 6:46 pm

If memory serves me correctly, I recall Mr. Riley stating that only 30
inch prototypes would be produced in the future for the On30 line, or
at least locomotives that could reasonably have been produced as 30
inch gauge locomotives.

Forney's may be thought of primarily as 2ft. locomotives, but they
were made for 30 inch lines as well and certainly were in the realm of
possibilty to have been made as actual 30 inch locomotives if they
had not been produced as such (think sugar cane operations such as in Louisiana were there were 0-4-4s in service on 30 inch planation lines).

The announced 4-4-0 certainly fits the bill as described as per
Bachmann's stated policy. This would seem to be a catalog locomotive
designed for export or domestic use.

It would also allow Bachmann to produce a 4-4-0 and not compete with
the announced On3/On30 4-4-0 of a Rio Grande/Baldwin catalog
locomotive that was larger, thus allowing both companies to introduce
4-4-0s to their product line without losing market share for either one.

Thus, this locomotive would fit within the stated official policy as per the last two locomotives have.  The OF 2-8-0 was based on an actual 30 inch gauge locomotive and the 2-4-4s could certainly have been built to 30 inch gauge.

I wonder what one would look like with a cabbage stack?




   

Sure enough, Caboose Hobbies lists the 4-4-0 as Bachmann to be pre-ordered.  Kind of suprising considering MMI is also going to to a 4-4-0.

Will be interesting to see what happens!

Hopefully more than just one new item will be introduced for On30!

Well, we should hear something tomorrow sometime!

July 22-July 28

Has anyone tried raising the coupler height on one of the Bachmann
On30 2-4-4s?

I mount all my couplers at On3 coupler height. I have no desire to
have a Maine 2 ft. locomotive, but Forneys like this one did find
their way into the south on sugar lines (OK - not this big and they
were usually 0-4-4 Porters, etc.) but if you install a cabbage stack
on this rascal, you have a really cool looking woods locomotive that
could also travel on the main fast enough to beat the local schedule,
allowing the logger to obtain trackage rights.

Anyone who has one of these, can you comment or make suggestions. I
usually use KD 803 On3 couplers, but would be willing to use overset,
or is it underset couplers to get up to the required height.

I just don't want to invest the price needed on one of these little
locomotives if the conversion is not possible.

Help!




   

I have seen photos of narrow gauge OF locomotives with their outside counterweights painted red.

I suggest doing a search for the 30 inch line in Brazil and Cuban steam locomotives.  These were often painted in colorful schemes.

I personally like the idea of read counterweights.

Mr. Bachmann,

Will you be attending the 2008 National Narrow Gauge Convention by any chance?

I cannot seem to find Tower Models web site.  Erik, could you post a link?

Thanks.

Mr. Bachmann,

Is there any chance that future production runs of any of the On30 Porters might come with factory equipped DCC installed?

I realize sound would be pushing it for these little locomotives, but it would be nice to be able to get one with DCC factory installed.

Thanks!