This one's for P. D. Lethbridge and Rye Guy; a double-ender in action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqAmm5WaZ-I&NR=1

Hard to find photos of IHC engines since the firm went out of business, but here are some shots by a fellow who likes Camelbacks, and of course went to work with IHC 2-6-0s (which, to my eye, most closely resemble an engine from the NYO&W, except for the  piston-valve cylinders of the SP prototype that was the basis of the mechanism).  He also went and swapped superstructures on IHC 4-4-0s to get himself some 4-4-0 Camelbacks.

http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=16740

Of course, Camelbacks were considered dangerous locomotives with the fireman and engineer seperated like that, and with the engineer right over that clanking machinery (not a good place to be if the engine decides to throw its rods, which did happen once in a while), while the fireman usually had to stand on the tender and fire through two firedoors, with minimal shelter--and imagine doing so on a 4-6-0 running tender-first at high speed, in the winter, in rain. . .the men on those engines must have been of iron, like the locomotives themselves. . .

Jet Train, I have to ask, are you an anthracite road modeler?  If you are, it's not something everyone does. . .

Interestingly, the N&W once owned a Camelback, a chunky 2-6-2 inherited from a shortline that was bought out; seems it served in a very small area that had hard coal in Virginia.  Didn't last long, but still an interesting footnote in the N&W steam roster.

Yes, indeed, some people have made the loads out of twigs.  It helps if you happen to have a hedge that needs trimming regularly; also, if you are one who goes in for real Christmas trees like I do, there are many branches you can trim off to make pulpwood and log loads, in various scales (the trunk itself would be good to represent large to very large logs in G-scale).

There are a couple of tricks to use if bulding up a load this way.  One is to make an enclosed or at least topped or inverted box slightly smaller than your load.  This is painted a dark color, and "coated" with twiggs (full-length on tops and ends, stubs on the sides, where only the ends of the pulpwood pieces would be visible); this is supposed to reduce weight to a certain extent, and reduce the gross amount of wood you need (helpful if making the load from dowels, which some people have also done), but you still have a lot of cutting to do.

I have a hedge, and my choice would be to use sticks and twiggs in full.  You do want to glue all this together of course, and in either technique (box or full), you will want to work on a surface or (better) a car template (flat pieces assembled to  represent the deck and bulkheads of the car you are loading) coated with waxed paper.  The waxed paper keeps the glue from sticking to the template, the template itself guarentees you get no glue on the car, and you get a removable load.

Of course, you don't want to use super-glue on this job!

Hope this helps.  Does anybody else have anything to add (even if it is to tell me I'm full of hooey?)

Narrow gauge is often considered something from the steam age, and I love it that way myself,especially since I live a relatively short 75 miles or so from the East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Company.

But this is not always so, as illustrated by this material from Railpictures.net.

http://www.railpictures.net/articles/article.php?id=24

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?offset=0&where=search|-2|-2|-2||-2|henderson mine railroad|15|1||||||||-2|-2||-2|-2|||15|-2|-2||||||1||1||||&newdisplay=5

I doubt that anyone will produce this equipment, but at the same time the locomotives look relatively plain in the detail department; perhaps they would not be too tough to scratch up.  Cars might be a problem, simply by needing a lot of them.  Either way, you would have something not everybody else would have!

Other items:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=313708&nseq=0

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=305242&nseq=0

Enjoy.

Narrow gauge is often considered something from the steam age, and I love it that way myself,especially since I live a relatively short 75 miles or so from the East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Company.

But this is not always so, as illustrated by this material from Railpictures.net.

http://www.railpictures.net/articles/article.php?id=24

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?offset=0&where=search|-2|-2|-2||-2|henderson mine railroad|15|1||||||||-2|-2||-2|-2|||15|-2|-2||||||1||1||||&newdisplay=5

I doubt that anyone will produce this equipment, but at the same time the locomotives look relatively plain in the detail department; perhaps they would not be too tough to scratch up.  Cars might be a problem, simply by needing a lot of them.  Either way, you would have something not everybody else would have!

Other items:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=313708&nseq=0

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=305242&nseq=0

Enjoy.

Ah, Pipefitter likes early EMDs; he'll appreciate this photo link to shots on the Potomac Eagle tourist train that runs on the South Branch Valley.  I'll leave it to him (and you) to explore, simply because there is so much here:

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?offset=0&where=search|-2|-2|-2||-2|potomac eagle|15|1||||||||-2|-2||-2|-2|||15|-2|-2||||||1||1||||&newdisplay=5

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?offset=0&where=search|-2|-2|-2||-2|south branch valley|15|1||||||||-2|-2||-2|-2|||15|-2|-2||||||1||1||||&newdisplay=5

http://www.wvrails2010.com/

Enjoy.

One of the problems in model railroading (if it is a problem) is making a choice about what to model.  There is always something new to discover, even in the steam era which has been gone for over 50 years, or a shortline that has been gone for about 70 years--and yet, one of its engines survives today.  As a bit of trivia, its construction number is 33333!

http://www.wva-usa.com/history/mthope/kgje.php

http://www.wvepostcards.com/kgj-and-e/

http://www.wvepostcards.com/kgj-and-e/index2.php

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/prairie/?page=kgje

http://remembercliffside.com/documents/pdfs/engine_brochure.pdf

Other material from this site to explore:

http://www.wva-usa.com/history/mthope/whiteoak.php

http://www.wva-usa.com/history/mthope/loupckbr.php

http://www.wvepostcards.com/index.php#railroads

A reference to the town of Cliffside in the notes on Kanawha Glen Jean & Eastern 200 lead to a site on the town, and some interesting links on railroads there.  Explore and enjoy:

http://remembercliffside.com/index.html

http://remembercliffside.com/galleries/railroad/crrindex.html

http://remembercliffside.com/photoofmonth/2008/picmonthfeb2008.html

http://remembercliffside.com/galleries/railroad/crrindex.html

Those who love decrepit shortlines and the affectionate and artful carricature style of John Allen will appreciate Jim Scancarelli (current "Gasoline Alley" cartoonist) and his interpretation of Cliffside in HO scale:

http://remembercliffside.com/galleries/model/modelhome.html

Enjoy.

I don't know how good this is, but it is a correct prototype for the B&O (Q-3 class, 100 engines, No. 4500 is in the museum), although the B&O went in for a high headlight and of course would move the bell, too.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/187-5171

Incidently, very often these engines had footboard pilots, and footboards on the tenders, too.  I wonder if Bachmann has spare footboards available, like those on the rear of the various C&O tenders.  They're a handy item to put on other engines, including my own Bachmann NYC 2-8-0 that I hope to put to work on a Kanawha & Michigan connecting line on my C&O/Virginian layout (if I ever get around to building the monster).

I need to get a round tuit.  My problem is, all I have are square tuits. . .

. . .I know, bad joke. . .

Sure did!  That's part of the reason I was so glad to find this again.  And take a look again at that large cylindrical object on the top of the tender.  At first glance, it looks like an air tank, but it has an exhaust pipe and muffler that looks a little like a spark catcher on a woodburner.  It's a huge turbogenerator, used for train lighting.  CNJ commuter trains made so many stops that the traditional axle-driven generators on cars could not keep the batteries charged, so the CNJ went in for what we would now call "head-end power."  Somebody (Kemtron? PIA?) once offered this as a detail part in brass.  

I wonder how many people think this is a diesel-era inovation?  Actually, the very first electrically lighted trains ran with a generator car, or an engine-generator (reciprocating steam engine) set in a baggage car that ran off steam piped from the locomotive through a connection like those used for steam heating.  And the Milwaukee Road, in the 1890's, actually had steam generator cars (like what would be later used with freight diesels) for train heat to supplement the capacity of the relatively small 4-4-0s in service at the time.

It simply amazes me how long some supposedly modern technical fixes for operating problems or special conditions have been around.  And while I'm a strong C&O fan, I like those Camelbacks, too.

In fact, I like about anything with a firebox at one end and a smokestack at the other!

A photo of this same engine, from earlier in this thread:

http://abpr.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?//march99/03-26-99/crd90597.jpg

Sadly, she did not make it into preserrvation, despite efforts by some railfans back then.  CNJ managment at the time thought they had done enough by donating the relatively rare 592 (Camelback 4-4-2) to the B&O Museum in Baltimore.  I'm grateful for this, of course, but I wonder if the 592 wishes she had a sister to keep her company. . .

http://saulnadler.railfan.net/display.cgi?CNJ_592.jpg

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=58514

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=58514&Page=2

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=58514&Page=3

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_cnj592.jpg

Amazing what you sometimes stumble across on the internet.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/cnj_steam1.html

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/cnj_atr.html

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/cnj/cnj.html

Enjoy.

Finally stumbled onto that CNJ 4-6-0 excursion footage. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDmNAu0v__g&NR=1

Enjoy.

More video links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttgguqpVzSg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyoOTgqM76Q&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNn99V4OpAQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQEGHFSYW8c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ore_RPx_txs&feature=related

Not all of these are 100% B&O, but all have some B&O footage.

Enjoy.

You sound like you might be new to the hobby.  Welcome in, have fun, and remember to give yourself the invaluable gifts of patience and time--we get enough pressures rushing things elsewhere in our lives, no need to rush this stuff, take your time and enjoy yourself.

Also, check out a Walthers catalogue or their website, www.walthers.com ; this is a distributor and manufacturer that carries more than you can imagine.  Here are two samples from a search using the word "transmission:"

http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Structure&scale=H&manu=&item=&keywords=transmission&words=restrict&instock=Q&split=30&Submit=Search

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/322-2014

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3121

As to those H-shaped transmission lines--go ahead and scratchbuild them, compared with some other things, they might not be too bad. . .

Have fun.

Glad I could help.

A funny story about the black 4-8-2 doubleheading with the orange and red Daylight streamliner up Tehachape (sp?) in the 1940s--the train was struggling up the notorious grade at low speed, and a raifan noticed a couple of older ladies riding in the seats ahead of him.  They were commenting about the slow progress up the hill, when one of them was able to look through the window around a curve at the struggling locomotives.  "It's no wonder we're moving so slowly," she said to her companion.  "Our nice streamliner isn't just pulling our train, it's pushing that old engine, too."

This is supposed to be a true story.  I don't claim to be good enough to make it up!

I've used this before, perhaps you've seen them, but these video clips of N&W steam from the 1950s explain a lot of the appeal of mainline mountain railroading.  Compound 2-8-8-2s, 2-6-6-4s, auxiliary tanks, pushers. . .all here. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV8rA3UE-lc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF-6FKD0pr0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y__yR95DSwc

This next one  is a slow loader, but it's a good movie, about the jobs railroads do. . .it's still the N&W, but it could have been any road at the time. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mXo_ya-kAE&feature=related

Other video links:

http://www.trains.com/ctr/default.aspx?c=a&id=608

http://www.trains.com/ctr/default.aspx?c=a&id=607

Enjoy.

Were Connies and Mikes doubleheaded?  You betcha!  Actually, just about anything might have been doubleheaded with anything else at one time or another, depending on conditions.  I've seen photos of 2-10-2s with 4-8-4s (AT&SF), 2-10-4s and 2-6-6-6s (C&O--likely a power move to transfer engines rather than to used all that tractive effort), 2-8-2s and 2-10-4s (C&O, Powell Hill outside Columbus, Ohio), 2-8-8-2s and 4-8-4s or 4-8-2s (AT&SF again), 2-8-2 and 4-6-2 (B&O, passenger trains in West Virginia on the West End), 2-10-2 and 4-6-2 or 4-8-2 (B&O passenger train about to go up Sand Patch), 2-8-8-2 and 2-6-6-4 (N&W, most famously on Blue Ridge), 4-8-2 and 4-8-4 (AT&SF and Southern Pacific--and the 4-8-4 was a Daylight), 4-6-2 and 4-8-4 (SP excursion at high speed some years ago in California)--you could almost go on forever. . .even 2-10-2 and passenger diesels (AT&SF and B&O).

Johathan wondered about the IHC 2-10-2.  Reportedly it runs quite well, but the design can best be described as generic; closest thing it resembles is an AT&SF engine with a C&O cab.  What you could do if you were ambitious enough would be to pick up one of these engines and a Rvarossi/AHM B&O Big Six and graft the Big Six boiler, cylinders, trailing truck, and tender onto the IHC mechanism (which I seem to recall also has the long-frame Baker valve gear of the Big Six).  At least one commercial custom builder will do this for you for a price; links follow:

http://eddystonelocomotives.com/

http://eddystonelocomotives.com/BOSteamPower.htm

http://eddystonelocomotives.com/bigsixfix.htm

http://eddystonelocomotives.com/howtoorder.htm

http://eddystonelocomotives.com/orderform20.htm

Alternately, you could just go with double-headed 2-8-2s.  That's what the B&O used east of Brunswick, Md. because of the short turntable at the Riverside roundhouse in Baltimore.  Bigger power did go there, including EM-1 2-8-8-4s for overhauls, but did not run there on a regular basis because to turn the longer power required the use of a wye track, and that in turn tied up a part of the main line!  On the other hand, why not improve operating efficiency with bigger steam power?  After all, a proper railroad uses black locomotives that pull nice long trains and burn West Virginia coal!