Rolling Stock

[RoyM]

I am building a civil war diorama. I recently purchased a locomotive from that era 51116. Have you any suggestions on what rolling stock I can match to the loco. Preferable passenger

Thank you

[jonathan]

Roy,

Check the Walthers on line catalog.  Mantua still makes oldtyme passenger cars.  IIRC roadnames available are B&O, NYC, Pennsy & D&RG.

I see them at train shows all the time, so they must be stocked regularly.

Athearn's Roundhouse branch use to produce older era passenger cars.  I don't know if they still produce them, but I do see them at train shows from time-to-time.

The Mantuas come with plastic wheels, so consider replacing them with metal (personal preference).

I have the B&O 4-4-0 with Mantua passenger cars and the colors match very well.  Takes some tinkering to get the loco to run reliably, but the train looks neat runnin' round the layout.

Regards,

Jonathan

[mabloodhound]

One of the best Civil War layouts is here:  http://usmrr.blogspot.com/
Although it is O scale you can get some great information from Bernie.

[CNE Runner]

Roy - The Civil War era is poorly represented in HO scale models...more's the pity. I did find some craftsman kits from B.T.S. at http://www.btsrr.com/bts7803.htm that may 'fit the bill'. I have built a couple of these kits and they aren't all that difficult...if you have any experience with these type of kits. Failing that (and echoing what was already posted) are the passenger cars produced by Mantua. I didn't research this too far; but Historic Railroad has offered these cars in their frequent catalogs.

Another option would be LaBelle Woodworking which offers a fine line of craftsman kits for freight rolling stock. Their offerings of passenger cars is too recent to be included in the mid 19th century (actually I'm not sure most of their freight cars would fit as they appear to be too large). The same is true of Roundhouse/MDC cars (sometimes referred to as 'Overton cars') as these (and the Roundhouse/MDC freight cars) are really models of very late 19th or early 20th century cars. Bachmann, AHM, IHC, Rivarossi, Pocher all also offered 'truss rod' cars - that are also too late for your Civil War montage.

The terrible fact is: To effectively (and accurately) model the Civil War period one must resort to craftsman kits. Oh, there are Yahoo groups that specialize in this modeling era...you may want to check them out. Of course nothing can replace some good ol' library research.

Good luck,
Ray

[jward]

one of the problems with modelling railroads of the 1800s is the fact that the standard knuckle coupler didn't come into widespread use until the 1890s. previous to that, cars used link and pin couplers, think of a giant chain linkwith pins on the end of each car fastening them together. in a static diorama, they can be modelled, but operating ones would be difficult to impossible. so no matter what you do you are going to have some inconsistancies if you intend to have running trains on your diorama.

if i recall correctly, not too long ago somebody made models of the winans camel locomotives and iron pot coal cars so common on the b&o during the civil war era. i believe these were done in o scale though.

b&o may be the railroad most affected by the civil war, as it straddled the border between north and southand many of the battles were fought near its lines starting with john brown's raid on the armory at harpers ferry.

[Doneldon]

Roy-

There are availability challenges in building Civil War era model railroads but they aren't insurmountable, especially if you can tolerate some fudging with time lines.

Your locos should be 4-4-0s, ideally with balloon stacks and ornate domes and paint. Moguls, 2-6-0s, were just showing up in significant numbers on real railroads so one of those would be somewhat remarkable. Ten-wheelers were in their infancy, almost the test stage, but you just might include one if you want to do so. These other locos should mimic the Americans in style and ornamentation.

Freight cars should be smallish, wooden and with delicate fixtures like doors and grab irons. Give them truss rod frames. Many will have Military Railroad paint jobs, particularly in the North. You might consider some well-known railroads like the B&O or the Pennsy. In the South you could have the A&P RR. Cabooses would lack cupolas and might not even have open ends.

Passenger cars should also be wood, with clerestory roofs, truss rods and open platforms. Roundhouse and Athearn (if you can find them) produced inexpensive, appropriate plastic models. Look to LaBelle for craftsman level kits for both freight and passenger rolling stock. Pay attention to getting the right kind of trucks; roller bearings just won't do!

Good luck with this endeavor.
                                                                                             -- D

[mabloodhound]

And operating link and pin couplers are not hard to do.   There are many simple options to make your own.   I know they are available for On30 which use HO couplers and you might use one of those kits to modify your Kadee's.