Mid 1800s

[hal123]

This is my first N and I bought several used cars and an 0-6-0
for perspective.  My setting is mid 1800s, Appalachia West Virginia.

For the first new purchase I settled on a 4-4-0 engine that
I bought from Bachman.  The actual details are not what I am looking for - but will do
for the early set up and track work.

Here's the catch I didn't see coming.  The smaller boiler and lower lay
of the older style 4-4-0 doesn't look right with the railcars.  Even
though the longest car is 40' they look too high and wide.  I assume they
are modeled on late 1800 to early 1900 stock.

With my old HO this is not so noticeable.

Is there an identifier for smaller cars?  Who carries smaller size
cars?  Seems there should be a code or size for older era railcars.  Does
anyone know of a source I can follow to learn more?

Also - does/did anyone make an N 2-2-2 from the early 1800s?

Finally, for all scales, where can someone go for loco/rollingstock modification information or kits?

[johnTom]

I think Bachmann produced the Dewitt Clinton and the John Bull in HO-scale, I'm not sure of any others. if there was one in N-SCALE. The Tom Thumb would be a nice addition.
Would anyone else care to chime in on this topic?

[sharriso]

Welcome to the mid 1800s -- or as my wife and I call it, "The Twilight Zone".

We are modeling the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in western Maryland in the 1850s.  There is virtually nothing commercially available.  Before you sell all your stuff, hang around some of the N-scale forums (here, Trainboard, and Atlasrr, for example).  We have some research that will help you.

In many cases you can find something that is close, modify it a little, and paint it to look like mid 1800s.  We have several Bachmann 4-4-0s and they are pretty close to what was used in the 1850s.

The B&O museum in Baltimore has some cool old stuff -- from 1827 on.  We went there years ago but did not take nearly enough pictures.  We are planning another trip.

[brokemoto]

You will, in fact, be hard put to  find much for anything before the 1860s.

The Bachmann eight wheeler is really 1870s, but you will get away with using it as an 1860s or late 1850s locomotive.  The freight cars could be from any period from the late 1840s through the late 1880s.  The passenger cars could fit anything from the 1850s through the 1880s.

Atlas sells an 1870s 2-6-0 manufactured under licence from MicroAce.  It is based on a protoype built in the USA for Japan in the 1870s.  The first 2-6-0 appeared in 1863.

MDC sold and Athearn sells an 1880s 2-8-0 and 2-6-0.

Model Power sells a 4-4-0 and 2-6-0 that are based on late 1890s to early 1900s prototypes.

While there were some forty foot boxcars in the mid nineteenth century, most of the freight cars ranged in length from twenty to thirty six feet.  Athearn sells and MDC sold thirty four foot box type cars.  RS Laser Kits sells kits that can be made into gondolas or flats twenty four  and forty feet in length.  Microtrains sells thirty six foot refrigerator cars.

Athearn sells and MDC sold thirty four and fifty foot wood passenger cars.

A Bachmann eight wheeler pulling Athearn thirty four foot passenger cars:



A Bachpersonn eight wheeler spotting a Microtrains thirty six foot refrigerator car:



An Atlas/MicroAce 2-6-0 spotting and Athearn thirty six foot boxcar:

 

A book indispensable to modelling this era is The American Railroad Freight Car by J.H. White, Jr.

[hal123]

Thank all for replies.  I did not know what I was getting into with this era - any scale.  Late 1800's in HO had much more options off the shelf.

But I won't quit just because it's harder ....

I will be cutting down a used 40' coal car in the next week or so to try my hand at modifying it to 26' - a first for me.  One thing I read somewhere is that a cool part of model RR is that if you do something and it doesn't turn out right - just tear it up and try again ..... wonder how many used cars I will go through until I get it right!

[sharriso]

Nothing like the Dewitt Clinton or John Bull available in N scale.  Minitrix used to make an N-scale set called "der Adler" (The Eagle); built in England but ran in Germany 1830s.  Hard to find and expensive ($300+; check Amazon or eBay).

I will try to post pictures later.

[railsider]

One has to wonder if there is a market out there for some of the early 19th-century stuff in N scale. Although they would be incredibly tiny, and probably hard to fit a motor into them. The HO De Witt, John Bull & Lafayette almost look like N-scale already! because they were just very little in real life, compared to the big haulers of the Golden Age in the early 20th century.

However, N is gaining on HO in popularity, I think. Any solid figures on that hypothesis?

Railsider

[sharriso]

Some things are still needed to model mid 1800s in N scale -- mainly interest.  I have posted in several forums and got less than stellar response.  But if you like a challenge, we would love to share our work.

What else is needed?  Link-and-pin couplers.  The knuckle coupler was not patented until 1873, but link-and-pin couplers are not practical in N-scale.  For now we have to live with Micro-Trains and Kato magnetic couplers.

The biggest need is wood-beam trucks; they date back to the 1830s.  Archbars are good from late 1860s on.  There are lots of short freight cars available today that can be backdated to the 1840s and 1850s with wood-beam trucks.  Again, we have not seen very much interest.

There are some tiny motors out there, but I'm still looking.  Getting them to fit is not easy.  (Did I say there weren't many people interested?)

Here is a picture of my wife's layout.



Shawn and Sally
Modeling 1850s B&O