Bobber caboose and Climax

[Chuck N]

Mickey:

Mining and logging cars came in many sizes and were used on Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge.  I imagine that some time trucks were switched and something that started on one gauge may have ended up on another.

I'll start this discussion with the mine cars.  I have a number of books on railroads.  Most if not all pictures having the side dump mine cars with an engine, the engine is a small engine usually an 0-4-0. Either a tank engine, or a small switcher, like in the picture below.  I cannot find in my books a Shay or a Climax pulling a string of small side dump 2 axle cars.  They may be out there, but they are not common.  They are pulling full sized cars: hoppers, gondolas, log cars (of various sizes) and other common freight cars.

This is a picture from a book on the Mesabi Railroad by Fred King.



In about 1997 I bought 3 Hartford Log car kits.  I believe that they are 1:22.5.  At that time I didn't have any 1:20.3 engines or rolling stock, so it is unlikely they are that scale, especially since they came with Kadee gauge 1 couplers.

They are all of 11.5" long.  Much smaller than my long Accucraft log cars.  This afternoon I took some pictures of the cars with my Bachmann Climax and Shay.  The caboose on the end is a Bachmann bobber.  The train in the background is a 1:20.3 mixed train.

Climax







Shay





My personal opinion is that solid (box, refrigerator, cattle and passenger) cars in 1.22.5/24 don't look that great behind a 1:20.3 steamer.  They are dwarfed by the engine.  There are some small 1:20.3 engines that might work, but I don't have any.  On the other hand open cars (flat, hopper, gondola, etc.) seem to work. 

Just remember.  It is your train and if you like it, who is to say otherwise.  When I first started in LS in 1980, LGB was the only game in town.  I bought American Narrow Gauge freight cars and European Narrow Gauge cars and engines.  At that time the only engines available were European design, so I had Colorado NG pulled by a Stanz or some other alpine engine.  It wasn't long before the Mogul came out and I had a suitable engine for my American cars.

Over time, almost all manufacturers in Large Scale have produced cars and engines of different scales that run on our track: LGB, USAt, AristoCraft, Accucraft, Bachmann, etc.  Some mix and match and some don't.   Originally, LGB was primarily meter gauge at 1:22.5, but they had a whole line of cars and an engine based upon the Zillertal Narrow Gauge line in Austria.  It is 750 mm gauge.  That engine and cars definitely are not 1:22.5, but I have never heard anyone question it.

Welcome to the confusing hobby of Large Scale Trains and run what you like and don't worry too much.

Chuck

[mickeykelley]

Great pics.  Thanks.  As I said, it is just a learning and curiosity thing for me.  I made my decision based on what I wanted and price.  The ams were just too expensive to get the number I wanted.  They also appear to be of a newer era.  I going for the very late 1800's to early 1900's.