On the zscalemodeltrains.com web site it states that as of 17 Sep 07 Marklin will start making a New York Central System (NYC) class J-2 Marklin #88075 sometime in Dec 07 but we probably won't see them until next year. http://www.zscalemodeltrains.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=151&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=310&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1928&hn=zscalemodeltrains&he=.com This will be great! First new American steam loco released by Marklin in years. Wonder how accurate it will be? John
Is this the Commodore Vanderbuilt loco? If so is it just a new shell and the same 4-6-4 mechanism that has been around a while? Is this supposed to be a "New for 2007" loco? Either way I am going to get one for my collection.
Isn't this the piece they were supposed to deliver in August. Marklin does not seem to be making much in z for the US market anymore. I wonder if they are going to keep making Z or this new company that took over Marklin is going to drop US pieces. It would be nice to hear from anyone at Marklin what they are planning for the US Market. That Martin Baldrige has said for the past two years there is alot of stuff supposed to be coming out yet no one ever sees it.
And in the meantime, MTL and AZL are expanding to fill the expanding market. I did hear from one Marklin Dealer in the USA that had met with the new Marklin Executives at toy fair and was told that they are looking at Z as an expansion market and expect to see more in Z next year. This was from a dealer that primarily deals in Marklin HO so it was interesting to hear from that source. Of course, talk is cheap. Not sure what Marklin production & development time frames are, but it does take a bit of time for us to see something go from a concept to a design to a product. I can be patient, but Marklin in losing market share. Randy
As a New York Central fan, I wonder why they chose a J-2? Of the 275 Hudsons operated by the NYCS, only 20 were J-2's, specially built for the Boston and Albany, the only ones with 75 inch drivers. All others had 79 inch drivers. :tb-confused:
http://www.steamlocomotive.com/hudson/nyc.shtml So were the J-2's streamlined? or no? Here are the B&A's http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/ba-s610s.jpg http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc-s611s.jpg
I think they were both at differant times in their operating life. There was a godd history on these somewhere, ZTrack maybe. Randy
J-2's were not streamlined. J-1e 5344 was streamlined first as the Commodore Vanderbilt, then a second time to look like the streamlined J-3's, 5445-5454, and two J-3's were streamlined specifically for the Empire State Express, 5426 and 5429. The J-2's started out numbered 600 through 619 on the B&A, and were renumbered to 5455 through 5474 and their tenders relettered from B&A to NYCS. :tb-biggrin:
Hello, I don't post here much, but I've been educated on the J2 by a 84yo and am familiar with the J3 since I scrach built a J3 in Z. The J2 Commodore Vanderbilt was the "first" streamlined steam locomotive ever. It was the first 20th Century Limited locamotive befor the J3. It offten pulled a consist of mixed heavyweight and streamlined passenger cars, it was the star of NYC's passendger service of the day. It only remained in service for a couple years before the J3 Hudson and smoothies passenger cars came into servise in 1938 and the J2 was retrofitted. The Marklin offerring will need some work to be prototypycal, for instance the drivers should be schullin drivers, not spoked, and the tender and trailer wheels will need modification. I pre-ordered one from zmodeltrains.com , can't wait to get it even if I need to make modifications. Michael Hilliard Wilton, CT USA
Michael, welcome to Trainboard! I don't know how you guys can work on Z scale stuff, it is so small. I am old and can't make my hands do that anymore. I would like to hear more about your B&A engineer friend. I don't think any J-2's were ever converted to Scullin disc or Boxpok drivers. Here's a picture of 5461 (nee B&A 606) taken in 1952, just a few years before the end of steam on the NYC. You can tell she's B&A from the "sand box" instead of sand dome. Still has spoked drivers in '52. This photo from the collection of Harold K. Vollrath.
Hi Jim, I can't figure out at this time how to insert photos. I re-examined the book I have loaned to me and the Comadore Vanderbuilt originally had regular spoked drivers but was retro-fitted with "BoxPok" disc drivers which were suppose to increase tractive effort. It was also known for it's inverted bathtub look. Source: Memories of New York Central Steam, by Arnold Haas. Your Hudson photo and avatar are great. Michael Hilliard Wilton, CT USA
So if you change the sand box to a more normal dome is it then a J-1, or is there more to it than that? I wonder just how detailed the Marklin model will be and if they will ever use tender pick-ups.
Hi Michael, The custom drivers will be easy to do by cutting .005" thin plastic disc, and a pie cut to fit them over the drive rods. I'll make some extras.
Michael, yes, the "Commodore Vanderbilt" was retrofit with disc drivers. That one was 5344, a J-1e, and it was streamlined a second time to match the J-3 Dreyfus types. I don't know of any J-2's that received those drivers. If you can find a copy of Al Staufer's "Thoroughbreds" it is just chock full of Hudson history and photos. My copy is all dog-eared. :tb-biggrin: Chris, the B&A needed more sand than the Alco-provided sand domes would hold, and they built those (ugly) sand boxes on the J-2's. There is a LOT more difference in the various J-1 models as delivered, but by the end of steam they all looked pretty much the same, with Baker valve gear, hand me down tenders, various feedwater heaters. What a shame we don't have one to ogle today. :tb-sad: Michael, if you have photos on a website you can post them by doing . Better still, go down to the bottom of the page and select Railimages main page and upload your photos directly from your computer, then post them in your text. Once uploaded, go to the photo you want, click on it to enlarge it, and scroll down to find the Vbb code to include in the message. Copy it and paste it in your message, and it will appear. :teeth:
Michael, an added note to posting pix: as stated, upload related photos to Railimages but open a new window with Trainboard. Then it is easy to go back and forth as you post pix. |
