I have an HO gauge PRR 2-8-2 (that I am actually selling on ebay) and I was wondering if there was ever one made for N scale? I can't find one anywhere, not even on ebay. Would love to have one though, always thought these were rather neat looking engines.
There was a company that made a kit to go on a MDC 2-6-0 or 2-8-0 but I do not remember the name. I will try to look it up later. You can see a couple of them here in this photo.
Aspenmodel/Westmodel make a brass camelback shell designed to mount on a Fleischmann 4-6-0 chassis - They don't specify the prototype, but some have speculated that it appears to be a replica of a 1912 Central of New Jersey L7 (built by Baldwin Locomotive Works). Lima's crappy old Q1B 2-6-4T was marketed as a camelback, although I'm told it really isn't. Rather, it's a rough representation of a Reading Company suburban tank engine that was used prior to electrification of the Reading's suburban services out of Philadelphia in 1930 - -Mark
Rocky Mountain Models = Westmodel had a Camelback Cab/Firebox kit for a 2-6-0 Minitrix/Modelpower locomotive. Franz
I dimly recall seeing a camelback in a New Jersey LHS, possibly made in extremely limited quantities by Camden and Amboy Models and probably a modification to a commonly available steamer. This could all be faulty memory as it would have been "in the previous century." Ah, Mark, the (in)famous Q1B... I think it was more of a European engine (more plentiful in that configuration there, I'm told) that had a quick body shell added to sort of kind of look like the Reading prototype. And then, despite AHM being headquartered in Philadelphia at the time, it was never actually released in the Reading roadname! (PRR and ATSF only if I recall correctly.)
Beside the above mentioned RMM kit I have a Camelback conversion kit for a MDC 2-8-0 from "Small Scale Logistic" (Cliff Darrow). In one of the early N-Scale magazines (Hundman time) was an article to convert a Bachmann 4-4-0 to a Camelback. Franz
Just found it: "Modeling an N scale Camelback" by Steven H. Poe, N-Scale mag. Sep/Oct 1994, page 50. Franz
Chris Schmuck (Chris333) did a great camelback from a Model Power (IIRC) chassis. A camelback is definitely on my to-do list!
That 4-4-0 is really neat looking. I don't know that I have the "artistic" ability to convert one even with a good kit. I was hoping that there had been a Bachmann, Rivarossi, Atlas, or someone that had done one in the past. The HO scale one I have is a Mantua. I really like the 2-8-2 wheel configuration the most, but might be willing to compromise if one could be found. Here is a pic of the one I have in HO. It is probably around 15 years old (might be a little older) and I have never run it other than on a small test track just recently. Did fine, but will need to be oil/lubed before running regularly. AA
Further information on the previously mentioned Aspenmodel stock number 30098 Camelback kit without mechanism: http://aspenmodel.de//product_info....-brass.html/XTCsid/ngbge630l89gpepg931r51lq65 RSLaserKits is Aspenmodel's exclusive North American dealer: http://www.rslaserkits.com/N-RollingStock.html http://rslaserkits.com/aspen_stock_and_prices_sheet_5-4-11.pdf
I often wondered about the Camelback locomotive and assumed that the Wooten Firebox was the reason it came into being because of the visblity issues so I decided to go looking for information, finding that there were two types, the Camel and the Camelback. I never really warmed up to the appearance of these oddities always thinking that the fireman on one of those didn't have it easy especially in bad weather and winter. Well turns out that there was a reason we didn't see more and there were no modern versions. Safety for both the engineer and the fireman, and their production was banned in the US. The following link tells the rest of the story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelback_locomotive
