I had a lot of fun at the convention in Denver, but my greatest find was a Milwaukee Road Bi-Polar. Now, the pantographs are missing and it comes without a proper box (no factory air here), but it looks stunning and after a little oil, grease and new couplers it works quite well. The new pantographs are on order, so that should be an easy fix. I will probably need to increase the pulling power somewhat, as it started to slip with 5 cars up the mountain. Not yet sure what it can do in the helix, but there is plenty of room for additional weight. Painting it will be more of a challange, as they tended to be very colorful in the late 40s. And here it is, joined by a Milwaukee train also waiting for an appointment with the paintbooth. Cheers Dirk
I will have to post a picture of my Little Joe when I get it hopefully any time now. I have only been waiting about 2 years for it.
Dirk, Sweet !!! How about a closer look at your passenger cars? They look like GHQ kits, correct? I was in Denver also. Too bad we didn't get together and talk about the Milwaukee Road. Bill
Sweet looking loco. Can't wait to see it painted up. Did you score a good deal since it was sans box and pants?
I was surpised to see a South Shore Little Joe this spring at a little Railroad Museum in North East (yes, that's the name of the town), PA, off the CSX tracks.
When these first came out, they were noted for having minimal traction. I recall that BLW sold a 'traction booster kit.' Which was weights and axles with traction tires. Boxcab E50
The Bipolars and Boxcabs are one of the reasons I squeeze in some Milwaukee trackage onto my layout. They are just so unique! The pictures are actually taken up on Stampede Pass as the Milwaukee tracks are unscenicked (or non-existant) at present. I might scratchbuild Boxcabs, but building a Bipolar would be way over my head due to the complex mechanism. Verse, it tracks very well: It has basically 4 independent trucks, all of them with a relative short wheelbase. The pivot points are close together and the engine has 2 articulation ponts. It looks a little like a caterpilar on a crossover. Bill, yes, they are GHQ on American Limited Core kits. I will probably swith the trucks to MT, but not decided yet. I started with a Columbian, but I am lacking head-end cars yet. Geeky, I am not complaining.... ) Boxcab: It would be great to get my hands on one of these kits. It is already pretty heavy, so I guess the real benefit would be the traction tires. But now that I know it has been produced I will start to search... Cheers Dirk
