I recently saw a Norfolk & Western Class J1 in a video and wondered if an HO model of it was ever created. I understand the road numbers 605-610 were built during World War II as J1 and were later streamlined and reclassed as J after the war. Any help is apprecieated, thank you.
Bachmann Spectrum has one, often available as a package with a water tender, or auxiliary tender as they are called. Broadway Limited Imports built the tooling for the first nice non-brass one (to my liking and knowledge) back in 2003/4 or so, then lost the tooling in a court settlement between its arch-rival, Mike's Train House (MTH) and BLI's builder factory which actually owned the tooling. So now, MTH has the nicest J Class (not J1...that is a Pennsy Texas type 2-10-4 or a NYC Hudson 4-6-4). The MTH/former-BLI version is pricey, and you will be stuck with MTH's non-DCC proprietary decoder. It will work on a DCC system, but you will lose much of the controlling features and configuring features because the DCS decoder that MTH insists on using has its own coding and firmware.
I have a Bachmann Spectrum N&W J611 that I like a lot, Bachmann has done several engine numbers in this series. I wanted the 611 specifically because I had ridden behind it in an excursion in the late '80s/early '90s and the 611 is currently in the Virginia Transportation Museum in Roanoke, VA near where the N&W J series was originally built at the N&W shops there. Here's a short video of one of the J611's excursion trips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15PC-st6FvU&feature=related Clyde
Thanks guys, but I really mean Norfolk and Western Class J1, not Class J. I'm getting the reference from "Guide to North American Steam Locomotives" and the video I saw. The J1 was a non-streamlined 4-8-4 without roller bearing rods because of the war materiel restrictions. I would like to know if an HO scale model of the engine was ever made.
Ah, I see. I know of no such model in non-brass, and I haven't seen anything in brass, either. Sorry.
Timelines are very key to this issue, #600-#604 were originally built in '41/'42 and were streamlined with lightweight side rods and classed as J series. #605-#610 were built in '43 without streamlining and lightweight side rods and were classified as J1 series. In '44, #605-#610 were refitted with streamlined shrouding and lightweight side rods and reclassified as J models. #611-#613 were built in '50 streamlined and lightweight side rods and classified as J series. Key Imports had a N&W J1 #600 @$749.00 in brass (painted in railfan colors) but it is incorrect as it is streamlined so not a J1, #600 was a J to begin with and not a J1 version. MTH had a J1 #605 O scale that was without the streamlining and painted all black, that would be correct for 1943. Those are the only versions I know of off hand. Clyde
In the late 80's Sunset imported 75 pieces of the unstreamlined J, according to my Brown Book. They were listed as a J so one has to read the footnotes that it was unstreamlined. In all the years since they were imported I have never seen one on E-Bay or at a used brass dealer. Rick J
