Just wondering if anyone here adds a detail or two to their HOn30 rolling stock? I am not wishing to get really carried away. What I had in mind was possibly such as the brake wheel assembly and air hose with angle cock. Modeled era being circa WWII and just thereafter. A little later than the Maine 2 Footers. I was looking at potential items such as these parts in Cal-Scale, #190-276 and 190-357. Sound good? Any better suggestions?
Hi BoxcabE50, I do most of my narrow gauge modeling in On30 using mostly Bachmann RTR equipment, usually taken straight from the box to the rails. I do have a few scratchbuilt pieces as well, and on those I have added minimal detail. To date, I only have a couple of kits that are either still being built or haven't been started yet, so they don't really count. Since most of my operating is done with a modular group, I don't have rolling stock with a lot of added detail that is likely to just get damaged or knocked off in transport (I never have been fond of making repairs). Many, if not most, kits come without trucks and couplers, and sometimes a lot of other basic detail isn't included either (and of course scratchbuilt models never come with anything included!), so I'm not sure if those should count as added details or not. The new RTR HOn3 stuff comes with a pretty good amount of detail already installed, so adding much doesn't seem to be all that necessary. Bill in FtL
I have done some modeling in On30. But never really did much added detailing. Mostly it was Bachmann. Unfortunately, HOn30 stuff such as what is on my work bench usually comes with minimal details. If much more than ladders, it might be grabs or a brake wheel. I am afraid that using such as angle cock and hose for H0 or HOn3 might be too large. Also, the same for an aftermarket brake wheel assembly.
I hadn't really considered the size but now that I think about it, seeing a Maine 2 footer boxcar next to a standard gauge boxcar is almost like seeing Z next to N. (But not quite.) In light of the size issues, could you substitute N scale details or get a look at some pictures of prototype 2" gauge rolling stock to see how the appliances on those look? I'm thinking that since people are the same size, there would be the same sized brake wheels, ladders and grabs.
One reason I am puzzling over this, is that everything else was shrunk proportionately. Truck assemblies, doors, couplers. Using N scale couplers, would it look odd to have full HO scale angle cock and hose? Trimming the hose so it would not drag on the ties, it seems as though I'd end up with an odd looking little stub. I do not keep the M/T trip pin, so the space left open seems like something is missing. How would a full sized brake wheel look when installed on the staff of a 26 foot flat car? Even when looking at photos, some times it is hard to envision.
I like this picture as it shows the huge difference between 2' gauge and standard gauge. It looks like the brake hose is the same size and knuckle couplers look smaller (or, in other pictures I've seen, are link and pin). On the boxcars, the grabs look oversized but that's to be expected. The walkway is the same on both the standard gauge and the 2' gauge. The brake wheel on the passenger car in this picture looks overscale. 2' gauge is for all intents and purposes 1/2 scale used by 1:1 scale people. I personally think the defference in the sizes of items like brake wheels accectuates the differences and sets HOn30 apart from HOn3.
If you happen to find a close and crisp freight car end view, showing train line air hose and brake wheel staff, etc, would you please post it? I have done past HOn30 modeling, but never did much about details. Recently I have become more interested in adding some parts.
I don't model narrow gauge but I do know that most railway suppliers like WABCO and whatnot didn't catalog specific equipment for narrow gauge. The example you used was the airbrake hose and angle cock , WABCO and the other suppliers didn't make a version for smaller equipment. So a 2 foot gauge car would have the same angle cock as a standard car. Perhaps things like grab irons, brake wheels and whatnot were sized appropriately but most of these items were made in the company shops. In the old days if you were a mechanical department manager you didn't have catalogs to order from , you had your pattern makers build one and then made them in the blacksmith shop.
I guess I'm thinking that some things just can't be scaled down. A man's hand is the same size whether or not he's working on Standard or 2' gauge. There are only four grab irons to the top of that 2' gauge boxcar and look at how wide they are relative to the car. Those are the same size as standard gauge grabs. I found these pictures. The brake wheel does look a little small on that boxcar #309. http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2009/05/01/hmn_feature23.html If you use Google image and search, "maine two foot gauge railroad," there are a lot of pictures of Forney locomotives. I also notice no brake pipes. Did some of those lines not even use air brakes?
As far as I know, some did not use other than manual brakes. What I had in mind, was larger operations- SR&RL, WW&F. I'm sure you are correct about scaling down. I just cannot picture those air hoses being the same. I was thinking they'd drag in the dirt when not connected, and when coupled possibly even hit road crossings, guard rails and so forth. Somehow I am not spotting the angle of view I need, so far, in magazines or books. Maybe I should look with both eyes open.
Okay, I think I see where we're going with this. Those 2' gauge knuckle couplers look smaller that standard gauge so the cars would couple closer and I would suspect the air hoses would be proportionally shorter. They might even be smaller diameter as well since those trains were small and the air compressors tiny. As for what the railroad did, those cars didn't interchange so they could pretty much do what they liked. I know a lot of this is speculation on our part since, short of a trip to Maine, we can't see for ourselves. Here's something else to consider, the SR&RL shut down in 1935 (and probably wasn't making any changes to operating equipment for a long time before that) and your time period is WWII and just after. What might have been added had the SR&RL been more prosperous and hung on for another decade? I say go for it and add the details. Also, I have a couple of the Train & Trooper SR&RL 2-6-2s and I think the details are pretty nice. I also have a new light tent (Christmas present) and if you'd like, I'd try to get some detail shot for you. As for books, I see that Amazon has The Maine Two-Footers: The Story of the Two-Foot Gauge Railroads of Maine by Linwood W Moody and Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads by Robert L. MacDonald available as well as a few books on the SR&RL. I think Karen's Books has another book about the Maine Two-Footers as well.
Yes. The two foot couplers are smaller. And using N scale versions, set at N scale standard heights.... I do have the Moody book. That was the first one I ever acquired about M2F, way back when. I started going through my M2FQ issues last night, looking for clear photos, but fell asleep...
My area of interest is 600mm trench railways and kind of skidded into Maine two footers. Now, if anyone has pictures of the 2' gauge plant railway at the Quincy Smelter in Hancock, MI, I'd be interested in those as well. I'd like to try some of that in HOi (6.5mm gauge) but then I'm a glutton for punishment and expensive lessons . . . .
Well, after studying photos and video, anything with a view, believe I will pass on the train line air hose idea. However, I did see some close in views of brake wheels. Maybe it is just my vision, but they definitely appear to be smaller than the same in standard gauge. Such as on a couple of WW&F flat cars, they look to be about 12 inches maximum diameter.
I've got to agree with you on the small brake wheels. That boxcar in the picture on the Hemmings website has a decidely small brake wheel. The Brakie is going to have to use a tent stake rather than a brake club to turn that. When I get home, I'm going to look at the pictures of the trench railway flats and check the size of the brake wheels on those.
I checked the scale drawing of a USA 600mm gauge trench railway flat car and the brake wheel was 16" in diameter.
I was just sitting here, holding my 18 inch ruler. Sixteen inches could be it. Now, to figure out who has the detail part I need. Plastic, brass. Whatever it takes.
