This one is somewhat of an oddball, even for me. I have a turntable on my layout that by the time I put a sand hopper on it, it is too short for a standard switch engine. I seem to remember seeing something that rides on both regular tires as well as railroad wheels that I think can be used to switch single to a few cars. Problem is I don't know what it is called and if something like it is made in HO Scale. Era in question is the Mid-70 to early 80s.
BLI makes exactly what you're looking for:
http://www.broadway-limited.com/trackmobileho.aspx
Ed
Trackmobile - BLI makes one in HO...
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Yup, that was what I was thinking of. Unfortunately, the cost of those was a little more than I was thinking about spending. What I need to do is move the sand car back and forth on a section of track between the turntable and the unload area, but it is not a straight track. Are there any other things that the prototype would have used in this situation?
A winch and cable would work. It would work on a curve, too.
How about one of those little EMD Model 40's? Those should be around for less then the BLI Trackmobile.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
7j43k A winch and cable would work. It would work on a curve, too. Ed
I had thought about that idea at one point as well. What I kept running into with that was I could see it working on a pull (entering the unload facility) but I don't see how that would work with the push (leaving the unload facility).
rrinker How about one of those little EMD Model 40's? Those should be around for less then the BLI Trackmobile. --Randy
I was unable to find any of those listed on Walthers' website. I checked my other source (eBay) and the only one of those models that I found was actually more expensive than the Trackmobiles.
It will not be on the walthers website, as it is an Athearn product.
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=EMD+Model+40&OA=True
Check your LHS. Mine has 4 of them in stock currently in the EMD scheme. The MSRP from the website is $99.98. It appears these are DCC ready with 8 pin decoder. A bachmann 44Ton may also solve your problem. They are somewhat less expensive, and are shorter than a EMD cab switcher or an Alco cab switcher.
Also what length is your sand hopper (inches or scale feet). I am assuming you are using a covered hopper for this. And which turntable are you using.
Also you may consider converting a shorter non-sand hopper to sand service, by adding a roof with hatches. Some railroads did that initially before purpose built covered hopperes were made.
Can you re-arrange your service facilities to allow the track for your sand hopper to align with your approach track? That way you would have a straight shot in with out having to index the turn table.
Hi, Can you put your unloading track on a slight incline? The winch pulls the car up, gravity brings it back down. The winch would stay attached, providing braking on the way down. The incline doesn't have to be that steep.
You'll have to build it, but Grandt offers a couple of options in HO (also available as HOn3 ).
They have a 25-ton GE switcher. It's just 17' over the coupler faces on my HOn3 version, probably a nudge longer in standard gauge because the coupler are bigger. I use it for exactly what you're looking for.
And a 23-ton boxcab.
Both show as in-stock at Walthers, so should be easy to find. List is $55, so can likely be found cheaper.
Truth be told, I simulate the idea of winching cars in such situations with a very common tool known as the finger
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
You could model one of the manual car movers shown on the bottom of page 4 of the Aldon Catalog.
http://www.westernsafety.com/products/aldon2010/aldon2010pg4.html
BMMECNYC Also what length is your sand hopper (inches or scale feet). I am assuming you are using a covered hopper for this. And which turntable are you using. Also you may consider converting a shorter non-sand hopper to sand service, by adding a roof with hatches. Some railroads did that initially before purpose built covered hopperes were made.
The hopper that I have is a older MDC/Roundhouse 2 bay hopper (Metal underframe, plastic unloading hatches on the bottom, etc.). I don't know the exact length as my layout and I are in two diffrent locations. I am using an Atlas turntable (15 degree spacing).
slammin Can you re-arrange your service facilities to allow the track for your sand hopper to align with your approach track? That way you would have a straight shot in with out having to index the turn table.
Unfortunately, those options are already in use for other service facilities. One straight shot has the diesel fueling track and the other has one of the tracks into the shop building.
pajrr Hi, Can you put your unloading track on a slight incline? The winch pulls the car up, gravity brings it back down. The winch would stay attached, providing braking on the way down. The incline doesn't have to be that steep.
Now that's an interesting option. I have found that there is a slight downgrade on that track and was thinking about correcting it anyway. This would give me a good reason for doing that.
ndbprr If you can allign a track opposite your sand track you could move an engine there and have a second engine spot the car on the turntable. Then when alligned the first engine could move it to the sand track.
What a neat and fun idea!
ndbprrSome industries use a car puller It is a winch with a hook that can pull the car in either direction If you can allign a track opposite your sand track you could move an engine there and have a second engine spot the car on the turntable. Then when alligned the first engine could move it to the sand track.
That's another interesting idea. I have two SW7s that reside on tracks around the table anyway. I'll have to look at the turntable as I don't remember the track alignment. As I said earlier, the layout and I are in two different locations.
My Bachmann 44T idea probably wont work. The overall measurement is approximately 10" with a 2-Bay hopper, which is longer than your 9" long turntable.
The MSRP on the Athearn site for the Model 40 is $69.95 The eBay seller at $89.95 and the especially the hobby shop at $99.95 are smoking something funny.
Trainworld has a bunch in different road names for $69.95. Comes up as Athearn.
http://www.trainworld.com/manufacturers/model-train-specials/Athearn-89552-EMD-Model-40-Blue-1-/
rrinkerThe MSRP on the Athearn site for the Model 40 is $69.95
They raised their prices, the current run is now $99.98 on the Athearn website.
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?PageSize=72&OA=True&SearchTerm=emd+model+40
But that is besides the point. The problem here is a 65' turntable where you really wish you had a 85' TT. The Model 40 is probably also too long for this application in any case.
An alternate approach could be a incline track from the turntable and a winch with under table electrical motor. The motor would have a small spool with thread attached to a weighted Talgo style truck with a Kadee coupler (or a idler car). You would then use a momentary-off-momentary switch to pull the idler car up or down the incline to pull the covered hopper off of the turn table (or put it back on).
Just a thought - the sand facility on a real railroad would have been in place long before the diesel fueling area, since engines have used sand since woodburner days. So it's a bit unrealisitic to have to do the gymnastics you're describing to deliver sand. If possible, I'd move the diesel servicing area somewhere else and allow a separate spur track for the cars delivering sand that doesn't require going on the turntable.
wjstix Just a thought - the sand facility on a real railroad would have been in place long before the diesel fueling area, since engines have used sand since woodburner days. So it's a bit unrealisitic to have to do the gymnastics you're describing to deliver sand. If possible, I'd move the diesel servicing area somewhere else and allow a separate spur track for the cars delivering sand that doesn't require going on the turntable.
You bring up an excellent point. Failed to see the forest instead of the tree. Accidental pun.
Unfortunately, there is not really a good way to rearrange the yard area as the whole section that the turntable is occupying is just an NMRA HO module (48" W x 30" D) with a "L" attached to the back and right hand side. The "L" was attached after the turntable was first installed to allow for an additional line into the turntable for the fuel track. The facility is one of those situations where I realized I needed it after I had everything else in place.