One daily 5 PM amusement as a small child was going to pick up Dad off the B&M commuter train at Wayland MA. In those days the cars were all 60 foot wood, open platform, truss rod coaches. Power was always steam. Either a Mogul or a small Pacific. So I decided to model that train. The proper model for the 60 foot coaches was/is the Ambroid all wood craftsman kit. I actually have one of those, all built up and running, and three more in boxes waiting for me to gather the energy to build them. In the mean time I encountered the Model Power and Rivarossi 48 foot old timer coaches. They are 12 scale feet too short, but otherwise not bad. I had to repaint them and decal them for the B&M and add some weight, and covert to Kadee couplers, but all that is pretty easy. Proper color (B&M passenger maroon) is always a subject of discussion. I have photographs of B&M passenger equipment going from red as a fire engine to brown as a box car. And side trips to purple as a wine grape. I like the red as a fire engine look. I painted up a couple of cars and took then down to the club. In those days North Shore Model Railroad club had a few members who were B&M trainmen for their day job, and a couple of other very knowledgeable members. I showed my bright red cars around, and there was some hemming and hawing, but the grouple opinion was "A little too bright, but not bad". Anyhow these two cars are painted rattle can bright red with a DullCote top coat which dulls the red nicely and blends in the decals.
The locomotive is an IHC Mogul. This is a photo from 2009. The coaches have duck bill roof ends rather than the bread board ends I remember from long ago. Over the years since 2009 I have acquired a few more 48 foot cars and so I got the locomotive and two cars out of my display case and put them on the track for a run around the layout. A few derailments and some maintenance later, actually a couple of afternoons of tinkering, and the train ran and stayed on the track. I added some lead ballast to the tender to keep it's wheels on the track, painted the bright chrome tender wheels grimy black, changed out a strange hybrid coupler on the tender. It was a half Kadee, half NMRA horn hook coupler that was supposed to mate which either kind of coupler and stay coupled. Well it didn't stay coupled on a pure Kadee layout, so it got replaced. I added a bit of lead ballast to the pilot truck which helped keep the pilot wheels on the track. The IHC mogul is light, but there isn't anywhere to add ballast, the boiler is full of carefully cast weights. I tried to put an engineer in the cab, but I just could not make him fit. I cut off his legs at the knee, filed his fanny down to his fly, and filed his hat down to his ears, and he still did not fit into the cab. PITA. Anyhow the Mogul ran and stayed on the track.
Here we are in 2020 (like this afternoon) with a six car train. I had to add a little weight here and their, and some washers to bring couplers up to height but the train makes it around the layout and stays on the track.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
That is a very neat looking train David.
It is always nice to get stuff out of the case and onto the rails.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Nice looking train. I have one of those IHC Mogels and the tenders do need some weight.
Have fun,
Richard
That's a nicely done train, David, and a nice reminder for you of earlier times, too.
I have one of those IHC Moguls, too, but modified mine by removing the original cab, and replacing it with one from a Bachmann Consolidation.
I also added some weight by replacing the stock air reservoirs with ones made from brass tubing, and filled with lead. The Bachmann cab is big enough for an engineer and fireman, plus a block of lead on the cab floor....
I also modified the tender. I had shortened it when it was new, and converted it from oil to coal, but this was more of a makeover...
Total weight, loco and tender, is 17oz.
The 37 is usually paired with the 34, a modified brass B&M B-15, also re-fitted with a Bachmann cab and a modified tender....
The 34, loco and tender, tips the scales at just slightly under 20oz.
Wayne
I have a brass B15 Mogul. Here it is pulling a string of 48 foot wood truss rod cars. Pacific Fast Mail. It came to me needing several important solder joints resoldered. I had to go on Ebay to find a 150 Watt soldering iron hot enough to put him back together. The little 35 Watt pencil irons sold for printed circuit work are not hot enough to put brass steamers back together. That and some neodynium supermagets in the motor and she runs fairly well now.