gn goat wrote: Hope no one minds if I jump into this conversation. I've contacted several of the major manufacturers about the chances of producing a Yellowstone. In a word: NONE. So I located an Akane Yellowstone on eBay for a decent price and now I'm having a local craftsman remotor it and install a Tsunami with dual speakers. Can hardly wait to try it out.the goat
Hope no one minds if I jump into this conversation. I've contacted several of the major manufacturers about the chances of producing a Yellowstone. In a word: NONE. So I located an Akane Yellowstone on eBay for a decent price and now I'm having a local craftsman remotor it and install a Tsunami with dual speakers. Can hardly wait to try it out.
the goat
GN--
Congratulations. Frankly, even without the re-motoring and the Tsunami, you'd have a fine loco. The detail might not be up to current standards (but that can be cured with Cal-Scale or PSC castings), but that Akane is one HUNK of a loco. I know, I've got two and have been running them happily since 1964. Those handsome babies are absolutely IMMORTAL!
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
teetertrains wrote:I am suprised they havent made small articulated locos such as the serria in plastic
Have you not seen the re-released Mantua 2-6-6-2's with the tenders? Not the tank versions, they are very close to the Sierra's.
I am surprised that they havent made small articulated locos in plastic
Bradley A. Scott wrote: The most obvious gaping hole in the lineup of readily-available HO scale steam locomotives is the lack of a good-looking, good-running late-19th century 4-4-0. The Bachmann Spectrum 4-4-0 and the recent sound-equipped Roundhouse/Athearn 4-4-0 are nice products, but they're really models of 1900- and 1890-era locomotives, and cannot easily be backdated through kitbashing due to chassis design, shape/size of boiler, etc. The old metal Mantua/Tyco "General" can be a basis for Civil War-era kitbashes, but lacks modern detailing and electronic options. The Bachmann "old west" 4-4-0s are not up to modern modelers' standards in terms of operation or appearance. The Rivarossi/IHC 4-4-0s, although not bad for their time and reasonably accurate for a generic 1870-1880 period locomotive, are not up to the standards of modern production as exemplified by Spectrum, Proto2000, Broadway Limited, et al. As several people have noted, small steam like this is far more versatile and easily accomodated on compact layouts than the monstrous Big Boys and Triplexes of which we currently have a (fortunate) abundance. 4-4-0s of very similar pattern were ubiquitous on railroads throughout the country from the 1870s until the 1920s, and lingered on in shortline and branchline service up until the very end of steam in some locations. The same basic model could reasonably accurately portray literally thousands of prototypes, especially if the manufacturer made allowance for easy application of different domes, stacks, cabs, headlights, etc., to a common basic chassis and boiler. Bradley A. Scott
The most obvious gaping hole in the lineup of readily-available HO scale steam locomotives is the lack of a good-looking, good-running late-19th century 4-4-0.
The Bachmann Spectrum 4-4-0 and the recent sound-equipped Roundhouse/Athearn 4-4-0 are nice products, but they're really models of 1900- and 1890-era locomotives, and cannot easily be backdated through kitbashing due to chassis design, shape/size of boiler, etc. The old metal Mantua/Tyco "General" can be a basis for Civil War-era kitbashes, but lacks modern detailing and electronic options. The Bachmann "old west" 4-4-0s are not up to modern modelers' standards in terms of operation or appearance. The Rivarossi/IHC 4-4-0s, although not bad for their time and reasonably accurate for a generic 1870-1880 period locomotive, are not up to the standards of modern production as exemplified by Spectrum, Proto2000, Broadway Limited, et al.
As several people have noted, small steam like this is far more versatile and easily accomodated on compact layouts than the monstrous Big Boys and Triplexes of which we currently have a (fortunate) abundance. 4-4-0s of very similar pattern were ubiquitous on railroads throughout the country from the 1870s until the 1920s, and lingered on in shortline and branchline service up until the very end of steam in some locations. The same basic model could reasonably accurately portray literally thousands of prototypes, especially if the manufacturer made allowance for easy application of different domes, stacks, cabs, headlights, etc., to a common basic chassis and boiler.
Bradley A. Scott
My wish list......
1. C&O H7 2-8-8-2
A brute looking engine that was only chased off premier mainline
status..........by the C&O Alleghany superpower engines. The H7 ruled the mains in the 30's and early 40's.
2. N&W 4-8-0's (M class if I remember right)
Ran from turn of century until the last of steam. This is a wheel type that is very under -represented in the modeling world.
3. Either the C&O S class 0-8-0 switchers or the N&W class S or S-1a 0-8-0 switchers.
These were heavy switchers built to handle long cuts of coal or whatever. C&O were built in 40's and eventually sold to N&W in 50's, N&W liked them so much they built virtually identical copies of them in 50's and were some of last modern switchers built.
All the above engines would find easy homes on most model layouts from small branchlines,switching layouts to even club layouts. They are some of the workhorses of the steam railroad era. PS a C&O 2-8-2 would be nice also while I'm wishing..........
Precision Craft Models or BLI, or Spectrum ----how about it?????
I would like to see #1, 3, and 6 produced. I would also like to see an L&N M-1 2-8-4 produced. The Big Emma's were the largest steam locomotives the L&N had. Only a few brass models were made many years ago. They were snapped up just like miss struck coins from the mint. How can we push a manufacturer to produce these?
Mark
de N2MPU Jack
Proud NRA Life Member and supporter of the 2nd. Amendment
God, guns, and rock and roll!
Modeling the NYC/NYNH&H in HO and CPRail/D&H in N
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Let's hear it for the really ugly but distinctive loco, the LV 4-8-4! This brute is so distinctive that many of us would want to see it at the front of our string of hoppers.
drhau
Ray
I'm sure you are right. I just didn't know how accurate or inaccurate they were - after my era of interest. I agree with you - some things are just better forgotten. The only positive I have about any of the MDC locomotives is that they were good starter kits to learn how to build a model locomotive. Typically, you doubled the cost of the locomotive and spent many hours trying to make it a good model of a particular prototype.
Fred
fwright wrote: I don't know how accurate they were, but the MDC/Roundhouse line (still available on eBay) had several Harriman models - IIRC a 2-8-0 and one or two others. MDC also made a line of Harriman passenger cars. This is not the Roundhouse Old-Timer generic line that ended up becoming more popular, but Harriman-specific models. And the common Roundhouse 0-6-0 was patterned after an SP prototype.Fred W
I don't know how accurate they were, but the MDC/Roundhouse line (still available on eBay) had several Harriman models - IIRC a 2-8-0 and one or two others. MDC also made a line of Harriman passenger cars. This is not the Roundhouse Old-Timer generic line that ended up becoming more popular, but Harriman-specific models. And the common Roundhouse 0-6-0 was patterned after an SP prototype.
Fred W
None of the MDC Harriman offerings, either engines or passenger cars, were done with too much accuracy in mind. Most of the steam is VERY light in detailing (no valve gear, for instance), the motors (especially the "new" cans) were too small for the weight of the engine, and the Harriman passenger cars were crude caricatures at best. I'm talking from experience here: I've used or built almost all of them!
Bachmann's Harriman heavy 2-8-0 blows away everything MDC ever did with their steam in all categories, and is cheaper to boot. I'd rather everyone forgot those steam kits ever existed, so the chances of us seeing the same engines, done correctly, would be offered in modern mixed plastic & metal RTR versions.
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
The CP Royal Hudson was produced more than 30 years ago by Tenshodo (spelling?). I have one and it is a work of art. But there are a number of CN & CP engines that are good looking and have not been made or some produced in brass with high sticker prices.
Douglas Davidson
Getting ready to start my next layout
mmr197 wrote:How about a D&SL 2-6-6-0? It is the perfect small articulated engine for freelancers. And please, if anyone makes it, make it with a rigid rear engine the way God and Anitole Mallet intended.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
I am in N-Scale, and the one steam locomotive NOT produced in this scale is the S.P. Cab Forward. There is a huge contingent of SP fans in N-Scale, and no Cab Forward! Way back at the beginning MRC (yes, that MRC, had Rivarossi produce an N&W Y-6b 2-8-8-2. I thought sure that a cab forward would soon follow. All that had to be done (in those days) was turn the mechanism around and cast the shell, lead truck, rear deck, and a shell for the tender platform. It has been almost 40 years, and still no Cab Forward for the SP fan (I'm not one of them, I'm a Santa Fe man, but I still think its a bummer for them).
A couple of notes:
Eric, those Santa Fe 2-10-4s were 5001, and 5011 classes, but No. 5000, the "Madame Queen" would be a winner.
Also, Mark, I'm not sure if the 4-8-4s you listed are those with 77" or 73" drivers, or not, but there a lot of the "smaller" 'Northerns' that would fit just fine on a model railroad's commonly tight curves. My personal choices would be the MP 2200s and the UP FEF-1s.
Come to think of it, if a 2-8-8-4 is known as a "Yellowstone", then the B&O EM-1 fills the bill. Here is one for the books: When the EM-1s were being phased out, B&O stenciled "SAVE" on the No. 7600, so it would be part of the B&O Museum collection. Some yo-yo ignored the stenciling and shipped it off to scrap with the the rest of the class! What a loss! Speaking of losses, another 4-8-4 lost, and no models made of it, was the Timken Comany's "Four Aces", No. 1111, the first all roller bearing locomotive.
That's enough from me. I sure hope someone picks up the ball for those N-Scale SP guys!
Ardenastationmaster
C&NW R-1 4-6-0 a la #1385. Hallmark made a few in the mid '80's and they bring nearly $1000 used. Perfect for almost any use system wide. Little C&NW as of late.
Greg
I agree! As a Pennsy modeler, I would love to see a good model of a series H 2-8-0. Sometimes, I think the smaller steamers are overlooked.
Also, I ordered a PCM I-1s 2-10-0 about a year and a half ago and am still waiting for it to be produced.
Cincy Kid
I am totally miffed by the (seemingly) lack of interst by the manufacturers in any Harriman steam locomotives. I have written virtually every manufacturer multiple times in the last several years. Still no results. Just the SP and UP modelers would make for a sizable market. Throw some IC, Georgia, and Alton fans, not counting free lance types, and there is a great market for them. SP (and the TNO) had scads of 2-8-0's, as well as a lot of Mikes, ten wheelers, Pacifics, and Moguls. I do know for a fact that one large company has a complete package of great drawings and everything else to produce a great Harriman. I can't explain it.
Ray,
I have tried to find plans for a NYC/NKP 2-8-0 for several years and to date have come up with zip, nada, nil! There has never been an accurate NKP Consolidated done in HO, even in brass, let alone plastic. One would think that would be a great choice, especially for those modelers who do not have expansive (& expensive) layouts. If the former Clover Leaf (NYC & then NKP) were done it could be lettered for more than one road and for several points in time. One can only hope and keep searching for plans. Bill Quick, NKPHTS