This is nuts, but some help would be appreciated. I model the Appalachians in the late 40's. My tastes have become rather eclectic, but I try to stay with equipment that would have been in service on the many roads that served the Piedmont (not Piermont) region during this period including Western Maryland.
I have always been fascinated with the Erie Triplex....owned several LMB's and Key versions, and I just acquired a few of the new MTH Triplexes complete with all extras including smoke. To say that I'm impressed would be a gross understatement..............
Question.....is how to justify other than saying ("these are neat") locos that had been scrapped in the 20's. One idea was to invent a fictional late 40's rail fan trip to the area in NY where they served. An old long abandoned wooden engine house was discovered and inside where the 5014 (Matt Shay), 5015, and 5016......long thought to have been scrapped, but obviously not!
These were then purchased at scrap price and hauled to WV. The shops at Bernard completely restored them and they were then placed in pusher duties from Bernard to Manchester and on weekend railfan service.
This almost works, but I'd love other ideas if youse folks are willing to share. The hobby is about imagination, and I seem to be running on empty.
Many thanks,
HZ
Aren't you the guy that has lots of brass steamers? Also I think I saw you on a Tracks Ahead DVD or some other Production by the company who made Tracks Ahead.
- Luke
Modeling the Southern Pacific in the 1960's-1980's
New Haven I-5 wrote: Aren't you the guy that has lots of brass steamers? Also I think I saw you on a Tracks Ahead DVD or some other Production by the company who made Tracks Ahead.
Was it not All aboard?
Anyways, I think your plan sounds quite alright. My plan for using a Big Boy on the B&O is that they got those as well as the EM-1's. The story being that the last five BB that the UP got came to the B&O since the UP got the diesels they wanted instead.
Maybe instead of having bought them in a forsaken state they could have bought them when the Erie wanted to get rid of them since your railroad was in desperate need of pushers at the time.
I think it's great that your doing what you like and not what is "correct".
Magnus
Howard,
You have a much better story than I would have thought of, and I thought I had an imagination! Your story sounds excellent to me. (BTW I like your train shows. Thanks for putting them together.)
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
well Howard, it's your railroad, you can do as you like,
the triplexes might well have a been sucessful design if it had a slightly bigger firebox and a superheater
i'd draw the line at running stock cars under the coal tipple for loading...
When you have Matter Transporter at your disposal, all things are possible!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
How about a small complex for a company which does restoration work on old locomotives and rolling stock. That way anything from any time frame can be explained.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Howard--
AHAH! Late Forties. Just post WWII and pre Korea. During WWII railroads were 'borrowing' motive power from each other like crazy. That's the reason I've got Yellowstones on my own Rio Grande layout--the Grande leased them from the Missabe during the winters when the Great Lakes were frozen over. Of course, on MY Rio Grande, the company just went to Baldwin for additional copies before the design was frozen and assigned them as primary articulated power over the Sierra Nevada on their 'never was' California Extension, LOL!
Okay, Triplexes were gone by that time. But who's to say that Erie didn't HIDE them on a scrap track instead of scrapping them in the 'twenties? And who's to say that with the sudden upsurge in rail traffic that Erie didn't resuscitate them and get a little money from 'loaning' them out to another railroad? And who's to say that an Appalachian coal railroad didn't just jump at the chance to have a big, slow, heavy monster handling their coal trains and go to Baldwin for a couple of 'modernized' ones with front-hung Elesco Feedwater heaters, a pilot headlight and maybe 'simple' instead of 'compound' and the pumps on the front of the smokebox and maybe a Delta traliing truck on the tender (kitbash, anyone?)?
The lovely thing about modeling your OWN railroad is that if you look look back at History, you can always come up with an excuse that makes sense. Remember: "History is the fiction upon which learned men have decided to agree."
Which means that if I can have a fleet of Baldwin-built 2-8-8-4's hauling freight over the Sierra, then you can have Triplexes hauling coal in the Appalachians. And Lillen can have his B&O Big Boys. And the rivet counters can count their rivets.
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!
You could easily say the engines were retrofitted with all the modern appliances to help steaming and not run out of steam. Probably what would have been good for the triplex is a cutoff valve to the rear engines or a second throttle so you could vary the steam to it and not run out of steam.
On railfan trips the rear drivers would be more free rolling but steamed to keep them from locking up the run.
I'll be activating a narrow gauge line that actualy interchanged with the N&W but was abandoned long before the time I am modeling, I just call it the never abandoned and can run the more modern 3 foot steam leaves me free to select the power to run it than try to be accurate when they ran then because their old equipment could never handle the power the later version would need.
creativity.
Interiesting, but not original.
Read the MRR's 50th Anniversary cover article...
Phil
wgnrr wrote: Interiesting, but not original.Read the MRR's 50th Anniversary cover article...Phil
Phil--
Give the rest of us a link, okay?
No link, you'll have to get a copy.
The story was that MRR was trying to get a idea to promote their 50th anniversary, and they found a "lost file" with a key and a letter in it. The key was for a enginehouse in North Caribou, WI.
They went up there to examine the shed, and found a Hiawatha Atlantic inside it (#1). They then sent it across the US on a goodwill tour.
They have all model photos, including a photo of them pulling it out of the engine house (dusty, rusty, and missing parts) and photos of the "restored" #1 (in multiple scales) on different model railroads.
Mr Zane, could you give me and others a few details on the MTH Trix Plex? I was reading a little about the Tri Plex and saw there top speed was 10 mph. Will the MTH verson go beyon the protypes max speed?
Are you using there control system or DCC?
Pulling power? My best puller is a Y6-b by PCM, is it at the same level of the Tri-Plex?
Any tracking problems going backwards over turnouts?
Thank You for your time.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Howard Zane wrote:This is nuts, but some help would be appreciated. I model the Appalachians in the late 40's. My tastes have become rather eclectic, but I try to stay with equipment that would have been in service on the many roads that served the Piedmont (not Piermont) region during this period including Western Maryland.I have always been fascinated with the Erie Triplex....owned several LMB's and Key versions, and I just acquired a few of the new MTH Triplexes complete with all extras including smoke. To say that I'm impressed would be a gross understatement..............Question.....is how to justify other than saying ("these are neat") locos that had been scrapped in the 20's. One idea was to invent a fictional late 40's rail fan trip to the area in NY where they served. An old long abandoned wooden engine house was discovered and inside where the 5014 (Matt Shay), 5015, and 5016......long thought to have been scrapped, but obviously not!These were then purchased at scrap price and hauled to WV. The shops at Bernard completely restored them and they were then placed in pusher duties from Bernard to Manchester and on weekend railfan service.This almost works, but I'd love other ideas if youse folks are willing to share. The hobby is about imagination, and I seem to be running on empty.Many thanks,HZ
Alright man, let me play a bit of devil's advocate here for a minute:
The only problem I really see with using the triplex as a tourist excursion engine is that it could not sustain speeds over 10mpr for very long (maximum speet was around 20mpr, and that only for short times.) As such, any train sent out on any mainlines would foul them for a long time, unless it was a very short trip.
That said, there was one thing the triplexes were great as: low speed pushers. There are a lot of mountains in West Virginia, and I think that part of your story was great.
And I will agree that the triplexes are very cool looking, I was thinking if I could justify one myself. I've built a history rather like yours actually. After the Erie was getting rid of them they were picked up by a logging railroad in South-Eastern Canada. There they pulled heavy trains of paper products and lumber before being retired and either scrapped or preserved just after WW2. One found it's way into a logging museum near my line.
That's the best I've got, it's a little shakey but eh, I buy it I build it, I make the rules lol.
Cheers!
~METRO
Cuda Ken,
Going backwards through turnouts. I use 8's and 10's,..... one of the triplexes' rear truck comes off. I have not had time to get into the problem, but I feel it is easily fixable. Their speed is far greater than the prototype. The pulling power is quite good. I also have some BLI Y-6b's and I'd guess they pull about the same.
I use NCE DCC, and it works fine with their DCS system. The normal DCC functions are rather limited with this arrangement, but it serves my purpose just fine.
Had I only MTH's system, I think I'd like it better as it offers much more, but I don't along with the major group of command control users. MTH would sell many more of their new HO existing and proposed locos if they were fully DCC, but I am guessing that selling their DCS system is equally important to them as selling their locos.
Overall, I'd rate this loco along with their K-4s an A+. If you are into Allen Keller videos, check out #58 just out. You'll see several of the K-4s operating with smoke. The effect is just great and offers yet another dimension to our art. I have run these often during open houses, and have not had a residue problem yet.......actually the trains seem to run better. Could the smoke residue have a similar effect as Wahl clipper oil or other conductives such as brake/transmission fluid? I have no idea......just speculation and observing.
Vistors have complained about the smell. I kinda like it......'reminds me when as a kid playing with my Lionels (actually dad's).
'Hope I offered some help.....
Hi Howard,
You could always "Borrow" the Nevada Northern's story on how their 4-6-0 #40 got her nickname the "Ghost Engine". She has no right to still exist ( but I'm glad that she does, I got to RUN her last July ) It seems that either the shop foreman, or the senior engineer LOVED that Locomotive ( I can understand that) and the bean counters had repeatedly ordered her SCRAPPED after they received some diesels, well they went to great lengths to HIDE the Locomotive when ever the bean counters were expected to tour the shop areas, even going so far as to carefully bury her in a pile of true scrap, and then dig her out when the coast was clear. She was also run out to remote sidings and other such games to save her from the scrappers torch. I don't recall exactly where I first read of the efforts to save the #40 when Steam Locomotives weren't regarded as something special, but rather a few bucks worth of so much scrap iron. But the story was confirmed when I did their engineer for a day rental program.
If You ever are able to make the trip to Ely, Nevada it is worth while, they have a Wonderful Museum and rental program there.
Doug
May your flanges always stay BETWEEN the rails