With the forecast sounding a lot more like winter over large stretches of the US and Canada, I thought to myself, "I'm getting this flanger done just in time!" It an HOn3 Durango Press Rio Grande Southern Flanger kit. Here it is on a test run before heading to the paint shop.
With fresh paint and decals, another test run on the main verified clearances. That plow on 463 should help some. One issue that came up is that the dummy couplers (there isn't room to mount Kadee 714s without ugliness on this delicate model) end up riding too high despite the kit being assembled per instructions. I flicked away the kingpin bearings and things dropped to a more workable height. I enjoyed building the kit. The Silverton short lines used at least one flanger very similar to the RGS flanger. I do know the Silverton Northern had a Flanger #1, probably handed down from the SRR. So I ended up lettering mine as the mythical Silverton RR Flanger #2, assuming the SRR kept the newer one and sold the older #1 to the SN. I think we're ready for snow here. How about your railroad?
With fresh paint and decals, another test run on the main verified clearances. That plow on 463 should help some.
One issue that came up is that the dummy couplers (there isn't room to mount Kadee 714s without ugliness on this delicate model) end up riding too high despite the kit being assembled per instructions. I flicked away the kingpin bearings and things dropped to a more workable height. I enjoyed building the kit. The Silverton short lines used at least one flanger very similar to the RGS flanger. I do know the Silverton Northern had a Flanger #1, probably handed down from the SRR. So I ended up lettering mine as the mythical Silverton RR Flanger #2, assuming the SRR kept the newer one and sold the older #1 to the SN. I think we're ready for snow here. How about your railroad?
One issue that came up is that the dummy couplers (there isn't room to mount Kadee 714s without ugliness on this delicate model) end up riding too high despite the kit being assembled per instructions. I flicked away the kingpin bearings and things dropped to a more workable height.
I enjoyed building the kit. The Silverton short lines used at least one flanger very similar to the RGS flanger. I do know the Silverton Northern had a Flanger #1, probably handed down from the SRR. So I ended up lettering mine as the mythical Silverton RR Flanger #2, assuming the SRR kept the newer one and sold the older #1 to the SN. I think we're ready for snow here. How about your railroad?
I enjoyed building the kit. The Silverton short lines used at least one flanger very similar to the RGS flanger. I do know the Silverton Northern had a Flanger #1, probably handed down from the SRR. So I ended up lettering mine as the mythical Silverton RR Flanger #2, assuming the SRR kept the newer one and sold the older #1 to the SN.
I think we're ready for snow here. How about your railroad?
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
The mountains in Colorado are getting hammered with lots of snow right now. The rotary plows are busy at work already.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
Nice looking plows..
Sorry,I model summer so,no plows.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I have to agree with Larry here! Nice models!
But having lived 15 long cold snowy years in Syracuse New York, where "lake effect" snow might as well be a four letter word, I was traumatized! No snow modeling for me either! Any snow plows I may ever have will be tucked away in a siding awaiting a winter that never comes; cause it will always be summer on my layout too!
Jim
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
That's a good-looking flanger, Mike.
Like Jim and Larry, I model the summer, too. However, my free-lance line is set in part of southern Ontario's "snow belt", so there has to be some snow removal equipment.
This is Walthers version of the Russell plow, with a few added details:
Walthers Jordan spreader, with a few modifications:
I'll eventually add a flanger (under a Kaslo shops CPR caboose body), a scratchbuilt wedge plow mounted on a gondola, and a scratchbuilt rotary, using the rotor and housing from an Athearn model.
Since it's always summer on the layout, my weed sprayer sees more service:
Wayne
Jim and Larry,
OK, I'll put the long tobaggon away if it's not going to be a large crew...
Michael's got the right idea, keep that snow under control, don't let it think you don't have a plow big enough.
Wayne,
Thanks, it's a great excuse to run all kinds of extras. Nice work on yours, that Jordan spreader is sweet.
I do have a standard gauge Russell, built from a Walthers kit and improved to be closer to X-67 in 1:1. I added the coupler extension on the plow end (it was a small kit, but don't recall whose?) and made and wired some headlights. There's no decoder, just constant-on vampire power from the track via a half-wave bridge.
It's always warm, green and sunny on my layout, but... I picked up this OB push plow/flanger at a garage sale, so it's destined for my winter/Christmas layout that I set up every other year (coincides with the every other year our grandson spends Christmas with us and his dad), so it will get a good work out.
The prototype UP 900005 is painted MOW gray, but I think I'll leave this as is. Mike
The prototype UP 900005 is painted MOW gray, but I think I'll leave this as is.
Mike
My You Tube
This Ambroid Russel snowplow was my first attempt at a wood kit when I was in high school; I did a restoration on it about 20 years ago, renaming it for my freelanced Bunker Hill & Eastern RR
The flanger was from a Roundhouse 3-in-1 kit that included bits & pieces for a snow crab and Jordan spreader that I never finished
The one I want to see is the video of the operating snow blower that a guy from MA or NH built a few years ago (sorry, I do not remember his name)
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Roundhouse flanger kit - needs some rivet detail on the blade
Canadian Pacific shorty single track plow from kitbashed Athearn kit
Scratchbuilt brass plow on plastic gon:
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Here is my MDC snow blower kit (actually more like a kit/bash/scratch model).
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Mike:
I love the flanger, esp. the rivet and plate details on the blades. Have to catch up to you
Michael:
Neat snow scene! Chills my bones!!! I think I am going to stay in the summer modelling camp and just run the plows for fun. I'm in Canada. I couldn't imagine modelling snow on my layout - it would cause too much stress!
Wayne:
Is your sprayer scratch built? I wonder how long the operators lived after spending their careers spraying DDT?
Does the Walthers Jordan spreader come with moveable wings or did you do that yourself?
George:
I have an old Northeastern Scale Models kit that looks very similar to your Ambroid plow. I have yet to attempt it. Did yours come with a tin stamping for the plow that had to be formed into shape?
I also built the 3 in 1 Roundhouse kit with the box cab flanger, snow crab and Jordan spreader. The spreader is a little light on details so I am always watching for a Walthers kit on eBay, but so far the have been priced way above what I am willing to pay. Cheep cheep cheep....
Bob:
Nice detailing. I have two rotaries - one Roundhouse kit half built with lots of detailing, a fake steam engine and a can motor to drive the blade, and one Athearn kit which is still in the box.
Gotta love those plows!!
It's been a while since I built that spreader, and I don't recall if the wings were supposed to be moveable or not - they certainly wouldn't move reliably. I replaced the plastic piston shafts and the hinge points with metal parts, mostly music wire of various sizes. The outboard ends of the shafts are parts from disposable lighters.The weed sprayer, one of two, was built over 40 years ago, and was pretty-much freelanced, using a combination of wood structural shapes and sheet styrene. The sprayer arms are positionable.
Your good-looking CPR plow makes me wish that I'd shortened mine, too.
Bob Boudreau
CANADA
Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/
George, Dave, farrellaa, and Bob,
Nice work all around. Bob even has a stove inside warming things up, a great idea when fighting snow. I think I'm going to ride in his plow, because all mine has is a smokejack.
Dave,
I can only take credit for putting it together. DP did all that nice rivet work. I'm just happy to have built it so it doesn't snag with the blade just a few scale inches above the rail.
----
I built it about 50 years ago, but there was a sheet metal stamping that had to be formed into the plow shape.
Here's a pick of the flanger making a dry run for clearance testing. Glad to say she went right up the line without a snag.
Thanks to those who responded to my questions.
I have four Walthers Russell snow plow kits which I managed to score at reasonable prices and they are all headed for a kitbash. I am started on one which I want to turn into a double track plow using brass sheet. I'm not totally happy with the proportions. Its a little too long:
I have a Roundhouse Jordan spreader from their 3 in 1 kit series but it lacks a lot of detail. It seems I'll have to pull apart a few Bic lighters!
BRAKIE Nice looking plows.. Sorry,I model summer so,no plows.
I'm with you. Since it's always September in my cedar-forested mountains, sticky-hot is the usual situation. My wedge plow (a JNR Ki100 class) resides in a cassette, where it's available for use if too much shredded pink foam ends up on the rails.
Actually, my full-scale situation is similar. The air temperature is chilly, but the sun can still raise blisters on anyone who stays out in it.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I no longer have the inclination to add or model snow on my layout. I've lived on the fringes of the northern Sierra Nevada range for the last 19 years. Here snow storms are often measured in feet not inches. As I write this post, there is a 6" dusting outside and the temp is 14 degrees...and I have to drive to work in 2 hours. Not fun since there are no NDOT trucks in sight.
Snow has become something of a nemesis.
Maybe I should fit a diesel rotary to the front of my pick up. LOL
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
One important piece of gear not yet mentioned, especially in the Animas River Canyon where my line operates is the bulldozer. Snowslides in the canyon grequently bring down trees and rocks, both of whcih can be fatal to the rotaries. The bulldozer and the depressed-center flat that carries it are essential to keeping the line open. The DC flat is an Eastern Car Works kit that was bashed to HOn3, the dozer is from First Gear.
Dave: Nice brass work on your double track plow! Never thought of using brass for such a project myself, preferring to use styrene for mine:
Bob and Dave,
Really outstanding modeling, guys. I'm sure glad the Canadian contingent ain't afraid of snow
The rotary is well used:
The flanger is a brand new addition to the snow fighting roster:
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
Thank you for the compliments.
Since this thread started I've been planning to get a new picture of my rotary snowplow in the snow scene I have - but something always comes up. So here's the plow in warm weather. It's had a bit of a change since this shot, adding an oil tank to the tender. It's the old Athearn plow with a "train set grade" tender I picked up at a train show. Maybe I'll get the new picture taken yet.
George V.
George,
Nice weathering on your rotary. In service and used, but not decrepit.
Matt,
I'm guessing that shot was taken in Bayfield, not Anaheim?
Beautiful models with heft, that's for sure. Is your rotary track power or battery power?
mlehman Matt, I'm guessing that shot was taken in Bayfield, not Anaheim? Beautiful models with heft, that's for sure. Is your rotary track power or battery power?
At the risk of overloading this thread, Mr. Railfan managed to catch the R&R's rotary plow passing through Frostbite Falls on the way to clear a snowslide further up the line. Consolidation #382 and Mike #429 are doing the shoving.
Beautiful work, sends chills
Great pics guys, Is the walthers jordan spreader avialable anymore?