I'm back!
Follow the progress:
http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/displayForumTopic/content/12129987972340381/page/1
QUOTE: Originally posted by RevMattCNJ I'm waiting for someone to come out with a "Ready To Roll" live steam locomotive. Imagine the uproar in the live steam community if Athearn or somebody decided to tap into that market.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098 One other question. How do the scales work? What is 1 1/2 scale compared to 3 3/4 scale?
QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098
QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005 QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098 One other question. How do the scales work? What is 1 1/2 scale compared to 3 3/4 scale? I was looking at that. That model turns out to be a narrow gauge engine at that scale on that gauge of track. Proportionally it is more than double the size, meaning that cars would most likely need to be scratch built from the trucks up. It will certainly have more power than an inch and a half version. I'm not sure how much that one could pull, maybe 4 or 5 cars with one adult each. Grade is going to make all the difference. The more interesting question is, how do you ride it? It is almost too large to straddle. Does the engineer have his feet in the tender with a seat toward the back? Perhaps he rides in a car behind, and uses a long handeled shovel to stoke it. One other potential problem I see is it may be a little unstable because of it's high center of gravity and relatively narrow wheel base. I didn't see a price list, I wonder how much? I just read the description more carefully and saw that it is a 2 foot gauge model. Looking at that front view drawing, it would have to be about 9 or 10 scale feet wide. That is around 36", meaning cars would be open top, ride inside. Engineer would probably sit on the tender's water tank, leaving nice leg space, and room for a coal bucket. Maybe extended controls. Some club layouts may have clearence problems for this engine, widthwise.
QUOTE: Originally posted by CARRfan Big Boy, Is there any scale you haven't dabbled in? Seems you know something about every scale!!!
QUOTE: Originally posted by Bob Hayes James, The "Idaho Mafia"(Mark Flitton, Joel Slagg, Richard Ledyard, & Jim Whelam from San Diego, CA) is here now. They just relayed the loop from Elingson Bridge to South Portal with steel rail. The track panels are composed of 10 foot rails, mounted on 30 16" plastic ties offset 12". This is so the rail joints are staggered. This requires 12 foot cars transport them. Since the railroad is so large, we use locomotives to move train loads of track panels. We have a track shop devoted just to making track panels and switches. We use John Deere Gators to move and dump ballast, and volunteers to spread it around. The railroad sits on 2300 acres not counting the OTH property. Members with their own equipment can come and run anytime, weather permitting. During daylight hours and during the week, trolleys are availabe for rental at $20/hr with a $50 min. It should take you about 3 hrs to cover all the track, but there are short cuts if you don't have that much time. You might be able to find a small steam engine for under $5000. I bought a CliShay for $4000 a few years ago, but I would expect a ready to run steam engine in good condition to be over $10,000. Generally, diesels will be much less expensive than steam engines, with starting prices around $5300R-T-R. SW15 for a 00. Loather You better add $8 mil to that half Mil$ of you want to get close. Bob Hayes next door to Train Mountain in Chiloquin, OR