Author Archives: George Losse

2012 Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet – Valley Forge

Posted on by
The models of Reading open Hoppers that I displayed at the meet.

The 2012 Railroad Prototype Modelers Valley Forge took place this weekend. The show was located in Malvern, PA and was sponsered by the Philadelphia Division NMRA/MER. They had 47 clinicians and 50 clinics, layout tours and operating sessions scheduled over the three days of the event. There was also a couple of rooms for vender sales.

As always, one of the highlights of the event is the model room. A place to share models, both finished and under construction, with follow modelers. The event is usually dominated by HO modelers but there is a growing  number of O scale models being shown in the room. A few years ago, I was one of two O scale modelers in the room, this years event had seven other modelers displaying O scale models.

I gave a presentation on “Modeling Reading Open Hoppers 1948-1956” during the meet. I had a full room in attendance and everything seemed to go rather smoothly. Thank you to all who attended.

One nice thing that grew out of the presentation, while attending another clinic the clinician, who had attended my clinic, turned to me to ask what O scale models would best represent the cars being talked about in his presentation.

As I was headed out on Saturday night an HO modeler that I’ve known for over twenty years mentioned that he really like the O scale displayed in the modeling room, stating that he could at least see all the details. I mentioned that there is an O scale show coming up in a couple of weeks in Strasburg, PA. He asked me to send the information so he could check out the O scale at the show.

A personal highlight for me was being able to sit down again with Bill Schaumberg for lunch again. Back in the 80’s, when I was drawing for RMC on a regular basis, we would get together about once a month when I’d deliver that month’s drawings. We often went out for lunch and great conversations about the hobby, the projects we were working on, or just what was happening in our lives. It was nice to do that again this weekend.

Reading N1sd P48 Driver Conversion – Part II

Posted on by

I cut off the steel tire from the Sunset drivers. It was a simple matter of cutting most of the way through the tire. This was done slowly and I kept checking my depth so that I did not cut through the tire and into the driver center. Next I inserted a screw driver into the slot. Give a little twist and the tire breaks free and there is no damage to the driver center.

Matt Forsyth, made the suggestions for this procedure and it worked great! Thank you!

This is the second time I’ve used a hacksaw on an O scale model. I have to say, it is a bit unsettling at first. But the after the first couple drivers, the rest of the 16 drivers went quickly and without trouble.

Next step new tires…..

Sunset 3-rail driver clamped in the vise

Using the Hack Saw to cut the tire.

The cut is not all the way through the tire.

Insert a screw driver into the slot and twist. The tire will break free.

I did the same thing to the blind drivers. You can see the crack in the tire.

Here they all are, Tires and Centers separated.

Prototype: Reading #1633 at Tamaqua, PA

Posted on by

Reading 1633 at Tamaqua

Detail of poling car

There was a question over on the Reading Modeler site about the Reading Poling cars so I thought I’d post this image. It was scaned from a small print, but it shows the poling car working on the back of 1633. It appears to be built from a Tender frame. It has Tender trucks under it still. The side boards are similiar to the configuration of the steps behind the pilot beams on steam locomotives, only they have a long board attached to the length of them.

I’ve changed my mind a couple of time on which hill I was going to model. If I had stayed with Tamaqua to Mahanoy Tunnel this would have been at the top of the “to build” list. I’ve seen this in many of the yard photos from the top of the hill.

Reading N1sd P48 Driver Conversion

Posted on by

Sunset 3 rail drivers pulled from a Y-3

I started working on the first of my N1 projects this past week. I have a pair of the Sunset Y-3’s to use as the start of the model. One is a two rail locomotive and the other is a three rail locomotive. Both need to be converted to Proto48 but their conversion is different because they are starting from different places.

I started working on the three rail model first, mostly because it was out of the box and sitting on my shelf.

I pulled the three rail drivers out of the model’s frame. Boy they are really fat tires on there. 

Pressing the Driver centers off the axels

The driver centers were pressed off the axels. I also pressed out the pins at the same time.

Driver centers pressed off the axels

Here is my set of 3-rail driver centers all pressed off the axels and ready for the next step, the hack saw.

2011 Cleveland O Scale Show – November

Posted on by

 

 

I got back from The Cleveland O Scale Show last night. From New Jersey, it was an eight hour drive one way to the show but it was well worth it. This was my second time attending the show. The show’s size is not as large as Chicago, but  is close to twice the size of the O Scale shows back here in the East. Attendance was good and people were buying, maybe not the most expensive stuff in the room but they were spending money.

One of the really nice things about the show was the the show’s producer was walking through the hall during the last part of the show and asking some of the dealers not to start to pack their materials up. How many shows that were advertized for 9-2 really end at noon. This show ended at 2pm. This work out well for me, as I had a pair of larger sales within the last twenty minutes of the show to attendees, not dealers.

Again, I had my O scale track out on the table and it continues to find new homes. I noticed most of the track sales were smaller, guys buying one or two bundles at a time. Still, I’m glad it’s finding new homes. The first of Protocraft/Micro Engineering P48 flex track to start to replace it should be arriving this next week.  Since more of the O scale flex track sold this weekend another order for the P48 flex track will be placed shortly.

I also had the chance to meet some people I’ve only emailed with before. One of them was Lee Turner. You may remember Lee as the man that produced some resin kits in the past. I have a couple of his kits myself. He had some very nicely painted models for sale on his table. More importantly, Lee mentioned he is currently working on an LV wrong way boxcar. I hope he is able to find the right caster to produce the car, that’s a car I’d like to have on the layout.

I got to talk to some of the members of the Youngstown Club while I was there. They were one of the few tables I bought from at the National and they had another model on their table yesterday that managed to get me to dig into the wallet and take it home.

There was a nice mix of guys selling some extra stuff, brass dealers, parts guys and others selling off collections. There was also a mixture of guys selling scenery materials and buildings. I had a good time selling some of my extras and brought home some new models and parts for this winter’s projects.

2011 Strasburg O Scale Show – October

Posted on by

This past Saturday there was a Strasburg O Scale show.  It turned out to be a nice show, well attended, with a lot of stuff moving off the tables. I know I came home with a lot less stuff then I started the day with.

I was very happy to start the sale of my O scale track at the show. I was surprised that my Old Atlas Black-tie flex track sold before the new Atlas flex track and even the Micro Engineering flex track. I did sell some of the Micro Engineering code 125 at the table. 

I also sold off the second tender to the Sunset Y-3’s I bought last year. So now there is no turning back, the two Y-3’s have to become Reading N1’s.

Some of the prices on the models on some tables were high at the show and some were down right steals. Rich Yoder had some PRR locomtives on a side table from his imports and he had some give-away pricing on them. One of them was close to half of what I sold an Sunset PRR H10 for at the National.  There were also a number of good buys at the White Elephant table.

 

Protocraft’s General Casting Corp’s 41-N passenger truck

Posted on by

Protocraft’s General Steel Casting 41-N Passenger Truck

Imported By: Protocraft
MSRP 07/2013 $109.95/pr.

Description:
I have to say that one of the highlights of the National was getting to see, in person, a pair of Protocraft’s 41-N passenger trucks. These are a work of art.

I talked to the man from Wasatch Model Company, who imported them for Protocraft. These trucks are made by the same builder that does the fine line of  Wasatch O scale trucks. I began to realize, I need to make the purchase of these trucks sooner than later. As with everything O scale, buy them when they are around, they may not be run again, and they almost always will never be the same price the next time around.

I have seven of the SGL cars, which I found at a very good price without a box about a year ago. Who needs the box anyway? They started out as a three rail cars, SGL imported both. From what I’ve read about the cars, the two version were the same except for the trucks and couplers.

So when I got home from the National, I ordered the seven pairs I needed to convert my cars. They arrived on Saturday. WOW!  This is the detail level that I got into O scale for back in the 80’s.

I set a pair under one of the passenger cars today and the car sat a little high. I think a little work to the bolster and they will sit exactly where the railroad wanted them too. Now I just have to dig out the Reading Company diagrams for these cars, to know the correct height they need to be at.

NMRA Proto48 Specification:
I measured the trucks and find that they are within NMRA spec. Here are the measurements and I’ve added their measurements to the NMRA S-4.1 Proto48 Wheel Standards

Check Gauge Back to Back Wheel Width Flange Width Flange Depth
Specification Range 1.124 1.134 1.100 1.112 0.115 0.120 0.024 0.028 0.022 0.026
Protocraft General Casting Corp’s 41-N
passenger truck, double insulated axles		 1.132 1.108 0.115 0.024 0.022

Plus and Minus… Opinions: On the plus-side:

  • WOW! Lots of WOW factor!
  • They are a Museum level model all by themselves.
  • The trucks measured up fine against the NMRA Specification.
  • To say they roll well is a bit of an understatement.
  • The trucks do look very nice, they capture the look of the prototype based on the photos and drawings I’ve seen.

On the minus-side:

  • Some day I may think of a minus for these trucks….
  • Only thing I can say is that when they run out at Protocraft, Norm has stated that  they may not be run again. If they are, they will never be priced this low again.

Overall:
If you are running this style of Passenger truck on your equipment, buy these trucks. You will not be sorry.

Prototype: Reading Tank Car in West Milton

Posted on by

Broadside of the Reading Tank Car in West Milton, PA

Reading Tank Car in West Milton, PA

Here ar two views of  a Reading Tank Car I found in West Milton, PA back in the early 1980’s. I don’t remember too much from the day other than the conical rivets that this tank had.
 
I’m not 100% sure of the car number or class of the car. It is different than the color image that Bob’s Photos sells of a class TMd #90964. That car has pipe fittings for the 90 degree bend in the handrail. This car has a much broarder curved pipe. Car #90964 is stenciled “BLT 6-40” which place this on a flat car that was converted from a box car in 1940.
 
I did shoot some detail of a round house and scale building that day. I’ll post them when I get them scanned.

Layout Visit: Warner Clark, 2011 O Scale National

Posted on by

Warner Clark in front of his layout.

In posting about the layouts we visited during the National, I’ve saved the best for last. Warner Clark has built a Proto48 railroad that is a wonferful joy to see. Just like the other two basements, Warner also has a large basement, but he chose to only use a small portion of it for the railroad. Warner explained while we were there, “I wanted to finish the railroad in this lifetime.”

While the size of the railroad may be modest, the modeling is not modest at all, it’s first rate. There were no unfinished models displayed on the layout. Instead we saw finished scenes and finished models. Even with the new addition under construction, there was a greater level of finish to the modeling. Everything fit together to tell different stories.

Warner has also embraced some modern layout design concepts of modeling between the fencelines. Most of the railroad is on a shallow shelf around the walls. A new area of a town is being built on a second level over the backside of the railroad.

The next day we saw that O Scale Kings was using images of Warner’s layout to promote O Scale in their booth. Proto48 being used to promote O Scale.

I should point out that I went to the National with three other guys from the Eastern Pennsylvania. We talked about Warner’s layout a lot on the drive back and since returning. His layout was a wonderful example of what can be done with Proto48 and O Scale, but so often isn’t.

We have all said the San Juan trucks have enough detail to be a model by themselves, Warner did it.

A wider view of the wheel service area.

The details make the scene.

I’ve seen bigger NKP scenes, none better.

This is modeling between the fences on a shelf at its best.

The most photographed part of Warner’s layout for a reason

A longer view of the junction scene.

Beautiful track work!

A simple scene that captures the feel of two different railroads.

I’m not a fan of gates to enter a rialroad, but this one was nicely done.

Warner’s sense of story telling comes through in this scene with the police car.

Layout Visit: Jeff Lang, 2011 O Scale National

Posted on by

Jeff Lang speaking to the visitors at his layout

Next on the list of Open Layouts on the Wdnesday was Jeff Lang’s layout. It is a standard 2 rail O Scale layout under construction featuring PRR Prototypes. Some scenes in the room are nicely finished and other while under construction are coming along nicely.

This was another large basement. I made the comment while visiting that a basement that size would scare the hell out of me. How can you fill it in one lifetime? Jeff is a part of the Round Robin crew that includes Jim Canter and Warner Clark and about ten other guys.

The layout design is a series of outer loops with a newly constructed urban area in the center.

One of the nicely finished scene on Jeff Lang’s layout

A nice grade crossing scene

The new urban scenes begin to take shape on the Center section of the Layout (on the right.)

Michael Rahilly and Matt Forsyth watch as Jeff (in background) starts out a freight with a pair of Sunset N1’s on the head end.

The yard in the city scene can easily be reached from the isle.

Another Northampton & Bath car, no wonder they are hard to find in the east, they are all in IN on layouts.

The city scene starts to take shape with new track work in the streets.

While not complete you get a good feel of what this scene will be.