New Forney Kit from Railway Recollections

Railway Recollections (see links list) has released a resin kit of Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes RR No's 20, 21 & 22 both late and early. This is the late version with air brakes and steel cab. Please note that the assemblies here are only test fitted and the gaps will disappear when fully assembled with screws. This is a nice resin kit with accurate parts that fit together well. For what it's worth I recommend this kit for any HOn30 Forney lovers out there. It runs on the recently released Bachmann N scale Prairie 2-6-2 (Bachmann # 51551). This chassis ran well on my N scale layout for twenty minutes after the middle driver was removed. It might fit on the older Bachmann 2-6-2 or 0-6-0 but why take that chance that all your effort will be negated by a poorly running mechanism?
This kit is just begging for super detailing and many of the parts are not hard to find. The bell and handrail stanchions at left are prime examples. I'll also add pop valves, a whistle, a compressor (hence the hole in the running board) and piping.
This is a well-thought out kit. The pieces scale well against drawings for No 20 that I enlarged to full size HO. The wheel base is also right on.
Extra weight is added in the cab, but since the Bachmann split frame remains this is not really needed.
The Bachmann chassis shown here has been prepped for use except the original pilot and pilot deck and the leading truck have not yet been removed. The manufacturer provides an HO scale pilot to replace the existing N scale one.
One other good reason to try this kit is the trailing truck suspension. It slides from side to side and will take a 10" curve per the manufacturer. I believe it, based on how far it swings. It provides vertical suspension as well, keeping the drivers in better contact with the track. Not included, but recommended by the manufacturer and shown here are Kato N scale passenger trucks with electrical pickup. I got a used Kato N scale passenger car cheap just for the trucks. B & F Hobby has had them for sale as parts in the past. These will compensate for the limited eletrical pickup due to the short wheel base and lack of tender. The combination of the good running chassis, the rear suspension and trailing truck pickup means this will be a good runner. I'll update this as I complete this kit.
As a disclaimer I have no financial ties or interest to the manufacturer or this kit. I just want to share a good thing. This should be available from any of the three sources in the links section: Trains & Things, Train & Trooper and B & F Hobby.

Latest Linekin Bay

Here's the Linekin Bay module at the Narrow Gauge Show. The latest addition was the ramp to the floating dock where the steam launch is docked and some details on that dock.
Behind it is the Monson Junction module, built by Tom and Bob. Bob has some excellent Bangor and Aroostook standard HO equipment at the interchange. Look for Bob's articles on modeling Maine NG passenger equipment appearing in RMC and/or the 2008 On30 Annual.
As always click on the photos to view a larger version.

16th Annual Midwest Narrow Gauge Show con'td

This view shows the back from the branch end of the layout. The corner of Tom's winter/spring transition module is in the right foreground. Next is Jeff Head Tide module, and then Sam's Windes Inlet module. After that are Phil's harbor module, Pete's Winslow module, Vic's Weeks Mills module. The total length was 32 feet.
Ford's Mill is one of the distinctive structures on the WW&F and Terry's module shown here captures it in 1/87 scale. Just beyond it is Pete's Whitefield module. The yellow building is Erskine store which served as the local post office.
Tom's Ice Harvesting module at left captures the bygone practice of harvesting and storing ice in the winter for use in ice boxes during the summer. This all vanished with the advent of mechanical refrigeration. This module is the first one on the U-shaped branch section.

16th Annual Midwest Narrow Gauge Show

Front view of the Great Lakes HOn30 Module Group set up at the show. The first two modules next to the corner are Pete M's North Whitefield modules. These are the same two modules that won best HOn30 module at the 2007 Nat'l Narrow Gauge Convention. If you get down to ground level you get an authentic feel for North Whitefield, Maine on the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington between 1900 and 1915. Pete used these to earn his master modeler certificate.
Here's a shot of the modules from the back showing Jeff S's mill module. This is a free-lanced mill loosely based on the woolen mill that the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington served near North Vassalboro, Maine.


Here's Sam's Windes Inlet module. The mockup is a stand in for Windes Fine Fish which won a structure award at this show. Sam's clinic covered the techniques he used to build this. Excellent information!

Here's another shot of North Whitefield. That's Pete's Whitefield module at left.




This overhead shot shows many of the modules on the main loop, but does not show the ones on the branch line at the other end. In the foreground is Jeff S's East Dirigo module showing a typical early 20th century Maine village. It includes a one-room school house and typical business district. The signage is very well done.