Maine HOn30 Model Railroading

RS Laser Kits Re-Releases Steven's Creek Kits

2011-11-18T12:31:00.004-05:00

In case you had not heard, RS Laser Kits (www.rslaserkits.com) is re-releasing the Steven's Creek HO scale Maine narrow gauge building and rolling stock kits. These are very nice, prototypically accurate laser-cut kits. The potato house and Randolph depot are already listed for sale on the HO structures page.

Here's also a sneak peak at an HOn30 passenger car kit in development:
http://www.rslaserkits.com/images/HOn30_pass_car.jpg

If you're interested in this kit drop them an email (sales@rslaserkits.com) to let them know.

Train Troll has released an HO scale WW&F crossing sign kit. This is not yet posted on their website, but it is available if you email them. I will post pictures in the next few days.

Al sent me this link to pictures of his HOn30 layout, the Dixie Creek Central: http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb325/AlSandrini/

Enjoy the scenery and HOn30 rolling stock.

More pictures to come of HOn30 and Maine 2 Foot Live Steam at the Huckleberry Railroad Days.

Steve Skodzinsky's Monson Village Module

2011-03-22T12:51:00.015-04:00

Steve Skodzinsky has graciously allowed me to post pictures he took of his Monson Village module currently being built.

Here are some of Steve's remarks about it:

"The module is 16 inches wide by 96" long. When I was in the planning stages I soon realized that if I was going to use #6 switches, it pretty much follows that the module will be about 8 feet long to accommodate everything. If you used #4 switches you could probably shorten it to 72 to 80 inches or so. In any case, using #6 switches has allowed for very smooth trouble free operation and nice shallow approaches. They can handle just about anything you might ever want to run on a 2 foot empire. "

"I opted for code 55 rail and I purchased #6 switches from LITco. On the advice of Gary Kohler, all but one of the switches are conventional. The switch that leads into the engine house is the one that is the stub. As I have found, it is more work to setup the stub switch. It demands accuracy in placement more than anything. All of the switches are controlled with Blue-Point machines, these have turned out to be very reliable and work great. All of my track is hand laid, I used PC ties about every 6 inches or so to establish gauge and sugarpine and birch-plywood wood ties were used in between. I brush painted all of the ties with Tamiya XF-57 buff paint to approximate the color of the cedar ties that the 2 footers used."

Steve has done a nice weathering job onthe Stevens Creek wood shed.

This will turn out to be a nice module and a good portrayal of the Monson Railroad's station and facilities in Monson, Maine in the early 2oth century. I look forward to seeing the progress and will post pictures here.

New Source for HOn30 Kits?

2011-02-15T12:51:00.002-05:00

Some of you may know about Shapeways.com, an internet site that will print 3D models from 3D image file uploaded to the website. The Shapeways company provides the website, the order taking, payment collection and the printing services, but individuals upload their own designs to the website and offer them for sales in exchange for a "royalty" for each item sold.

I have ordered 2 locomotive kits and expect them tomorrow. I'll evaluate and post pics of the kits once I get them. I'll also evaluate the service.

I would recommend checking out Teebee's shop. Tom has several HOn30 kits there. Here's the url: http://www.shapeways.com/gallery?mg[search][shop_name_search]=Tebee%20Models

I have no financial connection to Shapeways or Tom. I mention this because it could hold some promise for HOn30 modelers.

Railbus Update

2011-02-15T01:24:00.005-05:00

First of all my apologies for not posting for several months. I am back and plan to post once a month.

Here's a current photo of the Aru Models railbus. Still on the to do list:
add another coat of green, paint handles brass , add conductor and passengers, add decals and weather it lightly.

Also on the work bench are components for a powered box car. The chassis is Tomix/Tomeytec model KD-25. It is an N scale street car chassis. It has 2 advantages: it is easy to shorten or extend the length and it has several sets of truck sideframes options. The white strips on the chassis are reinforcements added to extend the wheel base to match the HOn30 Weidner resin box car body in the background. The sound decoder is a Soundtraxx DSD-101LC light steam decoder.

This third picture shows a stock chassis and all three extension strips added to lengthen the chassis. The stock chassis really is too short for the box car though in appears to be the right length in this picture. The perspective is distorting this a little.

Also note the brass strips added to lengthen the sliver pickup strips for the trucks.

This chassis only has one power truck so it won't be a great puller but it does pickup on all eight wheels.

HOn30 Trucks

2010-10-12T01:29:00.005-04:00

On the HOn30 Yahoo group there has been some discussion about HOn30 trucks and I thought a side-by-side photo comparison might help modelers decide which one to choose. The point is that there are many more options than the 5 I show here. Double-click the photo to see a larger version.

From left to right are Grandt HOn30 truck with Northwest Short Line metal wheels, Blackstone HOn3 truck with wheels re-gauged, Model Railroad General Store Gilpin Hon30 truck with NWSL wheels, Microtrains N scale arch bar truck with Intermountain 36" (in N scale) wheels (#IRC60051) and Microtrains N scale arch bar truck with stock wheels.

Here is my personal evaluation and ranking according to my own preferences. You might have other priorities and have every right to disagree with me. I understand that trucks that look good but do not run well are frustrating. Please also understand that difficulties I had with assembly reflect more on my own skill that the quality of the product. Your mileage may vary.

Grandt truck (#1 if successfully tuned) pros
-Prototypically correct details for Maine 2 footers
-Allows cars to sit lower
Grandt truck cons
-Requires tuning (clean up/polishing of axle ends; clean up of flash; sometimes addition of keep on bottom of journal Box to keep wheels from dropping out. See tuning article in Maine 2 Foot Quarterly.)
-Older version with plastic wheels require replacing wheels

Blackstone pros (#2 if smaller wheels could be found)
-Runs flawlessly
-Has brake beams
-Has metal wheels
-Ready to Run.
Blackstone cons
-Wheels are too large, cars would sit too high for Maine 2 foot look
-Details do not match Maine 2 foot prototype

Model RR General Store pros (#4 Chivers not shown here are #3)
-Similar to Maine 2 foot prototype
Model RR General Store cons
-Assembly required, easy to break side frames during assembly
-Wheels not included
-Details not as crisp as Grandt or Blackstone

MT arch bars with Intermountain wheels (#5 good for shorter/smaller free-lanced cars) pros
-Run flawlessly
-Sit higher with IM wheels
- Ready to Run
MT arch bar IM wheels cons
-A bit short and small

Other options
-Athearn MDC N scale arch bar trucks (unsure of current availability)
-David Hoffman brass HOn30 trucks (order by mail at 8682 US Highway 61
North, Woodville, MS 39669-3502
-Precision Scale HOn3 trucks re-gauged (available from Walthers)

Thank you to Dave Miecznikowski for the Blackstone truck idea and to Woodie Greene for the Precision Scale truck idea.

New Railway Recollections Caboose Kit

2010-09-21T13:42:00.002-04:00

Barry at Railway Recollections has a new HOn30 16 foot off center cupola caboose kit that is ready to ship. It is $29.00 plus $6.50 shipping and handling.
I don't have the kit but I can recommend Barry's kits in general. His kits have no bubbles and sharp castings. They are well designed and straight-forward to build.

To order contact Barry at barry@railrec.com

HOn30 Pictures

2010-09-15T02:44:00.002-04:00

In case you had not seen this elsewhere here's a link to Peter Bartlett's pictures of his HOn30 motive power, rolling stock and layout. Peter's Cray Valley RR was featured in the August 2004 issue of Model Railroader. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cray_valley_rr_-_stock/4982443862/in/photostream

Climax Kit

2010-09-14T13:16:00.002-04:00

I have not done much on the Climax kit. I was unsure of weather to add a DCC decoder and how to paint it. I will wait to add the decoder because I need a smaller one like the TCS Z4.

I did not want to paint it with a lot of raw wood because my railroad would have painted it more like a common carrier road engine. But I had not seen many paint jobs like that on a class A Climax. My friend, Phil Gliebe, built a Climax that won first place in the steam kit class at the NMRA national convention and was mentioned in the NMRA magazine in Sept. His paint job is exactly what the FS&K would have used and removed that obstacle.

I still have other projects to finish, but this one will come to the top of list this winter and I will post pictures as it proceeds.

What's on the Workbench

2010-09-14T13:04:00.003-04:00

I am currently working on 2 projects:

The ARU railbus: I have it painted, but not yet decaled or weathered. I am working on painting the driver and passengers, following an article by Sam Swanson (Model Railroader Dec 2005). I will post photos soon.

Track modifications on the Linekin Bay Module: To improve running I have removed the AHM dual gauge crossing and flattened it. The HOn30 leg always had a hump so that the track could reach the height of the standard gauge and this was causing problems for smaller locomotives. The crossing is back in place but needs ballast. At the same time I removed all the track to the right of the crossing all the way to the swing bridge because there were rough spots and widening of the gauge at the swing bridge. I have replaced the bridge track and am weathering new strip wood decking for it prior to securing it back onto the module.

Updates

2010-09-14T12:51:00.003-04:00

I am sorry to leave this blog so long without an update. I am still here and modeling in HOn30.

If you went to the last National Narrow Gauge Convention you could have bought one of Mount Blue's new laser-cut HOn30 Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington box cars kits. This builds into car # 309 which survives still at the WW&F museum. This is very exciting for those of us (myself included) who are WW&F fans. They are available on-line also at mountbluemodelco.com/HO.htm.

I have one of Mt Blues SRRL box cars under construction (see photos in a previous post) and can highly recommend them. The 309 kit will have details included.

Railway Recollections is releasing a 42 foot steam launch on HO scale that will be perfect for harbor scenes. It looks similar to the out-of production steam launch that Sheepscot Scale models released over 10 years ago, but being cast in high-quality resin will be of better quality. I have seen pre-production photos of the engine detail and it is superb. The packaging is being completed now so I expect it will be released in the next few months. You can buy direct via email: barry@railrec.com or ask about it at Train and Trooper: www.trainandtrooper.com. This is a different kit from their 38 foot launch/tour boat.

New HOn30 Climax Kit

2010-04-05T01:31:00.003-04:00

There's a new HOn30 Climax kit on the market: http://www.loggingcars.com/clmxa.htm
While I have not seen this kit in person, it looks like a nice kit to build. It requires the LifeLike SW1500 chassis and possibly some detail parts. This is a good way to make your version unique.

2010 Midwest Narrow Gauge Show

2010-04-01T12:56:00.003-04:00

The Midwest Narrow Gauge is now behind us and I am sorry to say that I did not take any pictures. It was a good show and we had fun. The venue changed so all the micro and modular layouts(HOn3, Sn2, On30 and Hon30) were in 1 room. I got more exposure to the others since I could see them from the HOn30 layout.

I picked up 2 of Mt Blue's new HOn30 SRRL laser-cut box car kits. These are different from the #87-94/96-99 series cars. I'll add photos of the kits in the next few days. These will be fun to build and product highly detailed models.

Big City Hobbies has re-released the Plymouth AHM Minitrains set with a new mechanism:
http://www.bigcityhobbies.com/minitrains.html
The price seems a bit steep at $119.98. I do not know anyone who has purchased this yet and so don't know the quality of the mechanism.

NMRA Regional Meet Oct-09

2010-02-14T18:19:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture of a bunch of HOn30 locomotives on the Linekin Bay module at the NMRA regional meet in Indianapolis last October. You might recognize some of them. From left to right they are: an Egger Bahn construction locomotive; Pete M's kit-bashed diesel based on the Atlas V-1000 chassis and hood with a cab fashioned from Grandt GE 23 tonner parts; AHM Plymouth with the NSWL re-gear kit (I have never seen one for sale that did not need new gears); a kit-bashed diesel as Bob Hayden and Dave Frary did in the '70s based on the Mini-Trix Fairbanks Morse diesel with a cab from the Funaro & Camerlengo Plymouth diesel flat car load ; a Consolidation based on the MDC (now Athearn) 2-6-0 with a laser-cut cab from Small Scale Logistics (now out of business) and new domes, head light, stack, number plate and builders plates.
At left is Jim F.'s completed version of Railway Recollection's Sandy River box car 1 kit. It sits on Micro-trains N scale archbar trucks and they sure do run nicely. The weathering job really adds to the model.
I seem to recall from Jones', Crittenden's or Moody's books that box car A was renumbered as box car 1. If so it was obviously rebuilt without the exterior sheathing and the doors were mounted inside.
Here's Phil G.'s harbor module showing rolling stock in the yard. The Forney is a nicely-done Chivers kit. The caboose is a SRRL Funaro & Camerlengo resin kit. The other rolling stock is a mixture of Chivers and Funaro & Camerlengo kits. All of the rolling stock was built by Phil. This module has a lot to offer and this is only one end of it.

More Projects

2010-02-14T17:09:00.010-05:00

At left is the Railway Recollections Sandy River/Billerica & Bedford box car A kit. I need to finish the decals, add some crates to the interior, add end railings, couplers and weather it. This is a very nice, easy-to-assemble kit with many possibilities. It can be built as B&B box car A; Sandy River box car A without windows in the side doors; or Sandy River box car A with windows in the side doors. I added the interior sheathing on the wall and the interior panels on the far side door.
This next kit is Mount Blue's new HOn30 offering, a laser-cut Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes 28 foot box car kit. I posted pictures of this in November. Now I've finally have some progress to show. This kit can be built into box cars numbers 87-94 and 96-99. Several were for sale at the last Springfield, Massachusetts train show and they were all sold out. This is an excellent kit. The parts fit together well and some are adhesive-backed so the builder just peels the paper off the back and sticks it to the model. While the manufacturer suggests details to use, none are included so that the builder can use details to his liking. I already had half of the details needed to build this and only had to order grab irons and queen posts. I could have bent my own grabs, but past experience has taught me that buying preformed grabs saves me wasted wire, time and frustration. Since the holes for grabs and nbw castings are predrilled (laser-cut?) at lot of drilling(and time) is eliminated. I also like the laser-cut roof panels that simulate the tin panels used on Maine two-foot box cars. I recommend this kit for the joy of assembly and pleasure the completed model will bring as you watch it on your pike.

And I do occasionally finish projects and I promise to post them when I do. I will never promise to work on only one project until it is finished. This is a hobby and I do as I please. In the immortal words of Ben & Jerry: "If it's not fun why do it?"

New Railbus

2010-02-14T12:50:00.004-05:00

At left is my latest distraction from the projects I should be working on. This is a brass etched rail bus from Aru Models in Japan. It is a freelanced version of SRRL No 3 that fits on a Kato No 11-107 shorty bogie chassis in N scale. Here I've primed it and added tissue to the roof. Does include white metal head light castings which are not shown here, but will be added after painting the grill.

This is an excellent kit for the modeler who wants to learn how to solder an etched-brass kit because of the ingenious tab and slot design of the parts. All parts are held together by tabs and slots so that the modeler can solder the pieces with without finding a way to clamp them. I filed and sanded the tabs and slots off once the soldering was done. There are also no curves in the kit that can be difficult for a beginner to form properly. Thsi kit can also be assembled with ACC. The instructions are in Japanese, but the pictures are sufficient for a clear understanding of the assembly process.
This kit is available from Mr Yoshiya Kobayashi. His website is: http://www.hpmix.com/home/yoshiya/Yoshiya/index.htm. I will post pictures as the build progresses.

Old Meet Photos

2010-01-09T13:43:00.008-05:00

Here's some photos from the Midwest Narrow Gauge Meet in Salem, OH in 2002 or earlier. First is Bill's HOn30 quarry layout with standard gauge tracks in the foreground. Check out the AHM narrow gauge engine house in the right foreground. Who did have one of those for their HOn30/009 layout in the 1970's. I still have mine. I haven't seen this module of Bill's lately. He is into On30 and the ET&WNC.

This 6 foot long module was built by Craig S. who is also no longer bringing it to shows. It included a roundhouse with complete interior details and figures, a cemetery scene complete with a horse-drawn hearse, seals on the rocks and a light house. It offers a lot of scenery and switching opportunities.

This mill module is Jeff's and has been coming to meets for years. It is loosely based on the American Woolen Mills near Winslow, Maine that were served by the 2 foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington railroad. He kit-bashed all the windows, very impressive.

Old Photo of Motive Power

2010-01-09T13:34:00.003-05:00

Here's an old photo from 2002 taken on my film camera. The motive power from left to right are: Chivers small Forney on a Bachmann 0-4-0 chassis, AHM Plymouth diesel with NWSL regear kit, kit-bashed rail bus (Jordan school bus and Bachmann trolley chassis as described in the Maine 2 Foot Quarterly) and a Brick Price Hawaiian 0-4-0 locomotive on a Bachmann 0-4-0 shifter chassis. The scenery is not Maine 2-foot prototypical, but what I have on hand at the time.

Following this Blog

2009-11-25T10:02:00.002-05:00

I've added the Following gadget to the upper left side of the page to make it easier to follow this blog. By clicking on the Follow button you can add this blog to your Google Friend Connect reader list and see if it has been updated recently. If you have a Blogger account this also works with that account. This allows you to go to 1 site to check all the blogs you're following for updates instead of checking each one individually. I hope this is helpful.

Grassinator/DIY Grassmaster

2009-11-21T17:17:00.003-05:00

At left is a photo of the new Grassinator just finished today. What is a Grassinator? A DIY version of the Noch Gras-Master that statically charges flocking so that it stands up when glued to the scenery base. The Gras-Master retails for $199. This version required about $45 in materials. Much appreciation goes to the Ztrains folks for the idea and to Jeff Schumaker for his execution and refinement of this idea. Jeff also supplied the ionizer used. The Ztrains web page describing how to build this neat tool is: http://www.ztrains.com/pages/tech/grassinator/grassinator.html. Jeff gave a clinic on building this at the 2009 Midwest Narrow Gauge meet.
The hole on the side is to access the power switch. The ionizer used had a power switch built in so rather than bypass it, I mounted the board with the switch behind the hole. This one also runs on a 9 volt battery since the ionizer did. This made it cheaper because no jack and power supply were required. I used a butter tub for the grass basket instead of a Tupperware container. The screen was expoxied inside the lid. Hopefully this will hold up to repeated flexing of the lid when loading the static grass. If not the butter tube will be replaced by a Tupperware container. Time will tell.

I hope to apply a test patch of flock tomorrow.

China Module Progress

2009-11-20T13:42:00.003-05:00

Here's a shot of one of 2 transition modules that allow the main line on the China module (12" from back drop) to connect to other modules that meet the HOn30 module standard of a main line 6-7/8" from the back drop. The Heki grass mat is coming off and needs to be reglued. The good 3M spray adhesive will be used this time.

Here's the scratch-built China station model that will go on the module. Campbell shingles, Grandt windows and Evergreen styrene clapboard siding was used. Next up to add the Steven's Creek cast metal chimney, paint the roof and build the platform.

The China module at left still has grey Celluclay on the road and next to the team track. Next steps are to paint and texture the road and unloading area next to the team track.

Future HOn30 Product from Mount Blue Model Company

2009-11-03T16:22:00.004-05:00

The image here is a HO scale version of Mount Blue's SR&RL O scale box car kit, kit # 17.
This kit is for future release so you won't yet find it on their website: http://mountbluemodelco.com/

This will likely be a semi-kit without details. This way it will be less expensive and the builder can add details to their liking. Please e-mail Mount Blue to express interest in this future kit at info@mountbluemodelco.com.

Reefer

2009-09-30T14:03:00.003-04:00

I kitbashed this from an MDC old-time reefer, shortening the ends and sides and narrowing the ends. I scratch-built the floor/frame and roof and added Grandt ladders and HOn30 trucks.

The decals are from Highball Graphics (www.mgdecals.com).

I know it's not prototypical, but it was fun.

Old Photos

2009-09-30T13:53:00.006-04:00

Here's an old picture of a Chivers Forney that I built, but is now disassembled because I added electrical pick up to the trailing truck, but it never worked properly.
The chassis was the Bachmann docksider with a flywheel added. It ran fairly well until I "improved" it.

Here's the same body ready to be added to a Kato 2-6-4 chassis that has been modified to a 0-4-4. The trailing truck already had electrical pick up. This picture is also an old one.

Kiso Baldwin Conversion

2009-09-27T09:40:00.006-04:00

These pictures show a conversion of a Baldwin Kiso to a configuration that more closely resembles a Maine narrow gauge locomotive. This link will take you to images of the prototype: trains.nute.ws/0-4-2/KFR6.htm.

This loco was used in Japan for logging but was built by the Baldwin locomotive works, the same company that built many of the Maine 2 foot engines. This means that many of the features already match Maine narrow gauge prototypes.

I changed these features:

1. Tailing truck from 2 wheels to 4.

Removing the existing trailing truck requires removing a screw. I then fashioned a new arm to fit a Micro Trains N scale archbar truck and attached with the screw for the existing trailing truck.

2. Large balloon stack.

The existing balloon stack is a large one by US standards. It does resemble the size of the stack on the SW Sargeant as delivered to the Franlinn & Megantic (See Moody page 69). I wanted to swap it for a straight
stack but drop in weight negatively affected the performance. To see what I mean just twist the existing stack while gently lifting up and it will come off. Then run the locomotive. So as a compromise I replaced it with a smaller white metal balloon stack from the Chivers Forney kit. It seems to run as it did before with this stack.

3. Oil bunker to wood burning/coal burning

The original oil bunker reached to teh cab roof, much too high for a Maine narrow gauge engine. I cut the upper portion and filled the gap with a flat piece of brass. I soldered the filler from the oil bunker to it to simulate the water hatch.

I am considering the following modifications:

Power pick up on the trailing truck.
Running boards on each side of the boiler.
Bell on top of the sand dome.
Wooden or boiler tube pilot.

2009 Midwest Narrow Gauge Show

2009-04-16T13:01:00.013-04:00

Here are a few photos from the narrow gauge show in Greenford, OH.
The first two are photos of the HOn30 modular layout that was set up in the lobby. It depicts several locations on the Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railroad as they exsited in the early 20th century.

Click on the photos to see a larger version. The first photo shows the North Whitefield, Maine station, the Whitefield, Maine station along with Erskine's store and Ford's Mill

The third picture shows Pete's Winslow module. Winslow was the end of the Winslow branch and had a turntable, coal shed and engine house.

Sam's Windes Inlet module with lobster boat and wharf activity. The detail is excellent as always.

Sam's rail bus built from a Railway Recollection kit on his module.The buildings and back drop are not yet complete. See the links for Railway Rec's website. The railbus ran smoothly and Sam will add electrical pickup to the front truck.

No 3 in the last picture is Bill V's forney from an old Sango kit. It ran well and reliably on the modules.

17th Annual Midwest Narrow Gauge Show

2009-03-30T12:12:00.006-04:00

Another Midwest Narrow Gauge Show has come and gone. I'll be posting some pictures here later.
The clinics were excellent, especially The Passenger Cars of the WW&F (Chris McChesney and Gary Kohler), Making the Grassinator (Jeff Schumaker), Seven Simple Structures (Sam Swanson) and HOn30/HOn2 Locomotive Mechanism Equalization and DCC (Chris McChesney).
The contest models were very well done and the competition was heated. The HOn30, Sn2, Sn3, and On30 modular layouts looked and operated well. (In the interest of full disclosure I am a member of the Great Lakes HOn30 Module Group so my assessment is partial!)
Dennis V had a very interesting and impressive micro layout with hand-built switches. The camaraderie was excellent as always.

Barry McClellan, the proprietor of Railway Recollections, gave me some tips on finishing his Forney kit. The trailing truck was lifting the cab deck so that it was not level. His tips were:

File the rear buffer beam flush with the bottom of the cab floor. I'm using a Talgo trailing truck and the additional thickness was pushing up the floor.

Glue the boiler onto the cab. This made the cab assembly more level.

I decided to file a very little off the bottom of the tabs on the inside of the cab walls. These tabs rest on the housing for the slide mechanism of the trailing truck and I suspected that they were pushing down on the floor. Use caution here. It is better to preserve the good fit of the parts than to risk potential issues. (This is not a tip from Barry.)

I ran the loco on the Great Lakes HOn30 Module Group's 38 foot long layout and it ran several loops at a constant speed without stalling. The trailing truck does have electrical pick up and this helps. I'll post more pictures as I have them.

I also pick up a Railway Recollections Billerica & Bedford Box Car A kit. After reading the directions and looking over the pieces this kit will be fun and straight forward to build.

2009-01-29T12:51:00.003-05:00

Barry at Railway Recollections has updated his web site with pictures of new Maine HOn30 box car, gondola and flat car kits. Click on the link at left to go there. If you model the early Sandy River or Billerica and Bedford these will fit your layout perfectly. The box car/baggage cars are unique and would add interest to any model railroad. I have several of Barry's kits and they are nicely detailed and easy to build.

DCC Options

2009-01-13T23:17:00.022-05:00

Here are some decoders that could work for HOn30 locomotives because they are small enough. As you'll see 3 decoders from 3 different manufacturers can fit into a typical HOn30 locomotive. The locomotive shell in all these pictures is a Chivers Forney. The picture are right shows that a Digitrax DZ143 decoder will fit inside the shell though it might preclude the use of a flywheel.
Here's the DZ143 inside the shell.

Below is a Lenz Gold Mini W decoder. Lenz offers an additional power module that would keep the loco moving over dirty track but it's too large for an HOn30 Forney.

Lastly we're showing a Train Control Systems M-1 decoder. Their website is www.tcsdcc.com. While I have not operated any of their decoders they look promising.

Added on Feb 2 :
TCS (www.tcsdcc.com) has just released a new Z scale decoder (catalog number Z2) that is rated for use with N scale mechanisms. This is the smallest decoder I have seen yet. But may I just need to get out more. :)

This one might be useful for those really tight spaces.

2009-01-08T23:49:00.002-05:00

Another view of the transition module with Linekin Bay in the background. The boards over Linekin Bay are for storage of another module.

Lightweight Module Construction

2009-01-08T19:55:00.015-05:00

Here are some photos of a transition module that I have built to transition from the standard 6-7/8" setback from the back drop to a 12" setback. This will be the standard for modules for my home layout. The transition modules will allow the layout modules to conform to the HOn30 standard and be used at meets with the Great Lakes HOn30 Module Group (GLHOn30MG). The 12" setback arose as I found that many of the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway station were located on the west side of the tracks and since the defacto GLHOn30MG standard has been right is north the station must sit behind the main line. Because the WW&F ran through rural areas this often leaves a field in the front 2/3 to half of the module. Moving the main line 5 inches forward provides more room for detail such as vehicles, figures etc around the station. My plans for Monson Village and Strong also work better with a 12" set back.
The construction was inspired by Sam Swanson's Windes Inlet module, built mailing from foam core. He has detailed the construction techniques in the latest issue of Light Iron Digest. Construction was done from memory so read the article to learn best practices.

Materials include 1 20" x 30" sheet of 1/2" thick foam core, 6" x 48" x 1/4" poplar, 2' x 2' x 7/8" bead board, aliphatic resin (carpenter's yellow wood glue) or Gorilla Glue.

Cut 2 pieces of foam core 6" x 24" for the front and the back with a sharp utility knife and a framing square, making cuts with 3 or 4 passes . Try to make the cut edges as square as possible so that the pieces mate well for gluing and the frame will be easier to keep square. Cut 1/2 of the foam and paper surface from the end of each front and back piece to from a "rabbet" of sorts, leaving the paper on one side intact. The poplar ends will be glued into this rabbet.
Next cut 2 pieces of foam core 23" x 4" for the center bead board support.
Cut 4 pieces of foam core 4.5" x 6" for corner blocks.
Cut 2 small strips of foam core at least 12" long as supports for the top surface.
Cut 4 square pieces of foam core about 4" x 4" as supports for the center bead board support.
Cut the poplar into 2 24" long pieces for the ends.
I waited to cut the bead board until I could them them to fit the less-than-square frame.
Draw a line on the inside of the front and back foam core panels parallel and 7/8" away from the top edge to mark the space that the bead board will fill. All supports must stay below this line.Draw the same lines on the poplar ends.
Glue the 4.5" x 6" corner blocks to the ends of the front and back foam cores panels keeping them below the 7/8" line.
Glue the 2 23" x 4" center support pieces into a "T" beam.
After the front and back panel assembly have dried glue each to a poplar end using a framing square to keep them square.
After the glue has dried, glue the two end/side assemblies together to form the complete frame (looks like a box).
After the glue has cured, glue the center foam support in the middle of the frame running from front to back and below the 7/8" line but flush with it.
Glue the long foam core strips on the inside of each poplar end, below and flush with the 7/8" line.
After the glue has dried place the bead board into one corner of the top of the frame, mark it to fit inside the frame and cut it. Dry fit it and trim if needed. The bead board should fit into the frame so that the surface is flush with the top edges of the frame.
Glue the bead board into the frame using Liquid Nails for Foam Board or latex adhesive caulk. I used the caulk because I've used it before to glue down Woodland Scenics foam track bed.

Now the module is ready for track wiring and scenery. My module weight about 3.5 pounds without track, wiring and scenery.

Stevens Creek HOn30 Lasrer Cut Monson Box Car Kit

2008-10-07T13:16:00.002-04:00

The Monson box car kit is now back in stock! Get them now! It's very cool that this is run number 4 for this kit.
It is very encouraging to see this HOn30 kit supported so well. The quality of this particular kit and the current popularity of laser cut kits must be factors in this.

Stevens Creek Monson HOn30 Box Car Kit

2008-09-22T17:25:00.002-04:00

These are all sold out for now. If you are interested email Ken at scm@hon3.com. The next run of these depends on interest received via e-mail. The run that just sold out was the second run.

Stevens Creek Monson HOn30 Box Car Kits

2008-09-19T12:51:00.011-04:00

Word on the street is that the excellent Stevens Creek Monson Hon30 box car kits are almost sold out. I have one and would highly recommend this kit. I have not built it, but I have scanned through the instructions and it looks like a well-designed kit that will yield a great finished product. It consists of laser cut plywood. It allows you to build 3 different versions that all match the prototypes.

Use this link to get good views of the kit parts and the assembly process from the manufacturer: http://www.hon3.com/MonBox/index.htm

I don't know if a second run will be done. If I find out I will let you know.

I do have several Stevens Creek kits and am very happy with them. I did meet the owner at the 26th NNGC last year and he's a great guy.

P.S. I have no financial interest in the manufacturer or this product. Just a satisfied customer.

Updated Links at New England Scene

2008-09-19T12:51:00.010-04:00

I see that Jim has updated the links page on his New England Scene website. Check it out along with his building kits. The most interesting link is for a Hon30 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes No. 19 2-6-2 kit in brass from Victors Scale Models. It's out of my league, but fun to look at.

Worsley Works also has a new rail bus kit in 009, the T&D 4mm Saloon kit. It's a brass etching that will require the builder to add other cast details but it looks like fine start to a kit. Here's the link to the manufacturer's web page for this kit: http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_NG_Irish_TD-Inspection_Saloon.htm

I know 009 is a little larger than 1/87 but I'm willing to overlook it.

Brian's New End Module

2008-09-14T18:40:00.005-04:00

Here are pictures of my friend Brian's new Hon30 module. It will serve as one of two end modules so that our group can run a loop.

This is a work in progress so that's why the stones for the retaining wall on the left side are still white. They will be painted.
The white spot in the gravel pit is wet gloss medium that will be water when dry. The trestles still need to be built. This module conforms to the HOn30 module standards listed on the HOn30 mail car site.

As always, click on the pictures for a larger version of each photo.

2008-09-09T13:04:00.004-04:00

I've been quiet for a while because I haven't been doing much modeling lately. So here's some old pictures of partially complete projects waiting for me on my work bench. The first one is a Kennebunk Models resin kit of WW&F No 9 on a Bachmann chassis. It is waiting for smoke box and boiler details and pilot details. The boiler is filled with Templo to give it as much weight as possible. If you don't have Chris McChesney's handbook on Hon30 locomotives I recommend it. That's where the Templo idea came from.
The second picture shows a Chivers forney body that will go on an scale Kato C-11 drive. This was a 2-6-4T
before I removed the last driver. There have been a few articles over the years on this conversion. Pieter Roos did that last one in the Maine 2-Foot Quarterly in the 1990's. The drive is very nice. The drivers are a little large but the trailing truck has pickup so this should run well when it's all together.

The other news of note is Stevens Creek Model's release of the Monson wood shed in HO. Click here to see it: http://www.hon3.com/Woodshed/index.htm
This kit has some very nice detail and will become part of my Monson module in the next few years.

I hope to have more to report as I get back into modeling.

2008-06-18T12:42:00.018-04:00

Here's some pictures comparing the N-Drive mechanism to a Bachmann.

Here the N-Drive mechanism is on the right. The Bachmann mechanism on the left has Nigel Lawton's re-motoring kit and a new worm from NWSL installed. The biggest difference is the motor position: it sits much closer to the worm and rear drivers. So use of the mechanism with the Chivers small Forney kit (RC-45) requires some modification.

Here's the N-Drive mechanism with a new boiler made out of 2 sizes of brass tube so that the Chivers smoke box casting will fit into it. The motor fits inside the new boiler. I think this will allow the Chivers kit to use this mechanism.
The last two photos show Bachmann and N-Drive chassis for comparison. Note that the drivers are a little smaller on the N-Drive chassis and the wheel base is a little shorter. The chassis in front in the last photo is Bachmann with the original motor, boiler and cab floor to be used in a Kennebunk Models resin forney kit now out of production.

N-Drive Website

2008-06-05T09:41:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Stephen at http://fairlightworks.blogspot.com/ I've discovered that N Drive Productions has a website now:

http://www.n-driveproductions.com/

The range and prices page are the correct prices for the 9mm (N scale) drive.

Note that the wheel base and motor location are different from the Bachmann drive it replaces.

Here's the N-Drive order form.

New Forney Kit from Railway Recollections

2008-04-08T15:00:00.008-04:00

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

2008-04-08T12:08:00.005-04:00

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

2008-04-08T11:39:00.006-04:00

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

2008-04-08T10:50:00.009-04:00

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.

Locomotives

2008-03-07T12:48:00.007-05:00

At left is the typical Frary/Hayden conversion from the '70's using the Trix FM chassis and the Funaro & Camerlengo Plymouth resin shell for the cab. It does still run well despite being dropped 48" once. :)

Here's a Jordan 1930's school bus shell on a Bachmann trolley mechanism. The rear wheel wells were filled with plastic sheet and Squadron putty and wet sanding until smooth. The idea is from Mark Rollins with a few of my own modifications. The construction is described in detail in the Fall 2002 issue of Maine 2-Foot Quarterly.

Here's a very quick and easy conversion if you can find a Kato N scale pocket loco mechanism. This one is from the yellow steeple cab. Remove the shell, remove about an 1/8" of plastic from the motor housing on each side and the Funaro Plymouth shell will fit onto the chassis.
Here's the same loco with a DCC decoder installed.

2008-03-06T12:58:00.002-05:00

Here's a close up of Terry's tug boat that also shows the ball signal on Linekin Bay. Terry did a great job on building this from the Model Shipways kit. It's a wooden-hulled steam tug which fits the era of I model. It was only a visitor on the module. The ball signal is based on the prototypes used though out New England and specifically on two Maine narrow gauge railroads: the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington and the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes. It is functional, being actuated Switchmaster style switch machine by a toggle switch on the fascia. The construction was written up in the Maine 2 Foot Quarterly, Spring 2004 issue. There are plans to added a stationery decoder for actuation by DCC.

Old Photo

2008-02-28T09:42:00.005-05:00

Here's an old photo of Linekin Bay from 2006 showing an overview. Terry Davis' excellent tug boat model is on the left side of the harbor. It's mounted on a plank so that's why it looks like a barge. I poured Envirotex for water and added a floating dock in mid 2007 so it has changed a bit.

Latest

2008-02-20T13:01:00.005-05:00

Check out the new HOn30 Forney kit that Railway Recollections released in January for Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes RR Nos 20-22. I've modified the Bachman N scale 0-6-0 chassis per the instructions and it still runs well. The longer wheelbase also gets it over the plastics frogs on some of my turnouts so it should run better. The assembly is divided into 4 sub-assemblies: boilder, cab/fuel bunker, rear deck and pilot. I have slowed myself down a little by adding a working head light in the boiler. It looks like it will go together smoothly. I'll post pics soon.

You can get this kit from Train and Trooper & B & F Hobby.

Other HOn30 news: sweet-looking laser-cut wood Monson boxcars soon to be released by Stevens Creek (http://www.hon3.com/).

N-Drive Productions in the UK is producing a replacement mechanism for the Bachman 0-4-0. I hear that quite a few are coming across the pond. His e-mail address is n.driveproductions@yahoo.co.uk for inquries. Picture is at right.

It should be a good runner with a Mashima can motor. I have not seen one in person so I can't evaluate it fully.

Linekin Bay Module

2007-11-13T12:55:00.002-05:00

Here's a close up of my Linekin Bay module. It has an 11 inch radius loop with the Linekin Bay yard/wharf on the front left corner and the Boothbay Harbor yard/wharf on the rear right corner. It meets the HOn30 module standards.

In the Boothbay Harbor yard is a manual turn table like the one Bob Hayden built using a head phone jack in an old article in Model Railroader. The ball signal can be raised and lower using a toggle switch new to the panel.

The module has 5 cabs/electrical blocks though command control looks like a possibility. The water is Envirotex. Waves will be added soon with a Woodland Scenics product.

Here's another shot of the modules from the right end. The scenery is not 100%. I have more details, grass and dirt to add.

I'll put a small plug in for the Minibunch, a group of narrow gauge modelers in the Midwest. They put on this meet. If you're interested check out www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch for meet schedules and news letters.

I also learned that Funaro & Camerlengo has an HOn30 Davenport shell kit out. I think you have to order it direct. I saw one at this meet but it does not appear to be on the website.

First Photo

2007-11-12T13:02:00.001-05:00

At left are 5 of the modules from our group. Mine is the closest one. It is a free-lanced Maine Harbor scene with yards on either side of the harbor. It's been about 5 years in the making and is abut 80% complete.

You can see more pictures of it at my website: