Marty's O Scale Narrow Gauge

I now have in my possession three of what I call the "imposter" boxcars - these are HO scale 40ft Wooden Boxcars which have been converted to On30 by the simple task of mounting them on On30 bogies. I had planned on removing the bogies and using them on the Bachmann 25'6" underframes I had purchased, but I have discovered that the long wheelbase bogies don't fit. The question now is what to do with these boxcars. The bodies are far too small to work in On30, but they are 22ft long in 1:48 scale and could be repurposed some other way. Perhaps another type of goods wagon to run with my 0-4-0 Porter?

 

Today I remembered that I have a membership with a forwarding service, so I started exploring eBay Germany. I found a couple more of the Trix Kipploren so I now have six wagons on the way. More than enough to keep my Porter occupied I should think! It is going to be a bit of a lottery to see which of the three sets arrive first.

 

It started with an impulse purchase of a train set about 6 weeks ago. Honestly, I've bought just about everything at bargain prices. Since I plan to repaint everything anyway, it really has been a set of bargains compared to buying the Bachmann Spectrum branded stuff in "serious" railway liveries and lettering. I already have a collection of 1:43 standard gauge O scale that I have been building for nearly 20 years. My thoughts are to do an interchange diorama where the tipplers load a couple of standard gauge wagons.

I have been using Simple Green concentrate because I can buy 4L containers at Bunnings. Since I am a tradesman, anything I buy from Bunnings is tax deductible. I agree that a lidded container is essential for this, if nothing else to curb the smell! I have been looking for dettol bulk containers but no success just yet. I was tempted to try using Isopropyl Alcohol, but put off by the fact that it is flammable.

I have also wanted to obtain the inside-frame 4-4-0 from Bachmann as it closely resembles the Queensland Government Railways A10 class. There are On30 RTR models of the 2-6-2 locomotives run in Victoria, which I do want to eventually obtain. The idea for my O scale narrow gauge is that it is generically Australian, but I am deliberately mixing prototypes.

 

Regarding the "imposter boxcars" thoughts are now to swap the plastic wheelsets for 12mm 8-spoke wheels and make something suitable for the Porter. Quite possibly something based more on Queensland 2'0" Tramway practice or after the 2'0" gauge Burrinjuck Tramway in NSW.



But then I need to start looking for a Fleischmann Magic Train 0-4-0 to modify to resemble the Krauss locomotives that ran here - also giving the Porter a playmate!


Image is Public Domain from wikipedia at this link:

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Goondah...-Burrinjuck_line_-_SLSA_-_PRG-280-1-7-49.jpeg

For several years I have been on the look-out for a Fleischmann Oe Magic Train Stainz locomotive. I figured that a fairly mild kit-bash could make it look a lot like the Burrinjuck Tramway locomotives.

 

Pulled one of the combines out of the simple green bath and scrubbed it well with a tooth brush. All the printed stuff came off, but I was surprised to find that some of the red and blue was actually coloured plastic and not paint. It will all have to be covered up with primer anyway.

I am waiting for good weather for painting. We are having intermittent rain and high humidity at the moment. I also used up my last 2 good weather days laying all new Buffalo grass turf in the backyard and now I am aching all over.

I ran all three moguls as a triple-header and tripped the safety cut out on the controller. Double heading is fine, but it seems that three moguls pull too much current to run off a standard controller.

 

Today I went shopping. The moguls now all have metal kadee couplers in their tenders. I used the 140-series "whisker" types. I forgot to check the length of the front pilot couplers (I fitted replacement pilots with working couplers) and neglected to purchase any of the correct length, but I won't worry about that for now. I like the whisker couplers, they swing more freely than the EZ-mate or even the original kadee types. Several of the carriages I had previously purchased had broken EZ-mate couplers. I am going to re-use whatever EZ-mate couplers I still have for the time being, but progressively change over to the kadee metal type.

The other purchase was a packet of Dapol 8-spoke 12mm diameter wheels. I have put these into the trucks of the "imposter" boxcars and they now sit about 1mm lower than before. I think it is a good change and will make the smaller and lighter vehicles a little more distinctive. It also allows me a few spare sets of the 14mm disc wheels and the plastic ones will become a wagon load at some time in the future. A number of years ago I used to run with mostly plastic wheels and I discovered that they seemed to accumulate a lot of dirt on the treads, which not only meant they were depositing it onto the track but on a few wagons it got so bad they would derail on points. I remember using a 3mm jeweler's screwdriver as a chisel to scrape the gunk off the treads. Only metal wheels now!

 

I fit some kadee couplers to my four-wheel coach project. Some small brass screws go through the draft boxes into the plastic floor. By co-incidence this also clamps the chassis in place. I am pleasantly surprised at how well it scales against the Bachmann caboose, but it does look rather tiny behind the Mogul. Perhaps if it were in a rake of 3 or 4 it would look more in place.

 

The four-wheel coach scales rather nicely with the Porter.

 

I started the bash on this "Spirit of America" Mogul. This one came "pre-bashed" insofar as several pieces were broken/missing when it arrived, but I got it with a fleet of coaches for quite cheap. I was pleased to discover that it still ran. New front pilot with working coupling, upgraded with a metal kadee "whisker" type. New smokebox stays from 1mm brass wire. All but one of the tender steps were missing so I removed the last one. I will make new ones for the tender. I will replace the chimney with an older style and find a new headlight

Also later had a go at moving the steam dome. It is not glued into place just yet. I have to figure out how to properly fill and make invisible the hole left in the top of the boiler (putty of some sort, I imagine) and figure out where I am going with the cab.

 

I was looking around for my Tamiya putty and Milliput, but could not find it anywhere. Instead, I cut an octagonal filler from 0.5mm styrene and then I used a pair of compass points to scribe a 15mm diameter circle on another piece of 0.5mm styrene. This was trimmed to size and glued on top of the octagonal filler piece with medium-CA glue. The piece was curved by wrapping it around the handles of various small hobby tools to make it conform to the curvature of the boiler. If only I had a little talcum powder, I could have made some DIY filler for the gap!

I also drilled some new holes in the pilot for the smokebox stays so that they appear closer to prototype with the SAR X Class. This is one of those projects which isn't an exact scale model, but at the end I think it will make a convincing impression of the prototype. All but one were gone by 1907 and the last one survived until 1944 on a remote firewood tramway in some remote region of Western Australia - one of the most remote places on earth!

 

Well, most of my On30 Goods/Freight stock arrived today. 4x Low-Sided Gondolas, 3x Boxcars, 1x Tanker. I was surprised that only two wheelsets were missing and only two couplers had to be replaced. One of the low-sided gondolas basically had all the steps broken off, but I was able to use some CA-glue to reattach them. One wagon had all but one step broken off, so I used the remaining step to replace one missing from another wagon. I will probably put all new steps on that last wagon using modified office staples.

From Germany the first of three orders of tipper wagons arrived. They were sold as HO scale, but I swear they look much closer to 1:32 or 1:35 scale. The one on the far left has been modified with metal wheels. I have four more of the same wagons on their way. They will all get metal wheels and kadee couplers.

 

Two more of the tipper wagons arrived in the post today, but today's main event was work on the Mogul again.

The old running boards were removed and new ones in the lower position were made from 1.5mm thick black styrene. The original boiler bands were removed and new ones made from 0.5mm styrene strip.

The cab rear was modified. The SAR X Class had three windows int he back where the Bachmann model has a blanking board. A section was cut out with a razor saw and hobby knife and some suitable styrene was cut to make up windows as a suitable representation. New cab sides will have to be made up. The cab front sits about 4mm forward of the original position. A layer of styrene will be laminted to the roof to make it up to the correct length. The prototype cab roof projected further forward.

I will need to purchase a suitable chimney and headlight. I am currently looking at offerings on shapeways and precision scale co.

 

Today I got the four tipper wagons to run with metal wheels. The new pin-point axles would not fit well into the original Trix axle holes, so I used an axle reamer from DCC Concepts.

With a little labelle 102 to lubricate, they are nicely free-running now. I will have to replace the steel weights with non-ferrous ones to avoid problems with kadee uncoupler magnets. Thankfully most metal wheels and axles supplied now are non-ferrous.

 

Finished making the new cab sides. Yes, it was every bit as fiddly as you might imagine. The sills are 0.5mm X 1.0mm styrene section glued on its thin edge to the cab side!

 

Not much to report of late. But I did put a couple more carriage and wagon bodies into a bath of simple-green concentrate. Some new paint jobs coming in the future.

 

Well, my cast brass whistles arrived today.

 

I can give a preliminary report that if Simple-Green all-purpose cleaner concentrate does not shift old paint, another option is Bondall Water-Based Turps. It is marketed as a paint brush cleaner and for cleaning paint spills - it cannot be used as a thinner. Some years ago I had painted a model with Tamiya Grey Primer and a Humbrol rattle-can green, which went wrong, but I was unable to remove it. The Bondall water-based turps seems to be doing the trick. I will report in a few days when I have scrubbed the parts.

 

I fitted a couple of my boxcars with the newer style bachmann underframe. The whole car sirs about 1.5mm to 2.0mm lower and I think has a better ride height. I have six of these newer type underframes - not enough to convert the whole fleet, but I think not all of them need this modification.

Only other change is that they require centreset shank couplers instead of overset shank.

New underframe left and old one right.