I used to be a Pennsy modeler and still take a mild interest in what is available and newly released for PRR. I don’t expect anybody to feel sorry for Pennsy modelers - it has been very well treated in all major scales since the 1930s – but it is a pity to have two big firms both release H10s when there are other popular Pennsy steam engines, including some of the other 2-8-0s, that would be welcomed and which have not been over exposed.
By the way it is true that the Standard Railroad of the World did make use of the “same” boilers for more than one type of locomotive, but that is hardly the same thing as being able to plop the exact same boiler/cab/sand and steam dome/runningboard casting on different chassis, whether it be 2-8-0 and 4-4-2 or 4-6-2 and 2-8-2, as Penn Line did years ago. There were many detail differences and given modern manufacturing methods I am not sure having one Pennsy steamer in your catalog makes it all that much easier to come out with its “counterpart.”
I just received a notice from one of the large on line hobbyshops offering the BLI Baldwin 2-8-0’s and the URSA Light 2-8-2’s. I noticed that BLI has released these engines in a number of road names. I have on order from BLI the S2 4-8-4 GN Hybride and I have a number of GN engines on my layout. I am taken back that after all this time of producing the URSA 2-8-2 in the Great Northern Green colours that BLI has yet to attach the correct tender. Yet they have a number of vanderbuilt tenders. Also, their 2-8-0 is way too large for a GN 2-8-0, even as a stand in. The 2-8-0 was a much smaller engine,
That pretty much sums up a recent conversation I had with Ken Silvestri, Vice President of sales for Broadway Limited during a World’s Greatest Hobby show. I inquired as to the likelihood of seeing the H10 boiler molds being used to make an E6 or a G5. He said that while the boiler itself is correct for the engines, other details like domes and running boards are not and they would not be able to adapt the mold. He did however say that the E6 was one of his favorite locomotives and I walked away feeling like there may be an E6 Atlantic in the not too distant future.
I agree with you Sheldon. If you look at the boilers of MTH engines, they seem to sit “high” over the bogey. Its like they just used their plans from their O scale and scaled it down. And O scale is notorious for comprimises to fit around relatively tight curves. (Not to be a slam on O Scalers. It’s just something you have to deal with given the size.)
But, neither Bachmann nor Lifelife got the pilot right on the C&O 2-8-4. Peach creek shops offered lost wax brass castings of the correct pilot.
Of all my non brass, the most accurate and best pulling have been the C&O T-1 (BLI) and C&O H-8 (RR)
They don’t have Vanderbilt tenders for a simple reason - because that would be wrong! [:O]
GN’s “O” class mikados ran ran from O-1 to O-8. The 9 USRA heavy engines that they bought in 1920 were O-3 class. These engines never had vanderbilt tenders. They kept the eight-wheel tenders they came with, though some were modified for oil with the addition of large oil bunkers. Most if not all later classes of GN mikes did have the large vandy tenders, most notably the famous O-8 class.
The BLI engines are pretty accurate for a c.1920’s O-3 (although it should have the ‘full face’ pre-1936 goat herald). GN modified these engines a lot later in their life, each one was a little different. They spent most of their lives working out of Duluth/Superior, either to the Mesabi Iron Range or to Mpls/St.Paul.
I agree about the H 10s. I have never been this happy with a engine before. B.L.I. did a great job. I cant say the same for the M1-A 4-8-2 It took three engines before I got one to run right. GENE
NYC and NKP modelers are waiting for an H-5 Mikado which was common as dirt on the NYC like the H 2-8-0s were common on the PRR. NKP had a few and some of the H5 class ended up on other class Is and short lines in the second hand market. The Atlantic Coast Line comes to mind. They were rostered on a number of NYC roads like the IHB, B&A, Big Four, Michigan Central also. Anyway, it is my understanding that blueprints have been shared and its very likely that we’ll see them in the next few years. They were older than the USRA types and had more of a straight boiler rather than the conical shaped USRA boiler. Many had the two window Schenectady style cab. Also some were rebuilt from 2-8-0s.
Sadly, an NKP H-5 sat in a Chicago area scrap yard until sometime in the early 1970s. An NYC H-5 was the last operating steam loco on the New York Central System on the Big Four in Indiana in 1957.
The NYC/NKP H-5 2-8-2 is certainly a worthwhile choice. I believe there were close to 700 of them, used on NYC and all subsidiaries. NYC is well known for its Hudsons and Mohawks; but the road probably had more Mikados than any other North American road, by a wide margin. As for secondhand purchases, even the little High Point Thomasville & Denton in North Carolina had an H-5. If you model the Northeast but don’t model the NYC or NKP, an H-5 is just about ideal as an engine for your NYC or NKP interchange. I’m not primarily an NYC modeler, but I have an H-5 in brass and would love to have one or two more.
For modelers in general, the H-5 is an ideal size for a modest-sized layout representing any era from the 1910’s to the mid 1950’s. A well engineered model should handle 18" radius with ease if necessary, and would pack enough heft and power to handle any task on a small railroad.
An enterprising manufacturer could produce an initial version, then release subsequent versions with various detail variations. The engines used at least two different valve gears, al least two different trailing trucks, some variations in running boards and appliances, and several different tenders. One basic type could enjoy multiple sales in these different forms.
The New York Central System Historical Society is surveying members for interest in an H-5 from a major manufacturer. See the latest NYSCHS “Headlight” for a great H-5 story and information on the potential model.
