I am doing an inaccurate recreation of the CB&Q line circa 1905. Can anyone suggest a DCC locomotive with sound and perhaps steam that would run on 18" and appropriate cars!? Again authenticity is not key, fun is.
Oh, yeah not too expensive. [sigh]
It would be hard to go wrong with a 2-8-0 (Bachmann Spectrum gets the nod), a 4-4-0 (MDC?..dunno who makes one), 2-6-0, 4-6-0, 2-8-2. BLI, Bachmann, and Trix make very good 2-8-2’s, and I believe that Kato had one at one time. Athearn put out a 2-8-2 some years back and you may still be able to get some off the shelf, or perhaps on ebay(?) Any of these should do just fine on the curve radii you mention.
Circa 1905 you say? I sould go with a Athearn’s “SD70 V-0.256-9” and 89 foot hi qub boxes.
Only if it’s equipped with “Flux Capacitors”! [swg]
Rotor
I agree on the 2-8-0 Spectrum. Fine runner and can be had for around $140 dcc and sound equipped. I also have a 4-4-0 Roundhouse with the MRC decoder. Alot has been made of this decoder, but I have had no problems at all with it. Both have had no issues with my 18" radius track, although my layout is mostly flat. I’d be careful in the loco selection if you had that radius on an elevated section.
Very few of the locomotives people mentioned would be appropriate for 1905.
You say “innacurate…” Are you looking to be innacurate to road-specific details, or innacurate to time period? If it’s the latter, then there’s no need to specify a date. Just run whatever. I’m not sure that “just running whatever” is going to ultimatly lead to a sense that you’ve modeled the Deadwood Central, but that seems to be the MR Forum Mantra.
On the other hand, if you’re interested in running circa-1905 locos, the MDC/Athearn 4-4-0, 2-8-0, and 2-6-0 are very appropriate, as are the Spectrum 4-6-0 and 4-4-0 (although you may have to back-date the detailing on these). All can be upgraded to DCC/sound.
You must know something about the Deadwood Central, or it wouldn’t have captured your interest. Your best bet, really, is to look at the catalogs and see what looks most like what you see on the Deadwood Central. My hunch is the MDC/Athearn steamers will be the closest match both to era and prototype.
Remember, 1905 is just 2 years after knuckle couplers became mandatory! This is also over a decade before the UDRA designs for steam locos. That knocks all of the USRA-inspired locos (Trix Mike, Athearn Mike, BLI Mike, Spectrum Mallet, etc.) out of contention.
As always such great advice from everyone. I guess the run whatever has do to with it appears to have been narrow guage and all of my track is Bachman HO EZ Track. I am building a mine to replicated the Homestake Gold mine and I want a train to run over there. Another train will go to the down for passenger service.
Also I don’t want to paint the loco. Is there any with appropriate lettering etc.?
Why not?
Did you ever see Don Knott’s on the Steve Allen show when he played the explosives expert? Actually I’m a very newbie who is spending more time that I have on scenery and buildings.
In 1910, you’d be running 1910 new locomotives, plus leftovers from previous eras, depending on finances. My gut, (not detailed research) puts the 4-4-0s around 1860, the 2-6-0s around 1870, the 4-6-0s (Spectrum) close to 1910, and the (Spectrum) 2-8-0s around 1915-1920.
Not yet mentioned is the MDC 2-8-0’s, just now out, circa 1875, but a LOT of them were sold, and the versions I’ve seen seem to weigh in 1895-1910.
Spectrums run hot and cold, I’d test them before buying, but the lettering usually comes off with a fingernail. A proper paint job could easily be re-decalled to get where you need to go, making a hard look at the 4-6-0 a good move.
Hmm…
I don’t think they come lettered for CB&Q. I see UP and AT&SF, though…
DCC & sound. Not bad. When I was in HO I built a few of these when they just came as kits. Never would’ve guessed they’d come RTR one day.
Smaller pilot, straight stack, non-fluted domes, definitely not the 1880-1895 2-8-0s I’ve seen, I’m guessing 1905-1910.
I have one of those kits, and a pair of 2-6-0s, just haven’t torn into them yet. I also have a pair of the RTR MDC 2-8-0s, and they run reasonably well. Not as smooth or quiet as the Spectrums at low speeds, but not coffee grinders either.
All of the locos listed here so far run fine on our 18 inch curves, run fine on 18 inch curves on a 5% grade, and all but the Spectrum 2-8-0 run fine on 15 inch flat curves.
Is this what I’m looking for, but this isn’t DCC, etc?
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?query=51116&sortOrder=id
No… and it’s not likely to be an easy conversion, either. The Bachmann 4-4-0 has been around for ages. Someone can correct me, but I’m thinking the motor isn’t isolated from the frame.
Sound is another issue; it can be done, but would be a tight fit into that tiny tender. But if people can put sound in N scale tenders, it can be done in HO.
There will be work/$$$ involved either way…!
Thank you. No I really wasn’t thinking of trying to convert this. Just wondering if it’s the type of train I’m looking for.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?query=51116&sortOrder=id
Judging by the size of the track, wheels, flanges etc. that’s actually a photo of Bachmann’s N-scale 4-4-0, not their HO scale one. Also note the big hole in back of the tender where the driveshaft from the motor runs…
The HO version looks more like this:
Of course, by 1905 that gaily-decorated 1870s era paintjob would have been painted over in black, with most likely quite a bit of rust and decay, as such a loco would be on its last legs and relegated to backwater short-line service by then.
There isn’t much to “painting” a circa 1905 steam locomotive: they’re black. If you can apply decals to a flat surface, cut a “C,” a “B”, a “Q” and a “&” and some numbers from a sheet of decals, put 'em in water and stick them to the side. Roughly as hard as falling off a log, without the hurty part at the end.
If I was to go to 1920 I could run something like the Proto 2000 0-8-0. Are these too large for 18" radii?
TILT!!!
The Deadwood Central Railroad (prototype) was a 36 inch gauge line. I assume the, “Inaccurate representation,” refers to modeling it with standard gauge rolling stock(?)
According to Fielder’s Railroads of the Black Hills, the DC owned a total of 6 locomotives:
- 0-6-0 saddle tank, built 1889, wrecked and rebuilt numerous times, fitted with a 4-wheel tender (with a rear cowcatcher!) and lost saddle tank in 1897. Sold (for scrap?) 1903.
- 2-6-0, rebuilt as an 0-6-0. Built 1884, acquired used, scrapped 1913.
- 2-8-0T, built 1890, in service March 1891. Slim boiler, side tanks and a TALL shotgun stack, very similar in design to Baldwin products shipped to Japan in the same time period. Scrapped 1910.
- 2-6-0, rebuilt as an 0-6-0. Built 1879, acquired used, scrapped 1903.
- 2-8-0, built 1896. After CB&Q ended narrow gauge operations in 1930, #4 (by then CB&Q #537) was leased to the Colorado and Southern. Returned to CB&Q at Denver and dismantled 1939 - the last DC loco to be scrapped.
- 2-8-0, built 1900, dismantled 1930.
There was also a single-track, 3-car trolley line from Deadwood to Lead via Pluma.
The Deadwood Central was officially absorbed by the Burlington and Missouri River (CB&Q) in 1902 (several years after the B&MR had acquired ownership.) The B&MR, in turn, was renamed CB&Q in 1904. Narrow Gauge operations continued, mostly with the two newest 2-8-0s, until final abandonment in 1930. It never had what might be considered a modern locomotive.
Chuck (ex- Rapid City resident, modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
You know, you can go On30 on that EZ track, get good-running locos, and be closer to gauge all at once!
Just a thought…
…it’s what I’d do!
My head’s spinning. I can’t believe that there is a book about railroading in just the Black Hills. I lot of the basic info I knew, such as the narrow gauage and