I’m looking for a Doodlebug for my S Scale American Flyer layout. I know they are made in HO & G gauge, how about S gauge? I have the G Scale Doodlebug that I will set up in my backyard this Spring…its a project in the making. I remember riding on the Doodlebug when I was very young. It stop at every milk stop along the way. It went between Mason City, Iowa and Albert Lea, Minnesota back in mid 40’s
I don’t think I have ever seen an add for a S Gauge Doodlebug. Good luck in your search. I have a AT&SF Doodlebug in O Gauge that was released by MTH. They are fun to run around on the layout.
There were Doodlebugs made for S gauge, they were manufactured by Tom Hodgson of American Hi Rail. I do not know if they are being made at this time but I have seen a few listed on EBAY.
Ray
What I great Video for us to share…COME JOIN USE ON A TRIP TO HOCKESSIN
WILMINGTON & WESTERN DOODLEBUG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxvOOrgDUW0
During the month of April, the Wilmington & Western uses the Doodlebug quite frequently, due to the lack-of-ridership in the off-season. The train will go to Mt. Cuba, and then to Hockessin and return. We’ll be following the entire Hockessin trip, featuring many angles only possible with this little gem. So sit back, and enjoy this trackside journey through the Red Clay Valley. For more info on the W&W, visit thier website at www.wwrr.com
Per the NASG site, there was a brass one imported back in the 1980’s by "S"cenery Unlimited and a kit in the late 1940’s by Dayton Model Products.
Good luck
Paul
I have not found or seen a Doodlebug in S Scale as of today. I was wondering has anyone every scratch built or did kit bashing to make a Doodlebug in S Scale. Is there any articles for this project in past model train magazines?
AZ-Flyer
I don’t find any Doodlebugs for sale at this time but on EBAY there is a conversion kit for an On30 Doodlebug that you may be able to use in S item #140515860377
Ray
[quote user=“rayin"S”"]
I don’t find any Doodlebugs for sale at this time but on EBAY there is a conversion kit for an On30 Doodlebug that you may be able to use in S item #140515860377
Ray
[/quote]
I Looked at that conversion kit you suggested, Thank You. Knowing very little about On30. Is it closer to O in scale or S Scale, or in the middle?
I found a couple more links, that would be of interest to Doodlebug scratch builders or kit bashers in S Scale.
Motor Car Photo Information and Index
Thank you for any help for my quest to build or buy a Doodlebug in S Scale
AZ-Flyer
On30 to my knowledge is actually O but from what I’ve seen it seems to be a little smaller and I would think closer to S also it runs on HO track but you may be able to adapt it to S not sure it would depend on the kit I would think. I think at one time OGR was starting to do a section in each mag to cover On30 and they did a comparison of O and On30 and O was a little bigger but they were close.
I Looked at that conversion kit you suggested, Thank You. Knowing very little about On30. Is it closer to O in scale or S Scale, or in the middle?
On30, is O scale, 30" NARROW GAUGE. It is scaled to 1:48 scale, but runs on track that has a scale gauge of 30". On30 LOOKS smaller than O Scale, because Narrow gauge equipment, typically IS smaller than Standard gauge equipment of a similar type, so it scales out smaller than a standard gauge piece of equipment.
In model railroading any time some thing is identified as XnXX, it is a Narrow gauge item of whatever scale is the First designator, then a lower case “n” then the following # designates the Gauge of the track that the model is scaled to operate on. HOn3, would be 3 foot narrow gauge, in HO scale, Sn3 would be 3 foot narrow gauge “S” scale, etc.
If you were to find an “S” scale mechanism, that could be modiified to work with an On30 Doodlebug shell, it might be pretty close, it would be up to You, if it was an acceptable compromise, but it seems to me like it might be a workable option.
Doug
Why not try checking with these folks, http://www.showcaseline.com/ , maybe it is something they would consider if there were sufficient interest.
In making the GE-25 Doodlebug. I used these blueprints from this website to print out detail drawing of the Doodlebug. I had to play with the file a little bit to get it to S Scale size. I enlarged the file 200% before printing out pages 3&4 on my printer. This seems match up with the width of the American Flyer diesel shell I have, and also its height.
The overall length of the GE-25 Doodlebug body according to the blueprints was 75’ feet. The length of the S Scale print I made, seems to fall in the range about 13 3/4" inches long,
This project may take a while to develop between scratch building and kit bashing. Please check back from time to time. As always, any help is more than appreciated… AZ-Flyer