Alright my commuter line is set in the modern day, however I’d like to buy one “historic” steamer for the line to be used in excursions and such.
Since my route is freelanced this makes the selection of what power I’d use somewhat more interesting. The line is set in southern Ontario and had heavy influence by both of the big Canadian roads as well as the New York Central. Currently I’m thinking of a Pacific or Hudson but I’m open to more suggestions.
So my question: Who makes a good HO scale fast passenger steamer that I could use?
The BLI Hudson is a class of engine that was sold second hand to the TH&B so it would fit in w/ your preferred area. You could even order it unlettered and letter it for Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo (if anybody makes TH&B decals)
Steamtown (Scranton, PA) has an operating CN 4-6-2 in excursion service. For a line set in Canada, that strikes me as a logical choice.
What really gets my attention is that a site operated by the U.S. government (National Park Service) uses a Canadian loco as its primary excursion power.
If you go for the Hudson, but can’t get the TH&B version, C-D-S makes the proper lettering, in dry transfers. It’s set #469.
As noted, a Pacific would also work: the Athearn 4-6-2 could be altered to ressemble the CNR K-1,2, or 3 class locos (I don’t recall off-hand which would be the best choice, appearance-wise, but these all had 72" or 73" drivers).
If you’re into kit building, Bowser makes a NYC K-11, a class often seen on the TH&B between Buffalo and Toronto, and of course, NYC also ran their own Hudsons on this line.
Other than brass, the Northerns (a very common locomotive on CNR) that are offered commercially, are all too large.
Chuck, I think that there are also a couple of CNR Mikes at Steamtown, and that 0-6-0 at Strasburg is also from the CNR. When Steamtown was still in Vermont, Nelson Blount, the founder, picked up quite a bit of Canadian steam, as there was still steam in service until 1960 or '61. Some of the stuff that was retired had not run since their last shopping, so there were many locomotives that were in pretty good shape heading to the scrappers.
In the mid-'70s, CNR ran Mountain 6060 in regular passenger service on the run between Toronto and Niagara Falls, in the summer only, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The usual power on this run was RDCs.
METRO, since your road is freelanced, you can choose whatever locomotive you wish. The TH&B occasionally used their Berkshires on varnish, and a NYC
H10 and a B&A A-1 both tested on TH&B trackage. There was also a Pennsy loco tested, although I don’t recall the wheel arrangement, so the sky’s the limit.
Alright after a bit of research, here’s where I am, input on anything I say here is very much appreciated:
After a trip to my LHS, they advised against the BLI Hudson because of mechanical problems (something about a recall too??) and I was able to find a hobby shop here in Milwaukee that still has some old Rivarossi Hudsons, including NYC J3a- Class Streamliners which I’ve always liked (although I’m not sold on this yet at all) IHC also is offering a Hudson, but based upon IHC’s reputation in the world of diesels, I’m not too enthused.
As for a Pacific, I’d pick up an Athearn in a heartbeat if I could find them anywhere besides e-bay. But the frontrunner right now looks like the Spectrum Pennsy K4 and I’ll probably re-work it for my freelanced commuter line or make up some backstory as to how it got to Canada.
What about a BLI USRA Mikado, or were those strictly freight units?
Metro, for what it’s worth, heres my opinion. First lets look at wheel arrangements for steam locos. High speed generally meant a four wheel leading truck to help guide the engine into curves. Secoundly drivers were generally “tall” or larger then freight engines for high speed. Thirdly the trailing truck. A four wheel trailing truck generally meant a larger fire box to keep up with steam requirement, which meant more fuel was burned per mile then then one with a two wheel trailing truck. In my opinion any steam engine would work for an excursion train as high speed would not really factor in here. For commutor sevice a 4-6-2 Pacific or smaller would be my choice as it would be stopping and starting often and maybe only reaching high speeds in short bursts. For high speed long distance running, I would go with an Atlantic up to a Pacific type for short trains and a Pacific or larger for longer heavier trains, which in this case would justify a larger engine with the larger fire box and the four wheel trailing truck. Now since the Pacific type seems to be the changing point for everything, I would go with a 4-6-2 Pacific with “tall” drivers, as it would fit the bill very nicely for your needs. As for what brand to buy, I can’t honostly say as I have had good experience with Bachmann Spectrum, and Riverossi. Again, this is just my opinion and hope it helps here. Ken
I bought my BLI TH&B Hudson with sound from Trainworld several months ago for $130. I also have a NYC version. I have expierienced none of the mechanical problems mentioned with either one. Maybe I just got lucky but for that price, I would take a chance on it. Pacifics are also excellent choices for hi-speed passenger steam although I can’t recall seeing a great deal on one recently.
Your LHS owner doesn’t keep up witht he hobby. The FIRST run of BLI Hudsons did have a few issues, on SOME of the models. Those engines are now almost three years old, so it’s unlikely that any of them are still on the market. The newer runs of the Hudsons have the issues worked out.
That’s because they’re garbage compared to new steam models. It’s the only way to get a streamlined J, but if you only want one steamer, I’d strongly recommend AGAINST a Riv.
IHC steam is MUCH better than their diesels. Keep in mind that their Hudson is completely freelanced, and represents a HUGE engine, the size of the biggest ever build (CB&Q 3000-series). Unfortunately, it doesn’t look anything like any Hudson ever built.
Nothing wrong with Ebay, especially for finding out of production, but new, engines. If you want an Athearn Pacific (the third best 4-6-2 on the market) you’ll HAVE to shop Ebay.
The “Spectrum” K-4 really isn’t a Spectrum engine. At least,. it’s nowhere near the quality of the rest of the Spectrum line. If you want a K-4, go with BLI.
The operating 4-6-2 at Steamtown is a Canadian Pacific loco. The Mikado is a Canadian National.
The use of a Canadian Pacific loco in Scranton is accurate, at least today, since the former DL&W line from Binghamton to Scranton is owned by the Canadian Pacific. Plus they needed to use the locomotives that were running at the time the NPS took over Steamtown. There is currently another Pacific type locomotive from a US railroad that belongs to Steamtown under restoration, the Boston and Maine 3713.
The Spectrum Mountain seems far easier to find. The SP model with Oil tender seems closer to CN locomotives and could be easily modified to be at least believeable as one.
The undecorated model with the USRA tender is already almost spot on for a Canadian Pacific I1a class passenger locomotive. These were very rare in the CP system but were used in both passenger and freight, but in different paint schemes.
Since this CP unit made from a Spectrum 4-8-2 would probably be the easiest to model from what I’ve seen on the market now, I think I’m probably going to go with that. (it also doesn’t hurt that it’s on sale at Walthers here in Milwaukee too)
Thanks everyone for your help, if anyone has one of these could you tell me how it runs?
Alright according to www.steamlocomotive.com there were two CP mountains that were both used in passenger service. They were built in 1914, after the completion of the CP’s massive pre-WW1 fleet of pacifics.
The mountains were numbered 2900 & 2901 and from what I’ve seen they were very close to what the USRA made the standard mountain type during the war.
As someone else already mentioned - hog wash. That is a really old issue that’s been resolved. Find a new LHS that knows whats going on in the hobby industry.
Avoid the old Rivarossi’s. They look really good but are hard to get to run well.
I like the way IHC steamers run. They don’t look so good but run really good for a cheapo locomotive.
No, they were occasionally used for passenger service. The Grand Canyon runs a 2-8-2, today. But, you said you wanted something “fast”. A Mikado is not.
BLI oferred a recall/.replacement program for their semi-defective Hudson’s some time back. The plan expired about 6 months ago. If your hobby shop is steering you away from the BLI Hudson, then they haven’t kept up. I’ll add my voice to those insisting that it is an excellent, well detailed, locomotive.
If you can afford one (look on ebay or elsewhere to get a bargain) the all metal BLI PRR K4s is a super duper locomotive. It had high drivers, and was the Pennsy’s loco of choice until passenger trains got so big that they had to invest in the T1.
The only Spectrum that seems to get rave reviews (mostly) is the 2-8-0, which was not generally used as a passenger locomotive, at least not in latter years. A decent Atlantic would be a good choice, I agree, but they were not used much after the 1920’s when the J1-J3’s came out, as well as the various Pacifics.
For super steam at high passenger speeds, the J1-3 versions are a best buy right now at trainworld, or get the most recent NYC hauler, the S1b Niagara at Outlet Direct for about 40% off MSRP.
Here’;s a picture of a Bachmann USRA light Mountain that I detailed for my own road. The details were altered to give it a bit of a NYC character, working from a photo of a NYC Hudson.
The loco runs very nicely, and has been modified to increase its pulling power, as I use mine as a freight engine. As it comes, pulling power should be adequate for a decent-size passenger train. You could CNR-ify this loco by replacing the cab with an all-weather version, available from PSC in either brass or plastic, and if you’re ambitious, adding an Elesco fwh.
