I’m thinking about back dating my HO layout from the B&M in the mid 70’s to the early 50’s so I’m starting to look into HO B&M steamers. Does anyone here have any particular brand they recomend that’ comes lettered for the B&M out of the box or do you usually end up lettering the locos yourself. I know that IHC has had a few on and off. I’m modeling a small branch line so they would be small locos, I’m also running 22" radius curves so that is a limiting factor.
Know nothing about B&M.
I too have a branch line, but it transfers with several big roads and so I run everything I want. I have BLI, Spectrum and P2K steamers and I like them all. I have a Mountian, a Mike, a couple of 2-6-6-2s and a 2-8-8-2(P2K) and they all run on 18" and 3% grades. Two are old brass and though they look better, they do not run as well.
Relettering can be a problem, but an engine that runs good may be more fun than one with the right lettering. Your decision to backdate and run steam certainly caters to my interests. Show us some pics when you have them.
I could be very wrong - I’m doing this from memory and it ain’t what it used to be - but I believe Athearn made a reasonable rendition of a B&M Pacific in plastic in the early '60s. The first versions had only the driven drivers of metal; the others were plastic. Most of the production did have all metal drivers. With a plastic body, and I don’t remember any boiler weight, it’s pulling power wasn’t that great, especially compared with the diecast power of the day. I do remember watching the drivers spin on my 3% grades with about 6 cars behind it. Yes, it did run on 18" radius curves successfully.
Other than the Athearn, I don’t know of any B&M-specific non-brass steam production. Of course, just about any locomotive can be (and often has been) lettered for just about any road, regardless of prototype resemblance. If you are not worried about matching B&M prototype, or are willing to do some bashing and detailing to get the B&M “feel”, the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0, 4-6-0, and IHC 2-6-0 would all make suitable generic branch line road engines for the end-of-steam era. An updated USRA Mikado would work well, too. Switchers would be your choice, but an 0-8-0 would not be as likely on a branch line as the 0-6-0 and 0-4-0 arrangements (in either tank or tender variety).
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
Cannoli:
I am building a transition era B&M layout, and based on my experience, finding B&M steam that is accurate to prototype is a challenge. Brass models seem to be the only option, but brass is tough to find, expensive ($300 to $500), and not always the best runners. B&M steam had some unique features and it not economical for current manufacturers to make special runs just to match a B&M prototype.
If you do not care much about accuracy, you can go with IHC or Bachman. Apparently the Proto 2K USRA 0-6-0 is quite close to prototype. I am considering purchasing an unlettered model and lettering it myself.
Cannoli,
You and I have spoken before about the good Ole B&M. I also model late steam / early diesel. Here is what I have been able to come up with thus far in terms of B&M Steamers that are out there…
Lifelike P2K ran 0-8-0’s in B&M (road numbers 620 & 624). These were released prior to Walthers taking them over. Walthers has not yet announced any re-release of the B&M 0-8-0’s yet. I have one and have converted it to DCC buy adding a Tsunaim decoder and a small speaker in the tender.
Bachmann released a 2-8-0 in B&M from their spectrum line (road numbers 2360 & 2362). You can sometimes find these on Ebay for sale. Just be careful if you go this route because Bachmann also released these same engines and road numbers in N scale. Sometimes guys who sell stuff on Ebay kind of forget to tell you what scale the locomotive is. I have 2 of the 2360’s, 1 I’ve converted to DCC with sound and the other is still sitting brand new in the box ready to run DC. If you are interested in it, let me know…
IHC has made several different locomotives decaled in B&M including an 0-8-0, 2-6-0 Mogul, 2-8-0 Consolidation, 4-6-2 Pacific, 4-8-2 Mountain and their new 2-10-2 Sante Fe. Of these, I only own the 2-10-2. It is DCC ready and run very nicely. All the others I’ve listed here are from their regular line and are really hit or miss in terms of quality. Non of these except for the 2-10-2 are DCC ready. Another problem with all IHC locomotives is that the level of details is very basic. They are known for making a certain type of steam locomotive and decaling it up for 20 different railroads. You can find IHC locomotives on their web site at http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=013
Lifelike P2k has also re-released their 0-6-0. They haven’t released any yet in B&M but you can purchase them in the undecorated version and decal them yourself. I have done this with 2 of
Thanks for your help everyone. Brass definately isn’t within my budget at the moment, have a baby on the way. I think I’ll start with a couple of undecorated Spectrum units and go from there. I’ve had good luck with Spectrum steam in general, when I was modeling the PRR in HO a few years back. One of my K4’s even manages to make an appearance on my B&M layout now and then.
Thanks again.
I bought an IHC Mogul to pull my Danbury Railway Museum train as they have one non-operational in their yard. It runs very fast compared to my older locos(ancient mostly Bachmann) but I did buy it mostly for showing with the colectables from the museum.