I’m looking for a HO scale steam loco to add to my fleet. I model N&W and don’t have the space for the long A or Y6b class engines. Here is what I want it for:
Freight service
would be nice if it could negotiate 18" curves
I know N&W had an M class as well as K2 but I’m thinking M class would fit the narrow curve better.
What are my options? I’ve looked for some models but I normally turn up the A, J, and Y6b class.
Thanks
There just isn’t a lot on the plastic/die-cast market these days if it must be steam. Altas has a very nice FM Trainmaster H24-66, which I have, but it isn’t steam. I’m not aware of a Mike or a Mastodon for sale unless it’s in brass.
About the best you might do is to look for the Cavalier sets that M.B. Klein moves from Bachmann’s Spectrum line, or look for their loco and water tender set for the road numbers that were used in freight for those 4-8-4’s.
Crandell
I note that also, in brass, there are available some N&W class Z’s–2-6-6-2’s that are awfully nice looking that would likely fit tight curves.
Ed
Bachmann Spectrum’s USRA heavy 4-8-2 is availble painted for N&W, this was the K2 class which were used in freight and passenger service until after WWII, when they were streamlined and used for passenger service only. 4-8-0’s were only available in brass, but you could paint and decal a P2K USRA 0-8-0 to represent an S1 or S1a switcher used in the 1950’s on locals. After 1958, when N&W dieselized the passenger trains, J class 4-8-4’s were used for freights until they were retired. Bachmann has a freight version J available.
John
I just checked two brass sites and the following were in-stock: S1a 0-8-0; E2a 4-6-2; M-1 4-8-0; and the relatively light W-2 2-8-0. Some of those 4-8-0s and even the light G1 2-8-0s lasted until almost the end of steam. While these are brass models, tolerable replicas for some of these might be able to be made by changing details on some of the plastic models and then numbering them to the proper sequence.
Bill