I’m building a section of the electrified Ann Arbor (Mich.) Street Railway, which became part of the Detroit United Railway in 1907. I need help in finding HO scale cars, track, etc. The AASR used cars from a variety of manufacturers, including American, Brill, Cincinnati, Pullman, St Louis and Stephenson.
I’d appreciate any help I could receive in my search. Thanks!
This site might help:
Here are some other sites that might be helpful:
www.customtraxx.com (Orr girder rail, decals, parts)
www.bowser-trains.com (Brill, PC, IRR and Jewett bodies)
www.labellemodels.com (all-wood kits for interurban coaches, boxcars, freight motors)
www.eastpenn.org (general trolley links, as helpful as trolleyville.com)
Let us know how you do! I’m working on a section of the electrified/dieselized Sacramento Northern and would love to trade ideas with other trolley/interurban fans!
And don’t forget Ebay. Traction models have been released in brass for decades now, and they pop up regularly. Walthers used to make an extensive line of craftsman wood & lead trolley kits, especially for the North Shore, and they pop up occasionally too. Then there’s LaBelle wood traction kits, some of which have been out of production for almost 20 years. And finally, there have been several short production runs of traction models in resin, and they occasionally pass through Ebay.
definately check with Labelle in some cases the cars they offer in their cat. have interchangeable parts and features which they will run for you, for instance he Sac& northern cars they make have the ability to be converted to Montreal and Southern Counties interurban’s also their roof rounding service is worth the extra couple of bucks they charge for it. Check out the scale models traction and trolley magazine as well alot of the small cottage mfr’s will advertise there only. Rob[8)]
I am coming back to the hobby after an absence of several years. I would appreciate an update to this thread. I tend to scratchbuild rolling stock and motorized units in HO. I am dependent on power trucks (should they be DCC?). Also some detail parts, such as trolley poles, fenders, and overhead components.
Are there enough components out there to support this approach?
I am not an interurban modeler but, I have been in HO since 1960. You may want to check out Proto:87 Stores for their track components which include girder rail and street track turnout components. The emphasis on interurban modeling is not as prominent as it was in the 60s and 70s. Check out the ads in MR from those years to find out what was offered and may now be available on the second hand market. Since you did not mention a specific prototype interest, it is difficult to point you toward a possible manufacturer but, one of the importers that was prolific in brass models of Pacific Electric and Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee cars was Ed Suydam & Co. Good luck!
http://www.mrrwarehouse.com/ http://eastpenn.org/ these 2 links should also lead you on to more data
These guys have a lot of stuff:
Bowser makes traction powering kits that include a motor and a pair of trucks.
This guy makes several resin kits of interurbans designed to work with Bowser power trains:
Have fun!
Eric
Some of the 2004 posters mention LaBelle, best known at the time for their line of wood craftsman passenger car kits. But they had traction body kits, in O and HO, and more to the point, an HO flywheel equipped power chassis for traction with Baldwin sideframes on 6’6" wheel centers, 36" wheels. Bowser also offered HO power trucks at the time.
If you are going to be scouring the used market anyway, there was a line of interurban and traction kits (also gas electrics) way way back by Paul Moore. From time to time you still see those at swap meets. More to the point, you sometimes see partially completed Paul Moore kits at swap meets which might tell you something about the kits …
Dave Nelson