So I got an e-mail last week from Bowser, advertising 50% off of a lot of their items. So, I bought a Stewart NYC F3A dummy!
That’s great, Darth. But what’s so “super extra special” about it?
I’m glad you asked![:D]
I powered it up with my Lindsay L-740 power truck![:D] I’ve been trying to find a good use for this thing for a couple years now, and now I’ve finally found one! Not only is it a super smooth runner, but it’s also very quiet at scale speeds.[:D] It came with a flywheel, but after some tests and measuring the frame, I decided to remove it and cut off the excess shaft. The flywheel didn’t give a noticable performance advantage, and I would’ve had to cut the frame in half for it to fit.
The Lindsay trucks are a real work of art! They’ve got a 7-pole skewed armature, a self-adjusting axle for rough track, an adjustable wheelbase, self centering motor bushings, some of the best quality brass wheels I’ve ever seen, all metal construction, and more torque than you’d expect from such a small motor! It’s still not a real heavy hauler, but it is a real quality piece of work far ahead of its time!
There’s not much info available on Lindsay, but I think my power truck was made sometime in the early 50’s to mid 60’s (there’s no way to know for sure). Hoseeker.net has a few catalogs and diagrams from 1949 to 1953, with the L-740 appearing in their power truck diagram from 1951. My uncle bought a Lindsay ALCO FA kit with the same drive in the 60’s, so I know they were at least made for that long. They had a full line of railroad equipment in the 50’s with full engines, freight cars, switch machines, and many other parts. They also made power trucks and full chassis for some brass models, like Red Ball’s RS diesels. The only real problem they’ve ever had is the metal axle gears splitting with age. Fortunately, NWSL makes replacements.
You can usually find something from Lindsay (sometimes misspelled as Lindsey) on eBay, and I once saw a power truck at a train show. As collectors items for their quality and rarety, they can often get pretty expensive. I tried to get their twin-motor EMD E-unit truck once, but the bidding went over $70 in the end.
NWSL also makes a power truck (Stanton Drive) for $85, which I’ve heard very good things about. Although they may run better with their modern manufacturing, I have yet to see a power truck with as many built in features as the 4-wheel Lindsays. I got mine for around $40.
It’s for the geared wheelsets. Oso Railworks owns and operates NWSL. I’m glad they do too, because the new owner really knows what he’s doing, and is determined to keep the business up to date and running.
Neat, I thought the write-up you did was great, sounded impressive. But, with the Video, wow, what a find! That is awesome, you did good on that one!!! That’s an awesome unit! Thanks for sharing something that was ahead of it’s time in quality & function for it’s day, they got it RIGHT!
