I’ve been out of the train game for awhile. I’ve had quite a few toy and model trains as a kid, but I was always curious how they worked and was always taking them apart, but couldn’t always put them back together. The downfall of my tinkering is that I only have about two of the trains from my childhood left Around age 16 or so my love for trains began to fade as I got into cars and mechanics.
Well I’m back, and have a couple of layout ideas I plan on modeling. One is inspired by a sawmill in Long leaf, Louisiana http://www.forestheritagemuseum.org/artifacts.htm I’m doing this one in HO, and may include a mine scene with HOn30. Another layout I’d like to make in N scale is based off the UP line that runs through my town of Natchitoches, La. Though this one will come later. However nether of these layouts are going to be completed anytime soon, as of right now I live in a apartment with not vey much room.
Nevertheless I just picked up a couple of HO scale steamers off ebay. One of which is a long time favorite of mine, the Rogers 4-6-0 Sierra No. 3 by Tyco. I loved this engine ever since seeing it in Back to the Future 3 as a kid. The other is somewhat of a impulse buy, a Life-Like 0-4-0 “Tea-kittle”, I thought it was “cute”.
From the blog of the mill in Long Leaf, you will notice the variety of locomotives, many lumber companies used locos that were cast-offs of railroads, so there are many variations of steam, in the south U.S. it seems they used standard gauge as opposed to narrow , this is true in logging in Canada, narrow gauge was big in Oregon and Wash. So you can furnish your sawmill layout with pretty much anything at all, have fun,making sawdust.
Welcome to the forum from a fellow Louisianaian. I just wanted to make a quick comment on the Southern Forest Heritage Museum, it visited 3 years ago, and got a personal tour (it was a slow day). For the rest of you that are not aware, this sawmill was literally abandoned overnight, and everything walkes away from. The Louisiana jungle quickly took over and completely hid this place for years, not many people were aware of what was still there. Steam engines, steam donkeys loaders were all found sitting on hidden tracks, pine treees growing through cowcatchers. The place has been reclaimed and now is one of the finest authentic southern sawmills in existance. My only regret was I did not yet have my digital camera with me.
[#welcome] If you are somewhat of a perfectionist, do yourself a favor and stop buying cheap LifeLike and Tyco stuff on E-Bay. The quality and technology have advanced light years ahead since those were made. Check this place out for a good cross section of what is available today, http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/
Welcome back to the hobby. I think as you get further into what’s currently available, you’ll look for other steamers that will fit pretty well into your locale and era. I live about 75 miles from the Sierra #3 (which is currently undergoing restoration) and though the Tyco/Mantua was a nice effort for its time, it is also somewhat oversized for HO–it’s closer to OO–and I really wish that a manfacturer WOULD come out with a good model of that very historic locomotive.
In the meantime, Bachmann Spectrum puts out a very nice, kinda/sorta ‘funky’ 4-6-0 that might fill the bill for you. It’s a smooth runner, a little ‘light’ in pulling power (but then 4-6-0’s were not notorious for being big pullers anyway) but it’s proving pretty popular with a lot of modelers who like small, efficient steam power for their railroads.
Again, welcome back to the hobby. It’s a pretty terrific one. [:P]
Both are a little large for their prototype, but are based on relatively small engines, so neither is grotesquely huge. I think the Teakettle is a relatively large Porter 0-4-0. I’ve been thinking of adding a pilot truck to mine, and extending the bunker over a four-wheel truck, to make a 2-4-4T suburban loco.
Both can potentially run really well. I stuck a tape-player motor in my Teakettle. I can’t remember what I did with the picture, but it was simple - pull the worm off the old motor, push it on the new motor, glue it in place with epoxy. The gearing looks coarse but, oddly enough, it’s very quiet.
The Tyco/Mantua loco is a good candidate for an NdFeB motor magnet, especially if it runs fairly quietly (which indicates that the PM-1’s bearings aren’t badly worn). Here’s how I did some similar locos:
This will greatly enhance pulling power and low speed performance. If the motor is very worn, you can order a motor-retrofit kit from Yardbird Trains or Model Power (which I believe are the very same motor!) Model Power actually sells upgraded versions of several old Mantua locos.
Of course, there are lots of nice steamers out there now, but now that you’ve got 'em you might as well play with 'em. I do have to say that few other HO locos were designed to be quite as nice for maintenance as the Mantua steamers.
Around age 16 or so my love for trains began to fade as I got into cars and mechanics.
I do have to say that few other HO locos were designed to be quite as nice for maintenance as the Mantua steamers.