Come on, manufacturers! There’s a BL2, C-liners, DL-109s, UP turbines… a ton of engine made in lots of 50 or so, used by 1 or 2 railroads.
So why no Fairbanks-Morse H16-66? They were used by 4 railroads originally. There were only 30 C-628 High Hoods built and we can get them for both N&W and CNW. Are CNW and Milwaukee fans less vocal than N&W fans?
I want my H16-66!
Then put up the $100, 000 or more to get it made. I would bet that DL 109s were a financial disaster based on how long it took to sell them off. Manufacturers probably sweat bullets when first released.
Phase I or II? There is quite the difference. I’d like to see them as well, however there are so many detail variations in a very small group of locomotives. 3D printing may be the best bet.
There was only 35 “Baby Trainmasters” built…Not a very popular locomotive.
However…
Since one has not been produce in plastic I suspect they would sell well as a oddity.
BTR,
BL2: 59 made for 9 Class I RR’s (BAR, B&M, C&O, C&EI, MON, RI, FEC, MP, and WM).
C-Liner: 165 made for 7 Class I RR’s (MILW, NYC, PRR, NH, LIRR, CN and CP).
DL-109: 74 made for 7 Class I RR’s (ATSF, MILW, CNW, RI, GM&O, NH and SOU).
UP Turbines: Well, only made for UP.
H16-66: 59 made for 3 Class I RR’s (CNW, CMO and MILW).
These H16-66’s were in 4 body styles with 2 different trucks. And correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t CNW and CMO the exact same paint scheme with different lettering?
BL2’s, C-Liners, DL-109’s and UP Turbines are all unique and they tie into that “weird loco” vibe that a lot of people like to have…just because they don’t look like anything else. The H16-66 looks like an H24-66 of one stripe or another, and both Athearn and Atlas made that.
C-Liners are more of a Canadian engine, but these modelers had been begging for real Canadian power for years. The C-Liners fit the bill.
The DL-109’s are critical for any NH fan to own if they model 1941-1959. They had 60 of them, and were used on freight and passenger trains. NH fans of that era need plenty of them…and we bought them. We NH fans spend money. Even Walther’s NYC stainless coach painted in bogus NH colors sold out before they left China.
UP fans also spend money, and everyone loves the big power. UP Turbines score twice in that regard.
ndbprr,
Actually, you’d be wrong. The DL-109’s have been run by LL or Walthers a total of 4 times…at least. The first run had two NH DL-109’s in delivery green & gold, the 2nd run was an exclusive for a hobby shop in CT and had 4 NH’s in delivery green & gold, the 3rd run had NH units in the warm orange & green scheme, and the 4th run had NH units in updated green & gold plus one number in McGinnis orange/white/black.
The first run
Since the H-16-44 has been produced in several scale you wonder how hard it would be to make a H-16-66 off of it, even if details would not match.
I’ve wondered why Bowser hasn’t done the DRS 6-4-15 and AS 416 since all it would need is a new truck.
The early H16-66 is VERY similar to one of the early H16-44 models; the actual difference is something like 4" in length.
A chap from Engine House Services in Green Bay showed me a frame he’s milling out from an Atlas H16-44 to accept Bowser/Stewart Commonwealth trucks. I’m hoping if it works well that they’ll offer the frames. I don’t really feel like buying a milling machine, and doubt my ability to do it accurately by hand.
The H20-44 would probably find a bigger market. was purchased by more railroads (including U.P., PRR, and NYC), and could be seen in greater numbers, but has never been available as a plastic model in N, HO, S, or O. There was an HO brass version which is very far from state of the art, and I think there was a very obscure O scale version over 50 years ago.
I still have three of the Athearn BB PRR Trainmasters that I purchased in the early 90’s. I believe this was Athearn’s version of the FM H-24-66. I think the Viginian Railway had 25 Trainmasters Number 50-74 that went to the N&W and renumbered 150-174. I’ve only seen one Athearn BB Trainmaster over the last 15 years at any shows I’ve attended and it did not have any handrails.
The final phase of the H-16-66 used many body parts that were also used for the H-24-66s, so looked almost identical to a Trainmaster, but about 3.5 ft shorter. Even some national train magazines have mis-identified “Baby Trainmasters” as “Trainmasters”.
As an iron ore RR fan, I would be happy if Atlas just offered their H-24-66 in Milwaukee and CNW paint schemes. I’d be OK living with the slight difference in length (about 1/2" in HO scale).
Stan Mailer wrote a kit-bashing article converting an Athearn Trainmaster into a H16-66 in the January 1980 MR
Chris