I am toying with the idea of working with a USA Docksider. I have never seen one in person.
I would like to use one with my slate mining cars.
Are they good runners?
Easy to disassemble for a batt/rc conversion.
They should be heavy enough, made of metal.
Thanks!
John, if you are talking about this beast:
Then it is certainly heavy enough. Just don’t drop it on your toes! I believe they run nicely - my pal (@naptowneng ) has one. I don’t know anything about adding r/c.
It is 1/29th scale and therefore will look a bit squashed compared with Fn3 or SM32 slate cars. A taller cab would help.
John, this is my mine train. It is built from a Piko 0-6-0 saddle tanker. I added details and enlarged the cab as Pete has mentioned to get it up to 1/20.3.
It uses a 0-6-0 motor block clone of LGB. Replacement parts including the entire motor block are available from Piko.
It was easy to disassemble as everything is screwed together from underneath. Three is a substantial weight in the boiler which if removed could be adequate room for batteries and boards.
Here is how it looked originally.
Plastic drivers. Looks pretty good after painting and weathering but a clever guy could make new ones out of brass.
It will easily pull 8-10 of the Bmann side dumps.
Hope that helps. Look forward to seeing your project.