Large Scale Central

Inspiration for a 45 Tonner Bash

Modeling
#1

Walking around the yards of the Rockhill Trolley Museum during the EBT’s Fall Spectacular I noticed how large their M-25 diesel critter looks. It is a huge standard gauge 4 wheel critter…

Rockhill Trolley Museum’s M-25 - Roster Shot - The shot below shows a little Brookville critter on the next track roughly 20 feet away - Notice the size difference. These are both standard gauge critters.

M-25 from the other side - I’m thinking I could get at least one M-25 base critter, perhaps two, from one 45 Tonner without a lot of work. I’m not looking to model it exactly, but rather use it as inspiration for a free-lance narrow gauge critter with a standard gauge car body. I wonder if I could actually get this done in time for York. I’m real good on starting projects, but don’t finish many. That little speeder I brought to the Invasion was started three years ago and has sat in a partially finished state since. JR

#2

Jon,

Have you seen this?

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel11.html

I got to run one of these at the Conn. Trolley Museum (Warehouse Point) a few years back … feels like sitting in half of a 44 tonner, until you go over a frog or a low joint with the four rigid wheel chassis, and nearly get launched out of your seat! CERA’s “Quarter Pounder” has one traction motor and chain drive, with two mechanical lubricators (gravity mostly) in the cab, one for each chain, as well as self lapping independant brakes (that particular one has no Automatic brake, but several iterations do.) They’re really quite a bit larger and heavier than they look at first glance.

You could probably make a pretty good one out of a cab and one hood of a B-mann 45T, and perhaps the power unit and sideframes from a Lil’ critter or the USA 20T. Note that the sides are not usually symmetrical… the engineman’s side has a door in the side, the fireman’s side is all window, with the door in the front.

Matthew (OV)

#3

Hmm. Looks like you could make it out of a heartland mac switcher.

#4

Tom Ruby said:
Hmm. Looks like you could make it out of a heartland mac switcher.

That would be too small for them. They are in 1:20.3…or in one case 1:21.4 :smiley: The Bachmann 45t locomotive is a great start for a standard guage locomotive reguaged to 30", which is what I’m lead to understand they want. Unless you have seen one of these locomotives up close and personal it’s hard to appreciate their size.

The Bachmann 45T compared to the USAT 44T

The Bachmann 45T with the Bachmann Conny Warren

#5

Matthew -

I hadn’t seen those pages and didn’t even know it was a GE 25T. Thanks for the link.

While I’d use the 25T as inspiration, I don’t intend to do a faithful model of it. More of a free-lance job that might have bee built in a shop somewhere by cutting down a 45 Tonner.

I like the side-rods and Think I’ll keep them, cab changes will depend on how thing work out. The hood will probably stay pretty much as-is, perhaps shortened just a bit to keep the whole engine in proportion with one truck.

Looking closely at a few of the pictures in the link Matthew posted, it seems that the under frame will be quite simple to build from styrene. I think that would look better than just hanging a 45T truck on the bottom.

It’s too nice out this weekend, or I’d start taking one of my 45T’s apart. Instead, I’ll run them outside if I can get the leaves off the track.

JR

#6

That GE 25 tonner is very similar to a unit that I am working on. It uses an Aristo Li’l Critter motor block. It will be a 23 ton GE look alike Box Cab. I am casting it in resin. I will also have a critter conversion soon for the Hartland Mack including a detailed resin internal combustion engine and basic cab details. I will have photos and info available on my website within a week or so. www.thomasayorke.com.

The 25 tonner you are reffering to is a nice loco to build. They came as 23 and 25 ton units with slightly different details. Also newer and older looking units where the cab and radiator “shell” differed. That is an oversimplification, but those were the major differences at a glance.

Good luck in your building,
Tom Yorke