S Scale Trains

Finally got a 343

Ken — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:52:03 +0000

I've been looking for a 343 locomotive for awhile and I finally found one on eBay. I've had mixed results buying American Flyer electric trains on eBay - a lot of times the seller will rate the item a grade or 2 higher than it actually is, and a lot of flaws don't show up in the photos. So... it was against my better judgment to bid on this 343. I'm glad I did - this locomotive turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The seller rated it accurately at C-7 (excellent) and it was priced fairly according to Greenberg's. I'm really happy with it - I've been looking for a nice 343 for over a year now and I finally have one.

Edelweiss Beer Reefer

Ken — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:40:49 +0000

Got another Billboard Reefer for my beer train. This one is painted for Edelweiss Beer and is another reefer from S Helper Service. It's a nice looking paint scheme but I was disappointed with the quality of the paint job. It's not as bad as some but it's also definitely not up to S Helper's usually very high standards. It looks like a manufacturing issue and not a problem from the eBay vendor. Since I want one and it's out of production I'm keeping it for now, but I hope I can find a better one someday. Of course, maybe the entire run of this particular car had bad paint... anyway I now have 7 Billboard Reefers for my beer train and about 4 more to get. I think they'll look great behind my River Raisin MT-5. Now I just need to find room for a layout to run it on...

Toy Trains and Christmas

Ken — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:43:02 +0000

Toy trains are a wonderful Christmas tradition. Many people don't even consider their Christmas decorating complete until the train set is set up around the Christmas tree. Getting a train set for Christmas is also a rich tradition in the US. If you're into S Scale trains, your options are kind of limited. American Models and S Helper Service offer S Scale train sets, but selection is limited and seems to be dwindling. The only other choice is American Flyer, and American Flyer trains are long out of production. Fortunately, you can still get American Flyer trains on eBay.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ken — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 19:32:28 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who reads this. This year I am most of all thankful for my family and the fact that all of them are in good health. I'm thankful that my parents get to spend so much time with us in Reno, especially as they get older. I'm thankful that both of my children are Christian (and I continue to pray that my wife will come to faith). I'm thankful that my wife and I still both have our jobs. I'm thankful that I live in the USA and I'm thankful for our military.

As far as S Scale trains go, I have a lot of stuff to be thankful for as well. I was able to get a few brass locomotives this year, including a pair of SP MT-4's painted in Daylight colors from River Raisin models and a P-B-L model of Southern Pacific's #8 narrow gauge locomotive.

Sn42 Critter on EBay

Ken — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:23:23 +0000

Sn42 Critter For Sale (Disclosure: This is my own listing). I have a Model Power DDT Plymouth Diesel switch engine listed on EBay. Although it is an HO locomotive, it scales out rather large in HO and actually looks a lot better as an S Scale narrow gauge locomotive. In fact, I put it next to one of my SP steam locos (Sn3) and the proportions are just about perfect. The coupler height also perfectly matches that of the Sn3 locomotive. This would be perfect for an Sn42 layout built around a mining or other industrial theme. About all you'd really need to do is replace the couplers, replace the headlight and exhaust with something a little bigger, and paint it. It would look pretty good with just those simple mods but it also would lend itself to a "super detailing" project. If you messed it up you wouldn't be out a lot of money. If you're looking for a cheap and easy Sn42 critter project check out my EBay listing.

42″ Narrow Gauge Lines

Ken — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:39:54 +0000

I'm very interested in Sn42 model railroading, mainly as a cheaper alternative (than 'true' Sn3) to modeling 3 foot gauge lines in S Scale. It was recently pointed out to me that there were actually quite a few 1:1 rail lines that used 42" gauge track. Well, of course I "knew" that but it just never registered in my mind. The comment piqued my interest so I decided to do a little Googling. It turns out that 42" gauge railroads were a lot more common than I thought. Even in the United States, more miles of 42" gauge track were laid than 24" track (which is much more popular with modelers here). It turns out there were at least 91 industrial (logging, mining, etc) and at least 11 common carrier railroads built to 42" gauge in the United States. In some countries (Australia, etc), 42" gauge was actually preferred over 36" gauge. So, while Sn42 is still a good "cheaper" alternative to Sn3 (but not so much these days), it can also stand on it's own as truly prototypical. Here are some links I've found on 42" gauge railroads:

The 42" Gauge Page has a fairly extensive list of 42" gauge railroads in the US and info on the types of locomotives they used.

TrainZone has a page devoted to a Chilean line in 42" gauge

Wikipedia has a bit of information on 42" gauge railroads in Australia

Great Deals on Brass Locomotives

Ken — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:56:45 +0000

Lately there have been some really good deals on S Scale brass locomotives coming up on EBay. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a P-B-L model of Southern Pacific #8 (narrow gauge) for less than $500 including shipping and this week I picked up a PFM C-16 (also in Sn3) for only $368 including shipping. To put this in perspective, Sn3 steam locomotive kits start at around $500. Both of the models I just got were brass (as opposed to plastic or cast zinc) and were fully assembled and test run. In the case of SP #8, also professionally painted. Both locomotives are in perfect brand new condition. In the past 30 days there have been 6 Sn3 brass locomotives sold on EBay for less than $400, and 2 of those went for less than $300. At these prices it almost doesn't make sense to model in Sn42 unless your modeling an actual 42" gauge prototype.

River Raisin USRA 0-6-0

Ken — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:09:57 +0000

River Raisin's next S Scale brass locomotive project is going to be a USRA 0-6-0 switch engine. This is really good news if you're like me and love S Scale and brass locomotives but can't always afford the larger offerings. River Raisin is offering these for only $1299 (pre-production pricing) which is about half the price of an S Scale brass "road engine." Another good thing is that it's a switch engine so it would be perfect for a small switching layout. As much as I love S Scale I don't have room to build a proper layout to run my Southern Pacific MK-5 and MT-4s on. I do have room for an S Scale switching layout though and this little USRA switcher ought to be perfect. River Raisin will be offering these in 11 different road names plus painted but not letter. If you've been wanting a good quality brass steam locomotive in S Scale but balked at the over $2000 price tag this is a good chance to pick one up. I'm planning on getting the UP version which is the only one that comes with an oil tender. If you're interested check these out at River Raisin.

River Raisin MT-4 and MT-5 Models Shipping Soon

Ken — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:01:39 +0000

I spoke to Dan at River Raisin Models earlier this week and their Southern Pacific MT-4 and MT-5 S Scale locomotives are due in country around the middle of this month and depending on exact delivery date should ship around the end of the month or by early July. If you missed out on ordering these you might try contacting River Raisin Models and seeing if they have any extra locomotives on hand. I know they still have a few of the SP 2-10-2 Decks left over from one of their previous projects. If you haven't seen a River Raisin locomotive you've been missing out. I have 2 of their Southern Pacific 2-8-2's and they are fantastic - easily the nicest brass steam locomotives I've ever seen. They also just announced a USRA 0-6-0 project that is about 1/2 the price of their larger projects so you might look into that as well. (Another nice thing about the 0-6-0 is that it will probably run on a track radius that I actually have room to install:) )

Southern Pacific MT-4 and MT-5

Ken — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:02:46 +0000

After a few disappointing announcements recently (Banta Modelworks getting out of S Scale, Downtown Deco cancelling an S Scale project due to lack of reservations) there is some good news in S Scale this week. River Raisin Models has received pilot models of Southern Pacific MT-5 #s 4369 and 4376 and posted pictures on their current projects page. They look extremely nice, even better than the SP Mikados they did a couple years ago. I almost didn't order one of the Mountains, but in the end I couldn't resist the pull of another Southern Pacific steamer to add to my S Scale roster so I have (gulp... hope the wife isn't reading this...) 3 of them reserved - MT-4 #4352 and #4353 in Daylight paint, and MT-5 #4369. I can't wait to get them. I think it's not too late to get in on this run so if you like the Southern Pacific check them out and get yourself on the list. These are really nice models.