It is instructive that (not surprisingly) Don still has enough AC deep flange 2-8-0's to offer a demo closeout but none in scale (or nearly scale flange). I suspect there was a two or three to one (or even more) ratio of AC 2-8-0's to scale; as in O scale (as we often complain there) there are far more three-rail train operators for whom it is profitable for manufacturers to produce scale-proportion locomotives and rolling stock which we then pay extra for to get in two-rail, convert ourselves where practicable, or suffer (although not in silence). We would not have all of Don's excellent S scale--or even the still-adequate AM--if the manufacturers/importers had to depend on the scale modelers. I am just grateful SHS DOES provide for the scale modeler; my downfall began when I bought two covered hoppers at a train show because they not only looked good but included the scale wheelsets. It was confirmed when I bought an SW-1 that could be converted to scale within an hour or so with everything necessary already in the box. Without those I would never have ventured down the primrose path, being otherwise quite happy exclusively in O scale.
I think I can understand the SHS decision to offer the 2-8-0's in either AC or scale: by the time one had taken the rods and valve gear off and dropped the drivers after unscrewing the retainer plate (with center sprung drivers) probably half or more of the market would have disappeared. I happen to like fiddling with locomotives and have learned how to do it over some fifty years of modeling--although there are some stinkers that still give me headaches, such as a Balboa On3 C-19 that has a bind when I try to put it back together--but it is a different order of difficulty getting into a well-designed steam locomotive running gear from replacing diesel wheelsets. There is a niche in the lid of the 2-8-0 package where a crankpin wrench obviously should go, but when I contacted Don, thinking it had disappeared, he told me they were not routinely included with the locomotives, probably an indication that SHS doesn't expect most buyers to be monkeying with the monkey motion. Thought about it but changed their mind. Jace Kahn General Manager Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co. > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:08:14 -0500 > Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: SHS 2-8-0 Sample Sale > > Pieter/Jace, We had a thunderstorm that knocked out power to my studio, > so I wasn't able to reply sooner--but yes, I was kidding for the most > part, but most of us who consider ourselves builders (more or less) have > done similar things. Also bear in mind that SHS original idea was to > supply scale wheel sets + drivers in a similar manor as their diesel > units. Apparently as the engine progressed it became impractical to > make that happen. However, I see no reason why the drivers couldn't be > removed, turned down to the proper contour and replaced back in position. > > Our 'father figure' machinist kinda guy, Jack Troxell has done many such > procedures in the past. One time he got real ambitious and turned down > a mess of those powdered American Models wheel sets to smooth out the > rough surface and reduce the flanges from #125 to #110. We had > purchased a large quantity of NWSL blackened wheel sets, but Jack didn't > like the look of the brass wheel thread. So he set the NWSL wheels > aside, lived with the magnetic properties of the steel wheels just to > have shiny steel wheel threads. > > So to each his own way of making things work! > > Bob Werre > BobWphoto.com > > > > > > > > Hi Jace; > > > > I didn't say you should (I'm pretty sure that Bob's tongue was firmly > > planted in his cheek when he made it), but it is worth remembering > > that all S gauge is now and has always been 2 rail. > > > > Pieter E. Roos > > > > --- On Fri, 9/24/10, JGG KahnSr <[email protected] > > <mailto:jacekahn%40hotmail.com>> wrote: > > > If you say so--I hadn't really paid much attention to the > > > trucks I took off AF cars but checked now and see they are > > > plastic wheels. Never owned any AF locomotives. > > > Still am not going to take Bob's suggestion... > > > > > > Jace Kahn > > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
