Jim,

I cheated on my stubs, I made a pair of rails that slipped into soldered railjoiner (Soldered on the track end) and let the tie bars move the somewhat loose rails. Works very well. I used commercial ties and an Atlas code 100 #6 switch for the other components.

After the one I went to conventional points and things were much easier. Switches now go very fast using the Atlas #6 and #8 code 100 switches. I did try code 83 and that works well but I have to watch flange depth.

My modular On30 railroad is completely hand-laid using 6'0" On3 ties. They look very good on On30

I did some looking and the Richmond Cedar Works railroad had #6 which was a 2-6-0 somewhat like the one offered by Bachmann in On30, there is a rumor of a 2-6-2 bwing used and sold that lasted into the 1950s.  Most operations were done on logs instead of ties as the peat soil would not support a conventional tie. Shays were also used in the woods.

The Richmond Cedar Works operated the Dismal Swamp Railroad from Cedar Mills VIrginia to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. It was a 3'6" gauge railway.It was about 35 miles long. The railroad lasted until 1941

It was operated for hauling lumber and supplies for the mill company. Most rolling stock were flats, the motive power is unknown.

Woody,

If you want a gallows turntable, I have one completed that I will not be using. Contact me directly for pictures, etc. based on SP practice which is close to North Pacific Coast

Jim Pasha
japasha@aol.com

Okay, Dustin got his. Lee and staff: How about a nice set of ET&WNC passenger varnish to go with the fine locomotive?

The Tweetsie had the finest narrow gauge varnish in North or South America. It was sold to Central America when the Tweetsie gace up regular passenger service. Later cars came from the BR&L for war use.
These were 45 foot cars. 
Other options are a set of D&RGW Shavano/San Juan Passenger cars

Woody,

The Hobbytown Diesels were way ahead of their time. Back in the early 70s I was experimenting with R/C in HO and used a set of A-b-b-a f-7s to hose the motor, control and batteries.  I had an identical set that was track powered and all were decrated for the Western Pacific in silver and orange. They could pull a 90 car train up a 2.5% grade with ease. I would demostrate the R/C unit at a club with most people in awe at the pulling capabilities. I did a set of SD-(, all for SP as individual unit and each was capabile of 40 cars up a 2.5% grade. You just couldn't stop them.  A great product if you were serious about running large trains. I still have a pair of ALCO PAs in L&N colors to mess with the guys at the club with.

Model Trains had a layout series called the Portage Hill and Communipaw that any beginner should study for ideas. It was one of the best project railroads done by Model Trains and finished in Model Railroader. The articles are reprinted in Popular Model Rauilroads You can Build

Looking at pictures and scaling both the I/F and O/F plans, the Mt Gretna is about five feet shorter than the O/F locomotive .

The pictures indicate that Bachmann was true to the prototype in driver spacing, frame length and pilot truck dimensions.

While the mechanisms are similar, they are different locomotives. The wheelbase is about 26 inches longer than the Mt Gretna alone. The boiler is much longer. As the Baldwin cabs are stock items for Baldwin, Lee can use the Mt. Gretna cab and still be on target.

I still want to see what Harold does to his.

The CP existed on paper until 1949. Many locomotives assigned to the overland route also had "C.P. RR" lettered on the cabs.  The CP technically owned the SP Narrow Gauge until 1949 according to the stucture.

If you have an old copy of the Baldwin product catalog, they plainly state that the 4-4-0 is a longer locomotive than a 2-6-0. The issue is driver wheelbase which is shorter. The front truck allows a wider swing for short radius curves unless the 2-6-0 or 2-8-0 have blind center drivers.

While it may look larger, it is still a small locomotive when compared to the meter gauge 2-10-10-2s made by ALCO for the Brazilians. I'd like to see Dustin get that around his table top. Some of those goods wagons would be nice as well.

Years ago I built a Baldwin 2-6-0 On3 model of a locomoptive I saw rusting in the jungle. Very funky, about the size of a C-16. 

The plans you compared to are reproduced a little larger than scale, BTW.

In the world of real business, selection of the product to build is difficult. The new 4-4-0 seems like the wrong thing to some people but  it is a very viable product for two reasons: The prototype is a real 30 inch gauge locomotive and the intended layout has sharp curves and most likely is small. I'll bet that Harold  Minky has plans for it already. I know I'll have a pair.

I have stated before that while a K-37 is a nice narrow gauge beast, our smaller layouts cannot operate it.  Our British counterparts know that the small narrow gauge lines in the UK had some interesting and unique locomotives built for them and the rolling stock was much smaller to operate on these lines. I am getting ready to re-do my layout with broader curves to add On3 to the layout.  I will be using 44" radius for the On3, 36 for the On30. The decision was based on operational problems using 24" radius on the present layout. I will also hand lay the track to use "6 and #8 switches.

The Baldwin prototype is a natural. The North American market was dominated by Baldwin and ALCO with the Central and South American market shared by European and those US manufacturers, not to mention the African narrow gauges. This leads us to the possibilty that maybe Lee will surprise us with  a nice Garrett based on the South African 2 foot units now in use on the Welsh Highland Railway.

On the other hand, it isn't too much of a stretch to place the new 4-4-0 in a setting based on a Maine or Southern prototype. I think it will look good hauling across the California coast range with a string of varnish. Sure, they never had one but look at the opportunity to do something unique.

Look at the possibilities before complaining

Nick,

Keep us posted on those cars. They were monitor roof cars as I recall. Some of the freight cars might be nice as well.

Give us a site or post some pictures.

Generall what's done is to isolate a section of the approch track (longer than your longest locomotive) and wire it to your turntable power source and layout power source using a dpdt switch. This allows you to get the locomotive to the approach and then you can switch to local power.

This is similar to what you have to do for a wye. If your engine terminal has a number of tracks, you can isolate the whole terminal if you like. The Atlas instruction sheet for the turntable control shows how most of this can be done with that item.

The model is of VFCO #22 which is the locomotive being displayed.  For a 4-4-0 of 30 inch gauge. It makes the Mt. Gretna look puny. This is a Baldwin-built loco that was modified by the Brazilians  over the years.

A good reference for small Brazilian locos is the book "Plus & Minus Two Footers by Carlheinz Hahmann and Charles Small. Pictures in service are on page 92.

Nick is correct, it is the FWD railcar and trasiler.

I once took a 3'6" gauge railcar from someplace in Australia to Alice Springs to see Ayres Rock (since renamed back to aboriginal terms). This little railcar would seem right at home either in the outback or the sand dunes of the Owens Valley. Bachmann has been hitting more home runs lately with product prototype selection. For those desiring 9" radius, this should do the trick.

For those of us wanting something with character zipping along 50 pound rail on uneven ties, even better.

It is definately based on the FWD 20 passenger model. However, with Lee taking modeler's license, all prototype FWD units were standard gauge according to Interurbans Without Wires. Nonetheless, will have  a set of those for the Fort Tuna Southern. Look very nice.