Minimal HO rural terminus

[davknigh]

3 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

My combine was a Canadian National - though it was probably available in other liveries so I've no idea how autherntic it was. Though I very much like Consolidations, I'm wondering whether a 2-8-0 might be a bit on the large size for a short line with short trains might not  a Mogul be more appropriate. 

Authentic steam era passenger equipment for Canadian railways generally involves kit/scratch building as the existing rtr stock comes from Rapido and it is all post 1960. As for locos, consolidations were not unknown on branches but ten wheelers (4-6-0s) were more common on CP but moguls could be found on the CN. 
 

Cheers,

 

David

[Pacific231G]

8 hours ago, davknigh said:

Authentic steam era passenger equipment for Canadian railways generally involves kit/scratch building as the existing rtr stock comes from Rapido and it is all post 1960. As for locos, consolidations were not unknown on branches but ten wheelers (4-6-0s) were more common on CP but moguls could be found on the CN. 
 

Cheers,

 

David

 

Thanks David. I think my combo was Athearn or Roundhouse and may have been a Harriman type.

 

Looking through Mixed Train Daily, typical short line locos included some pretty ancient looking 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s seemingly straight out of the Westerns but moguls and ten wheelers seem to have been more typical. There were a few standard gauge consolidations, mostly on short lines carrying heavy freight but they were very common on the three foot gauge lines. I don't know if this happened in North America but in other countries, locos such as consolidations built as heavy main line freight locos ended up on relatively lighter duties as freight trains on the main lines simply got ever heavier. Obviously axle loading would have been a factor here and many American "secondary" lines were fairly lightly laid. There is one picture of a single combo. being hauled by a Mikado that really does look as if its on the wrong railway.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Pacific231G

[mdvle]

16 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

I don't know if this happened in North America but in other countries, locos such as consolidations built as heavy main line freight locos ended up on relatively lighter duties as freight trains on the main lines simply got ever heavier. Obviously axle loading would have been a factor here and many American "secondary" lines were fairly lightly laid. There is one picture of a single combo. being hauled by a Mikado that really does look as if its on the wrong railway.

 

I'm sure it happened - there were too many railroads all doing a variation of their own thing.

 

But in addition to the axle loading you mention the size of turntables and potentially even roundhouse stall length would influence things. 

 

Another thing that happened would be converting older locos to yard engines by removing the pony truck - CPR converted 2-8-0 engines no longer needed for mainline service to 0-8-0 locos, though eventually stopped as they found it no longer offered benefits.

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/cpr_steam/V_class.htm

[F-UnitMad]

I always preferred the look of Mikes to Consolidations; the rear pony truck balanced the look of the engine more.

Possibly another reason I like them is because the 2-8-2 wheel arrangement is almost unknown in the UK (a handful of Gresley types excepted).     

[Guest Jack Benson]

On 09/03/2022 at 11:32, Pacific231G said:

 Though I very much like Consolidations, I'm wondering whether a 2-8-0 might be a bit on the large size for a short line with short trains might not  a Mogul be more appropriate. 

A rather odd thing - the Abingdon branch was populated by N&W Mollies, a rather large Mastodon 4-8-0 CLICK HERE however no chance of finding a brass version and as Antioch is very much ‘inspired’ by rather than a copy, then a similar type is not an issue for me, moreover the Baldwin 2-8-0 was the eponymous locomotives of many lines. 
 

Finally, has anyone had experience of Bachmann’s ALCO mogul? 
 

StaySafe

[Pacific231G]

From seeing the film, that would make an excellent diorama. I've actually seen scenes like that in various places during travels around both the USA and Canada- from the early 1970s to 1990s. They were usually at a  RR crossing in a small hamlet with a very weedy looking short or branch line running through it and disappearing into the trees in either direction with maybe a general store quite close to the tracks . I don't remember ever seeing an actual train at any of them but suspect that many of them were not actually abandoned (though some probably were) but surviving on a meager diet of few cars a week from some local industry or seasonal agricultural traffic.  Some of those hamlets, particularly in the poorer regions of the South or Pennsylvania, looked as though they'd hardly changed since the 1920s and the crossings were generally just a cross-buck with no lights or barriers.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Pacific231G

[Guest Jack Benson]

Hi,

 

When considerably more real estate became available, this thread has morphed into Antioch  with a shed load more images and a proper track plan.

 

StaySafe

[dave1905]

On 09/03/2022 at 17:52, Pacific231G said:

I don't know if this happened in North America but in other countries, locos such as consolidations built as heavy main line freight locos ended up on relatively lighter duties as freight trains on the main lines simply got ever heavier. Obviously axle loading would have been a factor here and many American "secondary" lines were fairly lightly laid. There is one picture of a single combo. being hauled by a Mikado that really does look as if its on the wrong railway.

 Yes, newer and bigger power was cascaded down to branchlines.  The rail wasn't as much of a problem as were bridge capacities.  As bridges were upgraded, bigger power could be used.

 

Even today, SD40's and SD60's have been cascaded to branchline power on runs that saw GP38's 30 years ago and GP7's 50 years ago and smaller 2-8-0's and 4-6-0's 100 years ago.

 

Conversely, railroads would retain some of the older power to operate on light branch lines as long as they could.  A lot of small engine's last gasps were as branchline power.