ModelRail USTC 0-6-0 Tank Loco Project USA

[Wickham Green]

US USTC did/does not have a "cow catcher".  This is in operation at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento California. The step board arrangement at the front is often called a "switching pilot" and is basically a place for the switchmen (shunters to you) to stand on while the locomotive moves back and forth during switching (shunting) operations.  This is 1940's and 50's technology before the US equivalent of health and safety (OSHA) along with very high insurance premiums stopped the practice. 

Shouldn't need to catch too many cows at shunting - sorry switching speed .........

 

..... woukld be interesting t know the history of Granite Roch No.10 : it's obviously not a Southern Railway loco - but at some time someone's modified the cab with side windows and square front / rear windows ..... pure coincidence or deliberate copy I wonder ?

[Ian J.]

...As far as moving them about was consumed if they were hauled dead...

 

Have you been using predictive text? Or did you actually eat a dead USA tank?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

That's the difference between the static measurement as 'within gauge' and the dynamic envelope when in motion, the swaying (yawing) in particular mentioned above by 'Olddudders'. This dynamic problem is not confined to this class by any means, a well known UK built example the ex-GER Y4s, which could foul the cylinder drain cocks on the rails among other things, when allowed to achieve any sort of speed tripping between docks and works for overhaul.

[The Stationmaster]

Have you been using predictive text? Or did you actually eat a dead USA tank?

 

S*dding predictive text - I keep turning it off and my mate Mac keeps turning it back on.

[black and decker boy]

before trying work out how to modify it to EM gauge.

If you do work it out, please can you post details as it would convince me to order one for my Scottish colliery (I refer you to rule 1.....)

Thank you in advance :-)

[autocoach]

Shouldn't need to catch too many cows at shunting - sorry switching speed .........

 

..... woukld be interesting t know the history of Granite Roch No.10 : it's obviously not a Southern Railway loco - but at some time someone's modified the cab with side windows and square front / rear windows ..... pure coincidence or deliberate copy I wonder ?

There are a ton of entries in google under Granite Rock 10. 1942 USATC build but I do not think it ever left the US. As it had only one postwar owner, the Granite Rock Corporation, prior to donation to the California State Railroad Museum in the 1990's, it may be in fairly close to original USATC build condition. Note that the engine spent most of its working life around Watsonville California on the coast between Santa Cruz and Monterrey.  The climate there is often very cool with constant fog from the Pacific ocean so the enclosed cab was useful. Being in California it was an oil burner as coal was banned in 1905 for starting too many track side fires (also oil was a major industry by that time in California and there are very few workable coal deposits in the state which is the size of all of Great Britain).  There is an HO Hornby USA version lettered for Granite Rock but it is too expensive to just buy on a whim. It is aimed at the European market and a few sales here in California. On a personal note I rode behind it on a night time excursion last fall for the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society convention in Sacramento. 

Edited August 15, 2016 by autocoach

[Wickham Green]

............. trying work out how to modify it to EM gauge.

Finer wheels would be available from Alan Gibson .... BUT does the model use a standard 1/8'' axle ?  -  I doubt it nowadays !

 

 

.... sorry "formerly standard" .....

Edited August 16, 2016 by Wickham Green

[adb968008]

There is an HO Hornby USA version lettered for Granite Rock but it is too expensive to just buy on a whim. It is aimed at the European market and a few sales here in California. On a personal note I rode behind it on a night time excursion last fall for the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society convention in Sacramento.

 

It's quite definitely a Hornby USA product. Sold with US couplers, and a completely different under chassis tooling to the European one.

I dived in and bought a US (granite stone) - had to source it in the US as no one (not even The big H in the UK) had one, and an EU (usatc) thinking they would be identical and a doddle to change its coupling...

 

5001 (it's US army number) never left the US, it was a switcher at army supplies stores, Philadelphia dock yards (I am told), until 1947 then sold to industry. Withdrawn in 1960 and rescued in 1995, restored 1997 ready for the Sacramento rail fair of 1999. It was overhauled again and returned to steam in 2015.

A lot of what I have on them is hearsay, but understood the ones remaining in the US were supposed to goto North Africa, and a slightly different configuration to Europe, but by the time of despatch, the campaign was over, presumably sending them back to retrofit to European spec wasn't worth the hassle.

 

Incidentally, the tanks have just been replaced on 5001/10, the old scrap tanks have been donated to 5006 at the Oklahoma railroad museum, which has none and is only for static display.

 

Here is the parts donor that got Granite rock 10 working again

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/donbrr/3138008804/

 

Had some fun with 10/5001 when I lived in Davis, CA in the late 90's early 2000s.

There are quite a number if these preserved in the US, including 3 repatriated from the former Yugoslavia, to Ontario, Canada (though I can't find any pictures).

 

Can post a picture of both Hornby versions & the Bachmann one side by side at some point, though I'll do it with the model rail one when I get it, so as to keep the thread on topic :-)

Edited August 16, 2016 by adb968008

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

A pair of 'USAs' worked a railtour over the Fawley branch and may have done other tours. There was also one as shed pilot at Guildford for a time. I'm sure I've seen pictures of them in the platform road at the Ocean Terminal, too. Seems strange that they would be built to UK loading gauge yet be out of gauge through platforms. The model certainly passes through my stations without touching the platforms! (CJL)

 Ah that is as maybe but I betcha your model sets fire to sleepers !

[Wickham Green]

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/donbrr/3138008804/

Looks like one of Bachmann's Wickham Trolleys made it out there too !

[dibber25]

Latest delivery details are under the Model Rail heading. (CJL)

Edited August 17, 2016 by dibber25

[TownsendHook]

According to Kernow's Facebook page the next batch of USA tanks are with them now. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1193715084003370&id=207521425956079

[Butler Henderson]

MR102, MR103, MR104, MR107 are four of them evident from the photos of the boxes; SR Black, BR early black, BR Green, NCB Black.

[TheQ]

We were at the J50 group show, In Neatishead yesterday, no less than 3 S100s, were on the 6, 00 layouts. Many people saw ours running ( not my S100, but another club members) several people said they were awaiting theirs and some asked where to get them. So when you consider how small this show was and how far off of the beaten track we were. This must be a very popular model.

With any luck this will be encouragement to produce a S160!!!

[rockershovel]

US USTC did/does not have a "cow catcher".  This is in operation at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento California. The step board arrangement at the front is often called a "switching pilot" and is basically a place for the switchmen (shunters to you) to stand on while the locomotive moves back and forth during switching (shunting) operations.  This is 1940's and 50's technology before the US equivalent of health and safety (OSHA) along with very high insurance premiums stopped the practice.

 

.... Like dustmen riding around on the step at the back of the dustcart, then?

 

Doesn't it change the overall appearance!

[phil gollin]

.

 

If anyone wants an interesting weathering option for one of these look at B & R Video Productions Volume 21 "Steam South & West" at 18 minutes, 16 seconds.

 

30069, with early crest, is shown with its number roughly painted on the rear of the coal bunker and "Yanks go Home" chalked on the left hand side tank.

[SDJR7F88]

A review of a very eagerly anticipated Model Rail Exclusive - Limited Edition Bachmann USA 0-6-0T Class, in smart BR Early Black Livery.
The United States Army Transportation Corps S100, was designed for shunting duties throughout Europe and North Africa during World War II. Produced by H. K. Porter, and Vulcan Iron Works in the US, A total of 382 were shipped to Britain in 1943 for storage before the invasion of Mainland Europe in 1944. 
After the war a number remained in storage, at Newbury Racecourse. 15 of these where purchased and adapted for UK use by the Southern Railway. Changes included modifications to the cab, British-style regulators, Vac Brakes, extended coal bunkers, plus more. The Tanks saw use at Southampton Docks, where they gained notoriety with railway enthusiasts. 
The other member of the class saw services with the National Coal Board, Longmoor Military Railway and even Austin Motors.
Withdrawals of the Southern Railway member of the class happened from 1962 to 1967, with 4 member surviving into preservation.
Bachmann and Model Rail have done an superb job in capturing these interesting and rugged prototypes, with the model features a wealth of detail including; finely applied hand rails and pipework, extensively detailed cab interior, well applied Glazing, plus more. 
Fitted with a powerful super crawl 5 Pole Motor, the USA Tank has got to be one of the slowest and smoothest runners straight from the box I have ever seen! Having no issue with point-work, even at a crawl! This model really is a must for any Southern Region, Wartime or Preserved Era modeller! 
Hope you enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41NDdE0ky5k

[mikesndbs]

So would the 'Southern' livery be the WW2 time one?

[mikesndbs]

Can someone please help me with dates and liveries?

 

http://www.modelrailoffers.co.uk/pg/137/Project-USA-Tank

 

I'd like a WW2 condition one but am taken with the Southerns one.

 

Thanks

[cctransuk]

Can someone please help me with dates and liveries?

 

http://www.modelrailoffers.co.uk/pg/137/Project-USA-Tank

 

I'd like a WW2 condition one but am taken with the Southerns one.

 

Thanks

 

Since the Southern Railway didn't acquire the USAs until after the end of WW2, I would think that the only version relevant to the WW2 period would be the US Army Transportation Corps one.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[TheQ]

Can someone please help me with dates and liveries?

 

http://www.modelrailoffers.co.uk/pg/137/Project-USA-Tank

 

I'd like a WW2 condition one but am taken with the Southerns one.

 

Thanks

I'm modelling 1941, they didn't arrive till 1943,    Southern bought them in 1946,  it's your railway.....

 

Here's a site with some information on where they were loaned to before going to europe, http://www.tanfield-railway.co.uk/gala/history.php

Edited August 25, 2016 by TheQ

[Hilux5972]

A shame that Bachmann felt the need to make their own signage on the packaging bigger than Model Rails. Dapols packaging for the Sentinel was the other way around.

[Andy Y]

A shame that Bachmann felt the need to make their own signage on the packaging bigger than Model Rails. 

 

It's a standard carton design, I've seen other items where there's a flash in the same manner for the commissioning party.

 

Changing established formats costs something somewhere.

[JSpencer]

A shame that Bachmann felt the need to make their own signage on the packaging bigger than Model Rails. Dapols packaging for the Sentinel was the other way around.

 

To be honest, in my case It will not be something that I will actually worry about. As long as my 3 babies get to me perfectly intact and they work, then they can come in plain white or brown boxes with just a small barcode sticker on the end for all I care.

[dibber25]

A shame that Bachmann felt the need to make their own signage on the packaging bigger than Model Rails. Dapols packaging for the Sentinel was the other way around.

This was all agreed long ago. Having our own packaging made would have pushed the price much higher. It's a standard Bachmann box with our own branding added. (CJL)