PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR Building twin critters A pair of HOn30 Plymouths for Maine/Phil Gliebe I
have been modeling in HOn30 (HO scale, but narrow gauge track using N scale track width) for several
years. My primary focus has been mod- eling Maine two-foot narrow gauge equipment, and I belong to the Great Lakes HOn30 Modular Group, whose modular layout is set in Maine. We have struggled with developing re- liable motive power that will withstand the rigors of setting up and running for two to three days at a time when we dis- play at train shows and conventions. Part of the problem is making sure that the track is always smooth, that track joints at module interfaces are properly
aligned and have no rail joint “bumps,” and that there is good electrical continu- ity from module to module.
The other part of the problem is that the type of locomotives we like to mod- el, i.e., Forney type steam locomotives of the 0-4-4T or 2-4-4T arrangement. They are not the easiest locomotives to build so they run smoothly and reli- ably, especially in HO scale. It is some- times possible to buy expensive brass locomotives from various importers that may fill the bill, but most of us in the group don’t have the resources to purchase them, or we just like building our locomotives or assembling them
from kits or kitbashing using reason- ably-priced N scale mechanisms. Most of the Maine two footers were gone by the late 1930’s or early 1940’s, and they all used steam power, except for an occasional railcar or railbus. I got to thinking (this nearly always gets me into trouble!), what if at least a couple of the Maine narrow gauge railroads didn’t go bankrupt and disappear? What if, for some reason, they happened upon, or were blessed with, a new rev- enue source that gave them the needed influx of income to continue for another decade or two? This would have brought them into the diesel age, and perhaps
The two Plymouth locos, Bert, No. 5, and Ernie, No. 6, (top), are shown switching a flat car of lumber and an empty boxcar at the Week’s Mills freight house. The locomotive frame (above left) is
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made of styrene and fits over a Bachmann MDT Plymouth mecha- nism. It is placed on the chassis (above right); the styrene blocks in front and back provide more thickness for the coupler screws.
FEBRUARY 2014
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