Why such a lack of plastic locomotive kits?

AMEN ! ! 

Nothing quite like hot oily steel!

Don Stauffer

Beautiful!  The weathering is perfect.

I do wish those kits would be repopped.

 

 

Thanks, Don!  I had fun doing this kit...I may add the Revell 'Big Boy' to my stash and build another....

Tanker-Builder

Aha!

    Not Fictitious! We have a photo in the Dining car under glass (On a Tabletop) Of a Pennsy Hudson. You got all the weathering spot on!

 

Thanks Tanker!

That's awesome, where's your museum located?

!

Aha!

    Not Fictitious! We have a photo in the Dining car under glass (On a Tabletop) Of a Pennsy Hudson. You got all the weathering spot on!

Beautiful!  The weathering is perfect.

I do wish those kits would be repopped.

Here is another update on the Hudson:

I marked her up with decals putting her in the stable of the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Obviously fictitious.  But it looks goot, none the less!

The next step is to create the autumn scene for this loco to meander through, on a sunday outing with a multitude of passengers out to see the autumn colors...Stay tuned!

Hi Don;

 I guess that's why I am now into odd paper structures, ships and other stuff like Civil War Semi-Submersibles!

Hi Peter;

      Actually there isn't. You can buy just about anything on Model Rail Sales sites. I have Model Locos from the days of Steam all the way to the Newest AMTRAK engine. They are called Dummies in the hobby and, Yes, they are available.You might have to special order them Cause most model rail stores do Not keep them in stock.

 Also You have to know what you want, Because, even Dummies aren't cheap sometimes. I recently purchased an " O " scale F-7 and It was 22.00 bucks. That one by the way at 1/48 scale was paper!

I got ahold of one of Revell's old NY Central-Hudson Locos!  I am building this in an Autumn scene for a friend.  I am posting a WIP in the Figures and Misc. section if anyone wants to follow along...

castelnuovo

I found lots of locomotive kits here

https://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?cat_s=UB&p=2

But lots of them don't mention the scale. Are these kits or already assembled? What would be a locomotive scale equvivalent to, say, tanks at 1/35 or airplanes 1/48?

 

Those are all operating locomotives, motors and sound cards installed, ready to pull a line of cars, just add electricity.  Judging by the prices, they are most likely HO Scale, or roughly 1/87th...

In previous decades there were operable kits for train cars and locomotives that you would build out of wood, paint etc. and would work just like a completed item would. My grandfather made many of them in ho scale, but they are lost now. I don't think the demad is there for static train models when you could build a functioning one. The Tamiya tank kits originated from RC tanks that they built initially, but apparently that was not as popular an idea with train people.

I wonder if the marketing people for major kit mfgs peruse forums like this once in awhile.  I would also like to see more railroad stuff (not operating, just static scale models.  I build every genre of scale model and love to do the occasional construction equipment, odd trucks, even farm tractors.  I applaud kit mfgs who do such stuff.  I think too many mfgs only cater to the very popular genre and subgenre.  I have built enough ME-109s for a lifetime.  I want more odd stuff and stuff that does not fall into strict genre of machine.

I used to say I would model anything that moved.  Then, in a catalog for readers, I found a kit for a Gutenburg printing press.  That was a fun build and a nice display model.  Those of us older folk who have been modeling for a long time crave the oddball stuff, rather than the been-there-done-that stuff.

Have any of you looked at MiniArt's 1/35 European Tramcar? It's a great kit with tons of detail and everything you need for a street scene diorama. It's not a traditional locomotive but if you really want to build a train this may work.

https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Military_Vehicles/european-tramcar-641-w-crew-passengers-and-street/MIA00038009/product.php?s=0&t=4&u=0

I love trains and would love to set up a model railroad, but I can't afford another hobby because of both space and time. I still have the Airfix locos from the sixties unbuilt. maybe one day.........

A British company known as Rosebud produced an extensive line of plastic kits of locomotives and rolling stock in OO (1/76 scale) back in the early 1960s. They were primarily British prototypes, but the line also included an American 4-4-0 (the "General" of Great Locomotive Chase fame) and, IIRC, a NY Central Hudson. The entire Rosebud line was acquired by Airfix, but only the British locomotives were reissued. These frequently come up for sale on eBay at reasonable prices. Most of the ex-Rosebud/Airfix line are now sold by Dapol. Another American company released an HO Berkshire steam locomotive plastic kit which is quite nice. More recently, Highliners released HO plastic kits of GM F-units, both A and B, which can be built as just about every variation of those locomotives.

A month or so ago, I won an auction on the 'bay for the Revell NY Central Hudson kit.  I'm building a little scene (starting this weekend)...like a photograph of a train layout...for a friend of mine. Stay tuned!

https://youtu.be/GhjS0G6KMCk

Don Stauffer

 

 

jmoran426

This thread raises a frequent complaint of mine about manufacturers of models of any kind, and that is about the absence of a common scale. Model trains are made to a few very exacting scale dimensions, mainly N (1/160th), HO (1/87th), O (1/48), S (1/64th, sometimes includes Lionel 3-rail), and some not so exacting scales called G (garden) scale, which are built in numerous odd dimensions. So if you are a model railroader, you pick a scale, build a layout or display case for that scale, and you're off and running.

 

 

 

 

Reason is, not everyone has the same size basement- or at least the size of the basement the wife will let him use :-)

 

 

This is why I've switched from a model railroad to scale models. I had a layout set up in our previous home then disassembled and moved it to our new house.  The layout is now in storage and the good layout space in our new basement is filled with the kid's toys. I have plenty of room for a smaller work area that is more than sufficient for scale models. 

When the kids get older I'll reclaim the space. All my equipment is HO scale but I may try N instead if my eyes aren't failing by then.  I do miss it though. 

T e d

jmoran426

This thread raises a frequent complaint of mine about manufacturers of models of any kind, and that is about the absence of a common scale. Model trains are made to a few very exacting scale dimensions, mainly N (1/160th), HO (1/87th), O (1/48), S (1/64th, sometimes includes Lionel 3-rail), and some not so exacting scales called G (garden) scale, which are built in numerous odd dimensions. So if you are a model railroader, you pick a scale, build a layout or display case for that scale, and you're off and running.

 

Reason is, not everyone has the same size basement- or at least the size of the basement the wife will let him use :-)

Speaking of locos...I just got this brass 0-6-0 Pennsy Switcher off of the bay ..Had to take off the boiler clean and lube it as well as adjust the angle of the motor so that the gears would mesh properly.Just airbrushed the first primer coat...

This thread raises a frequent complaint of mine about manufacturers of models of any kind, and that is about the absence of a common scale. Model trains are made to a few very exacting scale dimensions, mainly N (1/160th), HO (1/87th), O (1/48), S (1/64th, sometimes includes Lionel 3-rail), and some not so exacting scales called G (garden) scale, which are built in numerous odd dimensions. So if you are a model railroader, you pick a scale, build a layout or display case for that scale, and you're off and running. But if you're like me with and HO scale layout and a builder of the occassional plastic airplane dioramas you run into the scale issue. Example: I'm building several Vietnam era aircraft in 1/48 scale and wanted to place a truck or pick-up alongside to simulate carrying ordinance (mg and cannon ammo). Try to find a 1/48 scale truck on the market. Bandai made a few, but most are 1/24, 1/36, 1/35, and a few 1/72 scale. For train models, O scale or 1/48th would be as close as you're going to get to the scales of other types of models. Lots of aircraft in 1/48 but few of anything else. BTW, I was looking for 1/48 and 1/72 20 and 40mm ammo cans and M-16 rifles for a couple of my projects. Plenty of 1/36th, due to the armored vehicle modeler market, but only on Shapeways did I find some 3D-printed versions in 1/48. But priced above $20 for a sprue of a dozen, I have yet to make that purchase.

So, if you still have to have that locomotive and don't want to cringe at the price of a new one, most train shows have a group of dealers who sell used railroad models.  eBay is also a good place to look for used models.  In the past, some RR mfrs. sold "Dummy" or motorless models at cheaper prices.  These can be found at train show vendors, or buy a motored one for cheap.  In HO scale expect to pay from $15-$25 for a used model locomotive.  In O scale, it'll hit your wallet for $20 and up depending on what the vendor wants and market demands.  However, there are fewer european railroad models in this scale.

I know this isn't what you were after , but it looked kinda cool

/rokr.robotime.com

I found lots of locomotive kits here

https://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?cat_s=UB&p=2

But lots of them don't mention the scale. Are these kits or already assembled? What would be a locomotive scale equvivalent to, say, tanks at 1/35 or airplanes 1/48?

http://www.papercraftsquare.com/emd-gp38-2-locomotive-free-train-paper-model-download.html

    I would love a big ladder truck with a monitor nozzle for aireal firefighting. Even an articulated one with a tiller cab would be really cool. I should add for the OP, a 35th scale modern diesel power unit would be AWESOME!

I ask the same question but of fire trucks, specially vintage era ones from the 30s thru the 50s. Would love to have several of them.

Paper is your best shot.