1/72 Scale Narrow Gauge Modeling


While searching for a suitable proto railroad was perusing books from my late brother's collection. Found "Milwaukee Road Narrow Gauge" and found these pieces of narrow gauge and near 1/72 scale drawings. The box matches the size of our Mantua with the same truck configuration and they had an 1880 caboose that is the same size as the Roundhouse caboose.

mil_road_box1.jpg


mil_road_caboose1.jpg


An early Granger road fits the available locomotives and rolling stock. Lots of them out there in the heyday of narrow gauge.

Harold
 
Harold, have you checked out Accurail's 36 foot Fowler outside braced boxcars? You would need narrow gauge trucks for HOm3; or, use the HO Andrews Trucks provided with the kit for 1/72nd like Doug Tagsold's type of narrow gauge.
 
Harold, have you checked out Accurail's 36 foot Fowler outside braced boxcars? You would need narrow gauge trucks for HOm3; or, use the HO Andrews Trucks provided with the kit for 1/72nd like Doug Tagsold's type of narrow gauge.
Have my trains from the 1870s, not looking into a later era.

train_1.jpg


Harold
 
I did not know that! I'd of figured that outside braced would have preceded double sheathed. Would this type of box car been used by the D&RGW or the RGS?
 
I just did a search of both Blackstone Models and PBL Sn3 models and it would appear you are correct about the fact that neither the Rio Grande Southern nor Denver and Rio Grand; or, Rio Grande western used outside braced box cars. This seems inconsistent, as both of these railroads lasted in narrow gauge form, far past when the standard gauged lines where using outside braced box cars. It is probably because during that era the narrow gauge lines where on the way out, so the purchase of newer equipment would not have been in the offing. Both did use outside braced stock cars.
I love outside braced box cars and have many on my Northern Pacific railroad. It's funny how a person can be attracted to a specific type of anything!

Harold, thanks for this information!
 
MARK -- I like the era that you are talking about too! Perhaps the fact that the Colorado narrow gauge RR's did not use outside bracing could be as simple as a need to protect the framing of the car from the elements - rain, snow, and ice?
I have a "Narrow Gauge Gazette" somewhere that has photos and drawings of the first cars built for the D&RGW. I'll see if I can find it?
 
Narrow gauge was dead by the time outside braced boxcars became fashionable.

ng_graph.jpg

The railroads left after 1900 were mainly extensions of bigger companies and couldn't be abandoned easily due to laws or had a single material extraction business model that made high cost "break gauge" unnecessary.

Stock cars are single sheathed due to their obvious design requirements.

Harold
 
My information from the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association shows diagrams of several Outside Braced Box Cars explaining that they where built in the 1930s and 1940s. The Colorado Narrow Gauge lines where certainly not dead in the 30s and 40s.
 
My information from the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association shows diagrams of several Outside Braced Box Cars explaining that they where built in the 1930s and 1940s. The Colorado Narrow Gauge lines where certainly not dead in the 30s and 40s.
No one was building new narrow gauge equipment in the 1930s and 1940s in the US.

Just because the body hasn't hit the ground doesn't mean the body isn't dead.

Harold
 
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Oh, you mean something like this from post 49: It is probably because during that era the narrow gauge lines where on the way out, so the purchase of newer equipment would not have been in the offing.
 
The railroads left after 1900 were mainly extensions of bigger companies and couldn't be abandoned easily due to laws or had a single material extraction business model that made high cost "break gauge" unnecessary.
Ok, I can trace many of these big drops to known events. BUT what is the huge 200 mile drop in 1970? Is that the Alamosa to Durango track going away (abandon in 1967ish) and the Cumbres & Toltec didn't buy it all up ?

I count 142.2 miles of narrow gauge track considering C&T, D&S, and EBT. This graph makes it look like only 50 miles remain.
narrowgauge.jpg
 
My only interest in narrow gauge is before the mass extinction and not Colorado, if you follow my posts.

Harold
 
O.K. I am sorry Harold, I don't specifically follow your posts. It might be somewhat presumptuous to think that people follow someone else's posts, when we all sort of are into our own thoughts. I knew you where interested in Narrow Gauge; but, the specifics of your interest, really didn't matter much to me, as they are YOUR interests and not mine!
 
O.K. I am sorry Harold, I don't specifically follow your posts. It might be somewhat presumptuous to think that people follow someone else's posts, when we all sort of are into our own thoughts. I knew you where interested in Narrow Gauge; but, the specifics of your interest, really didn't matter much to me, as they are YOUR interests and not mine!
But you post in this thread.

It would be nice if you read the thread if you are posting.

GEEEEEEZ
Harold
 
Haven't done this in a while.

Found these vintage 1/72 cars and trucks.

reviresco_car1.jpg


reviresco_truck1.jpg


Go to:

http://tin-soldier.com/cars.html

Made me think about late era narrow gauge. If you extend the cab below the footboard with a 1/8x1/4 piece of styrene and add a new cab side like our mock up, easy late era narrow gauge.

roundhouse_5.jpg


Doug Tagsold used the MDC cars with the HO trucks with 33" HO wheels. Substituting 24"(HO 28") wheels and shorter wheelbase Tahoe trucks makes the cars more "narrow gaugey"

24in_wheels.jpg


Harold
 



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