OldGettysk
Running the MC & Buffalo
looks really good Chuck !!!!
Tinplate or Hi-rail? Yes!
- Thread starter Guy64
- Start date
Guy64
Member
I know there haven't been many pix of trains in this part of the thread. That's mainly because I didn't have time to use a tripod, which would be needed for long exposures. Couldn't get much depth of field, as this shot of Di's Santa Fe F7 demonstrates...
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
I have some questions.I looked around but this thread seems slow, so I'll ask away., as most know I am an N scale modeler. BUT I just inhertited a large colection of American Flyer from my Grand father. I think I may be up for a scale change. the questions: Just what scale is this? S ? can the american flyer be re powered for DC control? the AC is to un reliable, I do not really care what it does for the resale, as I do not intent to ever sell this equiptment. I cant understand why the detail on the steam locos is so much more intricate than those plastic ville house and the older timplate house i got. I see, assum,ing this is s scale, theres a reasonable availability of new locos, track, switches, ect? speaking of switches, do make lessor toy looking ones than the OE? now to contradict, talking realistic looking, as hooky as some people find the operating accesories, I find them NEAT! and will buy them as i can. any way, any insight is apprciated.... Ryan
Guy64
Member
Ryan...
S Scale is 1/64 (3/16 inch = 1 foot) Some like to think of it as "between O scale and H0 scale". Postwar AF is S gauge, but prewar AF is 0 gauge or standard gauge.
AF and Lionel have been wrapped up in the same bundle since the late '60s, but Lionel now makes new AF S gauge, mostly from postwar AF tooling (though some new tooling has been developed for the AF line). Quite a few postwar accessories have been reissued as well.
Original Gilbert AF locos feature "universal" motors with coil fields which can be reconfigured for DC operation. The simplest way is to remove the E-unit and install a bridge rectifier for using a reverse switch on your DC power supply. A few AF locos had permanent magnet fields for DC-only operation, but they are uncommon.
There are several other companies that make S gauge equipment Such as:
American Models: http://www.americanmodels.com/
S Helper Service: http://www.showcaseline.com/
Des Plains Hobbies: http://www.desplaineshobbies.com/
to name a few.
Most of the locos appearing in this thread are by American Models or S Helper. They do have more intricate detail than AF locos.
Btw, to compare American S Gauge Code .172 track to Gargraves, I've added a couple of pix of the temporary transition between an old Gargraves section and the new AMSG section built for the 2008 show. Gargraves is on the left in each pic, AMSG is on the right. Am American Models Scale truck with scale wheelsets was used to test the transition...
S Scale is 1/64 (3/16 inch = 1 foot) Some like to think of it as "between O scale and H0 scale". Postwar AF is S gauge, but prewar AF is 0 gauge or standard gauge.
AF and Lionel have been wrapped up in the same bundle since the late '60s, but Lionel now makes new AF S gauge, mostly from postwar AF tooling (though some new tooling has been developed for the AF line). Quite a few postwar accessories have been reissued as well.
Original Gilbert AF locos feature "universal" motors with coil fields which can be reconfigured for DC operation. The simplest way is to remove the E-unit and install a bridge rectifier for using a reverse switch on your DC power supply. A few AF locos had permanent magnet fields for DC-only operation, but they are uncommon.
There are several other companies that make S gauge equipment Such as:
American Models: http://www.americanmodels.com/
S Helper Service: http://www.showcaseline.com/
Des Plains Hobbies: http://www.desplaineshobbies.com/
to name a few.
Most of the locos appearing in this thread are by American Models or S Helper. They do have more intricate detail than AF locos.
Btw, to compare American S Gauge Code .172 track to Gargraves, I've added a couple of pix of the temporary transition between an old Gargraves section and the new AMSG section built for the 2008 show. Gargraves is on the left in each pic, AMSG is on the right. Am American Models Scale truck with scale wheelsets was used to test the transition...
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
Greg Elems
Member
AM and SHS both make realistic looking track. AF track can have wooden ties added to help and Gar-Graves makes a more realistic looking track. AM and SHS have the best track IMHO for looks and allowing AF equipment to run on it. SHS sells their cars and engines in sets that are AF compatible or separately with scale sized wheels included. You have to change them out and add your own scale couplers. S scale couplers by Kadee work well and SHS has Kadee compatible couplers of their own.
Greg
Greg
thanks guys, this gets me started, anyway. I would have to change all the couplers any way, perhaps the wheel sets as well, as there are two different coupler types, one is a knuckle and the other is like a hook. the wheels all have bad flanges ect. these trains were in operation until i packed them up last week. however, my sister allowed her two year old to run rampant on the layout and he managed to break alot of it. thanks again and some pics to follow. Ryan
Guy64
Member
It has begun...
The great C+D System mainline upgrade is underway.
First, we must remove the old track, which turns out to be no easy feat! I installed this track with the idea that it should never come off or even shake loose a little from transport mishaps.
Well, mission accomplished! It will be one tedious ordeal removing enough of this stuff to lay down the new roadbed and American S Gauge track. Fortunately, this must be done only once, and not to the six sections that will retain AF track.
That leaves just... nine sections to redo...
Sheesh. This is gonna take longer than I thought.
The great C+D System mainline upgrade is underway.
First, we must remove the old track, which turns out to be no easy feat! I installed this track with the idea that it should never come off or even shake loose a little from transport mishaps.
Well, mission accomplished! It will be one tedious ordeal removing enough of this stuff to lay down the new roadbed and American S Gauge track. Fortunately, this must be done only once, and not to the six sections that will retain AF track.
That leaves just... nine sections to redo...
Sheesh. This is gonna take longer than I thought.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
Guy64
Member
A welcome discovery!
When the GG track was installed, I found I needed roadbed of 3/16" thickness to align the rail height to AF track. Cork roadbed for H0 was the easiest to find with that spec, but it wasn't wide enough for S, so I laid it with a 1/2" gap between the two halves. The gap was filled with ballast.
I didn't foresee that said gap would make the job of prying up the track significantly easier than it might have been.
Rather than trying to bash into the ballast from the top (as I did with my first try), I attacked from one end of the module where it was possible to penetrate the ballast in the 1/2" gap underneath the ties, then just pry them up!
Not as easy as pulling the rails up, but doable in a reasonable amount of time.
Once again, another "specially modified" old, cheap screwdriver came in handy...
When the GG track was installed, I found I needed roadbed of 3/16" thickness to align the rail height to AF track. Cork roadbed for H0 was the easiest to find with that spec, but it wasn't wide enough for S, so I laid it with a 1/2" gap between the two halves. The gap was filled with ballast.
I didn't foresee that said gap would make the job of prying up the track significantly easier than it might have been.
Rather than trying to bash into the ballast from the top (as I did with my first try), I attacked from one end of the module where it was possible to penetrate the ballast in the 1/2" gap underneath the ties, then just pry them up!
Not as easy as pulling the rails up, but doable in a reasonable amount of time.
Once again, another "specially modified" old, cheap screwdriver came in handy...
Attachments
Last edited:
riverotter
Member
Thanks for the tip about using HO cork under S track; I hadn't thought of that angle before...
