Conversion To Narrow Gauge Hoppers
I've been focused on working on Lukey's train set (new scenery, new buildings, new trains) for some presents this coming Christmas. While I was looking for stuff for Lukey's train set, I ran across something which caused me to change gears briefly.
For quite some time now, I've been reading about modelers who convert old S scale American Flyer freight cars to O scale narrow gauge. O scale is a larger scale than S scale but narrow gauge trains are purposefully smaller than their standard gauge counterparts so the smaller S scale trains often measure just right for O scale narrow gauge.
"Standard gauge" trains are the trains we see running around our real life world today... the rails are almost five feet apart (4'-8½", to be exact) and the trains are quite large. In smaller, tighter places, however, smaller trains were necessary (and a few are still running today)... ie, winding through mountains, dense woods, around wharfs, in industrial complexes, even congested urban areas are places where smaller trains on smaller tracks are more cost effective. At times and in many circumstances, only these narrow gauge trains would physically be capable of completing a job in these locations because of their smaller sizes.
Narrow gauge trains were produced in a few different configurations. Some railroads had tracks with rails that were only 48 inches apart... some had tracks with rails that were 36 inches apart... some at 30 inches... some at 24 inches... and some industrial parks had even smaller trains. I'm modeling trains which are on tracks with rails only 30 inches apart so these trains are significantly smaller than the standard gauge trains that run on tracks with rails almost 5 feet apart.
I plan to model standard gauge O scale (traditional Lionel sized trains) with transfers to and from On30 scale trains (tracks with rails only 30 inches apart) all on the same layout/scenes. As I find good deals, I purchase what I need to create what I envision.
My hobbies are all done on a very limited budget so I'm always looking deals and only buy when I find bargain basement prices... whether it be in model railroading or photography or home improvements.
I found some S scale American Flyer hoppers on eBay about a week ago. These trains ranged from $5 to $10 each. I'm interested in having some coal on my future O scale layout so finding hoppers for both standard gauge and narrow gauge is something which interested me. As soon as I found these four hoppers at these prices, I purchased them in an instant!
In order to convert these four coal hoppers to O scale narrow gauge, I'll need to swap the trucks to ones which will run on my On30 trackage... some realistically-looking O scale couplers... and then swap out some other details like stirrup steps, grab irons, and brake mechanisms so that these cars look more realistic and to scale in O scale.
I've already removed the old trucks and couplers and mounted On30 scale trucks on one hopper to see how it looks and works... so far things are looking good! There are some other details to cut off... then I need to strip the paint... add new O scale details... then do some painting.
This should be pretty fun and the results should be quite nice! I now have my baseline photos of the original trains. As I complete different steps in this conversion, I'll shoot more photos to show the progress.
Below, you can see how much of a difference just removing the original American Flyer trucks and couplers makes...
For quite some time now, I've been reading about modelers who convert old S scale American Flyer freight cars to O scale narrow gauge. O scale is a larger scale than S scale but narrow gauge trains are purposefully smaller than their standard gauge counterparts so the smaller S scale trains often measure just right for O scale narrow gauge.
"Standard gauge" trains are the trains we see running around our real life world today... the rails are almost five feet apart (4'-8½", to be exact) and the trains are quite large. In smaller, tighter places, however, smaller trains were necessary (and a few are still running today)... ie, winding through mountains, dense woods, around wharfs, in industrial complexes, even congested urban areas are places where smaller trains on smaller tracks are more cost effective. At times and in many circumstances, only these narrow gauge trains would physically be capable of completing a job in these locations because of their smaller sizes.
 |
| One of four American Flyer S scale hoppers... the clunky American Flyer couplers and trucks need to go! |
I plan to model standard gauge O scale (traditional Lionel sized trains) with transfers to and from On30 scale trains (tracks with rails only 30 inches apart) all on the same layout/scenes. As I find good deals, I purchase what I need to create what I envision.
My hobbies are all done on a very limited budget so I'm always looking deals and only buy when I find bargain basement prices... whether it be in model railroading or photography or home improvements.
 |
| Some of the detail here needs to be cut off and replaced with custom O scale details... the trucks and couplers are the first to go. |
In order to convert these four coal hoppers to O scale narrow gauge, I'll need to swap the trucks to ones which will run on my On30 trackage... some realistically-looking O scale couplers... and then swap out some other details like stirrup steps, grab irons, and brake mechanisms so that these cars look more realistic and to scale in O scale.
I've already removed the old trucks and couplers and mounted On30 scale trucks on one hopper to see how it looks and works... so far things are looking good! There are some other details to cut off... then I need to strip the paint... add new O scale details... then do some painting.
This should be pretty fun and the results should be quite nice! I now have my baseline photos of the original trains. As I complete different steps in this conversion, I'll shoot more photos to show the progress.
Below, you can see how much of a difference just removing the original American Flyer trucks and couplers makes...
 |
| At left, the original American Flyer S scale hopper... at right, one of the hoppers with new scale On30 trucks and the clunky American Flyer coupler removed. This will look even more realistic when I install the new O scale coupler. |
 |
| At left (the rear), the hopper with the original American Flyer trucks and clunky coupler... At right (the front), one of the American Flyer hoppers with the coupler and truck removed and new scale On30 trucks installed... quite a difference already! |
Comments
Post a Comment