The freelanced railroad the Augusta & New Arcadia RR is set in the Eastern US in the 1930’s. The railroad connects the coastal city of New Arcadia with the smaller city of Augusta at the foot of the mountains. Here, a network of narrow gauge track expands into the mountains to small towns as well as mining and logging operations.
The railroad has been in operation since the 1840’s. Profits have never been great, and a tendency to hold on to old equipment has decreased expenses in the short run, but have made everything worse in the long run.
One of the first steps in making the Augusta & New Arcadia RR come alive is to detail, paint, letter and weather a number of locomotives. In this post I will present the HO scale candidates for the first additions to the fleet.
The oldest is made by Bachmann and is supposed to depict the locomotive Jupiter in service of the U.S. Military R.R. during the American Civil War.
The locomotive is a good runner, but is lacking details. It is also of a very old prototype that would be close to 70 years old in my time period.
Against the inclusion of the locomotive are also the cab filled with something (additional weight?) and the lack of DCC or even a decoder plug.
A more interesting locomotive is this likewise old Mantua 4-4-0, which I bought on eBay some time ago. I believe the original owner replaced the motor in the engine, so it runs excellent, able to crawl along a very slow speed without stopping.
The motor is in the tender, so perhaps there is room for decoder there as well. In any case, the ugly-looking wood simulation has to go and a new paint job is in order.
At the great Railroad Line Forums, a thread tells the story of two similar locomotives and their transformation in more 1890’s looking types.
The newest small steamer from Bachmann arrived by mail today. It is inexpensive, a good runner and even has sound.
According to the Model Railroader magazine, the prototype of the model was made by Alco in 1924, so in might be a bit too new for the Arcadia & Eden RR. On the other hand, the Mogul type has been around since the 1860’s, so it might be backdated a bit and still suit my purposes.
Another great loco from Bachmann Spectrum is this modernized 4-4-0, that shares many characteristics with the 2-6-0 above – inexpensive, a good runner and DCC as well as sound from the start. This will probably be one of the first locos to be added to the A&NA RR.
A charming old loco, apparently made by Mantua long ago, is this 4-6-0.
I bought it on eBay for $50, but when it arrived, bits had fallen off despite the careful packaging. Parts seem a bit loose here and there, so it will probably take quite some effort to get a well running and detailed locomotive out of this old model.
Nevertheless, I really like the look of the old-fashioned 4-6-0 with its rather small boiler, which gives it and 1870-1880’s look in my eyes.
The final loco in my collection suitable for being converted into a freelanced model is the Ten-Wheeler, also from Bachmann Spectrum. It has been out of production for some years now, but can easily be found on eBay. A beautiful and in this respect large locomotive which will probably one of the larger engines to join the A&NA RR.
So, which one do I start with, and can you recommend a good place for custom decals?
Epoch 