Locomotives and Equipment

Locomotives

I’m rather partial to the nominally 1/24th scale 1880’s style 2-8-0s that were produced by Delton and Aristo-Craft and can still be found at decent prices. The railway also has a Kalamazoo 4-4-0, Hartland 4-4-0, and Lionel 0-6-0T all awaiting significant modification on the shop shelves as well.

#1 – The Bob Ross

Locomotive number one, known as the Bob Ross as a result of the artwork on its headlight, is a standard Aristo-Craft C16 with a custom paint job, a new stack acquired from Shapeways, a basic Dallee whistle, and tender-mounted battery and radio control. The first locomotive I acquired for the railway, aside from having to glue the rims back on the wheels, it still runs great.

#2 – The Cheyenne

Locomotive number two, named the Cheyenne, began its life as a broken Delton C16 I picked up for spare parts but managed to get working. Unlike locomotive one, the Cheyenne was powered by a trailing car. Unfortunately, after just a few operating sessions, she stripped her gears. Rather than retire her, I carefully fit her superstructure onto a newly acquired Aristo-Craft belt-drive chassis, swapping out her Congdon-style stack with a Stevens one. With her lower profile and slightly muted color scheme, she’s become the prime workhorse of the B&MGRR. Recently, she acquired a custom brass nameplate on the cab. You can read about how I created her modified cab here.

Roundhouse ‘Jennie’

The railroad’s first live steam locomotive, this basic series 0-4-2 from Roundhouse Engineering in the UK doesn’t really fit with the western-themed railway, but it sure is fun to operate. The folks at Roundhouse were great to work with and this locomotive ended up with a customized paint scheme, polished bonnet for the safety valve, and an installed pressure gauge. Folks say Roundhouse locomotives are bulletproof for novice live steam enthusiasts, and I had no trouble firing it up for its first run. It also pairs well with a couple of Bachmann Thomas & Friends UK-style coaches. Currently, it’s on the workbench being “Americanized” with a new cab, domes, and the addition of a headlamp.

Mockup of the Americanization project. An old Delton brass headlamp and bracket, Accucraft domes, and a custom cab and roof should do the trick. Here the cab is cardstock, but after several tries, I managed to fabricate one out of thin metal sheet. Roundhouse Engineering’s Sandy River rounded domes also work great on this size boiler if Accucraft fluted domes are unavailable.

#3 – Pioneer

The railroad’s second foray into live steam wasn’t quite as successful as with the Roundhouse Jennie. This second-hand, all-black, Accucraft Mogul didn’t last long until the main water heater line broke and I started to burn the paint off the smokebox. With some repair help from The Train Department, I disassembled, fixed and repainted it into this rather handsome burgundy and black addition to the line.

A beauty shot before final assembly after the rebuild.
One of the last photos before the waterline completely broke. The undecorated version was still a very fine-looking locomotive

In the Workshop

Currently the railroad has an Accucraft 4-4-0 awaiting testing and a new Accucraft Ruby that’s getting a Bowande Tender from The Train Department. Two Hartland Locomotive Works engines also awaiting repainting – a 4-4-0, and a 2-6-0, and there’s a Lionel 0-6-0 awaiting an eventual transformation into a Mason Bogie.

Rolling Stock

Currently the B&MGRR relies on a mix of nominally 1/24th scale (or close enough) rolling stock from Kalamazoo (cabooses, boxcars, gondolas), Delton (passenger cars), Bachmann (passenger cars), and Heartland Locomotive Works (passenger cars, boxcars, cattle cars, and gondolas). If it looks good, and makes a fun addition to operations, we don’t worry about counting rivets. Almost all the railway’s rolling stock was acquired from eBay.