More of Mike's trains

[artfull dodger]

With my new job and much higher income, comes the ablity to enjoy my obsession/hobby much easier. One of my passions in the smaller scale(HO scale) is brass models. Moslty made in Japan and then South Korea once the cost to build the models in Japan became to expensive. These are hand assembled, one at a time and are works of art in thier own right. Some of mine are painted, some are nice shiny brass. Here are a few of my models that I have recently purchased.
First up is an Interurban passenger coach, these ran off an overhead wire and took people all over the place before the automobile and paved roads came about. Kind of a rural trolley/streetcar. They were fast and very quiet.

Next up is a model of Sierra Railroad #38, a Mallet type locomotive

This is one of my really nice factory painted models, an EMD F3 diesel

last is a Climax geared engine used for logging and mining railroads. Designed for rough and steep track.

 

[Mia]

Wow Mike, beautiful, all of them.

 

[Warmheart]

Thank you for sharing, Mike! I love these! Your attention to detail is so thrilling!

 

[Mia]

Mike, the lower picture is my spouses Grandfather driving what looks like a similar diesel to the EMDF diesel that you have as a model. Is that what it is?

 

[Butterfly88]

Very nice Mike!

 

[artfull dodger]

Mia, that is an Alco FA series diesel, Alcos where known for lots of black exhaust smoke when quickly accelerating due to turbo charger lag. Many called them honorary steam engines due to this. They were the competitor to the EMD F series diesel. Unfortunatly they played second fiddle to EMD and closed up in the late 1960's. EMD F units had a 2 cycle diesel and no turbo charger. They had a throaty exhaust roar and whine from the main generator that was unique to them. I can fall asleep listening to a F unit running! EMD is still around, although nolonger owned by General Motors. Nice pics, thanks for posting.

 

[artfull dodger]

Here is a pic of my diesel pulling a short freight. Mike

 

[Sherlock77]

Very nice trains!

 

[Myway]

I know someone who is very much into trains. He loves talking about trains. He even loves to build the models, so when I saw this it made me think of him. I love your pictures. They are great looking trains.

 

[artfull dodger]

Thanks, here is a pic of the Interurban car and the new power poles that will eventualy have the overhead wire(trolley wire) that will supply power to the car via the poles on top that in the down(stowed) position right now. Need many more poles first though.

 

[Pariah Dog]

Nice stuff. I had an obsession with model trains, and just trains in general as a kid. It seems to be something that comes up commonly among aspies.

I remember those brass locomotives can be incredibly expensive. My dad had set out to build and N scale model railway and got pretty much everything he needed but the project never took off. It would have been about an 80s-90s era freelance North American freight type of railroad. He had (and still has packed away in boxes) Many, many locomotives and rolling stock. The much more affordable Plastic body types with lead weights inside.

Do you intend to paint your unpainted brass models?

 

[artfull dodger]

Yes, I do plan to paint one of them, the Interurban car. The steam locomotive will remain unpainted as it was given to my by a long time friend and it will be mostly for display. My layout will focus on the electric Interurban railway with the proper trolley wire strung between the poles for the car to run off of. The Interurban runs very quiet, and thats important to me as an Aspie. Many older brass engines are noisy and that bothers my hearing. I wear my ear muffs enough at work, I would rather not wear them when enjoying my trains. Mike