Classic Articles From Model Railroader

84 Pages·1980·20.07 MB·English

by  Mike Schafer

^4.50
from
Classic Articles
• concepts • techniques • layouts
that made model railroading the
hobby that today
it is
Model railroading has been fun for the readers of
MODEL RAILROADER magazine since 1934. This collec-
tion of articles re-creates the excitement of the hobby, from
its pioneering days in the 1930's through its tremendous
growth in the 1950's and 1960's.
These carefully selected articles will help old-timers
rediscover some of the hobby's most memorable writers
and railroads and will introduce newcomers to the rich
heritage of model railroading. Here are classics by Al
Kalmbach, John Allen, Frank Ellison, and Jack Work. Here
are track plans by John Armstrong and operating tips from
Linn Westcott. Here is model railroading at its best.
In January 1934Al Kalmbach (left)and two helpers stood infrontof
Al's Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, garage holding all 275 copies of the
first edition of THE MODEL RAILROADER.
from
Classic Articles
The Gulch Route Al Kalmbach January 1936 4-6
In the 1930's model railroading was still a fledgling AAintario on the Canadian border north of Lake Superior
hobby; many fine models of locomotives and other rolling and was completely electrified. Drawing upon his training
stock were being built, butAl Kalmbach, THE MODEL RAIL- in railroad engineering and economics, Al devised timeta-
ROADER'S founder, printer, publisher, and first editor, felt it bles and operating schedules that put the Great Gulch,
was time for model railroading to emphasize the creation Yahoo Valley & Northern RR. in the vanguard of contempo-
of miniatureworlds. HisO scaleGreatGulch, YahooValley rary model railroading.
& Northern RR. was located in the mythical country of
Western Maryland Four-Wheel Caboose J. Harold Geissel March 1936 7
Most issues of MODEL RAILROADER include three-view famous fortheirclarity, grace, and accuracy. The early-day
drawings of railroad equipment and structures. Through four-wheel caboose ha—s always been a—mong his favorite
his more than 300 drawings J. Harold Geissel, registered subjects.Thisdrawing hisfirstforMR showsaWestern
architect, live steam modeler in 1" scale, and gifted Marylandcaboosetypical ofthesmall,old-timeequipment
draftsman, helped to establish MODEL RAILROADER'S style he likes.
ofdrawing locomotivesand rolling stock. Hisdrawingsare
20 Years of Model Railroading John Page January 1954 8-13
Model railroading and MODEL RAILROADER are so ing writer, John reported that the hobby had triumphed
closely intertwined thata historyofone isvirtuallya history over Depression poverty and World War II shortages to
of the other. Itwas appropriate, therefore, for MODEL RAIL- emerge in the 1950swith strong supportfrom manufactur-
ROADER'S third editor, John Page, to celebrate MR's 20th ers, publishers, hobby shop owners, and thousands of en-
anniversary with a survey of North American model rail- thusiastic modelers.
roadingfromthe 1930'stothe 1950s. Anaffable,entertain-
Compiled by Mike Schafer
k BOOKS
KALMBACH
c 1980by Kalmbach PublishingCo. All rightsreserved. Thisbookmaynotbereproduced inpartor
inwholewithoutwritten permissionfromthepublisher, exceptinthecaseofbriefquotationsused in
reviews. PublishedbyKalmbach PublishingCo., 1027 NorthSeventhStreet, Milwaukee,Wl 53233.
Printed in U.S.A. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 79-90508. ISBN: 0-89024-545-2.
What Kind of Industries Should Your Pike Have? Boyce Martin January 1954_14-17
An accomplished essayist and winner of MODEL RAIL- dustries such as minesand millsshould be linked by rail to
ROADER'S 1950 "How I built my layout"contest, Boyce Mar- consuming anddistributing industriessuch asfactoriesand
tin wasalsoacarefulobserverofrailroadeconomics. In this warehouses. His point that careful study of prototype rail-
clearly written article heexplained thata model railroader roadsandtheirindustriesfurnishesthebestbasisforselect-
becomes a student of economic geography when he plans ing the industriesfor a model railroad is as relevanttoday
the facilities his trains will service. In order to provide the as when it first appeared in print.
greatest number of operating possibilities, producing in-
Delta Lines Frank Ellison November 1955 18-23
Frank Ellison built his O scale Delta Lines in the late producer by profession, he saw a model railroad as an
1930's.The layoutincluded3100feetoftrack, 200switches, artistic whole with its own conventions of spectacle, plot,
37 bridgesandculverts, 8tunnels, and 1225 squarefeetof and character. The purposeof his layoutwastoentertain its
completely landscaped topography. It was an ambitious operators and spectators. He popularized these ideas in
projectforany period, butFrank never bragged aboutthat. more than 50 MODEL RAILROADER articles, expanding the
To him the layoutwas merelythestageon which miniature vision of the hobby and raising its standards.
trains acted out the drama of railroading. A theatrical
Aging and Weathering Cars and Locomotives John Allen December 955 and January
1
1956 24-31
John Allen used his talents as a professional photogra- photographsandasinspirationforothermodel railroaders.
pher to revolutionize model railroad photography His John was alsoan early proponentofweathering structures
dioramas and panoramic layout views showed the excite- and equipmentto givethem a lived-in atmosphere. In this
ment that could be achieved through careful control of article he explained how to use common artist's materials
lighting and perspective. His HO scale Gorre & Daphetid such as pastel chalks tosimulatewearand tearon railroad
(pronounced "gory and defeated") served as subjectfor his equipment.
Behind the Scenes Bartlett Frost November and December 1956 32-41
Bartlett Frost, assistant director and modelbuilder at the tation, and taught how to duplicate colors and textures.
Detroit Historical Museum, promoted the sensible notion Spectacular color photographs of the Detroit Historical
that model railroad scenic materials should be based as Museum's layoutfully demonstrated the truth of his teach-
much as possibleon natural growth. He showed howto use ing. Recentscenerytechniques use morecommercial mate-
bits and pieces of stems and stalks to create realistic trees rials (as Bartlett predicted would be the case), but still rely
and ground cover. He stressed studying the underlying heavily on natural materials and methods similarto those
geologicstructuresthatdetermine surface shapeand vege- described here.
Tidewater Central Gordon Odegard December 1956 and January 1957 42-49
MODEL RAILROADER staff project railroads are one of the Odegard designed it to be simple and reliable, yet it fea-
magazine's most popular features. They sample materials tured interesting sceneryand operating possibilities. Itwas
and techniques currently in use and inform readers of new a project that a beginner could build and it demonstrated
developments. The Tidewater Central, a 4x6 foot HO lay- that model railroad suppliers in the mid-1950's were pro-
out, showed thatan interesting model railroad need notfill ducing sucha widerangeofmaterialsandrollingstockthat
an entire basement or require years of work. Gordon a complete layout could be built "out of the box."
The Case for the Nonbranching Branch John Armstrong April 1957 50-54
Many of John Armstrong's intriguing track plans are plans drawon hisyearsofwork asa mechanical engineer,
based upon railroads of his native upstate New York. The years of enjoyment with his O scale Canandaigua South-
Dansville & Mount Morris RR. inspired the branch line lay- ern, and years of study of railroads around the world. So
outs in thisarticle. John squeezed lotsofoperation intovery accurate and extensive is his knowledge that several U.S.
little space without violating plausible railroad practice railroads use his model railroad books on operation and
and without cluttering the layout. John's fascinating track track planning to train new employees.
Narrow Gauge Combination Caboose Jack Work December 1957 55-59
Canadian modelerJackWorkfound inspirationformany prolificcontributors. His projectswerefavorites because the
of hiscarand structure projectsnear his home in Nanaimo, average builder could follow his instructions and produce
Vancouver Island, British Columbia. He won first prize in very creditable models. His step-by-step instructions are so
MODEL RAILROADER'S "You're an author" contest in Decern- clearly written that they have served as models for many
ber 1956 and soon became one of the magazine's most other how-to writers.
Smoke Along the River Linn Westcoff November 1958 60-61
From April 1957 to April 1961 MODEL RAILROADER fea- Appel's 00 gauge Norfolk & Ohio showed ponderous ma-
tured a monthly frontispiece photo titled "Railroading As chinery in graceful motion as a 2-8-8-2 led its string of
You Like It." This frontispiece was always chosen to evoke boxcarsalong the sweeping banks of the James River near
the excitement and drama of model railroading. In Lynchburg, Virginia.
November 1958 Linn Westcott's panoramic view of Carl
Norfolk & Ohio Revisited Linn Westcoff November 1958 62-66
Model railroad scales and gauges come and go. Ameri- Boomer Pete, first described the Norfolk & Ohio in the
can 00 gave way to HO in the late 1950s, but not before August 1948 issue of MODEL RAILROADER, calling itone of
Carl Appel provedthata mastermodelercanworkwonders the best planned and executed layouts he had ever seen,
in any gauge or scale. His OO Norfolk & Ohio combined Ten years later in November 1958 Carl was still at work
elementsofthe Chesapeake&Ohioand Norfolk& Western rearranging the track to provide point-to-point operation
into a harmonious blend of railroading in the southern and planning to install new signals and power supplies.
Appalachians. Al Kalmbach, using his pseudonym of
Can Derailments Be Banished? Completely? Linn Westcoff July 1963 67-69
No matter how magnificentthedesign, a model railroad roader could indeed banish derailments by following a
mustoperatereliablyor itwill becomesofrustratingthatno simple routine ofclose inspection, adherence to standards,
one will derive any enjoyment from it. In this article Linn and frequent maintenance. In the years since this article,
Westcottreported thatequipmentwasnowbeing manufac- attention to the areas Linn wrote about has dramatically
tured to such high standards that the average model rail- improved reliability.
This Could Be Your Pike John Allen March 1963 70-71
ThissuperbsceneatPortonJohnAllen'sfabulousGorre& There is potential for action from all directions on the
Daphetid illustrated Linn Westcott'sthesisthatany modeler ground-level trackage,andtheoverpassallowsforbalcony
could produce at leastone spectacular scene if he planned scenes, a centuries-old feature of stage design. The G-D
carefully and took the time to do the job right. John inten- Line wasa large HO layout, but it wasquality, notquantity
tionally built dramatic photographic possibilities into Port. or scale or gauge, that made this scene a classic.
—
Diesels Like 'em! Charles Wood November 1963 72-76
I
For many years, model railroaders engaged in friendly steam equipment. Both factors created difficulties for the
debatesoverthe meritsof steam versus diesel. Some mod- model railroader interested in contemporary railroading,
elers ran all steam, others ran mixed rosters of steam and Fortunately, by 1963 diesel modelswereofequal qualityto
diesel. Ironically, model steam locomotives reached a very steam, more diesel models were becoming available, and
high level of development in the late 1950s when steam modelers had learned to modify stock items to suit their
locomotives were fast disappearing from North American needs,
railroads. Model diesels were often of lower quality than
OOO
Gauge, the Smallest of the Small Ted Brandon February 1964 77-79
Model railroading, like railroading, was imported to North American rolling stock. N scale has become popular
North America from Europe. Many of the current model with apartment dwellers and others who must build lay-
railroad scales and gauges originated in England or Ger- outs i—n small spaces. It's no longer the smallest o—f the
many. Triple O was a British and German invention that small Mdrklin's Z scale now claims that distinction but
flourished briefly in North America in the late 1950s and most of Ted Brandon's hints and tips can be used by con-
early 1960s. It provided a starting pointfor N scale, which temporary N-scalers.
uses the same 9 mm. gauge but is better proportioned for
The Model Railroader
The
Gulch Route
Your Editor's O Gauge Road
Served Province of Mintario.
attic and consists of a main line of 100 feet,
roughly an oval, and with half of this double
tracked. Minimum curves are 10' radius. The
six track freight yard has 12-car tracks. A
branch, cutting across the oval through some
mountains, was under construction when ser-
vice was abandoned.
The name of the road came from the "great
gulch" where the attic stairs came up. Great
Gulch was on one side of the loop and Yahoo
Valley on the other. The geography of this un-
realistic oval was reconciled by an imaginary
countryside shown in the timetable map accom-
panying this article.
The board of directors early decided it would
be wise to locate the road where there would be
no interference from the I. C. C, and so it was
in Mintario. In case you've forgotten your geo-
HPhe Great Gulch, Yahoo Valley, & Northern graphy, Mintario is an imaginary country lo-
* RR., O gauge line built and operated by your cated on the Canadian border north of Lake
Superior. (Scale maps are so inaccurate that
Editor, has not been active during the past year,
they completely ignore Mintario.) In Mintario
owing to several changes of address, but for six
the Gulch Route officials were the government,
or seven years before that it was always up to and so there was no trouble with truck or bus
somthing, and had most of the young lads of the
competition.
neighborhood on its operating staff. Before The Model Railroader started and
Most of the layout and equipment was built
when a pair of trucks cost more than a whole there was lots of spare time in the Kalmbach
print shop, timetables, business cards, letter-
car does now, and so original methods were de-
heads, bulletins, and other typographic scenery
veloped ofmaking everything from stock mater-
were prepared to help make the pike more real-
ials obtainable locally. For instance, the track
was built of strap iron, as described in the istic. So well did this succeed that some people
' seriously asked what were the possibilities of a
March, 1934, Model Railroader. Cars were built
of sheet iron, riveted so that they withstood any vacation trip to Great Gulch, and where was it!
One of these timetables is shown in part. The
kind of service.
station names came partly from local color along
Originally the road was merely a loop of track the line and partly from the fertile brain of
with two spring switch passing sidings, with Frank Zeidler, general passenger agent and one
inside third rail to accomodate tinplate locomo- of the founders.
tives. This was soon changed over to outside The real layout followed the timetable mile-
third rail, and then after some experiments with ages at a scale of six inches per mile. In other
overhead trolley an entirely new line was built words a freight train could stop in most of a
using overhead single suspension, later changed division at once. For actual operating only the
to catenary. most important stations were used.
This Gulch Route III was and is located in an Early equipment was built to ,;" scale, but
for January, 1936
Some views along the Gulch Route.
later when it was discovered that V4" scale was A bulletin board usually was papered with no-
common, it was used. Measurements for plans tices from the general freight agent, W. P.
were taken first hand in the yards or from Graham, or the superintendent of transporta-
drawings in Railway Age. Wheels were made tion, J. R. Kuhn.
up by a local screw machine company and The first time that two locomotives were in
pressed on axles. The steeple cab electric loco- operation the crew "worked" late at night, es-
motives could pull ten sheet metal cars. One pecially after we discovered that one loco ran
sheetmetalcaboose, tothe same designshown in slightly faster. Two trains were started out in
the December, 1934, Model Railroader, was the same direction. Every seventh time around,
weighted down with a pound of lead poured into running continually, one would catch up, and
its sheet metal tool box, and this car proved the trick was to pass the trains on the double
positively wreck proof. After a pileup it was withoutslowing either. There were some narrow
invariably found right up in back of the loco- escapes, and some smashes.
motive, with all the other cars piled around the After working up the imaginary countryside
right of way and even over the track in back tofitthe GulchRoute, itwasnaturaltowork out
of it. interchange connections. The Bay Line of Harry
On Saturday afternoons the road was oper- Bondurant connected at Yahoo Valley (al-
ated by a dispatcher, several station agents, and though the cars some way came up the attic
a yardmaster. There was no attempt to run by stairs and landed in the middle of the MaGehee
timetable, and all trains were extras. Scale Mountain division). Later the Lake Shore
time hadn't been invented, and running time Short Line of Linn Westcott leased trackage
was given in seconds. A big blackboard at Great rights into Great Gulch. It ran along the shore
Gulch served as train board, but some wag was of Lake Superior, and provided an outlet to let
always putting "missing" after the train times. out all better Mintarians. Still later it bought
Timetable map of the G. G., Y. V.. & N. RR.
M
nn
^^M^^BH
The Model Railroader
TABLEA GREATGULCH TO YAHOO VALLEY VIA YAHOO VALLEYDIVISION
.'ND-Readdo»n WESTBOUr'
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Subsiuia
Portions of the Gulch Route's passenger timetable for the crack division.
up the Soo Line (oh, yeah!) and continued to and then again most of the main would be sig-
Milwaukee and Chicago. Together the Gulch nalled. Usually the out of the way corners were
Route and the Lake Shore projected and built signalled so the indications could be seen from
the Great Gulch, Hudson Bay, North Pole, & the controlboard. Main switcheshadpilot dwarf
Northern, a valuable feeder. signals.
Strip track is not as realistic as the scale As an electrical laboratory the Gulch Route
track used now, and at present prices for rail it was fine. All the distribution problems were
is not so much cheaper. But it did serve the worked out along the lines of actual practice,
Gulch Route as a fairly realistic and very and there were many interesting troubles, es-
smooth running permanent way. The photos pecially concerning backfeed of signal currents.
show how it is ballasted up with paper mache A system of remote control was worked out
so that only thetop ofthe rail and ties show and using a spark coil disturbance impressed on the
it looks almost like the real thing. The overhead trolley wire and picked up by an aerial on the
trolley gives smooth continuous flow of current, roofofacontrolcar,butitwasruled outbecause
without the trouble of third rail. We still think of radio interference. Locomotives were equip-
that electric type locos with overhead trolley are ped with bus and control sockets at each end so
about the most realistic form of model motive they could be double headed using one revers-
power. At night, with all but signal lights out, ing switch and one trolley, and these sockets
these locomotives make a pretty picture with proved very useful for tests. Testing equipment
trolleys sparking and headlights gleaming down was carried in a gondola car coupled to the
the rails. locomotive. The motor could be connected
Although the freight yards at Awratz "had a shunt, compound, or series, or the field could be
separate control board and a telphone line to shunted by a reostat, and the effects easily de-
the main control board, the phone line was termined (although there were so many varying
never used, because one could hear the other conditions that nothing really useful ever was
end better without benefit of the phone. determined, except that you can't tell about
Signalling was mostly experimental. First model locomotives).
item to be installed was a track diagram which Thus the Gulch Route was. And thus and
stayed in service all the years, and was most much more we hope it will be some day when
useful. But the block signals were of various weagainhave space to run a model railroad and
types and never stayed on the job very long can start over again, profiting by all the ex-
because something new was always being sub- perience that has been passed back and forth
stituted. At times there were no block signals, over our desk and through these pages.
for March, 1936
. .. /
Mode
Years
of
Photographic
Flashback?''
By John Page
Were any historian to write a recreational history of the U. S., one of its most
lively and amazing chapters would certainly concern the origin and growth of
model railroading into one of the nation's leading hobbies in the incredibly
short span of two decades. Model Railroader magazine and the hobby were
children together, so to speak, and grew up together, so the anniversary of
one is virtually the anniversary of the other too. Model Railroader is proud
and happy about the role it was privileged to play in making model railroading
what it is today. To celebrate our 20th anniversary we have compiled this
photo story of important events and trends in the hobby over the past 20 years.
The Early Years
l"l/'HO was the first model railroader? Probably Matthew
Murray, of Leeds, England, who in 1815 built a demonstra-
tion model of a small cog locomotive his firm, Senton, Murray
and woods, had designed and built for a local colliery. The
model was 1ii'th full size and operated on a 2 ft. long section
of track. And who is the newest model railroader? No one
can know, for he is entering the hobby as you read this. Per-
haps it happened when curiosity prompted him to enter a hob-
by shop near his office to while away a few spare lunchtime
minutes. Or maybe he picked up a copy of Model Rail-
roader at a train station for something different to read on
his trip. But most likely, he has become a model railroader
by sudden exposure to the most devastating form of the hob-
—
by virus the thrill of seeing a model railroad in operation,
either at the home of a friend, or at a club show. But one
thing is certain: Our friend today will have a far, far easier
time of it than did his counterpart of 20 or 25 years ago.
Many of the 900 or so model railroaders of that day built all
their equipment completely from scratch even to casting their
drivers. Others relied on professional modelbuilders. As one
wag put it, "Back then, you had to be either a millionaire or a
machinist." Like many another good crack, this wasn't 100
per cent true. Some model railroaders of that day purchased
such basic parts as drivers, car wheels, motors, mechanisms,
and couplers from the few liny English and American model
railroad suppliers of the era, and somehow got them together
without the aid of a machine shop. Others converted Lionel,
American Flyer, Ives, or Voltamp tinplate engines and cars to
something nearer to scale. Many a modeler operated on track
made of strap iron inserted edgewise into slotted wood ties.
There were no complete kits, although groups of castings for
certain locos and cars were available. You bought wheels from
one manufacturer, a motor from another, truckside framecast-
tings from a third, blueprints from a fourth, and so on.
There was no nearby hobby shop. You ordered by direct mail.
Advertisements for these precious wares appeared only in a
few general modelbuilding magazines. And you didn't find
Here are some typical early models dating back to the mid-'20's these at your local newsstand. They were ordered by direct
The top two engines, both 2" gauge, were made of parts from Voltamp mail, too. Along with the few articles on model railroading
and Ives tinplate equipment. The PRR Pacific was an Egolf custom- were articles on building boats, airplanes, radio sets, stationery
built O gauge model. This OO gauge coach was scratch-built in 1927. steam engines, and what have you.
Model Railroader