\Osemite Short Line

There are two tales here: modeling in any scale or gauge in a limited space (thanks to a drop-leaf module) ; and modeling inexpensively in large-scale narrow gauge (thanks to the use of HO components in %" scale) /Lawrence Patch

D espite over 15 years of building W'­scale structures, rolling stock and mo­

tive power-all, oddly enough, for 30-inch gauge-space limitations seemed to pre­clude having a railroad on which to operate and test the equipment. Inspiration pro­vided by articles in RMC (such as David Cast's " 0 Scale + HO = On2Y2" in November 1962 and Bill Livingston's de­scription of his On2Y2 Venango Valley rail­road in June 1971) kept the pot boiling, however, and i finally designed a railroad

40 MAY 1\178

On30" modeling-utilizing HO gauge locomotive chassis, trucks and track components in v.'' scale, resulting in a narrow gauge about halfway between the typical36" gauge lines and the Maine two-footers-is a mixture of stock 0 scale items and kitbashing. Ella depot (below) is a Suncoast kit altered with board-and-battern siding, while the water tank is an HO Atlas plastic

tank set on a wood frame (left, below). Similarly, the oil tank (left, top) is an HO tank car shell set on %"-square timbers. Diesel 9 (above) has a scratch­built superstructure riding on an HO Bachmann switcher chassis. Representative of the steam fleet is No. 3 (left, top) which started as a Tyco 4-6-0 kit (HO) and got a larger cab and a styrene-wrapped boiler for bulk.

which almost anyone can find space for, will handle 1,4'' scale (narrow-gauge) equipment, and can later be incorporated as a module into a much larger railroad if the opportunity ari es.

The railroad is called the Yosemite Short Line. Like Cast and Livingston, I was at­racted by the potential of using HO tandard-gauge components (locomotive

cha i , trucks, etc.) as a basis for an 0 (%") ale narrow-gauge railroad. This scale/

au e combination used to be known as

= LROM> ODEL CRAFTSMAN

On2¥2, but today it is more commonly called On30", just as HOn2¥2 (N gauge track and components used to model HO narrow gauge) is now known as HOn30". Since the On30" fancier can resort to inexpensive HO mechanisms, trucks, couplers and even track components, it offers an economical way to get into narrow-gauge modeling. I'll describe the motive power, rolling stock and structures a bit later, but of more importance to me is the fact that On30" has one othl!r advantage: compactness. This virtue al-

lowed me to build the Yosemite Short Line module in a 2x8-foot space; a drop-leaf rear section (which folds out of the way for stor­age) provides space for a complete oval so that I can operate the lower line contin­uously while the module is serving as a complete railroad in itself. Yet even with the drop-leaf erected, the space requirement is only 4x8-typical of small HO layouts. With a scenic backdrop in place, the drop-leaf sec­tion 'is not readily visible from the front or operational side of the module.

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The module requires only two-by-eight feet of storage space when the drop-leaf (visible in the photo below) is folded down. With the leaf up, %"-scale railroadmg is possible in only a four-by-eight foot area. Since the "layout" is viewed as a possible module (see page 44). no extreme efforts were made to connect upper " switching " area with lower mainline, although a switchback might havE! been added. The only major drawback of my trackplan

design is that it is based on modular con­cepts. Thus, the upper switching area­which will be reached by trackwork on other modular sections as shown in the drawings on page 44--can be reached only by re­sorting to the five-finger "big hook" at the present time. Even so, it is a small price to pay to have an operating \14"-scale railroad at long last despite my lack of "space for a layout."

While many modelers will not share my interest in On30" or even narrow-gauge modeling, the same drop-leaf idea can be adapted to other scales and gauges with equal ease and may solve the space problem for you as well as it did for me. The drop-leaf section was made of particle board fastened to lx4 framing (the main section is also con­structed this way). It is hinged via two metal hinges, and two lx2 supports hold the drop­leaf up. Cardstock or matboard (\14" thick) was cut out cookie-cutter style to provide a smooth roadbed atop the particle board. Loose rail joiners align the tracks when the drop-leaf is used. umerous lx2 cross­members, all bolted for ease of disassembly, provide tremendous strength. All rail is code 100 on individual ties, but sectional track was used on the drop-leaf section as this is out of sight when normally viewed, yet speeded construction (an advantage of the On30" concept).

Operation of the upper switching yard is handled by one power pack hung on the front of the layout. By unplugging a Cinch-

42 MAY 1978

Jones plug, then plugging it into the lower connector, operation~ around the loop are accomplished-very simple, but it works. Two power supplit~s could be used, as the upper yard is totally independent from the lower. Again, this is due to the design prem­ise that the YSL is basically a large module that can be worked into a larger layout when time and space permit. Both ends of the switching yard easily lend themselves to fu­ture expansion. The original plan allows for the single spur siding on the loop to join into another section of a more permanent, larger layout. Since only a small , fairl y straight ec­tion of the loop is for viewing, it could also be readily adapted to a larger layout with the drop-leaf section of the loop removed and the tunnels filled in.

Before I describe specific details, I should also mention another reason for building the YSL: to provide practice with new scenery ideas and techniques. Ground foam, twigs, gravel and anything l could sweep off the floor was used for scenery. About a gallon of white glue holds everything together, and the unit is easily transported with the drop­leaf section detached.

Structures A layout this small in W' scale calls for

extensive use of selective compression in the area of structures. The station at Ella is a Suncoast 0 scale small town depot with a full interior added. I have changed the sid­ing of the structure, and it serves as freight and passenger depot along with general of-

RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN

fice fo r the YSL. As it represents an impor­tant tructure, it was not weathered too heavily.

The water tank is an HO scale Atlas tank. The basic HO tank shell makes a good, small 0 cale tank after %"xW' (scale 12x12) tim­bers were installed to support the tank shell. Roofing is 1/32" balsa cut into strips and cemented in place and weathered. An 0 cale ladder and spout were fabricated of

wood and fastened to the structure. The oil tank is the same idea-a standard

HO tank car body and W'xW' timbers, which result in a nice, compact 0 scale oil tank.

T he enginehouse is scratchbuilt of 1/32•x%" ortheastern wood stained with very thin black, white and brown Pactra enamel before assembly . The original enginehouse was shortened approximately 20 cale feet after it was built, as it was too large and overpowering on the layout-once again, selective compression.

Scenery details Code 100 HO rail was spiked to 0 scale

seven-foot ties after they were glued down and sanded lightly. All rail was painted rust color after installation, as is evident in the color photos. Any of the available standard HO switches can be used, but the ties would be pretty small for 0 scale. This is not too noticeable in the upper yard area, as most ties are buried in dirt as prototype ties would be. I find the Atlas Customline switches are very reliable ; since my electrical and wiri g capabilities are just about zilch, I find not

Sc:ale: Ya" = 1'-0"

having to worry about uninsulated frogs and proper polarity offsets the disadvantage of the too-small (for %"-scale) tie s. Actually, only the ties around the points are visible, as the other ties are embedded in ground foam, ballast, etc.

As I mentioned, commercial ground foam , sawdust, and even the dirt off the floor were all used for ground cover. While there are fine commercial ballast materials available, I used the dry sweeping compound in­tended for oil-spill absorbtion in garages and filling stations. The particle size of thi s material ranges from a scale 1" to about 6", and the light color is a natural for crushed limestone (I believe the material itself is a form of natural clay). T rees are non-existent on the YSL now; only large bushes and a few small pines were " planted." An 0 scale tree could be a full 18" high and would be too dominant, so tree s were omitted (selective compression once again).

Building On30" equipment The Yosemite Short Line roster has five

boxcars and two refrigerator cars of approx­imately the same basic design with minor differences in details. Construction of these enclosed cars is the same throughout and they were assembled at the same time.

Two end blocks per car were glued to the wood floor. The three %"x%" wood strips were glued between the end blocks to form the basic substructure, which was allowed to harden overnight. After the substructure dried, I cemented the 3/a2"-scribed siding to

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Drop-leaf section removed Switchback limits operation to two cars per shuttle between A and B

Scale: Y4" = 1 '·0"

Expanding the

Yosemite Short Line module

the sides; I pre-cut sheets of ortheastern scribed siding 7'-6" high . Aftec- these were fastened in place, they were taped or pinned in place and allowed to d ry thoroughl y. I then _epoxied the white meta l HO truck bolsters in place underneath and a lead weight inside the car. Since all trains on the YSL are very short in length, I added about three more ounces per car inside. 'ote that the scribed siding extends down below the floor approximately 1/ts" (actual) to provide a more low-slung appearance , typical of narrow-gauge equipment. I did not do thi to my original house cars, and they lack thi s distinctive close-to-the-rail appearance. I encountered no problem with truck clear­ance, as the seven-foot width allows for maximum swiveling of the trucks.

All trucks are Kadee or Central Valley arch bar and were secured in place by a wood screw. The couplers are a mixture of the older K-series Kadee and newer Kadee Magne-Matics (HO). Since I do not actually operate the layout very much, the'mixture of both types of couplers has been a minor problem. I will probably succumb to mod­ernization of the YSL and totally convert to the newer Kadees. The Kadee standard HO couplers are a bit small for W' scale, but are very close to 3/4 AAR Janney couplers. The

44

HO standard arch bar trucks are also on the slightl y small size, but these are hard to see on the low narrow-gauge equipment (and hard to place on the rails as well!) . This is where the inexpensive nature of On30" re­ally shines-using low-cost standard HO trucks and couplers and building in 0 scale narrow-gauge. One can build six On30" box­cars for tl1e same price as a good On3 boxcar kit.

The final construction of tl1e housecars involved gluing the 1/ts" sheet roofing in place . I allowed scale 2" overhang on the ends and 1" overhang on the sides of tl1e cars. The scribed siding for the end blocks was cut and glued in place. Scale 1"x4" trim was added under the roof eaves and fastened to the car body. Scale 2"x2" battens were fas­tened to the roof, and detail for the ice hatches was fastened on the refrigerator cars. Roof walks were fabricated from three strips of scale 2"x6" lumber and glued to the cross supports, then fastened to the car roof. I used whatever wood was handy; to me, the most important aspect is the "feel" of the finished car--does it possess a "continuity with" the other equipment?

My basic standards for all rolling stock are very simple. Every car is 7'-0" in width and approximately the same height above rails.

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For the final details, I used brass 0 scale brake wheels soldered to a brass wire for the brake staff (thi s is about the extent of my soldering abiliti es; thank goodness for epoxy and ACC). End sills were glued in place, as were doors and door tracks on the boxcars. The door hinges on the reefers are commercial plastic moldings on one and brass castings on the other. Grab irons were made from wire staples on the newer cars with a small nut-bolt-washer fastened di­rectly above the point where each staple goes through the siding. The older cars have plastic 0 scale ladders or wire forn1ed into grab irons. On a couple of the cars, the verti­cal spacing between grabs is about 30"; these "giant steps" will be shortened to a more prototypical 18" or so at a later date. (Most of these cars were built 15 years ago or so and were my first attempt at scratch­building. Even with limited time for rail­roading, I feel more confident and pleased

MAY 1978

with my more recent results-there is al­ways plenty of room for improvement in this hobby. I do believe a self-improvement pro­gram is stimulating and makes the hobby more enjoyable.) The steps are commercial brass 0 scale steps, and the nut-bolt­washers are Grandt plastic moldings.

Most of the boxcars were painted tuscan red, and some have black roof and ends. The reefers are reefer orange with black ends. Lettering is via a rubber stamp I had milde with the YSL initials in Railroad Roman style: Using this method, make sure you have a cloth wet with thinner handy in case you don't get the lettering correct the first time. All the locomotives and newer rolling stock have dry transfer letters, which is much neater.

Weathering involves personal tastes, but I am depicting a depression-era railroad where equipment is second-hand or at least constructed as inexpensive as possible, so I weather everything as much as possible to achieve a "used" look. One of my boxcars is so weathered that the lettering and numbers are completely gone! Casein paints were brushed on, as they always dry totally dead flat. Recent use of an airbrush has helped to blend the weathering more subtly than I could achieve with a brush. I discovered that, regardless of methods or materials used, it is easy to over-do it.

The latest boxcar is a long one-a scale 28 feet in length-but it is constructed the same as the others. Like the other rolling stock, it

. started as a piece of Vs" basswood floorin g with two white-metal HO bolsters epoxied in place. I can't see the underside of the cars enough to warrant any underbody detail, but I probably will detail a car's underbody someday (again, self-improvement). Many fine On3 commercial detail castings are now available and add considerably to the cars.

Locomotives are a little more work, and I would recommend that anyone getting into On30" build a car or two before attempting a

On30' modeling implies a lot of kitbashing fun. Two examples of the technique are diesel No. 9, which has a styrene superstructure fitted over an inexpensive Bachmann industrial switcher chassis, and No. 4, which is essentially two 0-6-0 switcher mechanisms joined by a new styrene boiler. The details are 0 scale castmgs, which make capturing narrow-gauge mystique more a matter of observation than skill .

•

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The " other side" of diesel 9 and Ten Wheeler 3 are shown in these two views of the kitbashed-plus­scratched-parts On30" locomotives. The author used styrene to fabricate new cabs or complete super­structures, bu t other materials ranging from brass to wood and cardstock are suitable for most work.

The standard Yosemite Short Line boxcar is shown above and in the full-size drawings at right. A 22-foot length was chosen as a standard on the narrow-gauge line's freelanced cars , but this is arbitrary.

46

locon1otive. Diesel o. 9 is a Bachmann die­sel HO "0-6-0" mechanism with a scratch­built styrene cab and hood. 0 scale head­lights, bell and NBW castings complete the basic shell, along with a stack made from a ball-point pen barrel. An HO mechanism along with 0 scale castings result in a \4''­scale locomotive for under $20.00.

Steam locomotive o. 3 is built from a Tyco 4-6-0 mechanism, including its frame, drivers and motor and lead truck. The origi­nal boiler was used and wrapped with styrene to give it a larger diameter. Styrene was also used to construct the cab, and brass Kemtron, Grandt and Cal-Scale castings were epoxied in place. Wider running boards and a styrene pilot completed the engine . The tender was scratchbuilt of styrene and wood. o. 4 has a scratchbuilt styrene boiler and cab mounted over a pair of articulated Revell 0-6-0 mechanisms. Again, the same 0 scale detail parts as used on No. 3 were epoxied in place, and HO Kadee couplers were used. Any of the small 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 HO steam locomotives on the market can be relatively simply con­verted to On30" by merely substituting a larger cab and some 0 scale detail parts. This is a tremendous scale and gauge to free­lance in.

Large scale, small space-and budget One can build an operating layout such as

the YSL with a minimal outlay of cash. All of the locomptives and roll ing stock on the YSL were constructed for under $100.00, total­and even this construction and expenditure were on and off over a period of 15 years, with the majority of rolling stock completed ten or more years ago. However, a small layout like this can satisfy most of your building and operating desires. Those of you that have equipment and are debating about space for a layout will undoubtedly enjoy building even a 2x8 pike as I did. Properly designed, it's an investment in the future, as you can develop and hone basic modeling skills while constructing a module for a hoped-for future rai !road. If more space is hard to find, refine what you have by add­ing details, putting sound systems in locomotives, etc. The important thing is to get started on a railroad to better enjoy your models. e:

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MAY 1978

Although house (enclosed) cars are easier to build , the YSL roster also includes freelanced gondolas (flats with sides ; above) and a caboose (right).

Use Kemtron On3 brakewheel Freelanced Yosemite Short Line bo xcar L 22'-0" I I

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LROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN 47