Class B3A in HOn3

[skip]

A few years ago I took a side trip into On30 and became very impressed with how much DCC and sound add to the pleasure of running our models. After my On30 detour I started to look at my old shelf full of 1970s and 1980s HOn3 brass. It was time to "get them out of the boxes" and "get them running" as the sayings go.
I'm a little hesitant to post these given all the amazing modeling here. This engine is certainly not contest quality. I like to think of it like the RC Airplane folks: stand-off scale. It looks good from a few feet away. Given that, it has given me a great deal of pleasure. I like the little thing.

I would love comments on what I might do to my next project to move just a little in the direction of the really amazing models that grace this forum. Thanks in advance for any advice. And thanks to the posters here for all the wonderful inspiration.

This is a model of Colorado and Southern class B3A #13. It started life as a Key Imports B3B #22. The basic B3B and B3A match mechanically very closely with driver spacing, boiler dimensions, etc. The air tank has been moved back. The generator is behind the headlight. The headlight is a bit more to scale than the thing on the Key #22. The markers are down on the smokebox. The air reservoir has been added to the back of the tender (why did Key omit this I wonder?). I wanted to get something that was recognizably the #13 but leave most of the stock detail from the Key base engine where it didn't matter as much.

I added Soundtrax DCC/Sound and an LED headlight.
The original had a Sagami motor that was a great advance in the 1970s over to old open-frame motors. However, it does cog a bit on starting and the top speed at 12 volts measured around 90-100 mph. I love the locodoc conversions and so I talked to Wayne Weiss of Locodoc fame about his conversion but he really seemed hesitant. I think the amount of work for this conversion is way more than he gets back in his costs. So I devised my own Faulhaber 1224 conversion. It isn't quite as nice as Wayne's, but the starting is better than the Sagami, the top speed is down to about 40 mph, and it is mostly a drop-in to the original mechanism. All in all, it can hold its own against anything from Blackstone these days.

There is a wonderful picture of the #13 turned on its side with the coal gate laying face-on to the camera so I have a fairly scale coal gate up on the coal load.
And finally the coal is real C&S coal from under the old Alpine tunnel coaling platform. I visited the tunnel in 1978 and saw that over the years, bits of coal dust had sifted down between the boards an had lain there protected from the elements for the last 75 years. I scooped a pint or so into a bag I had and it now waits its turn to once again power a C&S engine.

Skip Egdorf

[Bill Uffelman]

Nice job. Thanks for sharing your work.

Bill Uffelman

On August 8, 2017, at 4:48 PM, "skip [via C&Sng Discussion Forum]" <[hidden email]> wrote:


A few years ago I took a side trip into On30 and became very impressed with how much DCC and sound add to the pleasure of running our models. After my On30 detour I started to look at my old shelf full of 1970s and 1980s HOn3 brass. It was time to "get them out of the boxes" and "get them running" as the sayings go.
I'm a little hesitant to post these given all the amazing modeling here. This engine is certainly not contest quality. I like to think of it like the RC Airplane folks: stand-off scale. It looks good from a few feet away. Given that, it has given me a great deal of pleasure. I like the little thing.

I would love comments on what I might do to my next project to move just a little in the direction of the really amazing models that grace this forum. Thanks in advance for any advice. And thanks to the posters here for all the wonderful inspiration.

This is a model of Colorado and Southern class B3A #13. It started life as a Key Imports B3B #22. The basic B3B and B3A match mechanically very closely with driver spacing, boiler dimensions, etc. The air tank has been moved back. The generator is behind the headlight. The headlight is a bit more to scale than the thing on the Key #22. The markers are down on the smokebox. The air reservoir has been added to the back of the tender (why did Key omit this I wonder?). I wanted to get something that was recognizably the #13 but leave most of the stock detail from the Key base engine where it didn't matter as much.

I added Soundtrax DCC/Sound and an LED headlight.
The original had a Sagami motor that was a great advance in the 1970s over to old open-frame motors. However, it does cog a bit on starting and the top speed at 12 volts measured around 90-100 mph. I love the locodoc conversions and so I talked to Wayne Weiss of Locodoc fame about his conversion but he really seemed hesitant. I think the amount of work for this conversion is way more than he gets back in his costs. So I devised my own Faulhaber 1224 conversion. It isn't quite as nice as Wayne's, but the starting is better than the Sagami, the top speed is down to about 40 mph, and it is mostly a drop-in to the original mechanism. All in all, it can hold its own against anything from Blackstone these days.

There is a wonderful picture of the #13 turned on its side with the coal gate laying face-on to the camera so I have a fairly scale coal gate up on the coal load.
And finally the coal is real C&S coal from under the old Alpine tunnel coaling platform. I visited the tunnel in 1978 and saw that over the years, bits of coal dust had sifted down between the boards an had lain there protected from the elements for the last 75 years. I scooped a pint or so into a bag I had and it now waits its turn to once again power a C&S engine.

Skip Egdorf

---

If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:

http://c-sng-discussion-forum.41377.n7.nabble.com/Class-B3A-in-HOn3-tp9031.html

To start a new topic under C&Sng Discussion Forum, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from C&Sng Discussion Forum, click here.
NAML

[Mike Trent]

I agree. Very nice, and thanks. It's great to see what everyone is working on, and what interests them. We're a family of sorts here, and everything matters. Can't beat "real" C&S coal, either. I do the same thing.

[nedsn3]

Nice work Skip, and as with the work of the others here, an inspiration for me. Ned

[Lee Gustafson]

Skip,

I'm late to post, your #13 B3A is beautiful. HOn3 captures dare I say the "charming" quality of this class of locomotive. The C&S 2-6-0's are some of my favorite locomotives. Thank you for joining and sharing your work. Working in HOn3 is in a class by itself. You should take joy and satisfaction in your work. Please continue to share.

Lee Gustafson

[John Greenly]

Hi Skip,

I have an old PFM mogul that I've put the number 13 on, but I will have a very long way to go to make it look as proper as yours.  

Great work, and thanks for showing it to us!

Cheers,
John