...

Very nice work, Larry.  Thank you.

Lawndale

Well-written and well-researched article about an operation I would never have known about otherwise.

Modelling On30 Lawndale locomotives 4&5

Hi Larry, all,

First off, congratulations Larry on a well-researched and put-together article on the Lawndale. I'd heard about the Lawndale but never followed up on what and where it was in the US. Your article filled in this knowledge gap very nicely.

In the early days of Bachmann in On30, there were several "near-enough" #4 and #5 Lawndale locomotives made by splicing the On30 2-6-0 locomotive body onto a Bachmann HO Consolidation 2-8-0 chassis. Apparently the smaller wheel diameter of the 2-8-0 chassis fitted pretty well under the 2-6-0 body to get a 30" gauge Lawndale locomotive reasonably easily. The wheel diameters and spacing for this chassis were "close enough" to make this work in 1/48 scale. Given that a lot of the early On30 Bachmann offerings were based on 3' gauge prototypes, maybe "bashing" some of the other rolling stock might get you a Lawndale train for an lesser amount of effort, rather than fully scratch-building everything in On3?    

The how-to's of how this chassis matching was done was lost when the first incarnation of the On30Conspiracy Yahoo group was disappeared without notice by Yahoo in about 2005, but I can remember it being done by several in the US. 

Food for future modelling thought? 

LAWNDALE...Well done, most interesting

Thank you Larry, and thank you Joe and staff for publishing this.

Nice to see something besides Colorado NG

Dummy

Very interesting line.

Just a clarification the brakeman carrying a stick is not using it to chock wheels, that's a brake stick or club, it has a pick handle end that they hold and the top half is roughly square.  It was used to stick in the brake wheel spokes for extra leverage tightening handbrakes.   I have one someplace downstairs.  Very common in the steam era. 

Picture 15 shows a brakeman standing on a car holding one of the brake clubs.

The Lawndale

Informative with great photos. Thanks and congratulations to the author, Larry Smith.

Throughly enjoyed this presentation of a unique Narrow Gauge road.

Ron Pope

Thanks for this marvelous historical research

We agree, Larry Smith does a great job

Please sir, may I have some more?

This article reminded me of how much I enjoy reading about the fallen flags. Well done Larry!

I’d sure like to see more of this type of research here. Even modern roads, industrial lines, and short lines. While many have been acquired by larger managing corporations, the layout design of today favors fewer towns and industries that could be modeled faithfully with little compression. 
 

Please consider providing the track plan or, at least, a sketch of the major stations or end of line. This little railroad seems to be oozing with character and the engine house, wye, station on a switchback, as well as the warehouses could keep me happily busy for quite some time. In particular the light rail and spindly trestles make my heart skip a beat. Lol. 

Sn3??

In Sn3 there is the Railmaster kits.  John will customize them anyway he can to fit what ya want.

Neil check Taplines

Neil and others check out Taplines.com that Larry referenced at the end of the article. It is a very good site of old railroads like this one. One of my favorites on the site is Live,Oak, Perry and Gulf. 

Magazine articles

Thanks Bill. I like these types of articles that are well written and paint a big picture, including how it might be modeled. Magazines like MRH, MR, NG&SLG, or RMC are the perfect venue for “Railroads you can model” since they are curated by the publisher, edited, and presented in a way that I enjoy without spending so much time doing my own research. I’d rather be building models or working on my layout. 
 

This forum does provide an opportunity to interact with other modelers and feel part of a community while throwing my vote toward Joe about what types of things I would pay to see in the magazine. The topics that invite controversy have no interest to me and should be squashed from the outset. MHO! 

@NielEr

Thanks

Joe (I wish the @Joe would trigger a notification but drupal ... );

Thanks for the kind response. My own response went a little off the rails as well. A few beers and I seem to go off topic easily but glad you responded regarding this anyway. Reverse Running was always a good read. It got a lot of entertaining responses forum afterward. I’m actually sad to see these go but understand the economics of the decision. 
 

Two things come to mind. First, I would like to see more articles like this as well as in depth “how-to’s” published.  Secondly, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to see advertising that isn’t directly model railroad related. I would patronize people who provide products or services and willing to support the magazine. That would include my own business i.e. putting my money where my mouth is. 
 

Thanks for working with authors to bring us the best of what is being done. This is my go-to spot to keep up but wish it could be updated to allow simple kudos and notifications. Not your thing, I know, but has made other venues attractive to visit.