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Locomotives and Passenger Cars

Tales of shaved louvers and UBK's....

Locomotives

My locomotive fleet is based around Stewart, Intermountain, Athearn Genesis and Kato units. My road power includes all of the O&W F-3's (five A's and two B's - the advantage of modeling a small road!) , several A/B sets of FT’s and just just one Kato NW2. Why just one? Read on....

All the F units include have the O&W’s unique nose-top grabs added around 1949 and the 500 series include the pilot and rear foot boards the railroad added in an attempt to create a road-switcher out of an F-3. Some of these units are factory decorated, some are decaled using Microscale decals and stripes cut from Superscale trim film sheets. A couple of the locos have been done using some of Mal Houck's old decal sets.

I have been adding sound decoders as the budget allows, and at this point (late 2009) I have enough decoders to have at least one "noisy" unit in every consist.

F3's #821a/b

A Stewart unit with added details and Mal Houck's decals.
NW2 #114

This unit includes hood louvers shaved off an Athearn switcher shell, sanded thin and cemented on one at a time. It took 2-1/2 Athearn shells to come up with enough usable louvers for just one unit. Decoration is with strips of Superscale's trim film and Microscale heralds.

Considering how much.... fun... I had with this one I won’t be adding any more NW2’s to my fleet any time soon!

FT #601 - the Esso engine - The 601 is one of the better known O&W locomotives. This unit was used a a rolling laboratory for Esso lubricants. In return Esso paid for most of the maintenance on this engine. Legend has it that the O&W ended up with all sorts of spare parts because Esso changed out many components before they tries a new lubricant! The model is a Stewart kit with Houck decals. 
FT #801 - Factory decorated?! - A few years back nobody would have thought that it would be possible to by factory decorated O&W locos. Today they have been available from Bachamnn, Stewart, Athearn and Intermountain. Amazing!

801 is a Stewart kit with added grabs and reflector number boards from Old & Weary Car Shop decals.
F3 #503 - A unit with a story. When Intermountain decided to import their F-3 in O&W Marty McGuirk (then their R&D guy) contacted me for information. Since I had the artwork done for my own units I sent him a copy of the file. When the samples arrived he sent me the decoration sample to look at for approval. Somewhere along the line the Chinese had added a UP style anti-glare panel on the hood, which fortunately was fixed on the production units. Marty refused to take the sample back - after all, it was wong - so with some touch up paint and O&WCS steps its now running in service on my layout!

Passenger Cars

Baggage-Passenger Combine #123 - This car started as a Funaro & Camerlengo resin kit. Unfortunately, it was one of their earlier efforts and is nowhere near the quality of their current offerings. Known variously within O&W circles as "Peanut Brittle Kits" (for the color and consistency of the resin) or "U-B-K's" (Un Buildable Kit!) it Included (in no particular order) warped sides that didn't fit (and were different lengths by at least three board widths), a warped roof, poorly cast ends, an underframe so out of size that I ended up making a replacement from scratch, and instructions that seem to say "buy the kit, build the kit, paint the kit". I used Branchline coach parts for the underbody detail and steam/air/signal lines, and Eastern Car Works trucks with Branchline wheel sets. Lettering is from Champ decals. I have two more... E-bay?

Baggage #518 - Now this is a little more like it.... This is one of Bethlehem Car Works' new baggage car kits. I added a few underbody bits and Eastern Car Works trucks and used O&WCS decals. A great kit.

Observation #82 - In 1927 the railroad purchased two second hand steel observation cars from the Cotton Belt. They were named the "Ulster" and the "Orange". In 1938 these cars were painted maroon, black and orange and  fitted out as parlor cars complete with wicker chairs and fancy wood paneling for use on the famous "Mountaineer" passenger train. After the outbreak of WWII they were converted to coaches and painted standard green. When the diesels arrived they were repainted to match. They became the only two O&W-owned passenger carrying cars, and the entire fleet is in this photo! This is a Nickel Plate Products brass model with Branchline underbody components and Central Valley trucks

RPO #170 - The O&W purchased three steel RPO (Railway Post Office) cars in the 1920's from Osgood Bradley. This is another old Nickel Plate Products model with Branchline underbody components and and Eastern Car Works trucks.

Baggage Car #525 - Along with the RPO's, the railroad bought three steel baggage cars in the 1920's. This one started out as an old Nickel Plate Products model. I yanked the crude underframe and replaced it with Branchline underbody components. To make it roll (always useful!) I added Intermountain roller bearing wheelsets to the trucks. Mal Houck decals were used to letter the car.
NYC Coaches - In the last few years the O&W leased New York Central coaches as needed for summer traffic. I have several, some from both the original Branchline kit test shot0 and later kits. This car is one of a few that I have built using American Model Builder's "Open Windows" which drop right into our kit. The difference is amazing!