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Post by tunnelmotors on Apr 10, 2015 20:46:52 GMT -5
Hey all, I was wondering where the best place to find B&LE model trains at, i can't seem to really find any locomotives.
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Post by bessemerbob on Apr 11, 2015 7:57:44 GMT -5
Ebay.
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Post by Harry on May 17, 2015 13:29:51 GMT -5
Hobby Express in Cranberry Twp., Pa has many. IMR F units, Bowser AS 616's, Walthers SD7's, MTH F units. 724-779-2000
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Post by bessemerbob on May 18, 2015 6:23:16 GMT -5
What scale are you modeling?
If you are an O scale modeler Mercer Junction Train Shoppe in Mercer, PA is hands down the place to go for Bessemer and Union Railroad stuff. They have a great deal of custome BLE and URR stuff. Pretty cool layout in the showroom, and the walls have some amazing pieces of BLE/URR history on them.
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Post by tunnelmotors on May 25, 2015 17:35:42 GMT -5
Not sure if you are referring to me but I Model HO Scale.
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Post by rblove on May 28, 2015 9:08:05 GMT -5
What era are you modeling? Intermountain makes a really nicely detailed F7 (with sound or not), also Stewart Hobbies has nice detailing.
Bruce
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Post by tunnelmotors on Jun 12, 2015 15:54:33 GMT -5
Hi Bruce, I am trying to model the 1990's-2014. I am pretty sure there are alot of people modeling that Era. Which is making it harder for me to find locomotive and rolling stock.
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Post by URR566 on Jun 13, 2015 2:40:16 GMT -5
Well lets run down your options for the stuff you can use in that timeframe:
SW1500; none:
Noone ever made a factory painted 1500 for the Bessemer.
F7A/B; none: None that actually match your era. Athearn, Stewart, and Intermountain do the older butterknife with wings ones but that doesn't work for the 1990's. Bessemer Hobbies once did a custom run of the WA F7's yeas ago but they're rare and were special edition engines.
SD7; Life Like Proto 2000:
Sort of. Only problem here is they never did one without the side stripe so the paint doesn‘t match your era.
SD9; none:
The biggest hole in the HO scale roster is no factory painted B&LE SD9. I’ve always wondered why? Proto 2000 had the artwork to do them thanks to their SD7 model above but never did. They were the second most common diesel model on the Bessemer and could be found leased to class ones like ATSF, UP, CNW in the winter months. They should be a good seller.
SD18; none:
There is no plastic SD18 in HO, only brass high nose ones from years ago.
SD-M; none:
THE SD-M was a product of the DM&IR rebuilding their older SD9’s and SD18’s. No models of these are produced, you’ll have to make your own like the SD18.
SD38; Athearn RTR:
Athearn released all three SD38’s about 9 (?) years ago. 861-863 wound up on the Missabe by 1993 then 862 was returned in 1998. The returned 862 of course was never repainted out of Missabe colors.
SD38AC; Athearn RTR:
Athearn also released two SD38AC’s for the Bessemer, 865 and 869 as I recall.
SD38-2; none:
Like the SD9 I scratch my head on this one. Kato did EJ&E and DMIR ones, in fact both Missabe road numbers and one of the J units actually spent time on the Bessemer! Yet no orange and black -2’s from them.
SD40T-3; Athearn RTR:
Looking at your screen name I’m sure you’ll want these. I believe Athearn did four different numbers- 901, 904, 905, 907?
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Post by tunnelmotors on Jun 13, 2015 11:21:06 GMT -5
Thanks for the list, yes I am a big fan of the tunnel motors. My plan for now is try and get some custom work done. I have 2 friends luckily who do custom model trains and such. He recently did a few SD40T-3s that were custom made. He used a SD45T-2 and made custom modifications to the model to make them SD40T-3's I am attaching the photos of the model he did. Like I said up above I would most likely be having custom work done for me since already made Bessemer model trains are hard to find.   |
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Post by rblove on Jun 13, 2015 15:00:58 GMT -5
I have 2 of the ATHREAN SD45T-2, ( #910 & # 905 )... straight out of the box about the only difference I see right off is the handbreak wheel on the nose on your model. I have pictures of the SD45T's and don't see wheels on them (see attached). I also have ATHREAN SD38, #861, actually have 2 #862, #863 all in B&LE paint.   |
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Post by URR566 on Jun 13, 2015 15:49:27 GMT -5
Thats a great looking unit. I see the changes and additions made to it. Ditch lights, MU and air hoses, the reflective yellow stripe down the sill, the brakewheel like Bruce said and the recessed sand hatch. I'm most impressed with that sand hatch. Its cleanly done and is the proper shape and size for those units. Very nice.
I have 861 and 862 and added some stuff to them including adding DCC decoders with the Gyralite programmed into them.
Bruce, originally the Tunnel Motors didn't have the brakewheel. They added that starting in 2004. Heres a write up I did several years ago listing all the changes made to these engines over time. I have to edit this to reflect the progression of time:
bessemerandlakeerie.proboards.com/thread/109/le-sd40t-3-fleet
Great pictures by the way. Thanks for sharing, its nice to see new people post photos of both the prototype and models on this site.
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Post by tunnelmotors on Jun 14, 2015 13:02:56 GMT -5
Sure thing, my friend showed me it and I definitely had to share these photos here. I don't know how he did the sand hatch so well but like I said he can do custom models extremely well. What kinda of rolling stock would I be looking for in the Era I am modeling?
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Post by URR566 on Jun 14, 2015 15:14:40 GMT -5
The majority of the rolling stock would be hoppers, this is only a list of what is actually available factory painted in HO that matches your era. A full list of all custom built possibilities would be very long:
3 Bay 100 Ton Hopper:
Bowser, B&LE black/CN website.
Walthers, B&LE Black/CN website.
Be advised Bessemer Hobbies and the Industrial Model Shop have done special runs of these cars through Bowser in black and old ROCK blue over the years. Roundhouse did a wanna-be B&LE 100 ton ROCK blue car but the car looks nothing like the real ones although it had a nice paint job.
4 Bay 100 Ton Hopper:
Walthers; B&LE black.
Tangent Scale Models; B&LE Bicentennial, B&LE black.
The Tangent cars are much closer to the Bessemer cars than the Walthers ones.
Coil Car:
Bachmann; B&LE orange/silver.
Walthers; B&LE orange/silver.
The Bachmann car would need some work to make it accurate for the 90’s/2000’s. THIS is what it looks like, THIS or THIS is what it should look like for your time period. The Walthers car is not exact to the real ones it mimics, the colors are off and its not the exact type of car the prototype.
Gondola (various):
53-foot Thrall Gondola with Smooth Sides; Walthers.
Class NE5 Caboose:
Walthers; B&LE red.
Athearn; B&LE red.
The Walthers cabs are much closer to the B&LE cars than the Athearn ones are.
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Post by tunnelmotors on Jun 15, 2015 0:26:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the list, gotta get some more cash! Now you know how I said my friend made B&LE 902. Its all custom made, he took a Athearn Southern Pacific SD45T-2, made the modifications, repainted it to B&LE colors, and added the B&LE decals.  His next project is to make a 907, and 866 in the future, when he gets that done I post the photos here for anyone curious.
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Post by bessemerbob on Jun 15, 2015 9:29:52 GMT -5
The T motor looks good! Makes me miss the T motors even more......
Im sure you have seen the B&LE units offered by athearn, but by the time you do the modifications needed you would have to re paint the nose and roof. I would think it would be easier to take a model and strip it then try to color match and blend.
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His next project is to make a 907, and 866 in the future, when he gets that done I post the photos here for anyone curious.