HO Eureka Heights (SP) Houston

[Focalplane]

All the end of school year events are over and the family is off on holidays today so a chance to gather more thoughts on this new idea. With the purchase of just about all the rolling stock needed to make an interesting layout, Hempstead Road, as I will no doubt call it, can start out in life as a switching plank plus photographic diorama, leaving out any thought of where trains come from and go to. As the majority of all rail/road crossings in the early 1950s were at grade, it will not be possible to position bridges to hide breaks. But trees and bushes grow in Texas (though not so many back then, at least along railroad tracks) so they will have to do. Using feet and inches (as I should), two baseboards of 4'x2' connected end on end might just take in a loop with two turnouts to sidings. The loop turnouts will have to be near the ends of the 8' run so that switching will use a long enough train of box cars, but allow the switcher to use the loop on the main line to run around its train. Clearly a 12' run would be much better. I need to see if I have space for the longer run; I could still use 4' modules. Life would be more interesting if another longer loop (for passing trains and/or storage of covered cars) were to be added on the road side of the main line.

I guess I need to think about a track plan! I have the necessary turnouts from Shipston on Stour which if ever built will have hand made track. These are Peco 75 code OO/HO electrofrogs. I also have a lot of Micro Engineering 83 code flexi track.

The option would be Peco flex track for the main line and Micro Engineering for the sidings (compare the street view tracks above). Just 5 yards Peco flex to buy!

So far so good. I just received two articulated coach sets from America, both from Broadway Limited Imports’ Daylight range. These have been discounted 50%. They will go perfectly with my BLI GS4 and free parlour car which I ordered when they first came out. I cancelled the rest of a rake of Daylight coaches that had been on order, so the discount makes me feel good. The shipping costs didn’t though. A five coach Daylight doesn’t seem prototypical but it’s a start. I’ll put them together when I have the code 75 track and submit some photos. The coach connections are brilliant!

 

[Stephen]

All the end of school year events are over and the family is off on holidays today so a chance to gather more thoughts on this new idea. With the purchase of just about all the rolling stock needed to make an interesting layout, Hempstead Road, as I will no doubt call it, can start out in life as a switching plank plus photographic diorama, leaving out any thought of where trains come from and go to. As the majority of all rail/road crossings in the early 1950s were at grade, it will not be possible to position bridges to hide breaks. But trees and bushes grow in Texas (though not so many back then, at least along railroad tracks) so they will have to do. Using feet and inches (as I should), two baseboards of 4'x2' connected end on end might just take in a loop with two turnouts to sidings. The loop turnouts will have to be near the ends of the 8' run so that switching will use a long enough train of box cars, but allow the switcher to use the loop on the main line to run around its train. Clearly a 12' run would be much better. I need to see if I have space for the longer run; I could still use 4' modules. Life would be more interesting if another longer loop (for passing trains and/or storage of covered cars) were to be added on the road side of the main line.

I guess I need to think about a track plan! I have the necessary turnouts from Shipston on Stour which if ever built will have hand made track. These are Peco 75 code OO/HO electrofrogs. I also have a lot of Micro Engineering 83 code flexi track.

The option would be Peco flex track for the main line and Micro Engineering for the sidings (compare the street view tracks above). Just 5 yards Peco flex to buy!

So far so good. I just received two articulated coach sets from America, both from Broadway Limited Imports’ Daylight range. These have been discounted 50%. They will go perfectly with my BLI GS4 and free parlour car which I ordered when they first came out. I cancelled the rest of a rake of Daylight coaches that had been on order, so the discount makes me feel good. The shipping costs didn’t though. A five coach Daylight doesn’t seem prototypical but it’s a start. I’ll put them together when I have the code 75 track and submit some photos. The coach connections are brilliant!

How did you fare with the import charges?

I did notice that one of the big chain shops in the US was selling the coaches at a bargain price, and it almost got me to forget about the O scale o gauge plans, but alas ‘seventh sense’ prevailed.
cheers,

Stephen

 

[Focalplane]

Stephen, I am mostly working with stuff I already have to keep the cost to a minimum, otherwise I would probably switch to O Scale as I am comfortable with its larger size (fingers turning to thumbs even as I write this).

I have gone the shipping inclusive route (actually I had no choice) so far. No hassle is the advantage but it makes life difficult if bidding on eBay, so I will most likely stay away from auctions and look for bargains with sites like brasstrains.com and factorydirecthobbies.com. Repairing and upgrading older brass locos is not difficult and there is the possibility than many unpainted brass locos have never been regularly run on a layout. When an item says “has issues”, it may be something very simple like a perished plastic shaft between motor and gearbox. Then again it could have been dropped on the floor. Brasstrains.com urge full examination of their photos, which is good advice.

 

[Focalplane]

The SP Class S-12 0-6-0 switcher has arrived, though to be truthful it wasn’t delivered, I had to pick it up. This purchase was not all in and so I had to pay customs duty and GPO fee on top of the USPS shipping. And because the Royal Mail web site was not functioning, I had to go to the Post Office to pay and then collect. No parking available so a long walk in an industrial estate with inadequate parking even for the post office employees. How to make life difficult! I will go the inclusive route next time if possible. I do have the P-14 coming from the same source but at least I will know what to do and where to go in the future.

I am pleased with the purchase. A couple of things noticed on the photographs could be called issues but are easily addressed, particularly as I will be stripping the loco to clean and probably repaint it. The tender looks perfect and may be left as is. Though that will be where the DCC will probably be fitted.

Some quick photos:

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I had one of these many years ago and if you can get into the tender then this is the best place for the decoder and stay alive.

From memory I also added the whistle and bell cords, used scrap etch to represent the sliding window pane inside the cab, added the blow down mufflers and basically titivated it to bring it up to today's standards of detail.

 

[Focalplane]

I mentioned in an earlier post that I worked for Cities Service Company which then merged with Occidental Petroleum. I collected quite a few of these:



They came as a simple Walthers kit and I added Kadees. I also have a Phillips and a Sinclair tanker to ring the changes. The Sinclair does not have a dinosaur emblem on it though, that was retained for the filling stations. They will look good as part of a passing freight, heading no doubt to Cities' Lake Charles, LA, refinery.

(Moved from Southern Pacific Remembered)

 

[Focalplane]

Another loco kit I bought in the 1980s was a Roundhouse Models HO 2-6-2. Strictly speaking this is off topic because the SP never had many tender prairies and these were acquired through mergers. There were, however, some prairie tank engines in San Francisco in the early days. As kits go they are quite simple but could do with being detailed.





Now, I also bought the consolidation kit but never put it together. It's still in my stash and really could be built and detailed to be an SP locomotive, perhaps a C-9 Class. Something to do later in life!

(Moved from Southern Pacific Remembered)

 

[Focalplane]

As you can see from the edited title, ideas are starting to gel, so why not give the project a name! I am not sure when building can commence, there are many "honey dos" at the moment, but the rolling stock is starting to be gathered together as well as ideas for scenery. The anticipated arrived of the P-14 streamlined Sunbeam pacific more or less clinches the location, though Rule 1 will, I am sure, allow running of my larger locos, photos of which will be posted in due course.

The Consolidation kit has now moved up the priority ladder. It will need building and detailing but could make for a very nice freight hauler. I am so pleased I bought many of the items that will be used when I lived in Houston and now cost a small fortune with the extra shipping and customs charges.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

HO brass C9s do come up but tend to sell fairly quickly. As do most of the SP C consolidation classes.

 

[Focalplane]

There was a nice SP Mikado on an auction site with some green tarnish on the rear of the tender. It soon went over my price threshold. It could have represented the stuffed and mounted Mikado at San Antonio. I have an Athearn Genesis Mikado in UP colours but I wonder if it will be a close match to an SP class. Worth checking though as it has DCC and Sound.



Immediate observation, convert tender to oil! MK-5s were common in Texas, need to see how different the two are. A job for later.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I think the Athearn Mikado is based on a USRA light mikado. A heavy mikado may be a better starting point for a T&NO MK5.

 

[Focalplane]

Dave, the UP Mikado is indeed based on the USRA light mikado and the SP did not buy into this design AFAIK, unless a subsidiary already had some.

These are the locos I do have and as you will see, some never ventured as far west as Houston (though 4449 did when it pulled the Freedom Train in the late 1970s.)

STEAM

GS-4 "Daylight" 4-8-4 (Broadway Limited) - DCC sound
AC-4 Cab-in-Front 4-8-8-2 (Broadway Limited) - DCC sound
MT-4 4-8-2 (Athearn Genesis) - DCC sound
?C-9 2-8-0 (Roundhouse Models kit) - DC

DIESEL

E8 Daylight (2) (LifeLike Proto 2000) - DCC sound
SD7 Black Widow (LifeLike Proto 2000) - DCC
F7 A+B+A Black Widow (Athearn) - DC

BRASS (arrived or in transit)

S-13 Switcher 0-6-0 (Sunset) - DC
P-14 Sunbeam 4-6-2 (Hallmark) - DC

I also have several UP locos - E8, Light Mikado, Big Boy, Challenger, SD7, all of which can visit though the prototype probably was exclusively SP at the time (early 1950s).

 

[Focalplane]

I got all excited last night when searching brasstrains.com for Consolidations and Mikados. What stopped all that excitement was when I realised the loco I was looking at (as is, no motor, etc. for $125) had already been bought. I had already decided this was a good, cost effective way to go, buying cheap and then repairing, detailing, painting, etc. and went to press the add to shopping cart when I noticed it had been sold, possibly several months ago.

So a tip for anyone using brasstrains.com. Select the "for sale only" filter!

 

[Focalplane]

I took the switcher out of its box, rigged up my DC controller through a 110v transformer, and ran it for the first time. Headlight works but because the pickup is American the tender light does not. The gear train is indeed noisy but I have yet to clean and re-lubricate. The good news the movement is not jerky with no stuttering on the track.



I then separated body from chassis:



Unless anyone strongly suggests otherwise I am going to buy some Slaters track cleaner and use it to flush out dirt from the open gearbox. This is recommended by Slaters as long as the cleaner and dirt is replaced by fresh lubricating oil. I’ll use compressed air to remove the gunge. The five pole motor seems to be okay but would be easy to replace with a can motor and flexible coupler. Next I will see if the tender can house the electronics.

 

[simond]

Paul,

the worm gear doesn’t look that grubby in the photo, so I don’t understand why it should be particularly noisy, is there an intermediate gear, or is the worm direct to the axle? Difficult to see but it looks like it might be a tower?

I think the Slaters cleaner will be fine, if you oil afterwards. If you use the airline, I’d do it outside!

 

[Jordan]

As you can see from the edited title, ideas are starting to gel, so why not give the project a name!

Probably not set in stone anyway yet, but on the subject of names, the suffix "Road" sounds rather British. Indeed I read somewhere (but can't remember where!!) that a lot of British stations were 'XYZ Road' because the railway couldn't get into the town or village of XYZ, whether due to geography or landowner opposition, so the station was built outside town XYZ on one of the roads to it, sometimes a number of miles away!! Nevertheless the suffix 'Road' gave the idea of where the station was meant to serve.
In the USA things were very different, and especially west of the Mississipi river the Railroads were built first and the towns built up around them, consequences of which included a lot of street running and origin of the phrase "Wrong side of the tracks". But the Depot would carry the town name - no "Road" suffix required as it was in the center of town rather than on the outskirts, or further!!
In this case, I would call it just "Hempstead" plain & simple. The names of many UK & EU cities and towns were used, even names as unlikely as Kremlin, of which Google Maps tells me there are 4 of in the USA!!
Apparently the further West you get the more literal some town names are. A couple of favourites of mine are Helper in Utah, named because it was where helper locos were added to trains, and Wagon Mound in New Mexico, named after the shape of a nearby hill.

 

[Focalplane]

Jordan

An interesting observation indeed. However, Hempstead Road does exist as a road, becoming Hempstead Highway just outside Loop 610. It is this area that will be modelled. No station as such, Hempstead town/city is 45 miles further on! It is really a loop with sidings to businesses with through trains using the single main line.

I need to sketch a plan but my Anyrail software needs Windows software emulation which I have allowed to lapse.

Texas has a lot of English/British history. My late business partner was an elected Constable in retirement. He wrote the definitive book on the subject , tracing its history back to old Britain. Houston has Wards just like British cities and the Fourth Ward is famous for being the home of George Foreman who tells the story of being rescued from a life of crime to winning an Olympic Gold Medal and becoming heavyweight boxing champion at least twice.

I was president of the Shepherd Forest Civic Club for a while, a 1200 home subdivision just north west of Loop 610. I learned a lot from that pastime!

Shepherd Forest is just north of the area I plan to model. We also lived in hearing of the old Rock Island Line where it crossed White Oak Bayou and T C Jester Blvd.

And my office for many years was on Jones Road, 10 miles up the Hempstead Highway. So I can live with “Road”!

I guess you could call this post my “street credentials”.

 

[Focalplane]

Paul,

the worm gear doesn’t look that grubby in the photo, so I don’t understand why it should be particularly noisy, is there an intermediate gear, or is the worm direct to the axle? Difficult to see but it looks like it might be a tower?

I think the Slaters cleaner will be fine, if you oil afterwards. If you use the airline, I’d do it outside!

Simon, yes there is an intermediate gear in the tower and it is hidden from view. Yes the air compressor will be used outside!

Paul

 

[Jordan]

I guess you could call this post my “street credentials”.

Fair enough!!

 

[Focalplane]

I developed a gas prospect north of Houston when working for Occidental in 1984. The nearest community was Moscow, TX, so that was the name we gave it. I also “sat the well” when it was drilled. It was hunting season so we had to be careful when driving to make the morning report from a nearby Dairy Queen. One of the local smallholders had the bright idea of painting COW on his animal. When you saw the number of empty Bourbon bottles and beer cans within arms reach of a hunting cabin veranda, it became obvious why.

Moscow is on topic, it was a flag stop on the T&NO line from Houston to Nacogdoches and Shreveport.