Engines (and inspirations)

Engine #58 is one of two Consolidations on the road and is the mainstay of operations (its twin is still in the box but will be put into service once I get a new layout built). These are Bachmann engines with the original tender replaced by a Bachmann SP-style Vanderbilt oil tender. The only other modification was to shave off the "smoke deflector," or whatever it's supposed to be, on the back on the cab roof. They're fitted with TCS DCC modules. This unit has obviously been lettered for the Bakersfield & Ventura and given some weathering.

SD&AE #104

My B&V Consolidations were inspired by San Diego & Arizona Eastern #104 and her sister engines. I believe 104 was purchased second-hand from the SP, but SD&AE had a couple of nearly identical engines that they bought new. #104 was probably the first steam engine I ever saw up close. It was on display for many years at the San Diego County Fairgrounds. It's now at the Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum in Campo.

Mogul #2 was the second engine acquired by the Lockwood & San Emigdio (duh). The first was a Shay, which is currently in a box somewhere and is not available for photography. There's also an outside-frame 4-4-0. All are Bachmann products. This one started life as a Hawthorne Valley engine in a horrible black and tan (gold? copper?) Thomas Kincaide paint scheme. I removed the Colorado & Southern-style boiler-mounted air tank and remounted the bell directly on the boiler; I also fitted the tender with an oil bunker that I found online -- it was sold as a part for an HO scale locomotive, but fits nicely on this tender.

VCRy (former B&V) Mogul #1

I didn't do it on purpose, but I think L&SE #2 bears some family resemblance to Ventura County Railway (formerly B&V) #1. Martin Hansen posted this on Facebook a while back; if you like steam locomotives, you should follow him on Facebook, because he posts railroad photos from his collection nearly every day.

Here's Number 23, a Bachmann 4-6-0. No weathering on this one yet.

Comments

Track Planning for the B&V

Designing a model railroad layout is always a tradeoff between many factors -- ratio of track to scenery, switching vs. mainline running, point-to-point or continuous running -- but most of all, what will fit in the available space. As I think about starting a new B&V, I've been contemplating what appeals to me, personally. I've designed and built a dozen or so layouts of all sizes and configurations, and helped design, built, and operate on club layouts and friends' layouts, so I have a pretty good sense of what I like. That doesn't mean that what I like is "right" or "better" than someone else's preference. You do you, I do me. Not what an article in a model railroad magazine, much less a Facebook post, says is the best way to do things. That said, when I am operating my own layout, I like seeing trains run through reasonably realistic scenery BUT I don't find it satisfying watching them go around in circles (again, I'm not judging ...

The Journey Resumes

Over the weekend, I started building a 16” x 64” diorama. I’ve been pretty inactive in the hobby for about 15 years. Now that I’m nearing retirement I’m thinking about building another small-to-medium layout (4 x 8 island to as large as a 9 x 15 U-shape). At this point, I’m debating whether to stay with HO (I have a lifetime accumulation of HO equipment) or switch to On30 (I really like the heft and detail, and I’m a sucker for old-time narrow gauge trains). The diorama is meant as a warm-up for that. I wanted to get a feel for building track and one or two structures in O scale, and try out some new construction techniques, like foam construction and Sculptamold instead of plaster. I plan to hand lay the track, to see if my eyesight and patience as still up to it. The finished product will provide a place to display some of my On30 equipment and do a little photography. It will mostly live on a shelf in my garage/train room, but will be lightweight enough to move out...

Side-Tracked

The other day, as my wife and I were rearranging some furniture in the living room, she made the comment that it might be fun to put a small train display on a side table where she normally displays some potted plants. She had in mind my Lockwood & San Emigdio On30 diorama, which she's watched me work on the last several months -- but of course, the suggestion got me thinking in other directions. Since the purpose, at least in part, will be to entertain the grandkids when they come to visit, it makes sense to have a continuous lap. Since the tabletop is only about 25 by 54 inches, that limits me to a 10 or maybe 11 inch radius, a bit more if I overlap the tabletop a few inches. I'm thinking On30, so that's too tight for any of the equipment I currently own. There are some people doing wonderful work in On30 building mini- and micro-layouts with these kinds of curves and smaller, using the Bachmann 0-4-0 and 0-4-2 Porters, Davenport gas-mechanicals, and other small switc...

Bakersfield & Ventura Model Railroad

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