(Workshop member Jim Martin visited a local train show... and files this report):
I saw and held some remarkable S scale
history this past weekend.
A few weeks back I wrote about my S scale mentor, Arthur Lomax, who
passed away almost 13 years ago. Arthur was in S a looong time, and the collection he left behind is a tangible
record of 3/16"=1' scale. This past
weekend his son Phillip Lomax and I worked a table at the Ancaster, Ontario model
railroad flea market, selling off much of Arthur’s stuff.
Friend David Woodhead (the guy who composed and played
the great original music for The ModelRailway Show podcast) dropped
by the table for a visit, and like me, was fascinated with what he saw. Thankfully he had his camera with him.
Exhibit A: HO wasn’t the only scale to have a model of the iconic B&O
Docksider. Rex made a fine quality
model in S back in the 50s. This
one still looks good, and looks ready to get to work in the tight confines of
an urban switching layout...
Exhibit B: The two Alco yard switchers you see at the far end of the table are by Miller,
probably late 40s or early 50s. They weigh a ton and have actual traction motors on the axles - four per
loco - but no gearing. Each motor
armature is the axle! Not a lot of
low speed control. At full tilt
they would likely become armour-piercing shells...
Exhibit C: Wow - an unassembled 75-year old locomotive kit with original
box and instructions! This is by The Cleveland Model and Supply Company, Inc. - and the instruction sheet is dated 1937. Back then Cleveland called 1:64 “CD
Gage”. David especially liked the
lettering font on the instructions. It looks like classic “draftsman” and appears to be done by hand. As for the kit, check out the wood
boiler and tender body. Tender rivets
are an embossed paper overlay. The
white metal bits all appear to be of high quality. This has to be a rare find. It should remain forever unassembled as a part of our
history...
None of these items sold - they are still
available to interested hobby historians. And there are even more historic loco kits that didn’t make it to the
show. Perhaps we’ll look at them in a future post...
- Jim
