I didn't realize just how much 1/4-inch narrow gauge "Logging Stuff" I still had hidden in a bin in the layout room until I started unpacking to 'snoop around.' Several years ago I sold off most of my On3 Westside Lumber-based craftsman kits and made a pile of money on Ebay to put into my HO scale layout. But a handful of O gauge models survived to live again in the swamps of Bayou Country!
After photographing the remnant, I see how my scratch building skills have vastly improved over the years.
Two logging locos, one of which (the centercab) was featured in a How-To article many years ago in the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette Magazine. They seem rough around the edges compared to my work nowadays. (Good sign) I will need to regauge the locomotive's trucks from converted On3 back to their original HO/On30 gauge. The center cab loco was built over a Bachmann HO chassis and the other engine on an old HO Walthers loco.
A few years ago I got the bug to scratch build a few "plantation-style" boxcars in On30 based on some old shorty HO-scale flatcars. And those look pretty good, so they will head directly onto the new layout, with the possible change to On30 trucks and wheel sets.
And then this On3 logging crew speeder!
This was a example of too many beers before heading to the workbench! This interesting contraption is a WWII German half-track model set on a HO loco power truck (rear) and a dummy loco front truck. At one time I had it filled with loggers heading to the woods. The back is filled with crates of fresh produce heading to the cook shack... I can't remember if it ever actually ran, but I was trying to hook up a headlight to the front hood... I think Gazette editor and publisher Bob Brown is still shaking his head over this article submission!
Some neat lookin' stuff there...
ReplyDeleteWell why not? Many ex-military vehicles ended up doing post-war work with modified body work. I've seen photos of US halftracks with dump trays, with a fifth wheel for use in conjunction with semi-trailer and with tanks for firefighting. All look very interesting and an excellent change from the usual. With this particular half-track/railbus conversion, do you have the original chassis rusting away peacefully in some weed-covered back lot? Might make for an interesting follow-up article!
ReplyDeleteWell why not? Many ex-military vehicles ended up doing post-war work with modified body work. I've seen photos of US halftracks with dump trays, with a fifth wheel for use in conjunction with semi-trailer and with tanks for firefighting. All look very interesting and an excellent change from the usual. With this particular half-track/railbus conversion, do you have the original chassis rusting away peacefully in some weed-covered back lot? Might make for an interesting follow-up article!
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