Prototype: Davenport Besler Locomotive

Photo by Bruce Evans

Model: Convert a On30 Gas Mech to Gn15

Instructions

Prototype: Davenport

Locomotive No. 57 on a work train at sunset.

Prototype: Lister 'R' Type Rail Trucks

Stoke-on-Trent once had a large number of small sewage works with many having their own narrow gauge railway. Several used Lister 'R' Type Rail Trucks to move the wagons containing the sludge around the works and one, number 39419, is now located at Mill Meece.

The Rail Truck is the rail version of the Lister Auto Truck, first produced by R.A. Lister & Company Limited in the spring of 1926. The original Auto Truck was a simple three wheeled vehicle with a single wheel at the front driven by an air cooled J.A. Prestwich (JAP) 600cc petrol engine.

Following the success of the Auto Truck a petrol locomotive was designed in 1928. These used the same JAP engine, oil and fuel tanks and front housing as the Auto Truck. The latter comprised a cast iron grille carrying the words ‘Lister’ and ‘Auto Truck’ at the front with a plain sheet steel curved bonnet top and sides.

Model: On30 Green Diesel Critter

Model by Marc Reusser from a Grandt Line 5-ton Plymouth. More Info

Model: Red Stag Lumber Company

More Info

Prototype: Baldwin Sugar Mill Gas Loco

Model: BVM's On30 Critter Bashing Parts

New side-door cab for critter bashing - Continuing the Kitbasher's Delight series, BVM's added a new side-door cab to expand kitbashing options. This cab can be used to bash the Spectrum HO 70-ton loco or to bash the Model Power Porter Hustler.

More info

Prototype: Pine Creek Railway

A narrow gauge locomotive at the Pine Creek Railway. The PCRR is located at the New Jersey Museum of Transportation in Allaire New Jersey.

Photographer: Bobber Gibbs

Model: On30 Critter

On30 Critter
by Jerry Lawrence

(Photos Russ Reinberg/Finescale Railroader)

More Info

Prototype: World War I - 60cm Trench Trains

Prototype: 1949 Ruston 20DL loco

Moseley Railway Trust

Worked at the ICI Nobel explosives plant at Shevington near Wigan.
Fleet No. 36
Manufacturer: Ruston & Hornsby Ltd.
Type: 20DL
Engine: Ruston 2VSH diesel
Weight: 2.75 Tons
Year Built: 1949
Makers' No. 280865

Prototype: 1918 MRTC 40HP War Service

Moseley Railway Trust

Fleet No. 47
Manufacturer: MRTC
Type: 40HP "Weather Protected"
Engine: Dorman 4JO petrol
Weight: 6 Tons
Year Built: 1918

Built for war service but again never left England. It was sold as surplus to Leeds City Corporation, who used it at their Knostrop sewage works. It is currently on long-term loan from Armley Mills Industrial Museum, Leeds.

Current Status: Operational

History: Baldwin Locomotive Works Stock Certificate

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Baldwin Locomotive Works issued no later than 1950. This historic document was printed by the American Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company's founder, Matthias W. Baldwin. This item has the printed signatures of the Company’s President and Secretary and is over 53 years old.

The Baldwin Locomotive Works, at Philadelphia, had a humble beginning. Matthias W. Baldwin, the founder, was a jeweler and silversmith, who, in 1825, formed a partnership with a machinist, and engaged in the manufacture of bookbinders' tools and cylinders for calico printing. Mr. Baldwin then designed and constructed for his own use a small stationary engine, the workmanship of which was so excellent and its efficiency so great that he was solicited to build others like it for various parties, and thus led to turn his attention to steam engineering. In 1831 he built a miniature locomotive, for exhibition, which was so much of a success that he that year received an order from a railway company for a locomotive to run on a short line to the suburbs of Philadelphia. The difficulties attending the execution of this first order were such as our mechanics now cannot easily comprehend. Tools were not easily obtainable; the cylinders were bored by a chisel fixed in a block of wood and turned by hand; the workmen had to be taught how to do nearly all the work; and Mr. Baldwin himself did a great deal of it with his own hands. It was under such circumstances that his first locomotive, christened Old Ironsides, was completed and tried on the road, November 23, 1832. It was at once put in active service, and did duty for over a score of years. It was a four-wheeled engine, weighing a little over five tons; the driving wheels were 54 inches in diameter, and the cylinders 9½ inches in diameter by 18 inches stroke. The wheels were of heavy cast iron hubs, with wooden spokes and rims, and wrought iron tires, and the frame was of wood placed outside the wheels.

From the time the company began to when this certificate was issued, they built over 60,000 locomotives.

Critter Plan

Model: My Mod of the Gas Mech

Here is my modification of the Bachmann On30 Side Rod Gas Mech so far. Not everything is glued in place yet and I have a lot more of detailing planned - driver, sun screen in the back, clip board, tools, driver etc.

I removed the cab. Cut away most of the cabin just leaving the bottom panels. On the roof I filed off the ridges and plan to add a metal roof. The new roof supports are painted plastic lollipop sticks. - EMF

Model: Open Cab Conversion Kit for Bachmann's On30 Gas-Mechanical

This Backwoods Miniatures kit contains all the components from their earlier Gas-Mechanical dress-up kit plus further new etched parts, pre-cut, jig-drilled brass angle and pre-cut basswood parts to construct the model pictured. Designed for easy ACC 'superglue' assembly. More info

Model: Davenport Spotted On The Owen Firty Timber Co

This loco is based upon the Bachmann #25899 0-4-0 Davenport, with the addition of a Backwoods Miniatures dress-up kit.

The Davenport has been fitted with a Umelec ATL-2064 Sound Decoder, with it's speaker behind the grille. More Info

History: Gas Mech & W.W.I. Trench Warfare

For the first time in history, million-man armies faced each other across a front encompassing multiple countries. This huge endeavor had an insatiable appetite for ammunition, food, and material. A heavy duty road network was years in the future, and cargo trucks were just beginning to be developed. Military planners of the late 19th century turned to lightly laid narrow gauge railroads similar to those used so successfully on plantations in colonial areas of the world. This technology was quickly adapted to the requirements of the Western Front. More than 10,000 diminutive locomotives and uncounted cars moved millions of tons of material forward to the trenches and returned with tens of thousands of wounded soldiers. All the major combatants - The United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany - used very similar equipment and shared the same 60cm (23-5/8") gauge. Many U.S. companies such as Baldwin, Alco, Davenport, Vulcan, Magor, Kilbourne&Jacobs, etc. produced 60cm equipment for all the allied countries in addition to a significant amount of 75cm for Russia. At the end of the conflict, most of this equipment quickly disappeared. Much was scrapped, sold as surplus, or shipped to remote locations.

Model: On30 BACHMANN GAS-MECHANICAL 0-4-0 DRESS-UP KIT

Backwoods Miniatures offers this dress up kit for the Bachmann Gas Mech. The kit contains etched parts for the following: Cab doors, Cab front window frames, Side window shades, Side skirts, Access doors for skirts, Radiator guard, Radiator emblems (three types), Handrail brackets, Fuel filler, Hood door louvre panels, Cabside numbers (4 through 8), Fluted rods, Works plate.Cast metal parts include: Replacement exhaust muffler, Air filter, Roof hatch, Sandboxes, Back-up light, Horn, Fuel tank, Stowage box, Ballast blocks and oil can. Miscellaneous fittings include turned brass handrail stanchions, brass handrail wire and glazing material.

Model: "Specs" on the Bachmann On30 Side Rod Gas Mech

Davenport 0-4-0 Side Rod Gas-Mechanical Diesel Locomotive is a Spectrum® On30 Scale Model from Bachmann®. Suitable for Ages 8 & Older FEATURES: Based on a 1940's stock model from the Davenport catalog, the counterweight & side rod configuration are accurately reproduced. DCC equipped and 100% backwards-compatible with standard DC railroad layouts. Equipped with a 28-speed step decoder. With the DCC On Board technology, you can control the direction, speed, and lighting of this locomotive using the Bachmann® E-Z Command® Digital Command Control System . Heavy die cast chassis with side steps. Die cast side rods and counterweights. Skew-wound motor. Low-speed gearing. E-Z Mate® Mark II knuckle couplers. Operating headlight. Interior with stool and exquisitely detailed controls. Footboards with wood-grain detail. Accurately molded plastic body shell painted yellow with crisp black printing: Pocahontas Lumber Co., Davenport. INCLUDES: Diesel Locomotive Dummy Plugs REQUIRES: Assembly of Detail Parts SPECS: Scale: O 1:48 Length: 3-1/4 Width: 1-5/8 Height: 2-1/8 COMMENTS: This On30 locomotive is a prototypically accurate O scale narrow gauge unit that runs on space-saving HO track.

Prototype: A Davenport "Critter"

History: Fine Scale Railroader

Excerpt from Finescale Railroader June 2004, by Russ Reinberg

"DAVENPORT LOCOMOTIVE WORKS, in
Davenport, Iowa, built locomotives between
1902 and 1956. In 1950, after nearly half a
century of producing its own line of steam locomotives,
Davenport acquired H. K. Porter Company and added that
manufacturer’s designs to its catalog.
Davenport’s first gas mechanical locomotive appeared
in 1924 and its first diesel in 1927. In the early 1930s, the
company was a pioneer manufacturer of small diesel-
electric locomotives. Its line ranged from 4 ton gas
mechanicals to 112 ton diesels and ultimately proved quite
successful. Industries of all kinds purchased the engines.
Commercial railroads also bought Davenport loco-
motives. Its 44 tonners were the most popular because that
was the heaviest locomotive union rules allowed one man
to operate. The major railroads owning Davenport diesels
included the Rock Island, Milwaukee Road, Santa Fe,
Frisco, and Missouri Pacific. Davenport also built a number
of locomotives for the United States Army during and after
World War Two. In 1963, a narrow gauge Davenport
diesel-mechanical from the Sumpter Valley Railroad
became the Rio Grande’s well known 0-4-0 Durango
switcher Number 50."

Check out the PDF file for a great article by Allen K. Littlefield called "Modify The Davenport".

History: Davenport Locomotive Works

The Bachmann Side Rod Gas Mechanical model is based on a 1940's loco from the Davenport Locomotive Works.

Davenport Locomotive Works of Davenport, IA, built locomotives from 1902 to 1956. It soon became a thriving builder of small steam tank locomotives. From 1950 to 1956, Davenport produced Porter designs as well as it' own. They built their first gasoline locomotive in 1924 and their first diesel, a 30-ton for Northern Illinois Coal co. of Boonville, IN, in 1927. The line included 4ton gas to 112ton diesels, with mechanical torque converter (hydraulic) or electric transmission.

Model: A Rainbow of Colors

Bachmann trains offers its Davenport gas mech in a variety of colors, road names and as undecorated units.

Model: Banta Modelworks Boxcab or Crew Cab

BM also offers a kit to convert the Bachmann ON30 Gas Mech into this nifty Boxcab Diesel or Crew Cab. Retail price for the kit - $29.95

Model: Round Roof Cab

Here is Banta Modelworks Round Roof Cab laser cut wood kit for the Bachmann Gas Mechanical.

Model: Banta Modelworks Wood Cab Kits

One of the attractions to gas mechanicals is the variety of detailing kits available. Banta Modelworks offers laser cut wood kits to convert the On30 Bachman Gas Mechanical to other than stock cabs. The Cabs are designed for a precise fit with interlocking precise fit sides and laser cut glazing.

Here is the T-2107 Peaked Roof Cab.

Model: Another G Scale Gas Mech

A Plymouth-looking gas mechanical critter - G gauge. From the 24th National Narrow Gauge Convention. Photo ©2004 Dan Swearingen

Model: G Scale Gas Mechanical

G Scale Gas Mech from the 24th National Narrow Gauge Convention. Love the dog!

Photo ©2004 Dan Swearingen

Model: Bachmann Industries 0-4-0 Side Rod Gas Mechanical Loco

This is the model that sparked my interest in small locos. Its ON30 which is narrow gauge O scale - O scale models that run on HO size track. On my narrow shelf layout I am able to create a run around track due to the tight turning radius these little guys can handle. Plus they are so darn cute!

Retail price: $110 Street: Under $60