Monday Mountain thread

[Jay Criswell]

I have one or two. Next time I'm at the storage unit I'll try to grab one so we can check it out. I've been told the dimensions are incorrect. I never really looked that carefully.

Jay

[E7]

A day early. You cannot say I am not holding my end of the conversation up. Yes, it is hot here - might make 85 today, but I will be behind a giant fan.

Done for Jim Seacrest. I will miss him, but maybe not some of his projects.

I know the name well, but never met or talked to the gent. He had perpetual ads (at least they were in most every issue I ever looked at) in "O Scale Trains". Seemed always to be for mostly the same stuff as I recall. No phone or E-mail, just a mailing address. If he had half as much stuff as he was looking for, he had a pile. Considering the repetition in the ads, they must have not been too successful. One thing in particular I remember was Burlington E7,8, or 9's, always said NO E5, and would take darn near any seller from Key to 3RD Rail. Hard to believe he couldn't find something of that ilk, and I seriously doubt he would have been bombarded with offers for E5's. I suspect he might have been "interesting" to deal with.

Rich

[R.K. Maroon]

This is a little off subject but Rich said something nice about the Megow-SMR NYC consolidation I posted, and by chance I took another photo recently, so I wanted to respond:



The PRR boxcar, the tank car, and the caboose are all what have been described to me as "Lionel semi-scale", which I am told are scale shells originally sold with tinplate trucks and couplers. I cannot speak for the tank car, but the boxcar and caboose are the same shell as the Lionel pre-war scale cars that I have (or have had). The stock car is a cast-metal ScaleCraft.

Jim

[bob turner]

Jim was easy to deal with, and very successful at buying stuff. He literally had so many trains that he would forget, and buy more of the same. His collection includes probably more Fisher passenger cars than everybody else combined.

I do not like to do custom work - it disturbs my hobby sense. But Jim was so nice I agreed to do stuff for him. I tried to scare him away - fifty bucks an hour including coffee breaks, and no fair rushing me. "agreed", he said. That was a quarter century ago.

I never sent him a bill - he always kept me compensated for future work. I scratchbuilt entire locomotives for him - I worked on Corbin, Ferris, White, Dorazio, and other works of art. Lately he had me and Joe Foehrkolb converting Lionel plastic stuff - both of us advised him against it. He would use the plastic Lionel bodies and insert Overland or other exotic mechanisms, leaving expensive body shells as orphans.

I am willing to bet he has a thousand locomotives, all salted away somewhere.

Jim and his wife were also generous philanthropists. They gave considerable sums to non profit organizations. Jim was also unusual in that, of all my model train friends, he was only one of about four who would accept the label of "liberal". I will indeed miss him.

[rogruth]

Bob,

I still enjoy reading your posts and seeing your trains.
Concerning that you are a LIBERAL---"Frankly my dear,I don't give a damn".

[Rufus T. Firefly]

..... Jim Seacrest.

I know the name well, but never met or talked to the gent. He had perpetual ads (at least they were in most every issue I ever looked at) in "O Scale Trains".

There's an ad in the current issue of OST,

[Jay Criswell]

I'm going to attempt attaching photos of one of Max Gray's imports meant to mate up with the Lost Wax Mike. I think it's the same tender shown in Bob's photo. I say this with the caveat his has some added detail.

The other tender shown in a couple of the photos is a USH SP 12k. It's shown for comparison.

The tender in question is too short for a 12 and a little long for a 10. Actually, the water tank is close but the oil tank is way undersized.



Jay

[E7]

The PRR boxcar, the tank car, and the caboose are all what have been described to me as "Lionel semi-scale", which I am told are scale shells originally sold with tinplate trucks and couplers. I cannot speak for the tank car, but the boxcar and caboose are the same shell as the Lionel pre-war scale cars that I have (or have had). The stock car is a cast-metal ScaleCraft.

Jim

A really NEAT little train. It has a very distinctive look and one doesn't have to guess about it's vintage! Thanks for the image!

Rich

[E7]

Lately he had me and Joe Foehrkolb converting Lionel plastic stuff - both of us advised him against it. He would use the plastic Lionel bodies and insert Overland or other exotic mechanisms, leaving expensive body shells as orphans.

Just curious if he ever gave a reason as to what he was hoping to accomplish by doing this? I presume he was going from 3 rail to 2 rail?

Rich

[rrjjf]

E-7,

I once asked Jim about that. He told me he was collecting locos with various paint schemed that he liked. If Lionel or MTH produced a plastic model that looked nice, he would purchase the 3 rail model and have it converted for 2 rail operation. He was not a 3 rail modeler or collector. I cautioned him about several Lionel E unit sets that would not pull their own weight once the traction tires on some of their trucks were removed in the conversion process. Not all 3 rail locos, particularly some Lionel six axle diesels are good candidates for conversion. I had an ABA set of Lionel E-6 locos that only had one unit powered and that one only had one axle on each truck powered with traction tires...NOT GOOD!

Joe

[bob turner]

Jim was kind of a "full employment" guy. He was happiest when someone else was building him stuff, and he was more than happy to pay a serous premium for it. Then the item would apparently go in storage.

Joe converted a couple of pieces for him, and pointed out that they would not pull. Jim, who apparently didn't have a test track, took his word for it and sent them to me for a conversion of a different type.

One of the conversions you should look for if and when his estate goes on the auction block: there is an AA set of Lionel MoPac PAs out there with Overland trucks, gears, and motors. These are the latest Overland, much better quality. The Lionel bodies, although plastic, compare well with the Overland.

Rollin Lobaugh was like that - when the screw and bolt business slowed down, rather than furlough his workers, he set them to making model train kits. Not a bad idea. Jim's version was not quite as altruistic - most of us had enough bucks without doing his projects.

[E7]

Joe and Bob,

Some interesting comments about Mr. Seacrest. Thanks.

Rich

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

It's not Monday, but being I figured out how to post a photo I thought I'd play too.

I acquired a Lionel Mountain off Ebay not long ago, with hope of modifying it into a Seaboard class M2. Had to make a new Vanderbilt tender using brass and move a few things around on the boiler. It's what I call 2-rail Hi-rail (I pulled up the middle rail and went battery power, but kept the hi-rail wheels to keep the cost down and keep the layout intact). Here's the results:

Before:

Lionel 1491.jpg (66.47 KiB) Viewed 6286 times

After:

DSCN0710_531.JPG (261.65 KiB) Viewed 6286 times

DSCN0709_530.JPG (293.42 KiB) Viewed 6286 times

DSCN0708_529.JPG (241.68 KiB) Viewed 6286 times

This engine has a great low speed, creeps along the rails just as good or better than the 5 Williams/Samhongsa brass engines I have.

BobD.

[rogruth]

Looks good to me.
I am NOT bothered by flange size.
Also I am not a two railer.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Thanks Roger!

This is my 2nd Vanderbilt tender, but my 1st in brass (the round back end plug is PVC, made with a slip fit so I can get to the battery). Overall it's a bit crude compared to what the experts do, but if I keep at it I'll get there. Having never seen a real Vanderbilt tender or having drawings or good photos of a SAL Vandy, it's hard to know what parts I need or what they're even called. Seaboard had at least 1/2 dozen styles/sizes of Vanderbilt tenders and I doubt theirs were anything close to those of other RRs.

I forgot to add tool boxes (which I have), but should be able to put them on easily.

These Mountains were used by SAL mainly for their "Orange Blossom Special", but were also used on the Silver Meteor and other named trains until they obtained enough diesels. They were alos used in freight service once the diesels took over.

Other than relocating a dome, I also had to relocate the bell and part of the walkway on both sides. The SAL class M2 had straight walkways and the model came in stepped sections.

Seaboard's steamers weren't as colorful as some of the others (that Southern model was almost too nice to alter!), but what can Slobbering Seaboard Freak do? Fantasy schemes are not my thing.

I am really pleased with the way this Lionel engine runs using BPRC and to me, the mods I had to do were not hard or extensive to do. If I wasn't at the end of my engine buying I'd look into getting more Lionel steamers. Actually I wouldn't mind 1 more, but I can't find an engine close to what Atlantic Coast Line's 4-8-4 looked like. MTH makes one that is kinda close, but I'd have to make mods to it also and at present have other projects in mind.

The large flanges aren't as noticeable from beyond 3 feet, but I wish I could figure out a way to make them blend in to make them less so. One thing I did on another engine (Williams brass 4-6-2) was to soak the tender wheels in Blacken-It. I found soaking them vice applying it with a Q-Tip worked best. The Q-Tip method was hit or miss but soaking was almost immediate. Maybe if I blackened the rails that would make the wheels blend in better(?).

BobD