Manufacturers Railway Company Alco S2

[R.K. Maroon]

Some of you may remember the MRS Alco S2 that Allan Wehrle posted a few years back:



My guess is that Allan built this from a Gilmaur kit but I guess it could also be LWS. Allan was the ultimate "do it if you can and it feels good" modeler, evidenced here by the installation of what I believe are IMP drives into this model:



You gotta love riveted sheet metal gearboxes. This model is staying in the Wehrle family, but I offered to spiff it up a bit for display (the top photo is "as arrived" and before touch-up) in exchange for the chance to run it and get some video. To my great surprise the IMP drives run like a top and have a nice "classic O-scale" sound:

https://youtu.be/zdGJAdQUBAc

By the way, MRS was an industrial short line and there is no evidence they had any cabooses. Further, while they had a lot of different online industries, there is no evidence that stock cars ever rolled on their tracks. The train being pulled was already on the layout though and was convenient for the video shoot. A string of grain cars and Budweiser reefers would have been better, but sometimes one has to make do with what is available.

Jim

[bob turner]

Nice video; lousy photos?

[R.K. Maroon]

Lousy photos? Hmm...maybe the link to Dropbox isn't loading correctly. Here are the photos directly uploaded here:

Wehrle MRS Alco S2.JPG (56.65 KiB) Viewed 6074 times

Wehrle MRS Alco S2 Drive.JPG (44.75 KiB) Viewed 6074 times

Still lousy?

[ScaleCraft]

all photos look just fine on XP

[sarge]

It looks good, well done on the spiffing.

I can say that is not one of Mike's kits, if that helps.

All the photos are fine on an iPad...

[ScaleCraft]

Just a guess but the tabs on the bottom of the trucks with a hole in them.....for center rail pickup mount?
And the tab with two holes inside one of the boxes on the frame between trucks for reverse unit?

What kind of plunge joint is that between trucks? Hard to tell from the photos.

[bob turner]

Second set show up on my ancient iPad. I will check with the Greek's newer iPad.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

installation of what I believe are IMP drives into this model:

Unlike any I've ever encountered.....

Photos are fine here.

[robert.]

When can i get a driveshaft like the one connection both trucks?

[De Bruin]

I can attest after attending that most excellent O Scale SW meet last month, that Mr Wehrle's S-2 ran like a Swiss watch.
The drive mechanism defies my meager descriptive abilities and per Martin is unlike any I've ever seen as well.
I really enjoy that such a great modeler and good fellow like Allan can still have his work appreciated; I'm sure Jim can corroborate he would like it as well.
Pete

[R.K. Maroon]

As there were several comments and questions regarding this chassis, trucks, and drive, I thought a few more photos were in order. Here is another view showing a slightly different angle:

Wehrle MRS Alco S2 Drive 01.png (653 KiB) Viewed 5984 times

Note the drive shaft from the motor coming in at an angle to the left-hand truck, just above (below) the drive shaft that connects the two trucks. The motor drive shaft connects to a gear tower, hidden under the diamond walk plate seen to the right of the left truck pivot point. I haven't inspected this gear tower but I am now curious as to how it is constructed so I will take a peak. There is no clear evidence of outside third rail here, but who knows where those trucks were in their early years. The hole in the bottom of each sideframe is for a screw which attaches the sideframe to the bolster. I have not seen this style of construction before.

Here's a closeup of the drive shaft:

Wehrle MRS Alco S2 Drive 03.png (594.22 KiB) Viewed 5984 times

The gear tower is on the far left in this photo. Allen enjoyed the challenge of making components that others would buy. The motor drive shaft, including the "horny ball" at the gear tower is clearly homemade, and it looks to me that the drive shaft between the trucks is as well. I will confirm this when I look at the gears tower, which I also suspect is a home brew. The Wehrle family asked me to pick out a representative model of Allen's to keep in the family, and I chose this one with no hesitation. It's classic Allen -- his clever talents and slightly quirky approach are on full parade here.

Jim

[herronpeter]

@DeBruin.............curious how quiet the drive was. Looking at the photos it would seem that with all those metal on metal gears it would growl like an angry Rottweiler.

Peter

[bob turner]

It looks like steel on brass. No reason for metal on metal to be noisy - but brass is a lousy gear material. If they last longer than 3 hours they are probably a bronze alloy.

Most Sunset/3 rd Rail locomotives use steel on bronze, and are really quiet.

[bob turner]

Oh - and I believe those U joints are USH.

[ScaleCraft]

There is no clear evidence of outside third rail here, but who knows where those trucks were in their early years. The hole in the bottom of each sideframe is for a screw which attaches the sideframe to the bolster. I have not seen this style of construction before.


Jim

For my query, it is not holes in sideframes, it is that squarish plate on the bottom, centerline, in line with wormshaft, looks like one attached to each end axle gearbox...perfect place to mount center rail pickups...especially if those trucks were designed to work tinplate customers and scale.