Model Train Journal

Hello all you door stop collectors and purveyors of bricks ( lighter bricks ..this time)

Ohio seems to have been a magnate of aluminum early O scale engine manufactures . (Yes I know a magnate does attract aluminum)

Acme Model Locomotives of Hamden , Ohio was advertising June 1932 in Model Maker ... , articles appeared about their Hudson and P5 electric . 1933 a Acme catalog ( courtesy of the TCA library) was issued listing :Hudson, Mikado, Pacific , P5 , passenger and freight cars ...all of aluminum castings , all 1/4" scale . Acme sold the raw castings and suggested you contact Icken about a motor . Acme listed in catalog a ready to run version of the P5 ....$75.00 ( any takers?)










Lee B Green of Cleveland , Ohio was at the Chicago World's Fair running his Aluminum cast K4 and Hudson with passenger and freight cars. October 1934 is the first ad (I've found so far) for Miloco with a plea to send for a catalog . Only Miloco catalog ( so far) is dated 1935 promoting a Hudson, K4 ( both in O and 1 gauges) , passenger and 3 freight cars ..... Lee B Green was a big promoter of O gauge true scale 17/64ths and he was happy to mention it in all his ads.


Leonard Blum , attorney , hobby shop owner, and big collector/ dealer of O scale, in 1949 advertises ( MR January ) a Pennsylvania M1-A with cast aluminum boiler and tender.





Miloco is a bit thin on the ground these days .... but seek and you'll find ..... can the same be said about Acme and Blum's engine ? ....does anyone have any examples of Acme or the Blum engine to share a photo or two ?

Thank you
Cheers Carey

I have seen two Blum M1a models. Never heard of Acme.

All I ever got from Acme was an anvil.

This O-1 was sold on eBay a few years back:


It was listed as an Icken but I don't believe it matches the Icken casting. Bob Turner has an Icken and can comment on this. The shell on this model is cast though so it might be an Acme. However, the casting looks like it's brass or bronze to me so maybe not.

Jim

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:All I ever got from Acme was an anvil.

What??????!!!!! No instant boulder?????

This is what an Icken looks like - French sand casting; almost as good as lost wax:

That is low resolution - I will try to get a better shot next time the sun comes out.

(Yes I know a magnate does attract aluminum)

No, a magnate DOES NOT attract aluminum.

Neither does a MAGNET attract aluminum.

A MAGNATE, if he is so desirous, and if he wishes to use his wealth therefor, may collect aluminum, or he may collect magnets, or he may collect anvils, either made of aluminum or of other metals. He may be attracted to aluminum, either in its basic or refined state, or he may be attracted to items made of aluminum such as doorstops. He may be attracted to aluminum in blooms, or doorstops made by Blum.

Thank you Jim for posting the ebay electric ..it does look brass under the paint .....

Thank you Bob for posting the nice photo of your Icken ..... looking forward to the day the sun come out myself ...here in Chicago the sun's next appearance is scheduled for May .

Cheers Carey

Not sure this shows the detail in those Icken sand castings any better - maybe I should dust it with some chalk:

Looks like a few of the windows were never opened up on the Icken casting. Did you open those that are there, Bob, or was that done already when you obtained the model?

I have seen photos of the O1 that look like the middle two openings were windows. But then there are a lot that look like Bob's:


Maybe it's the difference between the O1 and the O1a. Or maybe it's a modification made at some point in the life of the locomotive. Or...

R.K. Maroon wrote:Maybe it's the difference between the O1 and the O1a.

The difference between the O1 and the a, b, and c was hp in the motors

Or maybe it's a modification made at some point in the life of the locomotive. Or...

I'm going with the latter "Or..."

Well, after very limited research, I find my model is more or less correct. You cannot see them, but each "filled" window has exquisitely cast vertical slats, in what appears to be an O1a configuration. You can see those slats on #7853 in the Morning Sun book on PRR electrics.

Others appear in various configurations, with and without slats, and some apparently just open. Common photos show white shades. Bet that didn't last long.

We will need a genuine SPF to opine further. I need one more Icken like this, and a P5 to complete my PRR stable. I may at some point add a J1 - in fact I would trade an L1 in really good shape (USH) for a reasonably good J1 needing work.

bob turner wrote:Well, after very limited research, I find my model is more or less correct. You cannot see them, but each "filled" window has exquisitely cast vertical slats, in what appears to be an O1a configuration. You can see those slats on #7853 in the Morning Sun book on PRR electrics.

Maybe you could take a better photo or a close up of them -- that they are there is very hard to see, but that would make them correct. I was thinking that maybe the casting just left those vent grills to be added separately.