Doorstop Electrics

[bob turner]

Have we done these recently enough that photos still exist? Was it covered well enough in the PRR Power thread?
I am currently working on a Jack Collier variant. Most of the original pieces are there - but no window frames for cab windows. Photos when I make some progress.

I have Collier, Baldwin/Walthers, and Alexander G's. Was going to add a Lionel body, but those folks got some plastic sideframes to replace the zinc-pest damaged ones, so no bargains this week. Stunningly accurate model, although not as good as the 3rd Rail imports.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

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[De Bruin]

I think Carey, Maroon, JS Bach and you Bob have all posted photos of doorstop electrics, but not under a single topic heading/string, at least since the last purge as far as I can recall. As an aside there are some "holy grail" castings out there that fall under the Class One Electric category imo; my "wild goose" is a bronze EF-3a/EP-4 car body casting made for the Parmalee & Sturgis EP-3 drive/chassis. I saw one on E-Bay about dozen years ago but had no interest at the time, kicking myself now about it though.
In the interurban vein, LWS's Electroliner has always been kind of alluring to me as well.

[bob turner]

I loved streetcars when I was a kid. Rode all sorts of ancient equipment back and forth to grade school in Baltimore. When I was back in Philly flying for Ransome I rode the PCC cars from one end to the other. Never did ride the old Ardmore cars or those strange things on 11th street with different size wheels on each truck.

But in O Scale they are just so small . . .

I have been sorely tempted a couple times when those cast aluminum PCCs show up, but I resisted.

[bob turner]

So I shall start off with what I now know to be a Jack Collier bronze body. the trucks are Ed Alexander, purchased from him in person at his Yardley Pa estate. I also now know that Jack sort of blew it with the ends and notches, and can now appreciate what the owner of my Collier body did before he gave it to Dan Henon. I traded an Egolf Pullman to Dan for the body.

In short, about an eighth of an inch of bronze was ground off each end to give the appearance in this photo. I filled in the notches with some Bondo to complete the image, then sanded and shot Scalecoat Tuscan.

The Alexander truck frames were paper-thin. I backed them up with some .032 brass, then made what I thought were pretty accurate pilot tongues. More on that in a bit.

[E7]

In the interurban vein, LWS's Electroliner has always been kind of alluring to me as well.

The late Alf Modine had an Electroliner that looked to be an equal or maybe even better than Sunset version. It was noted in the text to it's pictures that he built it. Wondering if that may have been a LWS version?

[bob turner]

He was an excellent scratchbuilder. And a truly nice guy. Oone of his beautiful modls was stolen at an OSW - I really felt badly for him.

[E7]

He was an excellent scratchbuilder. And a truly nice guy. Oone of his beautiful modls was stolen at an OSW - I really felt badly for him.

I was looking through some back issues of OSN and saw a lease Pool classified offering a reward for it's return. A lot of lowlifes out there!

[De Bruin]

The late Alf Modine had an Electroliner that looked to be an equal or maybe even better than Sunset version. It was noted in the text to it's pictures that he built it. Wondering if that may have been a LWS version?

I recall that as well, Mr Modine was certainly a skilled builder and great guy by all accounts.

On a related note I recall seeing one of the LWS versions in Vane Jone's Tracton & Models in the early 1980's, built by Tom Matola. After seeing what constituted the original kit (eight castings) I was highly impressed with the finish quality of the end product. Apparently Mr. Matola was no slouch either.

[bob turner]

Flat on my back - might have been a mild Covid attack, but degenerated into a common cold. Maybe I shall take a break from the couch and post more electrics. Carey has me working over an ancient Jack Collier bronze GG1 - almost done with it, but can only drill three or four holes and it is back to the couch.

[bob turner]

Collier in a minute - here is my Icken O1a



And the Alexander "New Haven"

[bob turner]

Two shots of Carey's "Jack Collier" GG1. I made the trucks to match the blueprints, and they turned out to be 1/4" too long. So in between sneezing attacks, they have been shortened. Look much better.



A nose only a mother could love - and the "too-long" truck:

[bob turner]

And just so we all know what a GG1 truck looks like in real life - the bottom one is Wolfer, now available from Stevenson. The one on top - the black one - is the now crumbling Lionel JLC truck - not bad, but nowhere near as good as the Wolfer truck!

[Carey Williams]

Hello Bob thank you for all your work on the Collier GG1 ....trucks looking much better ...no clue why someone cut them short ..
Jack Collier's "Toys for Men" hobby shop in Oakland , Ca .....a Lobaugh dealer
the plans for the GG1 were drawn up in 1944 and traced in 45 ...so a war baby plan ... assume late 45 production ?....I've found ads for Jack Collier's store ..but no mention of the GG1 ......anyone have more info about Jack Collier and his GG1 ?
No too many Collier GG1's out there ... one would have thought with the cast Alexander GG1 ...postwar to become the Baldwin / Walthers model there would be little need for additional GG1's in the world ...International (IMP) also made /imported a GG1 ( in very limited numbers) 1953 . for photos of the IMP GG1 please see link

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/int ... ale-3-rail
Cheers Carey

[J. S. Bach]

Years ago, I once had a set of GG1 sides sand-cast in Al that were about a half-inch thick; I have no idea who made them but a heliarc welder would have been the only way to put them together. I ended up trading them for two Lykens Valley models, a Southern Big John hopper and a Santa Fe 86' hi-cube boxcar which I assembled and still have.