Trumpeter makes some WWII German railway items in 1/35 scale - three locos, and a few transport cars, as well as a track set. Big, expensive, impressive as all-get-out when built up with extra detailing and/or Eduard etch sets. And can be combined with any of their 1/32 armor kits for a load to haul...huge beasts.
Max George wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@smaugs-lair.demon.co.uk:
There are 4(?) 1/87 scale models that Revell has the molds for now. All American prototypes a Big Boy and a Hudson at least. Originally by Con-Cor then Mongram and finally Revell. I do know the Big Boy tender is good enough that it is sometimes modified into an actual running model. There are also some German I think diesel and steam engines.
There seems to be some 1/72 resin and plastic. Hobbyboss has a German BR-52 and there seems to be a bit more out there.
Airfix seems to be releasing stuff from deep back in the catalog and I know they had a number of GB prorotypes.
Go to Sqaudron or Great Models or your favorite hobby site and search on "locomotive".
The ex-Rosebud Kitmaster line, taken on in reduced form by Airfix and then sold to Dapol, contains UK outline steam (and diesel) locomotives, rolling stock, buildings and trackside accessories.
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Revell Germany has produced some continental and US locomotive models. Only the Big Boy is in the current catalog.
In 1/76 (OO) as noted you have the Dapol (ex-Airfix, ex-Rosebud Kitmaster) molds as well as Ratio, Parkside Dundas, and Coopercraft.
In 1/87 Revell has both the old Monogram molds of the NYC Hudson and UP Big Boy, but they also have a lot of European ones as well. ESCI had a number of WWII vintage items which Revell picked up such as a BR52 "Kriegslok" and BR41, and they also at one time marketed an "Orient Express" kit with two cars and a BR18 locomotive.
As noted you also have the Trumpeter and DML items in 1/35 scale but most of those are oriented towards military vehicles and dioramas.
Can I open the constant can of worms by pointing out that OO is a "gauge" not a "scale"? Airfix used to hedge their bets and claim it was "OO/HO Scale"...
Which came about, IIRC, as a result of a lack of suitably small motors at the time. OTOH, there was some activity here on this side of the pond in genuine OO scale. Back in the '70s Railroad Model Craftsman ran a feature on a whole layout built almost entirely by scratch in OO. Some pieces were adapted from HO and others were commercially available - in the '30s. Wonder what became of that layout.
The Revell Big Boy seems to have been recently repopped, and is being advertised by a few places currently. I have one unbuilt, and it is somewhat simplified. The piping is molded on, and the molding for the pipes is not the best, but aside from that it is okay. It is an order of magnitude cheaper than those models aimed at armour modelers.
There were a few others in the Revell series, but I have never seen indications that the others were ever repopped.
Still popular in the UK, first real attempt was EM gauge (for which most stock was modied simply by easing out the wheels to fit the more accurate track), then came Protofour, which is fine scale 4mm to the foot and way beyond my skill level.
on 8/10/2009 11:03 AM (ET) Musicman59 wrote the following:
The "General" was a Civil War 4-4-0 locomotive "The Great Locomotive Chase".
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remember making a wooden model of the General when I was a kid. I also remember building the DeWitt Clinton model in wood, and some other locomotive which name escapes me.
Look to ePay and look for "Northwestern Locomotive Model" (alternative would be "Nor-West" and "Advance") This company made some plastic locomotives in HO guage including an American 4-4-0, a switcher, a Cabbage Stack, a Mogul and a "999" (appears to be from the early 20th Century). The 4-4-0 was also available as a full combined freight/ passenger train and named "The General". The train cars were also sold seperately. Oh yeah, they also did a hand car with a work trailer that looks really cute. Also, ITC did a bunch of the above but pantographed down to maybe
1:125 or thereabouts. None of the above individual kits were going for more than $20.00 and the complete General train was running about $35.00 or so. I have one of those and it looks to be the fixin's for a sweet little diorama.
Originally there were gauges 1, 2 and 3. The gauges and scales were 1 3/4 in 1:32, 2 1/2in 1:22 and 3 1/2in 1:16 respectively.
With the increase in popularity of indoor model railways, a smaller scale/gauge combination was needed and this became 0 gauge (as in "zero"). It has a gauge if 32mm and a scale of 1:45 or 7mm to the foot. In time it became known as O gauge (as in "oh")
A requirement for even smaller scale and gauge combination led to H0 gauge (Half 0). This has a gauge of 16.5mm and a scale of 3.5mm to the foot (1:87).
North American and European loading gauges are much larger than British ones. Which the early electric motors would fit into an NA outline loco model, they were too bit for British outline models. Therefore the scale was increased to 4mm but retaining a gauge of 16.5mm to run on HO track. The new gauge because known as OO (double O). Strictly speaking, it is an inaccurate scale/gauge combination which can cause some problems.
Various attempts have been made to rectify the problem, including the introduction of EM gauge ("Eighteen millimeter" 4mm scale/18mm gauge) and later P4 (4mm scale/18.83mm gauge).
N gauge is "Nine millimeter" with a gauge of 9mm but two different scales (1:160 or 1:148) depending on whether you are in North America or Europe.
To me the oddest scale/gauge name is OO9. That is a scale of 4mm with a gauge of 9mm to represent narrow gauge prototypes. The name is a total contradiction! How can it be OO *and* 9 millimetres? LOL
The accepted norm in the US is that "Gauge" is the distance between the rails and "Scale" is the numerical relationship of the ratio of miniaturization of the model. HO Gauge is 16.5mm whereas HO Scale is
3.5mm to the foot or 1/87. The odd thing is that all commercial OO Gauge is also 16.5mm but the scale as noted is 4mm to the foot or
1/76.
Problems arise when gauges match but scales don't such as N Gauge (9mm) and N scale (2mm or 1/160 US, 1/148 UK).
Best argument I ever saw was subtle -- there was a UK argument about the best gauge for OO scale and the postulations were 16.5mm, 18mm or
18.83mm. Some wag signing himself as "I. K. Brunel" came up and told them all to push off, as anyone knows the correct gauage is 28mm...
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