HO Porter 0-4-0

=>Hi. Did anyone ever have an HO Porter 0-4-0? Are any Mantua Goat or Busy Bee =>parts available anywhere? Thanks. John Hudson.

IIRC. LMB imported on about 30 years ago. Didn't run well, and was oversize too. You might find one if you check with brass resellers, which nowadays deal in secondhnad brass as well. Or place an ad in RMC or MR.

The typical Porter 0-4-0 lokey was _small_, designed to be at home on narrow gauge with its tighter clearances. For standard gauge, they just put a wider frame under it. An HO version would be about 2" long!

Good Luck!

Wolf Kirchmeir ................................. If you didn't want to go to Chicago, why did you get on this train? (Garrison Keillor)

Yes. I have a Ken Kidder Porter 0-4-0 that is about 50 years old. Nice brass model, but not to the detail we would expect today.

Chuck Callaghan snipped-for-privacy@virginia.edu

Thanks for your replys. John hudson

Dear Sir, Model Power might have parts to fit the Goat or Bee. They have the Mantua parts now. I have heard the Life-Like Teakettle is a dubious replica of a Porter 0-4-0 side tank, but it runs badly. Cordially yours, Gerard P.

I bought a Mantua complete parts catalog shortly before they quit making trains. They did not list any specific Goat or Busy Bee parts (or parts for any of the other brass boilered locos either) parts in that catalog.

I also have an old 1952 Mantua parts list. Several of the parts for the Bee and Goat are the same as used on the Shifter and Booster, which were available till the end of Mantua production. These loco's show up frequently at train shows - I've paid as low as $8 for a junker Shifter with no motor and $15 for a complete one that didn't run but was easily repaired. Common parts include drivers (plain the same, geared have different part #, but identical descriptions), side rods, axle bearings, and side rod screws. The wheelbase is the same as the Shifter, but the Bee and Goat frames are shorter. From the scale drawings in the parts catalog, it would not be a big project to cut down a Shifter frame to use to restore a Bee or Goat. GQ

Hi. thank you for your replys. will look for mantua booster and shifters. John Hudson.