Penn Line

Jim - Most, if not all, of PennLine's castings should be essentially interchangable with those offered by Bowser. Depending on just what you have, Bowser loco plans will probably provide the necessary information needed to put things together. Of course, you could also look so some old, complete, PennLine kits on eBay.

CNJ999

On 12 Jan 2004 04:20:58 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (JBortle) mumbled incoherently:

By the way, when I was in HO, my best running HO engine was a PennLine 2-10-0. I added a Carey bronze boiler to make the dimensions correct. It runs very smoothly quietly, and could pull every car I had. Gotta dig it out someday and run it on my friend's layout.

Cheers, Ken (NY) Chairman, Department Of Redundancy Department ___________________________________ email:

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Totally off topic, and as a suspenders and belt kind of guy myself, I love your signature tag line about the "Department of Redundancy Department".

Thanks for the chuckle.

-- Jim McLaughlin

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Hello:

Starting in the late 1940's Penn Line produced kits for a Reading Crusader, PRR T1 4-4-4-4 Duplex, followed by other PRR locos in the early 50's; E6

4-4-2, H9 2-8-0, K4 4-6-2, L1 2-8-2 and I1 2-10-0. All had lead boiler castings with excellent weight and pulling ability. They also produced a Whitcomb industrial switcher and around 1960, a 10% shortened GG1 electric plus some diesel units. The last two were also offered RTR and in train sets.

Partly due to their weight, when built correctly the steam locos were excellent performers. Built in 1952 my K4 is by far better than any pacific tested including brass and Bachmann. The E6 and H9 weighed in at about

24 oz, while the K4, L1 are over 30 oz. Drawbar pull on the latter exceeds 6 oz. Cary produced lead boilers to replace the undersized I1 and an N1 2-10-2 that fit the frame. Speeds are acceptable.

If you have lead boilers, they are worth their weight in gold.

Somewhere around 1962, when owner Bob Faust died, English (Bowser) purchased the tooling and some parts. The GG1 went to Varney and later an inferior version was produced in Hong Hong.

When parts ran out and tooling was worn, Bowser altered some parts. For a while, frames fabricated in brass were plagued with problems. They are now cast. Many detail part were spin cast and inferior. This has been corrected. Boilers are now cast in zamac and are much lighter.

The bright side is that almost every part is available to rebuild older locos, including valve gear, motors, gears, drivers and trucks. In addition, detail kits are available. Get a copy of their handbook for details. It includes exploded diagrams of the Penn Line loco assemblies.

Hope this helps..

Thank you,

Budb

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Thanks, I have contacted Bowser and they were extremely helpful. Am ordering parts for 5 locos. The boilers fit several different wheel arrangements, so I have my choice between an Atlantic and a Cons. and between a pacific and various other wheel arrangements.

Jim Stewart

The cast zamac though has many problems like longevity. I opened a box of engines made out of zamac last year when I was getting back into the hobby after a long time. The zamac engine frames were almost dust and totally unusable. The Bowser mountain with it's brass frame and boiler was just fine.

Zamac CAN be a problem, but is not necessarily so, at least over the owner's lifetime, or more.

I've seen Zamac deteriorate in about ten years. I also have a lot of old Zamac from the 1950's that's just fine ... so far.

The deterioration, commonly called "metal rot", and more properly "intercrystaline corrosion", is the result of impurities in the diecast metal alloy. This could be from 'lowest bidder' problems, or just lack of adequate care in formulating the mix. Such solidified metals are actually a matrix of metal crystals. The corrosion begins on the boundary between the crystals, slowly prying them apart. This causes the metal to swell. The metal disintegrates from the inside, like cancer.

Batches of metal made during the Korean war seem especially bad. Some manufacturer's products are especially noted for this problem ... particularly Megow, Aristo-craft, and English (original). Few of their products survive today. Almost every manufacturer has had some of this problem on certain products or model runs (metal batches). Bowser (original), Mantua, and Ulrich seem to have had little, but some, of it. MDC, Central Valley, and others are totally hit or miss.

There's absolutely nothing that can be done to reverse, or even arrest, this problem once it starts. Slowly the metal turns to white dust. Along the way it will get VERY brittle, swell, distort (warp), crack, powder, and otherwise degrade. The paint (if any) usually comes loose in big chips or sheets, with dust underneath. The best you can hope for for some unique piece is to get a rubber mold of it before it falls apart.

There are few things in the hobby more disgusting than paying $25 or more for a set of CV 6-wheel passenger trucks, and having them disintegrate beneath your car the first time you try running it. Sometimes there's not much left but the wheelsets, springs, and paint. They don't ALL do this, however. Some I have seem just fine. They show NO sign of deterioration. ( ... yet?) :-( Once you have a few fail, it doesn't do your confidence much good.

Dan Mitchell ==========

Charles Callaghan wrote:

On 21 Jan 2004 08:28:49 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@dandy.net (budb) mumbled incoherently:

I have a BRONZE I1 Cary boiler/cab I got from a very old guy (passed away) who used to own Trainland in New York, and fitted to my Penn Line engine a lot of years ago. It fit perfectly, and I was then able to solder detail parts on using a small torch. Does anybody know anything about this bronze item? I can't find anything on it.

Ken (NY) Chairman, Department Of Redundancy Department ___________________________________ email:

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I too have a bronze (or brass?) boiler for a Penn Line PRR I-1 2-10-0. It was marketed to correct the undersized boiler originally fitted to these models. I remember seeing it advertised in the magazines (1960's?), but can't recall now who made it. I got mine years ago at a flea market. Magazine search anyone?

Dan Mitchell ==========

"Ken [NY)" wrote:

I recall that it LOOKED like a Big Boy. Same 'UP" styling. But it's been a long time since I looked at that photo, so I won't argue about the wheel arrangement. And, yes, it certainly was NOT painted ... that would have destroyed the whole effect!

Dan Mitchell ==========

Froggy, @, The, P>

UP's claim is for the 'Logo' Generic 'Union Pacific' lettering is not protected. Now that UP 'shield' on the front is at issue. Also the stylized American flag and 'Building America' are covered.

Jim Bernier

"Daniel A. Mitchell" wrote: