Some M. P. Davis, Part II: The Streamlined Caboose

As noted in part one of this series, an important character in the American OO world after WWII was Myron P. Davis, and in this prior article may be found the full list of his known OO production and a photo of my pair of E-7 locomotives. Of those items produced, perhaps the most unusual would be the streamlined caboose. This photo of a built up car is reproduced from the January, 1988 issue of The OO Road and was in the collection of George Miller.

Why this model? Not sure. The cupola resembles some contemporary designs of the time (PRR, etc.), so maybe he is thinking it would sell. But the big windows below the cupola are really unlikely in reality. In any event it is a fanciful design he liked enough to build it up in 3D, and he thought others might like too.

Jumping forward to today, here I am, owning three of these kits, apparently the last three of his stock! Note the unique ladder stock and the streamlined step castings (!) in the photo of one of the sets of parts.

With the parts I also have the steel tool used to bend the body and the foundry receipt. The receipt, dated 4-11-55 and from a foundry in Stamford, Conn, is for eighteen 4 oz bronze castings in #85 bronze. Based on the weight given I believe the receipt is for a run of castings for the cupola of the caboose, and it probably tells us that only 18 of these cars were produced. This receipt is a find to be sure and great to have with these kits today.

Going back to the photo of the example once owned by George Miller at the beginning of this article, the builder (I would guess M. P. Davis himself) went to a lot of effort to clear out the windows in that cupola casting and it looks like it might have an interior as well.

I would like at some point to build up one of these cars from the parts. It will take a pretty big chunk of time to do (a bigger drill press than I have would be helpful) but I would really like to see one of these actually in use, as this unlikely streamlined model is absolutely one of the most unique things ever produced in American OO.

When we return to conclude this series we will look at four more intriguing items that were with the caboose parts.

Some M. P. Davis, Part I: A Bronze C&O 2-8-8-2 Boiler

One of the more interesting people of American OO in the post-war period is Myron P. Davis. One very distinctive feature of his OO line (sold as Cussewago Valley Railroad OO Scale Models) was it included six (!) different models of articulated steam locomotives. The full list of big boilers is in this article, and a longer view with a link to an extended TCA article on these models may be found here.

The item I would like to feature today is one of these boilers, an eBay find. The first of these I ever saw in person was years ago at the home of Bill Chapin. I don’t think that he was using it as one but I recall the comment he made was it was heavy enough to use as a door stop. Which it certainly is!

This boiler is for C&O 2-8-8-2 #1527, is sand cast bronze, and is nine inches long. I would guess it to have been made in the late 1940s or early 50s. My guess is no more than 20 of any of these boilers were produced and probably hardly any of those have actually been built up.

I also don’t imagine that I will ever build this boiler up into a working model. Certainly I have a lot of projects I would turn to first, and to get interested at all in fact the first step would be I have a larger layout that is big enough to actually use a 2-8-8-2 on.

That all being said, I still really like this item. Holding it in your hands I feel like I am holding history and get a view also of the dreams of someone who was very enthusiastic about American OO, Myron P. Davis.

Next up in this three part series is another very unique item from his line of models, his caboose.

Continue to part II

American OO for 1940: Part II, Scale-Craft, Lionel, and Reality

By 1939 Scale-Craft and Lionel had established themselves as leaders among makers of American OO model trains. Both had a number of new items in their line in 1939. But to cut to the chase, the underlying feeling I have is that 1940 was a reality check for both companies.

Let’s start with Lionel. Lionel was anxious to get in on this “scale model train” market and had scrambled to get their line out fully over the course of 1938-39. By 1940 they must have already known they made the wrong choice of gauge; OO could not have been selling well. They put a brave face on it all, of course, as they had an investment to recoup. For example in their magazine The Model Builder an article may be found in the February, 1940 issue on the topic of how to start a model railroad (read it online here), and in that article they only mention O and OO gauges as options. The cover of this issue also features this great image, featuring a number of their OO models that were 1938 only (full image here). So while they could write HO out of existence in their magazine, reality was a bit different; HO was coming in big by 1940.

Turning to other magazines, Lionel OO was pretty invisible with very little to be found outside of their own publications, but I would highlight this photo of screen and singing star Felix Knight with a Lionel OO display layout (I am very doubtful it is really his layout, unless he owns a Lionel display layout) from the June issue of The Model Craftsman. Those following this series will note it is the same display layout we have already seen and featured here, and it would not surprise me at all if it were a stock image taken the previous year, as the layout does not have the standard 2-rail track but a stand in.

Their 1940 catalog I describe briefly in my article on vintage American OO train sets. There I note that

in the 1940 catalog Lionel clarified the kit contents further. On the two rail side of things the 0090 super-detailed sets included the 0044 box car, 0045 oil car, 0046 hopper, and 0047 caboose and the modified sets included the 0074 box car, 0075 oil tank car, and the 0077 caboose. For three rail the 0080 super detailed sets included the 0014 box car, 0015 oil car, 0016 hopper car, and 0017 caboose and the modified 0082 sets included the 0024 box car, 0025 oil tank car, and 0027 caboose. All of the above sets were still available with the W [whistle] option.

The line is illustrated very well. For me the most interesting catalog image is this display layout with a father and son. It is the same layout seen before, but now has been updated with the production two-rail track. Compare to the photo with the singer earlier in this article; the singer is in the same general location as the son but with the photo taken from the other side of the layout, with the non-standard 2 rail track clearly visible. Note also the 1938 hopper near the son, oops, that was no longer available. As always, click on the photos for a closer view.

Turning to Scale-Craft, they focused their marketing on their catalog and the Blow-Smoke newsletter, with very little other advertising to be found. And actually they only got out one issue of Blow-Smoke, which may reflect on sales being a bit slow. The catalog is pretty impressive (over 75 pages!) but substantially based on the 1939 catalog. One “bad news” item was that the 4-6-2 model was discontinued, but they noted that “For those who are building this locomotive, we are continuing to carry Sections 3 and 3.” But on the side of “good news,” while Lionel had no new OO gauge items at all for 1940, S-C had three new cars in their catalog, the Pullman Sleeper, the Observation, and the Diner. These all sold for $6.25 each and are described further in this article. This illustration of the Observation and Diner is from the 1940 catalog.

My sense with S-C is also that even though they thought OO was a great scale they had to know that OO was not selling that well. But they were heavily invested in the scale and would stick with it.

To close I would like to feature one more cover image from The Model Builder, this time from the October, 1940 issue. It seems like Lionel was still working through their stock photos taken of the 1938 OO line (I now feel very familiar with that display layout!) and that they still hoped the youth of America would embrace OO. Full image here.

For sure also there were some enthusiasts out there that had been bitten by the OO bug; when we return to the 1940 series the topic will be other makers active in the OO market.

(Article updated)

A Hawk OO Flat Car

With the purchase of this flat car I now own examples (built up or in kit form) of almost every type of OO scale freight car sold by Hawk. For more general info on the line and the list of models see this article.

This particular car was one that from the listing on eBay I figured out was either nicely scratch built or was something not often seen. It turned out to be the latter. When it arrived it was on a pair of non-operable Nason trucks and most of the decals had flaked off. But the paint was in great shape. So what I did was flake off the rest of the side decals and work up Milwaukee Road decals from vintage sets, matching the scheme of a drawing I found in a book.

The car itself was very nicely built up. The builder added end castings for the coupler mounting, and also added stake pockets that I believe are HO parts.

Looking at the bottom you can see the Hawk frame, cut in the middle and extended from the version seen on their 40’ boxcar and gondola. I did not change the couplers as it would involve more modification than I wished and I am not likely to run this car a lot either.

For trucks I used a fresh set of “Morlok method” trucks. They are described in more detail in this article but in short it involves taking Mantua/Tyco/Model Power HO trucks with the heavy side frames and opening up the inside wider to fit widened 36” HO wheels. On a flat car they work well as they are somewhat hidden and even then they look better than S-C trucks (and operate better).

I have two Hawk 50’ boxcars in the shop now undergoing rebuilding, both needing pretty heavy work but projects of the type that get my interest going. Hopefully they will be out and on the layout as well in a few months.

American OO for 1940: Part I, Nason

To start this look at 1940, we have this advertisement from Nason Railways that was published in the January, 1940 issue of The Model Craftsman.

Note that a big point of the ad is to promote that they have new resources, facilities, and management, and also they highlight that they have “…prompt Service, quick delivery, and guaranteed high quality.” Those may have not been the norm for them in 1939. Nothing kills a company quicker than poor service and inconsistent quality.

The first major OO manufacturer and one of the big three of the pre-war era, 1940 was their last big year. As the 1940 Nason catalog was their last catalog it will be the major focus of this article.

Based on magazine advertisements I would date this catalog to the middle of 1940. This particular copy came to me from the late David Sacks years ago. Inside the cover it notes that this is their sixth anniversary catalog and has an interesting drawing, promoting OO gauge with an owl and slogan. That image may be seen in the Nason 101 article.

The foreword of the slick paper, twenty page catalog makes clearer their situation and hopes for OO gauge going forward.

REORGANIZATION and the placing of our company on a firm financial basis has caused a necessary delay in the appearance of our catalogue.

The QUALITY IDEAL of Nason Railways will be kept intact and in fact, everything possible to make Nason Products the finest obtainable will certainly be done. In addition, we are better prepared than ever before to give prompt service. Since Nason Railways is owned by the employees, every member is only too anxious to have more and more satisfied customers.

Double O gauge (OO) is, in our opinion the logical gauge for those who do not have room for the larger and more expensive sizes. It gives full realism, full scale characteristics, a wealth of detail and the possibility of real efficient motors which start slowly and pick up to full speeds. Its cost is well within reason.

Several new items have been added to our catalogue which we are certain will be of interest to our customers, and several new ones are under study. We have added a Locomotive where almost all the work has been done for you. We have kept the weight of rolling stock very low – as low as it is possible to still give you sturdiness, scale characteristics and detail. We have added a few cars of aluminum of slightly greater weight for those who need an occasional heavier car to balance a train. These cars make beautiful models. Our new track together with switches either built up or in kits will be found not only convenient, but we believe will give the most satisfactory results possible as well as having great beauty and realism.

Turning to the catalog itself, every car or locomotive listed in my Nason 101 article was listed, with two of the items listed there still being considered in development. The aluminum cars mentioned above were actually some of their earliest models but must have been out of production for a period of time. The “Locomotive where almost all the work has been done for you” is their 4-4-2. It was available from Nason starting in the later part of 1939 and had originally been produced by Star-Continental. Priced at $25 for three-rail and $29 for two-rail, in the catalog they say “the Atlantic is a redesign of the Pennsylvania E-6 and embodies a simplified method of assembly.” In short everything was drilled and tapped, and there were “only five simple soldering operations” needed. It would have been easier to build than any of the other locomotive kits they offered to be sure.

One curiosity is the diesel advertised as available in 1939 and described in my article on Nason in 1939 is listed as still being in development, as seen in the photo presented above. On that same page two other models are listed that give a sense of where they were looking as to new products. Sadly, neither the streamlined passenger cars nor the 2-8-2 were ever produced. As always, click on the photos for a better view.

Finally, only one new Nason model was produced after this catalog and it has been featured in a prior article, their gondola. It hit the market not long after the catalog went to press and was reviewed briefly in the October 1940 issues of The Model Railroader and The Model Craftsman; both were trying I believe to help out their long time advertiser. It is a rarely seen item, from the end of Nason production.

Overall, while Nason put their best face forward the sense you get is they probably were not making much money and for sure they were fighting an uphill battle against HO. HO had a lot of new and affordable items hitting the market at this time that were advertised heavily, but OO gauge not so much. Not to mention if you were a Model Craftsman reader you would have to fight your way through all the gas car articles and advertisements to even notice much of anything on OO gauge.

When we return to this series the topic will be the 1940 OO lines of Scale-Craft and Lionel.

Continue to Part II of 1940 Series

On the 1939 Blow-Smoke photos of the Scale-Craft Train Sets

Very recently, thanks actually to a tip (thank you!) I was able to purchase a complete set of the Scale-Craft Blow-Smoke newsletters. The first issue dates to May of 1938 and the last was published in the Spring of 1941. As now I had originals to scan I updated most of the articles in my Blow-Smoke series (it starts here) but was particularly taken by these two images which I would like to highlight.

These are photos published in volume 2, No. 2 of Blow-Smoke, for the Fall of 1939. I had only seen them previously in Xerox so to see them now, especially the scanned version blown up a bit larger on a computer, is quite interesting. Click on either photo for that larger view.

The first thing that just jumps out even more clearly is these are both pre-photoshop image manipulations. Basically each photo is at least two photos. One photo is of the OO set being illustrated running on S-C track. Inside of that is a smaller image of the set boxes and track and such. It is actually a bit jarring to me even now as really it looks kind of like a OO set and a N gauge set, the scale relationship is very odd. But those models most certainly are all Scale-Craft OO models, even if it feels uncomfortable to me to look at the kit parts (tank car and passenger car) and then look at the finished car in the background (!) so much larger. It must have taken some skill to produce these promotional images back in that day.

Moving past that though, these photos have a real "wow" factor and other than a few still images from a movie (seen in this article) are the only images we have of these extremely rare sets, offered in passenger and freight versions. With the die-cast models and sectional track on a metal base they were quite a product when introduced in 1937!

For more details on these sets see this article on Vintage American OO Train Sets, which was updated tonight as well.

As a final note, some years before the launch of this website there was a website where they had one of these sets listed for sale at a high price. I did not think to print it out but the site had a quirky title something like "Tom Turkey OO." I believe there probably are examples out there of these sets that were clearly on the market for several years. For sure one to keep eyes peeled for.

Yardmaster Lines OO Gauge Body Kits

In March of 1940 we find in The Model Railroader this advertisement for a new line of OO gauge body kits. They are by Yardmaster Lines and distributed by The Spot Hobby Shops in Baltimore.

This is so far as I can tell the only advertisement for Yardmaster Lines ever and to start right out I have never seen one of these kits. However, there were some listed in the lots that sold at the Morlok auction a few years ago (I bid online on them but did not win) so I believe that these were actually produced.

The ad itself states the details of the line pretty well (click on the ad for a bigger view). Without seeing an example of these cars it is difficult to say if they recycled parts of some other line or were an absolutely unique product.

The only other published reference I have found from the period is in the classified advertising in the November, 1940 issue of The Model Railroader, where we read that there is a “40% Discount Sale on Yardmaster OO body kits. Originally $1, now 60c. Individual sides and ends, 15c per pair.” They were still for sale from the same source, Spot Hobby Shops.

With that I throw this out to readers—anyone have an example of a Yardmaster Lines OO kit? Someone must! I would love to hear from you with a photo or two.

A Vintage OO Streamlined Car

Back a couple years ago I had an article on a vintage streamlined train that I had recently made operational. That train came to mind as I was recently reviewing magazines from 1940, in particular an article in the April, 1940 issue of The Model Craftsman by H. L. “Red” Adams. A prolific writer of the time and early OO manufacturer who has been mentioned a number of times in American OO Today, Adams was a fan of passenger trains.

In the April, 1940 article Adams opens by noting that “Up to a few months ago, being of a somewhat conservative nature, I had confined my passenger car building to the conventional steel type cars now in general use.” But he had recently constructed two cars of an earlier vintage design. He continued,

Both of these cars turned out all right, but I decided to forsake the past for the present. I built a strictly modern Pullman streamlined roomette, such as used on the Century and Broadway Limiteds for the past year….

For you men that want the ultra-modern cars that are steadily increasing in numbers on our main lines, here’s the method I used:

First of all, procure your wooden parts, which are a roof, a floor, a pair of ends, and the small pieces of quarter-round molding which carry the streamlined effect under the body. If you use wooden sides, as I did, have them cut at this same time….

I had all these parts cut to my drawing specifications by a model company in my city [Chicago] for a very reasonable figure. It would be wise to have all the wood parts cut for whatever number of cars you eventually intend to own, as the charges are primarily for “setting up” the machines, and the cost of five or six cars is little more than the cost for a single car.

There are a number of other details in the description. One is that he likes 1/32” pine for his car sides and also that he uses real glass for the windows. The photo of the finished car in the article confirms also the paint scheme described in the article, with a “dull black” roof.

What caught my eye was how much the car in his photo looks like the car seen here on my layout. The only major, visible difference is that it has had O-gauge size stainless steel fluting added to the sides. This car and the three companion cars, seen in the earlier article, all are of the same construction described in my earlier article on them. They are nicely built up with full interior details, with wood sides and glass windows.

What I have long wondered is if these cars are examples of the Newark Electric streamliner. This advertisement in the August, 1940 issue of The Model Craftsman gives the two most relevant details as they are 1. in Chicago and 2. the wood parts for these cars were “Made exclusively for NEWARK by a reliable scale-model car manufacturer." The car kits included “all the wood parts necessary to build a complete car.” So far as I can tell this was the only wooden streamlined car offered commercially in American OO.

If the set of cars I have (postal, diner, Pullman, and observation) is Newark or not I don’t know, but it is an interesting theory anyway that this train of mine might be an example. The parts are well made and consistent with what I would think a “reliable scale-model car manufacturer” might produce, with parts perhaps made from the same cutters used to make the parts for the car in the Adams article.

The Newark Electric streamlined passenger cars were advertised in HO, OO, and O gauges; there must be a few around somewhere still today. If anyone can add to the history of these cars feel free to comment.

UPDATE: I should have also noted that after the war Exacta produced a fluted side streamline train and Zuhr a smooth side train, both in metal, with the Zuhr cars being seen fairly commonly. Check the links for more information on these.

Vintage OO Photos IV: Fred Schorr, 1948

Today in the vintage photos series I have a great line up of kitbashed locomotives by Fred. E. Schorr, Jr. This particular photo is dated on the back 5-1-48 and has three similar locomotives on what must have been near a key junction on his layout.

Fred Schorr was an OO manufacturer and imported brass models for American OO from Japan. The models in this photo however are all based on Nason or perhaps Star-Continental 4-4-2 boilers with other Nason (and Lionel) parts. The Star-Continental 4-4-2 was sort of an odd model in a way, of its time. Introduced in 1937, it was a freelanced version of a PRR K-4/K-5 Pacific but built as an Atlantic. I have a bit more on the original model here; after 1939 it was produced by Nason, until WWII.

Starting at the front in the photo we have an unmodified version of the boiler mated with the running gear and tender of a Nason 2-8-0. Next up, based on the M1 marking, is a 4-8-2 also along PRR lines built on the same Nason 2-8-0 running gear but with a Lionel Hudson tender. In the back we see finally a 4-6-2, the model Star-Continental perhaps really had in mind when they created their 4-4-2. The 4-8-2 and 4-6-2 models have lengthened boilers and other modifications that can be spotted with a close look (click on the photo for a closer view). A lot of hours of work are on display in the 1948 photo!

To close, from one of the first articles on this website we have this very similar model. It was also built by Fred Schorr, probably I would guess a bit later than the models above. This model is also based on the same 4-4-2 model but this time with the original tender and with the boiler mounted on a Scale-Craft 4-6-0 frame. It is a very fine model but as noted in an update to the original article, it needs a bit of work at present as the gearbox is worn out. One quirk of this model could be noted as well; it runs (or ran) backwards from normal standards. I don't know if this was intentional or not; the other locomotive I own that was built by Fred Schorr, a 2-8-0 camelback (also using the Nason 2-8-0 and 4-4-2 parts), runs beautifully in the right direction.

Three Freight Cars by Bill Johann

Those in the OO SIG know there is an inventory maintained by the SIG, which at present resides at my home. Several items were recently claimed, including these three cars built by Bill Johann. Before they left Arizona I thought it a good idea to document them further for the website, as they are nice cars. Click on any photo for a better view.

These first two were scratch built by Johann in late 1987. How do I know? Because they are signed and dated. This first photo shows the cars overall. The Bliss Fall gondola is wood and has a gravel load, and the Mill Creek flat is plastic and has a machinery load. They are nicely finished and lettered, with the gondola showing just a bit of wear from transportation/storage.

The second photo show the bottom view, which gives the dates they were completed. The frames are very similar. The flat has the later version of his roller bearing truck which roll wonderfully. Other than trucks and couplers there are very few commercial parts on either of these cars.

Next we have this big three dome tank. I believe it was based on a Tyco HO model. What Johann did was make a new frame from brass and add other details. It is also an effective model, as even though it is based on a HO body it is still a large car in American OO. He built this car in 1978 but updated it in 1991.

Finally, a close up of part of the bottom of the tank car. I appreciate a lot that he took the time to sign the cars with his initials and date them, it is something I plan to start doing. It is a sure way to know that he built the cars and for me at least that carries some value as he built some great cars and was such a big figure in postwar American OO.

If you are not a member of the OO SIG, more information may be found here.