# Casey Jr Circus Cars



## rsmproductions (Jan 5, 2008)

Greetings,

I have a G scale Accucraft Casey Jr. engine and would like to obtain information or ideas about scratchbuilding the circus cars. I know they aren't available commercially and have to be built. I have little experience in this area and am looking for some solutions...I have some pictures of the actual cars from Disneyland from trips we have taken and I've downloaded others off the web. I also have 4 "logging" cars that came with a basic LGB set I bought several years ago to run around our Christmas tree. I thought of using these as a foundation.

"Backstory"...my wife and are big Disneyland fans and have visited there quite often each year. Our son was 3 months old when he first visted DL and the only thing we did in the park was take a ride around the park on the train (we had annual passes so it afforded us the opportunity). The main reason we stopped there though was to introduce Jonathan to a waiter from a one of the nicer restaurants in the resort whom we had befriended, and his family. We were so surprised when they presented him with this gift of the Accucraft Casey Jr. 

The model has been sitting in a curio on display ever since and hasn't been run until the other day when Jonathan asked about it. it ran a bit rough on the little oval we set up and as we were enjoying it I thought of the idea of making the cars. I searched Youtube and found a few videos where cars were made and I have to say they looked really good.

Well, Jonathan is now 5 1/2 and we have hug plans to get the Redwood Creek and Tallulah Ridge Railroad expansion on schedule for completion and thought it would be fun to add this to our setup.

I appreciate any help you may be able to give.

Richard


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

I searched Youtube and found a few videos where cars were made and I have to say they looked really good. 
Richard, 
I was intrigued so googled the name and found (a) lots of pictures and (b) the burnsland.com website. There are several threads on that site about making cars, fixing the engine so it runs, etc. 

P.S. I have a Fort Wilderness RR 2-4-2T, also from Accucraft, in live steam. Carolwood organized the special run, and i think they are now selling electric versions of the same loco.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I could not find threads on the G scale loco, where on that huge site did you go Pete? 

Thanks, Greg


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 18 Mar 2012 12:43 PM 
I could not find threads on the G scale loco, where on that huge site did you go Pete? 

Thanks, Greg I found them by switching to 'images' after I searched for "Accucraft Casey Jr. engine". 



Accucraft Casey Jr.[/b] [or www dot burnsland.com/disneyrailroads/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=666&start=150 if the link doesn't work.]


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Perfect, thanks Pete! 

I noticed he removed the troublesome plastic trailing truck from the loco... I weighted mine down, and as I stated, will make from metal.


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## rsmproductions (Jan 5, 2008)

Hi Pete...thanks for the suggestion...I'll check it out. 

Richard


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 18 Mar 2012 01:18 PM 
Perfect, thanks Pete! 

I noticed he removed the troublesome plastic trailing truck from the loco... I weighted mine down, and as I stated, will make from metal.





Heey! Thats my Casey!









"bout the only thing its good for BTW, switches it does not love, the coupler is a dummy coupler that hooks up to absolutely nothing else, noisy as ****, and I suspect the nylon drive gear wont hold up under any loading beyond a couple cars. Mine stripped out on me when I tried to test run it and found the bloody siderods were screwed down so tightly they binded the drive wheels, allpied power and whrrrrrrippp! Metal worm ate right thru the nylon axle gear. Luckiliy both drivers came with gears one them so a quick swap fixed that. I read one guy simply did what Disney did, added the drive power in a calliape car behind the engine with a USA block, but point being these are really ment for display or light running and not much elese. 

I thought of using Bachmann circus carts adding G wheelsets and using those for the trailing cars, that should be light enough. I think Disney would have come out with the whole train if the Casey sold well, it really didnt help them that they only sold it thru the Disney store and not offered them thru a couple G dealers.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Mine runs very smoothly, but I've never tried to pull anything with it, and the siderods are not binding, nor too loose. I pulled the whole thing apart when I got it to check it out. 

I have a Zimo decoder in it, and am currently deciding whether to put a speaker where the coal load goes, or underneath the cab roof. 

Yeah, the Casey Jr apparently did not sell well, but some went for as high as $500 I believe, I got mine from the Disney store for $99. 

Greg


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg have you seen what they are fetching on Evilbay now? I 've seen the loony prices: $500+. When they came out you couldnt give them away. I think mine was the *final clearence sale* before the *massive blow out sale* you got your at, so I paid about $120 or so for mine. 

Every now and then when I'm considering some other new object of desire (like the Pikie 060 out later this year) but short of funding I consider putting this onto Evilbay for $99 starter bid and see what it will fetch in the following feeding frenzy. Heck anything more than what I paid for it is all gain, especially if it will fund that switcher.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, you never know what the "Disney Collector" appetite will be. I thought it was tremendously cute... my neighbor kids love it. 

$500, even if made by accucraft is nuts though. 

Greg


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## Jonnychuffchuff (Dec 24, 2010)

I, too, have been planning to make cars for this loco, modelled on the cars in 'Dumbo'. My plan has been to use Funky Foam to make the car bodies. Bought the foam, but haven't settled on the all-important undercarriages yet... 

BTW if you haven't seen the Dumbo film, add it to your bucket list. The music is great! You can at least catch the Casey Jr segment & song on You-tube. 

Mine cost me $100 plus $25 shipping. I've customized it - I cast an extra lead boiler weight, added weight in the trailing truck, installed a H&L coupler on the back, along with a working headlight, firebox light, and cab illumination (why not?), black paint on inside cab walls, and a custom made madman/driver @ 1/8 scale. Reversed the pickups as mine was wired Euro-style. Probably some other touches I've forgotten about. 

On March 22, 2012, one of these locos sold on eBay for $918. Without the box or the documentation. 

I love mine and wouldn't sell it; I run it at shows & it gets a giggle as it joggles cartoon-like down the track. Never had any trouble over switches, either, believe it or not.


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