# Anybody running Mason Bogies?



## Don5 (Nov 25, 2009)

After searching around this website, I have noticed that there have been several Mason Bogies completed from the Master Class, and the new Accucraft Mason Bogie has been discussed in various places. Such a beautiful locomotive - Creates a serious amount of drooling on my part - Some of the most colorful locos in existence before they all turned black. I noticed that David Fletcher had a huge part in the creation of these Accucraft locos, along with being the driving force behind the Master Class. It sure would be interesting to see more* videos* and *pictures* of these locomotives on the rails. I can't believe that all of these were made or acquired for display only. So far there are only 3 youtube videos that I am aware of.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Don,
I have put several photos up of my Mason which is Como, and it has appeared in Russ Reinbergs publications. The latest is a small set of it with an Accucraft Baldwin 2 8 0, and here are the pair together. 










and finally one of Como alone










Alas no video yet, perhaps this year in some better weather!


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## Don5 (Nov 25, 2009)

That is really a class act! Both of those locos are incredible - outstanding detail! I assume that you were able to find transfers for all of the decoration. Is there a title for the post that has the rest of the photos? This must be a Master Class build - amazing work! Too bad the Ford Museum has decided to decorate their Mason in the traditional black. As far as commercial models, it seems that Bachmann is the only manufacturer that has decided to produce several colorful 4-4-0's until now. The change to basic black loco color in the US must have been the result of a major change in corporate attitude. Of course, I cannot imagine the idea of detailing a Mallet or a Big Boy and keeping it clean.


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

I believe that the "major change in corporate attitude" was the result of the Panic of 1893 when the Reading Railroad failed, bringing on a major recession. Paint was (is) expensive, and it's a heck of a lot easier and much cheaper to slather black paint all over the locomotive than to produce such intricate and detailed multi-colored paint schemes. Besides, you don't have to pay someone to constantly wipe down the locomotive and shine the brass. Same reason that freight cars became "box car red" along with passenger cars. 

Robert


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Don, 


First after some digging, here is the link to the MLS Mason Bogies http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/ForumArchives/tabid/100/Default.aspx?TOPIC_ID=24556 

When the DSP was taken over via Jay Gould, he passed it to the Union Pacific in about 1885 the colors (which would have been in poor state by then if still there) were replaced by Black (as #42), as Robert says Black was easier to re-paint etc, and cheaper as well. The different color schemes were alredy fading and your recession made certain, colors became muted - black or deep Green, of which the principal user was Baldwin as in DSP #51; the Maso Bogie #4 (San Juan) should be a deeper green say Forest Green from David Fletcher. Your color schemes for locos was generally decided by the locomotive maker, ours (in the UK) were decided by the railway company who also generally (but not exclusive; the big railway companies, yes the smaller ones could not afford big loco works) built them. 

Box car red is what I call the cheapest color known to man - or 'stabilized rust! with great staying power hence its use for all things possible. 

D&RG coaches kept a version of red, or brown for a time till Pullman green, (yup, another dark green) took over in 1912/18 or so. Pullman retained till then also a very dark oily brown color. The D&RG & the DSP & the CCRR used their own version - dark chocolate for their own coach colors, till again replaced by deep green which the accountants had worked out was cheaper over time. The figure in 1912/18 was $1.25 per car and it lasted longer than the deep red. 

Thats all for now, enjoy the different Mason Bogies that MLS has been involved in!


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## Don5 (Nov 25, 2009)

Thanks for the link, Peter. Interesting color change reasoning. Still, the result is pretty boring. UK railroads seem to have retained some of their colors. I am guessing that this is because these railroads have not taken the continuous beating that US railroads have. All one has to do is look at European transportation systems and compare them with the almost nonexistent US passenger rail. I also think US rail took a big hit in 1953 when President Eisenhower & congress decided to build the Interstate Highway system instead of investing in rail. We are suffering from that today. Oh well, that's progress. Thanks again for your input!


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## David Fletcher (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Don, 
There are some shots of my Masterclass hand built sample running on you-tube. If you do a search under 'David Fletcher', you'll find 4 short video clips of my Garden RR. The Mason does feature in one of these, cant remember which! 

Also be sure to look at the finished Mason Bogie Masterclass show-case - there is a link here inside the masterclass forum, linking to the old MLS site where the photos are. There are more finished models now, but I've not loaded them up here. 
The decoation for both the Masterclass models, and the Accucraft models was done on CAD and printed out as decals, I set up decoration to essentially 5 different styles, which could be adapted as well. Most of the models have these decals, printed by Stan Cedarleaf. Accucraft have their own printing process, but also done from my Cad work for the decoration. 

I'm awaiting my Live steam model, due any day. 

David.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Don, 

Thanks for the reply, We also 'went to black' for most of our steam locos, the top link express passenger locos were still in color, but as your side of the pond, black was cheaper and easier to keep clean if cleaned at all! 

Now however under our private (?) railway companies using diesel or electric color is back in many forms. 

David Fletcher has replied above - he did all the work for my decals as he is very knowledgeable both in the CAD program and the Mason Bogies. 

He has hism own website, and part of it, which will also give access to the rest is at http://4largescale.com/fletch/d60d.htm That is for an 0 4 4T Mason bogie in green. 

At the moment I am in the middle of making one of the larger 2 8 6 versions, which will be chocolate color 
.


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## Don5 (Nov 25, 2009)

I am speechless. The more I pick up from you guys, the more amazed I am! David Fletcher, I have found your website, as referenced by Peter. I am in awe - Your models are incredible! Gonna go back and spend some more time there! Also have looked at your YouTube videos - Nice Garden layout. You must have a huge collection of locos by now. No wonder Accucraft came up with such a fine Mason Bogie, with your input. I enjoyed seeing all of your models, especially the smaller Porters, Masons, and that little 4-2-4T Huntington - These are my favorites. Super detailing! I do not have a garden layout yet, but I will be restricted to a relatively small one, so small models with small turning radii are dictated. I like that colorful time period, anyway. Found the archived Mason Class build pictures - Some really nice Bogies finished there. Thank you for the site tips! 

Peter, I have never been to Europe, but I have heard all sorts of stories about how great the rail systems are over there. Most of us colonists are very envious of your transportation, and now wish we had something similar. I live in Minneapolis, which did have a good streetcar system, but they ripped it out in 1953 and sold or burned all of the streetcars. Turned out that this destruction was the result of shenanigans by US auto manufacturers and oil companies. A few court trials resulting in prison sentences actually occurred after the truth became known. Now we have a city bus system that is inadequate for getting most places. We have only one Amtrack train that stops in the metro area at midnight. Don't mean to get political, but this is probably why our younger generations are not interested in trains - All they have seen in their experience are the dirty, graffiti covered freight trains that occasionally rumble through the city. 'Nuff said. Hope to see pictures of the new 2-8-6 MB! 

Since I recently became active again on the MLS website, I have been digging through the Mason Bogie and Porter Master classes for the possibility of doing something myself. I mostly admire the Mason Bogie, but the Porter build looked like a better possibility for me because I already have a Bachmann Indy that I acquired back when they first came on the market. So I have been pondering all of this as I sit here looking out the window at 5 foot snow drifts and daily 10 degree F temperatures. Then, a few days ago my wife came up with something that totally knocked me over. She had noted my long term drooling over the Accucraft Mason Bogie, and said, " I think you should order one!" Then she went on to say that "the live steam version seems much more exciting!" So I feel extremely lucky to be waiting for one of those locos! Now I have all sorts of plans and possibilities running through my mind! Never done live steam before....


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## David Fletcher (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Don, 
The Porter is a good build if you've not done much loco building before, its fairly straight forward, but with some good lessons and challenges in there, like making the Wagontop boiler - quite easy with this technique. Also note tender, cabs and pilot kits in either wood or styrene are available for this class, along with the Mason class, from Bronson Tate Architectural Models, do does laser cutting of these parts, it makes the job easier, but you can cut all the parts you need yourself just with a little more time. 

I think the Accucraft Mason will be one of those milestones in largescale. Kinda like the Delton Mason Bogie was in the mid 1980s, its something we often reflect on and today is still much regarded. The Accucraft Mason bogie is of today and is a far more detailed model than the Delton one, but boy was that Delton model inspirational - I doubt we'd even be talking about the Accucraft Mason had it not been for the Delton inspiration. 

Note that the Mason Bogie for 20.3 scale, isn't all that large, about the size of the Bachmann 4-4-0, but shorter since it doesn't have the full length tender - BUT these models will need a min 4' radius (8' diameter) curves to run, and I would only go that narrow if you have to. I would recommend you get in touch with your local Gauge 1 live steamers and see about running your model the first time with some of those members on a live steam track with nice wide curves. Ask the question on the LIve Steam forum once your Mason arrives, and see who might be in your area, where you could give it a run and stretch its wheels, also seeing what sort of treatment you normally need to run this model, how hot to run the burner, and how often to fill the boiler etc, you'll get so much more out of it, if you can share the first couple of runs with a guy who's run these types of models a lot. You'll see what sort of performance is normal. They're not hard to run at all, and you wont have any problems, but I know of some folks who've never run Accy live steamers before to do things like run the burner at full bore and damage the paint on the smokebox and stack, because they dont know how much heat the loco really needs. 

I believe the live steam Mason Bogies are due to arrive in the US any day, if not already. 

Best wishes, you're in for some good times. 

David.


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## Don5 (Nov 25, 2009)

David, thanks for the Porter information! I was wondering if the build stuff was still available - I really don't have a "shop" with a bunch of tools. The finished engine is cool, and it seems like a simple enough project to start with. I also just spotted your C P Huntington project on your website - That is another cool engine! 

I feel very fortunate to be waiting for an Accucraft Mason Bogie - This purchase is a huge and unusual financial splurge for me (I aint rich!), but when me wife casually suggested it, I jumped at the chance. This beautiful locomotive is primarily responsible for re-kindling my interest in G scale railroading - it is incredible! I will definitely follow your advice and find an experienced live steamer to guide me through the start process. I have observed a couple of how-to videos on YouTube to give me an overview of the firing procedure, but an experienced person is a much better idea. Unfortunately, I have not found any live steamers here in Minnesota yet, but maybe they will come out when the snow melts. 

I agree about the Mason Bogie as a huge G scale milestone. As an attractive locomotive, it will be hard to beat. Maybe it will raise the bar, as they say. I do remember seeing the Delton Bogie in an early Garden Railroad magazine - Actually, I think I have a copy of that issue somewhere.


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## Rich Schiffman (Jan 2, 2008)

I think you are headed toward a fun project. The Porter Bell project still has many parts available. Bronson Tate Architectural Models have many of the different parts. I have built the model and am pleased with the results. If you would like to have a couple of photos of my loco, send me an email. ( [email protected] ).

Good luck.

Rich Schiffman


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## Don5 (Nov 25, 2009)

Thanks Rich - I would be interested!


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