# Big Train Show 2012: Vendors Pt.1



## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Organizing the vendors is always a challenge. This year we'll go alphabetically (with occasional digressions.) So to begin at the beginning..


Here's Cliff Luscher at *Accucraft.* On the table in front of him are three of Accucraft's newest offerings: the PRR T1 designed by Raymond Loewy, a Southern Pacific GS-5 in Daylight colors (both in 1/32 scale) and in the foreground is the narrow gauge D&RGW T-12.












SWMTP snapped this as Cliff was explaining to me why their new T1 is an alcohol burner (I was complaining about it, frankly!) The logic starts with the prototype -- this beautiful Raymond Loewy skinned streamliner was the last steamer built for the Pennsylvania Railroad, which of course runs in the East. So it follows that the majority of this engine's fans are also on the east coast. (Maybe that's true? I just like the looks of the engine!)


And what do eastern live-steamers like to do? They like to run in the snow, the silly children!. And even us dyed-in-the-SPF30 west coastal steamers know that gas-fired engines, while generally a lot more convenient than alcohol beasties, do get a bit cranky in cold weather! And that's why Accucraft made the T1 an alcohol burner. (Maybe next time I'll ask Cliff how many strawberries fit in a 5-gallon can [abstruse reference])


Here's a closer shot of the T1. It's a little soft here, but note the coal load in the tender.












Voila! Pick up the coal, and there's the alcohol (& water?) inlet.












A closer shot of the T-12. These all came over the water pre-ordered, supposedly. Accucraft's web site shows them as being 'sold out.' I asked Jonathan of Electric Steam Modelworks, who thought it might still be possible to get one -- but you'd better hurry!












The T-12 is available in an electric powered version. I don't see any plans on Accucraft's web site to release the T1 or GS-5 in electric versions, however.


Here's a shot of a 'pre-release' electric Accucraft. These are two 1/20th scale Whitcomb 45 ton side rod diesel caterpillars. Cliff told SWMTP that the prototype was a logging engine, but this Whitcomb became an industrial mainstay in everything from foundries to shipyards to paper mills. I'm not usually a diesel fan, but I like all those louvers, and I think it would be fun to see these side rods cranking around a layout. Besides the yellow and green shown, the Whitcombs will be available in blue and gray.












This Southern Pacific M--6 is another new addition to the line-up. 1/32 scale, live steam or electric. The steamer will have an optional axle pump.












Finally, here's the Pennsy K-4, 1/29th live steam, in the 'pre-war' Tuscan colors.












I couldn't see much new to report from the *Bachmann* booth. Their Large Scale offerings occupied a dominant position, particularly the Spectrum line.














But if there was a theme, it was "we are a multi-scale company" -- which is totally appropriate for a multi-gauge show. In the smaller scales, they're making a big showing of their "EZ-Command" DCC systems, and even in Large Scale, their Shay and Climax engines are now available optionally "DCC-Equipped", rather than simply "DCC-Ready".


I was surprised that, at least in my quick scan of the Bachmann booth, I saw no mention of their new brass track! You'd think that this would be a killer place to show it off. Yes, they were using it as their 'G' display track... but not a word about it.














And btw, looking at their new catalog, the new 2-4-2 'Lyn', based on the old 'Lyn', is advertised as being 1/20.3, but not 'Spectrum'.


Finally, to repeat myself from an earlier thread, Bachmann says that they'll be making "two big announcements" at the upcoming NMRA show in Grand Rapids that will please Large Scalers. Any guesses?


*Comstock Construction* was there, showing their line of redwood buildings in 1/20.3 and 1/24 scales. (I'm not sure if this means they change window & door sizes, or simply feel their dimensions represent a reasonable compromise.) 












I especially like their new mine head, and these skid buildings, which were used for logging operations and carried around on flat cars. If you're tired of seeing your logging train just drag along log after log after log...?












Comstock Construction only sells directly & at shows. Their web site is at comstockcc.net.


What can I say about *Eaglewings Ironcraft*? Dan & Priscilla Hoag not only sell great stuff, they're great supporters of the hobby. They organize local garden railroad tours to benefit charity, and they've been supplying the 'live steam' track at the BTS & SWGRS for several years now. (For more about that, read Howard Macusay's thread at: Large Scale Events Forum/Topic: BTS Live Steam[/b])











This "O'Malley's Mercantile" limited edition is the newest thing I've seen from Eaglewings. SWMTP is in love with it; she says the tin roof reminds her of 'swamp shacks' she's seen down in Mississippi and Lousiana!












As the sign says, Econobridge made the great wooden overhead track that surrounds the booth of Upland Trains, a local area retailer (and one of the few train stores left that focuses on G.) 












Besides retailing, Upland makes a great inexpensive resin building -- I bought one last year, so no pics this time.. but here's part of their display.












Here's Jonathan & Laura Bliese of *Electric Steam Modelworks*. Jonathan's looking skeptically at some bearded old hobo who's pawing through the stuff on his table. Jonathan specializes in 1/20th and in radio control.











For those of us who've always wanted to build our own Devil's Gate Bridge (like the one on the Georgetown Loop R.R.!) *Empire Rail Works* may have a solution at hand! Marc Horovitz did a very positive review of this startup's steel truss bents in last April's Garden Railways, and since then Neil Blosch, the proprietor, has been producing girder plates to create a full bridge solution.












The bridges can be built as a single-track 'deck' style, widened to become a mainline double-track 'thru' style, or anything in between. Blosch has also figured out the support and joint mechanics to make you an all metal curved bridge. Georgetown Loop, here we come! (Or, for those who's tastes run more to the urban, Blosch is also designing a "Chicago EL" style raised system using these components.)












Look for more alphabet soup to come...


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Great report and photos 

Thanks Gary


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Gary...I missed the show this week...but you photos sure helped.


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for posting the great pictures! 

Best, 
TJ


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## John Corradini (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary[/b]
Thanks for posting the great pictures.[/b]
I knew we could count on you and SWMTP for pictures.[/b]


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## NewInNV (Jun 8, 2012)

Hello,

I am new here and to g-scale, but went to the Ontario Big Train Show and left back to Nevada without getting a question answered. I posted a thread elsewhere here today and got this response from toddalin about trying to remember who was exhibiting the clown cannon rail car and others at a booth with numerous high relief garage/train lighted wall hangings...

Per toddalin, "The guy is a regular at the shows and does a whole line of railcars and engine(?) in the "AWNUTS" style. I don't recall his name, but I do know that Gary Wollard (The Railroad Hobo) has some of his stuff and maybe will chime in. If he doesn't, Gary has just posted some pics of the show in another thread. Ask him in that thread where to get that stuff. Some of it is extremely whimsical and clever."

If you are going to get to him in one of you next installments about the show, that will be great. I actually enjoy your narration almost as good as being there.

Thank you - Larry


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

(Duplicate Post)

Larry.... Sorry I missed you.. I had a 6 car AW Nuts train with locomotive and tender listed in my booth at Ontario including a Cannon car.... 

You can find one by calling Bruce Hebron (The Metal Shed) at 805 236-1662 He's the creator of those masterpieces.... 

He does not list an email address or a webpage. 

The train sold Sunday.


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## NewInNV (Jun 8, 2012)

Stan - Darn timing is everything. Thanks for the info will try and contact him, but keep me in mind if you run across another.

Many thanks - really did enjoy the show


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks,everybody, for your kind comments! John C., heard you were coming, but didn't see you saturday -- sorry I missed you! Larry NewInNV, please see the "Vendors2" thread I just posted for more info on Bruce Hebron & the Metal Shed, though I see Stan got you the Phone # !!
More coming.. if'n I don't burn out!


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Gary Woolard on 07 Jun 2012 12:27 AM 


SWMTP snapped this as Cliff was explaining to me why their new T1 is an alcohol burner (I was complaining about it, frankly!) The logic starts with the prototype -- this beautiful Raymond Loewy skinned streamliner was the last steamer built for the Pennsylvania Railroad, which of course runs in the East. So it follows that the majority of this engine's fans are also on the east coast. (Maybe that's true? I just like the looks of the engine!)

And what do eastern live-steamers like to do? They like to run in the snow, the silly children!. And even us dyed-in-the-SPF30 west coastal steamers know that gas-fired engines, while generally a lot more convenient than alcohol beasties, do get a bit cranky in cold weather! And that's why Accucraft made the T1 an alcohol burner. (Maybe next time I'll ask Cliff how many strawberries fit in a 5-gallon can [abstruse reference]) 










If that is actually the logic for making the T1 an alcohol burner, they need to fire whoever did that research! :\

I have been an east-coast live steamer for 10 years now..im a member of a live steam club, and have been to a ton of steam ups..many of them very large.
I see very very very very few alcohol burners..alcohol burners are few and far between, and most of the alcohol burning locomotives I have seen were purchased because they were rare and unusual..I have always felt, and observed, that American live steam hobbyists overwhelmingly prefer butane burners, and alcohol is an obscure niche thing, perhaps more common in Europe..

That was definitely a bad choice by accucraft..most people in the T1's home range are very unfamiliar with alcohol burning..its very rare and unusual here in the North-east USA.. 

oh, and also, very very very few of us run live steam in the snow, or run in the winter at all..its extremely uncommon. In fact, in my 10 years in the live steam hobby, I have never once personally heard of anyone I know ever running live-steam in the snow..ever..you might see it here on MLS, or read about it SitG, but for the hobby at large, its very uncommon.


very weird to hear Accucraft to say that about us..nothing about that statement is even remotely accurate..
North-East live steam hobbyists who prefer alcohol burners, and commonly run in the winter, are maybe 1% of the hobby..probably less.


Scot


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Scot, I guess I should confess that in an attempt to keep my poetic license up to date, I may have.. ahem.. exaggerated a bit? I don't believe Cliff at any time actually used the word 'snow.' Like you, I guess, I have[/i] seen pictures here on MLS and in the pages of SitG of some very brave and patient fellows running in the snow, so I seized on that as a way to illustrate Cliff's argument.

And I did report the gist of that argument accurately. The way Cliff explained it,

1> The majority of T1 fans are in the NorthEast

2> Cold weather running is much more prevalent in the Northeast than other parts of the country.

3> Because of this, alcohol firing is more popular in the NorthEast than other parts of the country. (I don't think Cliff said, come to think of it, that alcohol firing is more popular than gas in the NorthEast, just that it's more popular there than say, here in balmy SoCal!)

4> And THEREFORE, to please their Northeastern customers, they were producing the T1 as an alky.

But I have to say that I agree with you! That's why I was sorta' 'complaining' to Cliff (not that I can afford to buy the engine anyway!) The only place I've seen Alky's running is indoors at the National Summer Steamup in Sacramento. The fumes can make your eyes burn, you have to set the engine up on a special raised section of track to light the wicks, and it just generally looks like a royal pain to do! I suspect, frankly, that the majority of alky burners are older english designs, from days before butane was easily available. HOWEVER, is it possible that you get more calories of 'burn' out of alcohol than you do out of butane, therefore higher pressures and longer running times? I just don't know! There must be some reason that some people keep burning alcohol! Maybe some folks over in the 'Live Steam' forum could advise us?

Bottom line however -- from what you're telling me, alcohol burning is as rare 'up north' as it is anyplace else. And if that's so, I don't know WHY they made the T1 an alky! 
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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

I was under the impression M-6 comes standard with the axle pump. Later RJD


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Scot 

At the IE&W Ry Standard Gauge meet this last weekend we had the following mix... alcohol [16], gas [8], and coal [1]. Next week at the narrow gauge meet, I expect the opposite to be true, with very few alcohol burners at all. I think the difference is not so much in the region of the country as the type of motive power. Most [NOT ALL] the larger Aster locomotives are alcohol fired. The gas fired Accucraft 1:32 locomotives have been [mostly] SP locomotives. 

Many of the groups in the northeast tend toward "other than standard gauge main line" motive power. Most Accucraft NG models, and those of Roundhouse are typically gas fired. And yes, there are a lot more of the smaller locomotives around than the large 1:32 models. If you go to an open meet with a large number of participants running a mix of locos I would expect gas to outnumber alcohol at least 3 to 1. 

It is not so much a "region of the country" thing as another "big loco vs little loco" thing. My one personal observation is that the fuel cost for a gas fired Aster Big Boy versus an alcohol fired Aster H-8 is pretty noticeable if you run frequently. 

If you are making a fuel decision for a commercial model, the statistical sample has to be restricted to the group that represents the "likely" buyers. In this case, including the preferences of narrow gauge and logging/industrial railway enthusiasts is not relevant and would actually make the results completely meaningless. 

To me, this is similar to allowing your decision to what to make as an Eastern road locomotive to be influenced by people in the Northwest and Canada who admit in the same breath "but I would NEVER buy one, even if they made what I think they should. I think Jerry Hyde and Accucraft made a correct choice given the probable market.


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim, I think your analysis is excellent! My only caveat might be that live steamers are more likely to 'jump scale', so to speak, than the 'sparky' garden railroader. Scale for a Sparky's layout is delineated by all the buildings and other set dressing, and clearance issues also play a factor. Many of the 'burnt finger' crowd, conversely, only run on an elevated oval, so investing in an engine of a different scale might mean 'just' investing in a new consist to match it. At NSS I've seen several runners who would bring both narrow gauge and Gauge 1 equipment to run.

My argument probably describes a small segment within a segment, however. If your analysis is right, than Accucraft probably made the right decision. I'd like to think so; it would make for a healthier hobby for all of us!

Thanks!

(oh nuts, now comes all that extraneous html junk that this board throws at me because I'm running Safari - PLEASE IGNORE THE FOLLOWING- 
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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Gary 

If my short term memory holds up, I will count the locos and fuel used at the meet this weekend and post the results. This will include a batch of 32mm gauge locos. 

To comment on the good/bad from my personal perspective: 

Alcohol: G/B 
a] G - cheaper 
b] G - works better in cool / cold weather 
c] B - if water gets into the fuel bunker while putting water in the tender [you are through for a while] 
d] B - if you forget the blower while stopped, a track fire may result [I replace about 50-75 feet of ties every year (on average)] 
e] B - if the fuel container is left open it sucks up water and gets contaminated. Alcohol has a much shorter shelf life than gas in cans. 
f] B - if there is a serious derailment, fuel may spill, resulting in a small open fire. Some folks freak out instead of just dumping water on it. Killing the fire on the wicks is not always easy. 
g] B - relighting an engine out on the line is usually less convenient because of wick tube position and the requirement for a draft fan if the pressure has dropped so the blower cannot lift the fire on the wicks 

Gas: G/B 
a] B - more expensive 
b] G - works well even if the wind is blowing 
c] B - if there is contamination in the fuel from either the can or tank, removing and cleaning the gas jets is a PITA 
d] G - if you stop for any reason, the track will not suffer [from fire]. 
e] G - fuel can be stored for long periods and contamination is infrequent if using single use cans 
f] G - in a derailment situation, turning of the fuel at the tender is all that is required. 
g] G - relighting the fire is much easier; better access usually through the stack or smoke box, no fan required 

In addition, many people find firing and controlling a locomotive with one or the other easier for them and they develop a strong preference for one or the other. I have both types, but actually prefer alcohol over gas. 

I have my views of coal firing, but since I don't own or operate one, will leave that discussion to someone else. I WILL say that I am now replacing tie sections damaged by coal and ash that has dropped through the grates while the locos are running. These spots are easily distinguished from alcohol flambe because the ash is embedded in the melted plastic. 

My motto... run what you like. But if you burn up 20 feet of track as a guest, be a nice person and tell the track owner so the track can be inspected / replaced. 

Regards


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Scot, 

You said something about running live steam in the snow? We do it all the time.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

With that set up no reason not to run in the cold. Later RJD


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

With that set up no reason not to run in the cold 
Well, as the last pic shows, it was well below freezing that day. That's me in the hat and gloves!


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Ahhh, but Pete, the question is, were you running GAS [/i]or ALCOHOL[/i]? Your first pic looks like it might be a Roundhouse Sandy River? Which is gas fired, I believe!


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Gary 

It is a gas fired Accucraft representing one of the early EBT 2-8-0s. Pete probably just put some warm water in the tender to keep the gas from going completely to liquid. Brits are quite resourceful you know. LOL!


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## Cougar Rock Rail (Jan 2, 2008)

I find running in the snow with my gas fired engines to be the most fun time of all. I look forward to plowing snow and I've never had an issue with running in the cold weather up here in Canada.

Keith


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

were you running GAS or ALCOHOL 
As Jim said, it is a gas-fired Accucraft C-16 looking like EBT's #7. (Which was a C-19,) so the C-16 was sold a few years ago when the C-19 became available. I took out the boiler to replace the C-19 modern domes with old ones from a C-16 #42 (like the one in the pic) and the new #7 will get its first run since the rebuild tomorrow. With exactly the same tender, I might add - I didn't sell it as I had all the r/c gear already in it. And Jim is right - the tender had very warm water in it from my small mug-style water heater. 

I have also run my FWRR in January at RGSEast, though it wasn't snowy that day. I had to pour warm water on the gas tank every time it came past. In the second photo s Noel Crawford's old tram/trolley loco, which was built around a Ruby, and I'm sure he ran it before me. 
Here's another snowy day on the RGS - track power this time


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