NEB&W Guide to Other Steam Locomotive Models - M

Last Update: 2007-12-28

Loco Models Table of Contents
Locos Table of Contents
Rolling Stock Table of Contents

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Model Craft Manufacturing

This Los Angeles company advertised c. 1938 for a brief period and I don't know what happened to it.
• CRRofNJ 0-4-0 - Little saddletank loco.
  • [Model.]

• SP 0-6-0 Switcher - Model was introduced in 1938. It was available in both kit form and ready-to-run, composed mainly of bronze castings. This was basically the same prototype as the MDC 0-6-0, but with piston valves and outside valve gear, 1200 series.
  • [Model.]
  • [Another angle.]

Model Power

• PRR A3 0-4-0 Switcher - There were 84 locos of this class built between 1895 and 1905. The model was in production around 1981 and I wonder if this is the former AHM model produced a few years earlier. Despite being a Pennsy loco, it was also available decorated for the ATSF, B&O, CN, and CP.

• 2-8-0 Consolidation - They came out with an 1890's 2-8-0 and 4-6-0, with the same superstructure. Both locos are free-wheeling and are powered by the tender, which pushes the engine. (Great idea, especially for small locos.) I think the tender drive itself, however, is a diesel mechanism, giving tender wheels of 36 inches in diameter instead of the all-but-universal 33 inch wheels. The tender has all four axles powered but they don't pivot. Apparently, the wheelbase is short enough the loco could even get through a number four turnout without any problem.
  According to a review by Bob Schleicher in the August '96 Railmodel Journal, this is actually based on Baldwin built locos exported to Brazil and the model itself was manufactured in Brazil (sorta' reversing the process). However, it is a dead ringer for the PRR locos, class I and similar to other Baldwin products of the 1875-1886 period. The drivers are only 51 inches in diameter, basically the same as most later switchers.
  The first 2-8-0 wheel arrangement was 1866. On the PRR, the first Consolidations were the I class, built in 1875, some 15 locos. (The "I" was the use of an earlier classification system.) In 1886, the R class (later H3 class) locos were built, pretty similar but the first Pennsy locos with a Belpaire firebox.
  • [PRR 2-8-0 of 1875, no. 173, class H1, straight boiler.]
  • [PRR 2-8-0 of 1880, no. 400, with Belpaire firebox.]
  • [PRR 2-8-0 of 1885, with Belpaire firebox.]
  • [PRR 2-8-0 of 1888, no. 437, again with Belpaire firebox.]
  • [Baldwin standard 2-8-0 of 1884 with a tapered boiler.]
  • [Model as decorated for AT&SF. Model photo courtesy Wm.K. Walthers.]
  • [Model as decorated for PRR. Model photo courtesy Wm.K. Walthers.]
  The wheel flanges on the model are about .013 inches deeper than the standard RP-25 profile (.025) or in other words, just under the .040 depth of the older NMRA standard. The wheels bounce on the spike heads on code 70. (But 83 and 100 are way way too heavy for the period of the loco.)
  Basically the MDC "Old Time" 2-8-0 is based on the same prototype(s).

• 6580 IC 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
• 6581 SP 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
• 6582 D&RGW 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
• 6583 SP 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
• 6584 ATSF 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
• 6585 CN 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
• 6586 CP 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
• 6587 PRR 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler
  • [Model photo, courtesy Wm.K. Walthers.]
  This has the same superstructure as the 2-8-0, above, but I think they simply left off the first driver. I think the drivers sit back too far and even the second wheel of the lead truck is too far back. And while such low-drivered Ten-Wheelers are not unheard of, the whole idea of a four wheel lead truck is for stability at increased speed, which the small drivers defeats the purpose.
  • [Cyberfixed model (above), stock model below.]

• USRA 4-6-2 Pacific - Based on the light version. It was available decorated for the ATSF, B&O, CP, CN, Southern, and Southern Pacific. There were 81 light Pacifics built during WWI, which went to the ACL, B&O, and L&N. Close copies were later built for these three as well as the GTW and M&O, with the ACL getting the most (70 total of the original and clones), and the B&O a far second (45 total original and clones). I think this model was originally marketed under the Life-Like.

Monogram

Very inexpensive static display models. I think these might be former Airfix models. Considering the price, pretty nice models, but certainly not detailed enough anyone in their right mind would try to power (also because both models have been produced many times by other makers as working models). On the other hand, ideal for either dummy locos to be partially visible in a roundhouse, or parts such as a flat car load of parts going to scrap.

• NYC 4-6-4 Hudson - The first Hudsons were the J1, built in 1927. Basically it had a straight boiler. The J2 class (20 locos) were built for the hilly Boston & Albany and had 75 inch drivers instead of 79 inches.
  Alco built 50 of these J3 Hudsons in 1937-'38, nos. 5404-5454. No. 5344 was the first loco to be streamlined, given a "bathtub" shroud in '34, but five years later, in '39, was rebuilt to have the same type of streamlining as the other J3's. In 1945, after a grade crossing accident, the shrouding was removed. This loco was the prototype of the famous Lionel O-gauge scale model.
  • [NYC 5405.]
  • [Lionel ad, 1937.]
  • [Another Lionel ad, 1937.]

• UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boy - By many attributes, this class of locos were the biggest steam engines ever produced. Only the UP had locos like this. These locos were constructed in late 1941 (nos. 4000-4019), with five more built in '44 (nos. 4020-4024). Legend has it that the name came about when some unknown worker at Alco chalked "Big Boy" on the smokebox front. They stayed in service until 1962 and a large number (proportionately) were preserved.
  • [UP 4002, broadside. Railway Age, 1941.]
  • [UP 4002, front. Railway Age, 1941.]
  • [UP 4000, in service. Railway Age, 1941.]

MTH Electric Trains

Since 1992, this company has offered O scale and tinplate products. In 2006, they came out with a die-cast model of the PRR K4. Will see where they go from there.

• PRR 4-6-2 Pacific - To a Pennsy fan, the K4 pretty much represents the epitome of PRR power, much as a J3 Hudson would to a NYC fan. The first K4 was built in 1914 as a test engine, with a total of 425 locos built shortly thereafter through 1928. (According to Steam Locomotives dot com, the K4 was the largest class in the world.) The K4 was basically an enlarged PRR Atlantic 4-4-2 E6. This model represents a K4 engine late in steam days. Unfortunately for the rest of us, this model is hard to use for anything but a K4. (The loco has 80 inch drivers, so the mechanism might be useful for other similar Pacifics.)
  • [PRR 1737. Builder's photo, 1914, of the first K4.]
  • [PRR 5496. Builder's photo.]
  • [PRR 5371, equipped with roller bearings on the rods. Railway Age, 1935.]
  • [PRR 5371, close-up on the running gear. Railway Age, 1935.]
  • [PRR 5451, c. 1939.]
  The model is die-cast in the same manner that the Broadway Limited engines are (with most details like piping separate pieces). The loco has a boiler backhead, engine crew, and a hinged deckplate to span the space between the cab and tender. The model represents the typical K4 as modernized in the '30's and continued until scrapping.
  The review in the July '06 Model Railroader said that their model started at .5 scale miles an hour, only reached 13 mph at 12 volts and 37 mph at 16 volts. The loco was said to be designed to operate at 18 to 24 volts, which as the review pointed out, would tend to burn out other lamps and perhaps over devices at that high voltage.

O-Lin

• C&NW 4-2-0 Pioneer - Static model produced around 1950, and as far as I know, for only a very short time.
  • [The CNW's "Pioneer", built by Baldwin 1836. As rebuilt for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Note the cab, headlight, and "cowcatcher". As reprinted in a 1930 issue of RA.]
  • [Model photo.]
  The prototype was originally built by Baldwin for the Utica & Schenectady, in 1837, named the Alert. Around 1846, it was sold to the Michigan Central and it was modernized with a cab and a tender. Two years later, it was sold again to the Galena & Chicago, a forerunner of the Chicago & Northwestern and as such, became the first railroad loco to operate in Chicago. The G&CU renamed it the Pioneer. It has survived and is on display at the Chicago Historical Society.

Pemco

Pemco was a New Jersey company that came and went fairly quickly. They imported models made in Hong Kong. I believe their models wound up under the IHC label.

• 0-4-0 Dockside - Yet another rendering of the famous B&O locos.

• 2-6-0 Mogul - Spen Kellogg said this "is a reasonably accurate model of an SP/T&NO M-4 after it was updated to superheated steam in the 1920's. Marshall Thayer suggested that while it would look pretty big compared to other c. 1900 steam, it could be backdated two decades. (Kellogg said that Dunscomb's A Century of SP Steam Locomotives has pictures of two M-4s dated 1899 and 1900.)
  • [SP 1643. W.C. Whittaker photo.]
  Thayer suggested MDC for suitable parts, including first and foremost the tender. He suggested MDC's shorty tender from their Moguls and Consolidations. He also said that MDC has a "loco detailing kit" with the parts sprue from their line of "old-time" 2-6-0/2-8-0 kits. He said you'd have to go directly to MDC to get the cab. The headlight needs to backdated to an oil or acetylene type. The piston valves would be acceptable but not common in the first decade of the 20th century, but rather than replace them, he'd suggest filing away the existing ones and replacing them with laminated sheet styrene. Both Thayer and Kellogg suggested the compressor is rather big and could be moved from the left side, or replaced with a smaller on. Kellogg also suggested replacing the pilot with a spoked cow catcher, since some M-4s came with pilots with horizontal slats instead of the vertical ones, and adding an acetylene storage tank (for the new headlamp). Kellogg thought it might be possible to merely shorten the IHC tender.
  The tender was powered from a diesel drive and the loco simply pushed. The model was redesigned and eventually wound up under the IHC label.
  • [IHC Model photo.]

• Mountain 4-8-2 - I believe this is a C&O prototype, with the hallmark airpoints mounted on a smokebox. I also think this model was later acquired by IHC.
  According to SteamLocomotives dot com, the C&O originated the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement, in 1911, with two locos built by Alco. Between then and 1923, they got a total of 10 Mountains. In the 1930's, the 7 class J-2 locos (acquired 1918-'23) were modernized with rebuilt cabs, feedwater heaters, the air pumps moved to the front of the smokebox, and a Vanderbilt tender. It would appear this is the version Pemco modeled. (The first three locos had 62 inch drivers while the 7 locos of class J-2 had 69 inch drivers.)

Penn Line

Cast metal loco kits from c. 1950. Most but not all of the kits were acquired by Bowser. See Bowser.

Polk

This was a very famous hobby store in New York City. In the early '50's, they imported some locos and put them under their own name. As time went on, they switched to brass models (which I'm trying to avoid in this discussion).

• B&O 0-4-0 - This model was actually manufacturered by Rivarossi, long before AHM got their hands on them. This would appear NOT to be the same model - much cruder - than the one that AHM came out with, decades later. On the other hand, even back then it was made of plastic. It was said to be cast in black plastic so the modeler did not need to paint it.
  • [Polk ad.]
  • [Polk ad.]

• O-4-0 Yard Goat - Going by the Belpaire firebox, I'd say they were aiming for a Pennsy loco. It was said to be made of die-cast Mazack non-porous metal (never heard of Mazack) and even Polk admitted it was a little oversize for HO.
  • [Polk ad.]
  • [Parts, Polk ad.]

• SP 4-4-2 Atlantic - There was a Harriman-designed Atlantic used on the UP, SP, and Alton in 1904. These had 81 inch drivers and inside valve gear. (MDC has a quasi-accurate model of these, but with smaller 72 inch drivers.) In 1927, the SP rebuilt four as class A5 with outside valve gear, outside trailing truck, and a shorter slanted front cab. I think all four had a vanderbilt tender, unlike this model, but longer than the one that MDC offers.
  • [Model.]

• Milwaukee 4-4-2 Atlantic - Based on the streamlined Hiawatha. In 1935, they got two of these, nos. 1-2, no. 3 in '36 and no. 4 in '37, all from Alco. They came painted in the orange and red scheme. Driver diameter was a whopping 84 inches.
  • [Alco builder's photo, 1937.]
  • [Prototype in service c. 1937.]
  • [Model.]

Taylor-Made

• Milwaukee 4-6-4 Baltic - Walthers was offering this loco under the "Taylor-Made" c. 1938. I suspect this was a pun on "tailor" as opposed to some guy named Taylor. (There was a Frank Taylor at the helm of Model Railroader, and both the magazine and Walthers were located in Milwaukee.) Model was available as both a kit and ready-to-run.
  • [Model photo, 1938 ad. (Despite the ad stating this was a Milwaukee prototype, the model is shown lettered for the D&RGW.)]
  The Milwaukee designed the first 4-6-4 wheel arrangement, but due to tight funds, the locos were not actually constructed until after the New York Central's versions. The NYC got to name the wheel type "Hudson", although any died-in-the-wool Milwaukee fan will insist, should be called "Baltic".
  Baldwin built these for the Milwaukee in 1930, class F-6, nos. 6400-6413. A year later, Baldwin built more, class F-6a, nos. 6414-6421. The biggest visual difference is that the F-6 had the air pumps on the fireman's side, while the F-6a had them moved to the pilot deck, allowing for an uninterrupted running board. (The model is the F-6.)
  • [Balwin builder's photo, F-6a.]
  By the way, the Milwaukee also got 4-8-4 no. 9700, class S-1 in 1930, and had many of its parts interchangeable with the F-6's.
  In 1934, one of the F-6's, no. 6402, set a new world speed record of over 90 miles an hour in sustained running from Chicago to Milwaukee. (The model is numbered this, despite the wrong roadname.)

Trix

• 22599 UP 4-8-8-4 - By many attributes, this class of locos were the biggest steam engines ever produced. Only the UP had locos like this. These locos were constructed in late 1941 (nos. 4000-4019), with five more built in '44 (nos. 4020-4024). Legend has it that the name came about when some unknown worker at Alco chalked "Big Boy" on the smokebox front. They stayed in service until 1962 and a large number (proportionately) were preserved.
  • [UP 4002, broadside. Railway Age, 1941.]
  • [UP 4002, front. Railway Age, 1941.]
  • [UP 4000, in service. Railway Age, 1941.]

• 22801 NYC 2-8-2 - Basically the USRA light Mikado, as modified for the Central. Numbered 1890. Has the footboard pilot used by the Central on all their freight locos. Funky coal bunker extension.
  There were 625 of these original USRA light 2-8-2's built during WWI and apparently 1,266 total including post-War clones, on over 50 railroads. (But USRA loco clones often look quite different from the original version, even though the boiler and running gear were pretty much the same.) (Over 1/3 of the 1,830 USRA locos produced were of light Mikados.)
  • [Prototype built for the NYC, no. 5155. Lima builder's photo.]

• 22803 UP 2-8-2 - Numbered 2494. This model has the same unique coal bunker extension as on NYC version, which I would think would be wrong. The Union Pacific got 20 of the light Mikados.

• 22803 PRR 2-8-2 - Numbered 9630. It is supposed to be painted Brunswick green, but that color was so dark, it passed for black under most lighting conditions. The Trix color makes it look more like a Great Northern engine. This model has the same unique coal bunker extension as on NYC version, which I would think would be wrong.
  The USRA assigned 38 light Mikados to the PRR, but they managed to accept only five, nos. 9627-9631.

Tyco

Also see Mantua.

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