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STORE NEWS

Get the new power unit from Bowser.

IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE

Tight Corners with the Bowser Power Truck in the Schoolhouse.

OTHER FEATURES

Back Issues.

BOWSER'S NEW POWER UNIT CARRIES US INTO A NEW MILLENIUM

Special Millenium Issue

Darin Volpe, Editor - Welcome to the the first issue of the Trolleyville Times for the new Millenium! If you’re reading this, we can assume that Y2K came and went without wreaking havoc on your computer (or on our server, for that matter) and you’re looking for more information about your favorite hobby.

Bowser has really taken a giant step forward last year with the introduction of the all-new power unit, their first redesign in almost fifty years. By being backwards compatible with their existing body shells by using an adapter, Bowser shows that you can progress without forgetting about those who have already purchased your products in the past. You can read all about it in this issue of the Times, as well as some of our back issues.

This year promises to bring about some changes here at Trolleyville as well. Look for some new features in the Times, including a crossword puzzle that you can print out. This year we will bring a bulletin board to the clubhouse, making that a place where you can ask and answer questions about traction modeling. And for those of you looking for photos of the prototype to model, or of others’ layouts for ideas, we will be setting up a place where visitors can submit photos via email. We’re not afraid of making changes, so if you have any suggestions for Trolleyville, you can email us at suggestions@trolleyville.com.

Bowser's Completely Redesigned Traction Unit Appears

George Huckaby - On Friday, December 3, 1999, Custom Traxx received the first of the new trolley power units just released by Bowser. This unit is for their ubiquitous PCC Streamline trolley, the car that ruled such cities as Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto until the 1950s. Custom Traxx immediately began a thorough evaluation of them and had three cars equipped with them operating on the Southern California Traction Clubs layout at the Anaheim Great American Train Show in Orange County in December 1999. What was a mere hope just a few years back may turn into a bonanza for traction modelers.

The new power chassis features a horizontal can motor and eight wheel electrical pickup and fastens to the body casting at the very ends. All four trolley body castings are being changed with relocated mounting bosses at the ends to permit the new chassis to be so secured. The PCC car chassis and floor, part number #125141, is the first to be released using the new chassis. A surprise to us was the cast floor used for the PCC, which allows the car to be set at the correct height from the top of the rail. Bowser remembered that there are thousands of older PCC shells still in existence, some of which have been very painstakingly finished and in some cases extensively modified. The retrofit method described and shown in our August 15, 1999 edition has been greatly revised and simplified. Simply speaking, all the modeler needs to do is to fit the new chassis to an older shell is to cement, using ACC, a mounting casting (Bowser part number #1307) inside the rear of the roof of the car. The mounting adapter is essentially a pewter casting with a 4-40 nut cast within. Then, cut off the old center-mounting boss with a Dremel or similar tool and a grinding bit and you are ready to install the floor and run two rail. We converted two shells in a matter of minutes. Another nice feature is that the chassis is electrically neutral. The photo shows the new PCC chassis and floor on the left and the old unit on the right. In front of both units is an older PCC shell with the conversion plate mounted in the rear. The conversion plate itself with the mounting screw and spacer are the foreground.

Custom Traxx selected models of San Francisco Municipal Railway PCC #1051; Philadelphia Transportation Company PCC #2168; and SEPTA Kawasaki 1981 single end Light Rail Transit vehicle #9039 for the installation of the first three test units. Both the 1051 and 2168 were basically Bowser PCC chassis' painted, lettered and in the case of the 1051 modified by Custom Traxx. The SEPTA Kawasaki trolley had been assembled and painted by Mike Bartel of International Hobby Products. The results of all three were outstanding. The very first units off the assembly line were wired in reverse, which is being corrected on subsequent runs. All we had to do was unsolder all leads from the motor, loosen the mounting brackets, flip the motor over 180 degrees and resolder the leads, effectively reversing the polarity. Then we discovered that a calculation error placed the trucks one scale foot too far toward the rear of the body. This, too, will be corrected before release of the final mechanism.

All three cars were extensively run during the Great American Train Show at Costa Mesa (Orange Country Fair Grounds) on December 11 & 12, 1999. The cars ran from 10:30 A.M. to 4:45 P.M. on both days with no problems. If anything, they ran better and quieter as they broke in. Except for wheel clattering over switches and crossings, the cars were almost inaudible.

The Southern California Traction Club requires that all cars run on its modules operate at 35 to 45 scale miles per hour at 7.0 volts. The new power unit, less body shell, was initially tested under two rail operation and then with the body shell under overhead wire operation. Each unit ran at 45 smph at 7.0 volts with or without the chassis. The current draw was less than 0.05 amp as the SCTC digital ammeter continually read 0.0 amperes. The car easily traversed the club 9-inch radius curves and can be made to take smaller radii with some judicious filing on the body floor and the gear tower on the power truck. After two days of break-in running on the club layout at the show, the units were re-examined and found to run at 47 scale miles per hour at 7.0 volts while using still less than .05 amp.

In the photo of the basic mechanism, you can see all the items that are packaged with the mechanism, including the motor with two mounts which have mounting holes 3/4" or 19mm apart, drive line parts, motor truck with span bolster, and trailing trucks with mounting screw. All four of the currently offered side frames are provided for scratch builders, with these being the PCC B-2 track brake (#1270), Brill 27E (#1272,) Commonwealth (#1271), and the Baldwin 78-XX (#1273). The mechanisms will be available for $42.50 without the floor with 26" wheels (#125100), 30" wheels (# 25110) and 34" wheels (#125120). The PCC mechanism will be available with floor for $52.95 and will automatically include the adapter for the older bodies. The entire PCC trolley with new casting and new power unit now is expected to retail for only $68.95. Also modelers should be aware that new castings are almost entirely free of the flash that had dogged the past runs. Bowser has introduced a new CNC machining center that virtually eliminates this problem. Also, be on the lookout for the finished Ready-To-Run PCC cars in the not too distant future.

With the availability and the quality of this unit, Custom Traxx has been evaluating some additional side frames to use with the new drive units. We have had side frames made for the St. Louis 61A and 23B trucks. St. Louis 61A trucks were used by the Los Angeles Pacific 700-749 series 1907 Interurbans, later known as the "Venice" cars on the Pacific Electric in series 950-999. Some of PERy's locomotives also used the St. Louis 61A truck. The Pacific Electric 250 class and the speedy 800-919 class interurbans used the St. Louis 23B truck. There have been many early brass models of these cars imported with the wrong 7.0 foot or larger wheel base trucks and the use of these side frames on the new 78" Bowser drive almost exactly corrects the problem. These side frames will be available in the next edition of the Custom Traxx catalogue for you avid Pacific Electric modelers. Custom Traxx plans to bundle the side frames with a Bowser #125120 mechanism with 34" wheels for use by those modelers. The St Louis 61A side frames will also be available separately from Custom Traxx as part #1313 and the St Louis 23B side frames will be also eventually available as part #1314. The photo shows the St Louis 61A on the top and the St Louis 23B below it.

Custom Traxx may instigate the availability of even more side frames, such as the Brill 27MCB-3X for the Pacific Electric 1000 class; all made to fit the new Bowser power and trailing trucks. If you have any recommended side frames that you would like to see made, contact Custom Traxx at traxx@earthlink.net. Very soon we will be able to run our brass models for long hours at shows without worrying about wearing out drives with little or no availability of replacement parts. And if the market supports Bowser's innovative activities, more traction-related products may be on the horizon, so it is our interest to support Bowser with both purchases and ideas.

In our next edition, we will show you the application of the Bowser mechanism to a Suydam Pacific Electric 800 class interurban. So keep your eyes on all the model railroad and traction magazines for more news from Bowser. Two magazines that Trolleyville residents seem to prefer are Rail Line News and Trolley Talk. For any more information on this subject contact Custom Traxx at 310-475-5597 or E-mail at traxx@earthlink.net.