Trolleyville Times

REGULAR FEATURES

BOWSER POWER TRUCK UNDER WIRE!
The times has just learned that the new Bowser HO scale traction power truck has been operated under overhead wire at the Southern California Traction Club test track in Los Angeles. The Mabuchi motor, power truck and trailing truck were provided to Custom Traxx by Lee English at the recent National Train Show in St. Paul, MN. An Imperial Hobby Productions (IHP) Philadelphia Kawasaki trolley was used as the test bed for the unit. The car was just acquired by Custom Traxx at the 1999 East Penn Meet in May and was formerly equipped with Bachmann power. As originally equipped the car would not negotiate a 12" radius curve so it was a natural choice for this test.

The trailing truck used and shown in the photo is incomplete lacking the necessary electrical connections to pick up power. So all electrical ground connections to the track were from all four wheels of the power truck. Because of the lighter weight of the Philadelphia Kawasaki shell, approximately 1.5 ounces of weight was added to the roof and the shell was equipped with three 12 volt headlights all in parallel with the motor. Otherwise the shell is stock as produced by IHP. The trolley pole is a Bowser pole with .015 wire stock and a Precision Scale # 31880 trolley shoe casting. The trolley pole base has been modified in accordance with the SCTC Standards. (See the Trolleyville Schoolhouse for details!) The car was just acquired by Custom Traxx at the 1999 East Penn Meet in May and was formerly equipped with Bachmann power.

The unit performed flawlessly and has operated for hours at a time on the SCTC test track. The car draws less than .2 amp, including the three headlights, at 7 volts while running about 40 scale miles per hour. Using the Innovator 3500 throttle (currently distributed by Alpine Division Scale Models), the unit has been made to run smoothly at speeds as slow as 5 scale miles per hour. This is the best non-flywheel power unit that the SCTC has so far encountered in a traction model.
For you PCC fans, the new track brake mold is a gem. For you Pacific Electric fans, Custom Traxx is in discussions with Bowser to produce sideframes for St. Louis 23B trucks (used under the PERy 800 class) and St. Louis 61A trucks (used under the PERy 950 class) trucks for the new unit. Check for more information in the Trolleyville Times as this story unfolds.
Dave Garcia, member of both the SCTC, the Orange Empire Railway Museum and long time traction modeler states that he was "...extremely impressed..." with the new truck and that Bowser had done a "...darned good job..." in the design. Dave is not given to hyperbole so it must be good. Dave has already tried to fit the truck into a Suydam single pole Pacific Electric 800 and when he does, and the power units become generally available, there will be an article in the Trolleyville schoolhouse. Stay tuned!

Nice Going, Bowser!

PHOTOS FROM THE NATIONAL TRAIN SHOW IN ST. PAUL

Michael DeGhetto and Bill Kift of Alpine Division Scale Models