February 2003

Model Trolley Displays Continue

Model Trolley Repowering Hints

SCTC to Appear at Model Train Expo

Bowser releases new bolster for the 1999 Traction drive

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When Bowser released its updated traction drive in 1999, it was accepted with great enthusiasm but there were two major concerns. The first was that the unit did not have a flywheel. That was solved with the A-line retrofit flywheel kit #20040 in early 2000. The second was that the original equipment bolster was only of sufficient width for their narrow cars. This has been solved with the issuance of part #1335 for $2.50 as shown below. Using this brass part will greatly simplify the adaptation of the Bowser drive to other models.

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Southern Californians See More Trolley Modeling

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The first weekend of the New Year was marked by the Anaheim Great American Train Show and another appearance of the Southern California Traction Club (SCTC). This was the 39^th appearance of the nearly seven and one-half year old club.

A Ken Kidder C&LE Box motor 648, freshly re-motored with A-line components but not yet lettered, heads a twenty-car reefer train in the above photo.

Two Bachmann Brill semi convertibles in the foreground, one dressed in holiday garb while a Bowser Philadelphia PCC 2169 crosses in the background.

Pete DeBeers, the newest member of the SCTC clad in one of their new maroon shirts, was the only member visible at the modules when this photo was taken.

The club will be appearing at Great American Train Shows in (1) San Bernardino, CA at the National Orange Show Events Center on August 2-3, 2002; (2) Ventura at the Ventura County Fairgrounds /Seaside Park on August 23-24, 2002 and (3) Del Mar, CA at the Del Mar Fair on December 6-7, 2002. Hours are 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM both days. Other appearances will be announced as they are confirmed.

LATE NEWS: The SCTC has been selected to appear at the Model Train Expo to be held on March 1^st and 2^nd at the Pomona Fairplex (10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday and 10:00 AM to 4:30PM on Sunday). The club will be adding two more modules to its display for that show. So if you’re in Southern California during any of these times stop in and tell the club you saw them in the Trolleyville Times!

Hints for Repowering Model Trolleys

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Last month we mentioned that Custom Traxx had spent an evening with Joe D’Elia of Proto Power West/ A-line discussing the tools and techniques to successfully repower HO scale traction vehicles. To get an idea of the repowering process, Railmodel Journal published a “How To” book some time ago entitled “Railmodel journal on Tuning & Upgrading Athearn Locomotives”, Edited By Robert Schleicher, ISBN 0-8-7-315-101-1, Library of Congress Catalogue number 90-085824. This book is for modelers of all skill levels and retails at your local hobby shop for $9.95. Several of the articles in this book were co-authored by Joe D’Elia.

Traction model repowering is very similar to model diesel repowering except in two respects. The models are considerably smaller and the radiuses of the curves on which the models may be operated are also much smaller. The Railmodel Journal book mentioned earlier is a good review of the techniques that can be used to “tune-up” and “repower” models, so it is recommended that this book be reviewed before starting any traction repowering.

There are two basic portions of any model repowering. The first is the remotoring portion, which was detailed in Trolleyville Schoolhouse Lesson 5-1 using the A-line 40321 & 40322 motors, 20006 & 20021 flywheels and the 12400 cradles. The next lesson to appear in Trolleyville will lean more toward the second part of repowering which concerns replacement of drive trains using the A-line 12031 Universal Coupling Kit and some other items. One of the most useful demonstrations seen last month during our visit to A-line was the replacement of the flexible tubing with these components on Suydam HO scale PERy 1624 and ITS Class B locomotives along with the Ken Kidder steeple cabs. See the photo below. We also found out how to repower a Ken Kidder C&LE eight-wheel drive box motor. This is the loco shown in the first photo in the left column.

In addition to the A-line 12031 Universal Coupling Kit, other A-line parts to have on hand are the Brass Sleeves, #12053 [These sleeves increase a 2mm shaft to 3/32” or 2.4 mm]; Ball Couplings #12054 [These fit a 2.0 mm shaft while those in the #12031 kit fit 2.4 mm shafts]. All these items are available from A-line directly or from

Custom Traxx. Instructions and guidelines for using these parts will continue to appear in the Trolleyville Schoolhouse.

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Eighth Annual Ontario Brass Show

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The 8^th Annual Brass show was conducted at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA on January 19^th. Thirty-three dealers and collectors displayed their items beginning at 10:00 AM. Traction dealers Custom Traxx, Holland Traction Products, MTS Imports, Inc. and Railway/Traction Miniatures, LTD were at the show and reported interest was somewhat less than in previous years. There were several bargains available at the show and those disappeared early in the day.

Below are PERy cars 1260 and 1200 operating on the Custom Traxx/ MTS Imports display.

Tentatively mark your calendar for the Sunday before the Super Bowl for 2004, same time, same place.