HO Model Trains - Steam Engines

Welcome to the Brass locomotive Works Blog!

My passion deals with steam engines and how they have affected the United States and Canada let alone the World.

A steam engine is nostalgic and draws attention and crowds where ever they are in the United States and Canada. I've seen many films of Australia where steam is fancied.

The steam engine was the backbone of the United States development and expansion for over one hundred years. During World War II the steam engine pulled more tonnage and played the greatest roll in moving products, military gear and troops across this country. In fact over 1000 steam engines were sent to Great Britain and Europe during World War II and during the Marshall Plan. Fortunately the gauge was the same where ever we sent steam locomotives. The four feet eight and a half inch gauge comes from Great Britain.

The steam engine as a modelers choice is more than just average in the model railroading hobby. It represents a bygone era and history that cannot be ignored by anyone who is fascinated with transportation and the history of railroading in general. The Diesel is generally quiet and unpretentious to the viewer of the railroads of today. The opposite is true of the steam engine. The steam engine is lowed, mighty in looks, huge to look at and excited the children and adults of years gone by. When looking at the past history of this era and the perceived character of a steam locomotive it is no wonder that crowds appear when one of the few steam giants appears on the scene.

There are several large steam locomotives in operation throughout the United States and Canada. As I mentioned in a previous blog the numbers are small and dwindling. We have the largest locomotive in operation in the World know as the Challenger. This locomotive has a wheel alignment of 4-6-6-4 and is know as an articulated locomotive. The engine actually is two engines in one with separate boilers. The sixes represent the drive wheels of each engine. Originally the engines top speed was around 100 mile per hour. That is restricted in today's rail system by the government. The Challenger series was built for the Union Pacific Railroad who is the owner of Challenger #3985. This engine and her sister engine Northern 4-8-4 #844 travel about the Union Pacific system for rail fans and other special occasions. The #844 is the only steam engine in the United States that has never been retired. It has remained in operation since it was built.

To name a few other Northern 4-8-4 series we fined the Southern Pacific #4449 Daylight in operation as an excursion engine. The former SP&S Northern 4-8-4, Santa Fe Northern 4-8-4, Milwaukee Northern 4-8-4 are all back in operation as excursion engines. In Canada a Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson 4-6-4 is in operation. There have been one other Articulated locomotive 2-8-8-2 and a Northern 4-8-4 owned by the Norfolk and Western now the Norfolk and Southern that were running but have been put back into the museum. There are smaller engines running on mainline rails as well. You can find several private railroads that still run small steam engine excursions.

For the hobbyist these locomotives have all been reproduced in miniature. In this case we are looking at HO scale steam engines. They have all been reproduced in brass and may know have been produced in plastic.

In my case I have the U.P. Challenger and S.P. Daylight in brass. They provide great enjoyment and historical presence for me.

One of the great assets we have are the numerous books that have been published on American and Canadian railroads. This is also true of the World railroads. Books are a tremendous media for historical information and pictures. This has important significance when it comes to the railroads. So many railroads are fallen flags. This terminology is the means by which a railroad that is no longer in operation is designated. The books provide us with the information that otherwise would generally not be available. There is a second media that is all important and that is the 16 millimeter films taken by several photographers over the years of steam and of the fallen flags.

Because of these forms of media the hobbyist can choose the railroad and era he or she wishes to model. I like all the different periods of railroading to present. However, my favorite period is the 30's through the 50's. Many of my friends and colleagues enjoy this part of our history yet will dabble in the present railroad system. A good example of this are the Canadian Grain cars. They are modern and very unique in there shape and reliability. As there are many new things as well as old there is always a fascination for what ever it is. No one person is the same in his or her likes or dislikes which makes life interesting. This is so true in model railroading.

As a modeler myself and friends enjoy seeing slide shows and movies of the railroad system of the United States and Canada. It gives us ideas on improving our own layout if we have one. It also presents us with historical moments that would other wise not be seen or known. Between the real thing and the hobby it plays together in learning, understanding and realizing the incredible progress that has been made in this one form of transportation and the effect it has had on are two nations.