6. Retrolling Stock

One of the great advantages of a retro layout is that it creates the perfect excuse to run old locomotives and rolling stock that I haven't seen on rails since I was a kid. Given the layout's small size, small locos and cars are more appropriate, not to mention my preference. Here's the complete roster so far; note that it's subject to change.

Locomotives

I would have used my biggest fave, the Atlas 0-8-0 (made by Rivarossi), except I'd sold my last one without thinking about this layout. So, my second pick was a Minitrix 0-6-0 upgraded with a Spectrum tender for much-improved performance.

The other locomotive in the roster is a Minitrix FM. I'd considered using the ubiquitous F9, but I prefer these little guys, and they run quite well. The Pennsy scheme is relatively rare, released (I believe) by Con-Cor.

Both of these locomotives were in pristine, mint condition.

Freight Cars

Here's an assortment of freight cars I'll be running. Most are from Postage Stamp sets.

Passenger Cars

Originally fitted with (burned-out) grain-of-wheat bulbs, these Bachmann "shorties" were retrofitted with homemade flicker-free lighting circuits. They're a very simple design consisting of four components: a full-wave bridge rectifier, a 1,000 mfd 16 volt capacitor, a 1k-ohm resistor, and a 3mm warm white LED. No matter how dirty the track and/or wheels may be, and regardless of track polarity, the LEDs glow consistently; in fact, after removing the power, they continue to glow for several seconds. For an authentic retro look, I positioned the LEDs right where the light bulbs were originally located. Hard to tell the difference.

Back < Index > Next

Copyright © 2017-2021 by David K. Smith. All Rights Reserved