Motive Power

The original motive power for my version of the Monte Sano Railroad was an old AHM Plymouth diesel, which I reworked into a "critter" as detailed on the "Plymouth Rework" page.

Then, I added an Egger-Bahn steam loco, which I have "Americanized" as described on the page entitled "Egger-Bahn Rework." I followed the general process given in an article that appeared in Model Railroader magazine way back in the 60s. You can read the article by clicking on "Model RR Article" above.

I have also acquired a couple of the old AHM Baldwins. One of them is being mounted on a Life-Like 0-6-0 chassis for better performance.

Recently, I got Mark Rollins' Climax conversion kit, which uses a N scale diesel switcher as its basis. My work on it is chronicled on the "Climax" page.

I've been wanting to do a Chivers Baldwin conversion of a Bachman N scale 0-4-0 for some time, and recently the kits became available again. I got one from Al Sandrini and will document its construction on the "Chivers Baldwin" page.

Not a project, other than painting, but I acquired a Japanese-made 0-4-0 recently. It is quite similar to the Egger-Bahn in appearance, but has a very modern motor/mechanism, and the body is nickle-silver, which give a lot more weight and better running characteristics.


AHM Minitrains Plymouth diesel	Egger-Bahn model 1002 steam loco

Egger-Bahn and Plymouth	Egger-Bahn, Minitrains skip, and scratchbuilt caboose

New! Two AHM Minitrains Baldwins. Yes, I went crazy on eBay...No, this is not the driving of the golden spike.
	1/3/05 The "Americanized" Egger-Bahn and the "critterized" Plymouth meet on the big trestle. Click the thumbnail to see the full-sized picture.
11/4/05 The Monte Sano Railway finally got a steam dummy! This is an Egger-Bahn "Firey Elias" which I got from Andreas Schoenfeld. So, the operation is a bit more authentic now.
I have some really neat standard gauge HO locos; but they are simply not suitable for this layout. Perhaps I will build another layout in the future that allows them to be displayed in service as well. They vary from a Rivarossi Heisler (modified to a more prototypical height and with Kadee couplers), a 2-4-4-2 articulated logger, and a Rivarossi Y6B Mallet (which is really not suitable for any small layout, but I just love it). Also, I have a standard gauge Ken Kidder Plantation 0-4-0 T which may make a micro appearance soon.