Quanah, Acme and Pacific (QA&P) - West Texas - Fictitious Model Railroad Layout Agriculture Industry

Understand not wanting to build another one. There are quite a few scenery related items on mine that, in retrospect, I should have done differently. And I may redo them, but probably not. On our layout I wanted something flat that simulated climbs and descents using scenery. It's practical, it was easy to build and it works well, but it's seriously limiting regarding scenic possibilities.

The shortline idea is one of my favorites. Branch lines have always been my favorite to model. Running simultaneous multiple trains on a huge Class 1 layout is of no interest to me. Having slightly dilapidated track; older facilities like you would find on a branch line or short line; utilizing locomotives and rolling stock that are no longer up to snuff for a class 1 mainline; those are the things that are fun to model, from my perspective.

For a shortline or branchline the Kato works great. With power routing switches, I can spot a car or a small train on a siding; build up a train in the yard using the passenger siding and not foul the main; do everything that needs to be done with almost no wiring blocks. In order to fully accomplish what needed to be done on my layout, I did have to make two wiring blocks, but that's all. and one's only a cut through one rail which utilizes a single pole / single throw toggle switch to turn on the section of track protected by the toggle switch.

Both of my passing sidings work well. On one siding I wired it in such a way that the same Kato switch controller operates both switches.

Speaking of rebuilding, lately I've been thinking of selling all the HO and transitioning into O scale. Several years ago I considered that and still have three O scale locomotives and quite a few pieces of rolling stock. But the room isn't really big enough (20' X20') for O scale so that probably won't happen.

Anyway, sometimes we have to just enjoy what we have.

 

First blast of winter (at least what qualifies for winter here) finally hit, so it's back to the railroad room to make a little progress on the overhead crane. This is an interesting model. It's mostly a pretty straight forward kit, but the threading of the chains was truly a challenge. Once a load is hanging from the hook, the block and tackle assembly will hang straight.

Anyway, a couple of more photos. These are cell phone photos, so the detail isn't great.

 

Nearly done. It needs a load and the whole model needs to better fit the landscape. The rusty trucks and wheels probably won't be there. They were just laying there until I found something better...like the crane. Gotta figure out what to have it lifting. Also, the boxcar red drop bottom gon will someday be painted silver gray. For now, it's also just sitting there.

 

Looks fantastic Paul. Thank You for the update and photos.

Joe

 

Thanks, Joe. Now to decide what it's lifting. Any ideas???? The first thing I saw laying around was a bundle of ties, but that's pretty boring.

 

How about large spools of wire for a flat car load, just the first thing that came to mind.

Joe

 

That's an option. Keep in mind that the crane is over the MOW tracks.

 

Changed the MOW rolling stock to make it look more Frisco / QA&P and added a tiny bit of detail. It's nearly complete. In my box of kit parts and kits I found a little handcar that will be built as a tow-behind MOW trailer. It will be painted gray and have junk and tools on it. It could even have a tiny pedestal crane on it to operate as a tie crane. It would be nice to add some NBW castings to the bottom cross braces of the crane, but the thing is so fragile that I'm afraid to do anything else to it. Should the wheelsets be off of the ground on wood or something like the trucks are? what should I do make them more realistic looking? Would they be completely covered with surface rust?

 

I love MOW trains. Hardly anyone models them. I saw several over the years but never saw one actually move. They take up sidings on small layouts, mine is only occasionally on it. You move them from siding to siding, they become operational inconveniences which is great. The ones I saw as a kid always had the neatest old cars and stuff, heavyweight cars stripped down, etc. one on the T&NO had an old cotton belt long caboose.

 

MOW equipment ranks highly on my list of favorite railroad equipment. It adds a great amount of interest to a layout, even if it never moves. Cranes, derricks, flat cars and gons loaded with stuff, plows, etc. Durango Press has made numerous craftsman kits of narrow gauge MOW stuff, and it's all interesting. It's also expensive and pretty difficult to build...but it looks great when completed.

 

An example of MOW equipment by Durango Press is this motorcar shed. It could have been built either standard or narrow gauge. At the time I built it narrow gauge was a pretty strong focus on our layout, so it's build narrow gauge.

 

Tom,

How did you make the chain tie downs?

Second question: would a little MOW motorcar trailer like we talked about be gray or yellow? Remember that my era ends in the 1950's (most modern end of what I model).

Thanks,

Paul Moore

 

ok...then silver or gray it is. Thanks!!!!!

 

Good looking train!

 

Outstanding!

 

Some modeling projects go well, and some, well...After the previous discussion of Durango Press, I remembered a Durango Press handcar kit in my drawer of stuff. A handcar is a little early for our layout, so it became a motorcar trailer. It just didn't turn out all that good. The color is a little weird; the wheels are pretty turn-of-the-last-century; etc. Maybe some extremely heavy weathering is needed.

A friend in Colorado Springs (good guy--did two tours in Vietnam as an Airborne Ranger and has two purple hearts to show for it) told me yesterday that he has a bunch of extra flatcars with metal wheels and kadee couplers. I am going to buy about five from him. Maybe one will become MOW and I'll put light gauge rails on it and mount this trailer and other stuff on the rails.

Posting these photos showed me that the rails in the MOW yard definitely need to be weathered!!!!!!!!!

 

That's a great idea, especially since my grandfather was a QA&P lineman. A tribute to Mac (that's what he went by on the railroad).