1938 Walthers Mikado

Hi Carey,

  Nice. I see what looks like the outside third rail apparatus. 

  Can you explain how the poly-drive worked? 

Tom 

Hello all me again ...here is a video to prove that the Mike runs ..

Cheers Carey 

 

Very very cool!

Took FOREVER to finally get a Mike in three rail.   Really interesting what has been produced in the past, if you could track it down.

Hello all ...there is a shortage of Mikes ???? ..the scale world is filled with them .... and you can still have your 3rd rail ..just on the outside ...

 

Ok here is the 1940 -1 and offered post war for a bit   Walthers  poly-drive Mike ....all different than the earlier one 

 

Poly -drive ..these cute little diecast drives that you just plug together for any engine combination you can think of ...  ...side rods are now optional.....now replaced with a whole bunch of gear lash ...... but it look good on paper ..here is link to more riveting details 

 

http://www.modeltrainjournal.c...it=polydrive#p330113

 

 

Hey Carey, nice loco, love your posts.  Hey I have a Walthers 0-6-0 Polydrive, well it's a partial loco.  I'm missing two wheels and a good bit of other parts.  I am curious to know if you might have any  of the 0-6-0 drawings or info.  Thanks for any info you might have!

The construction appears identical, minus the poly drive, to the PW offering by Hines.  The cab on the Hines is cast brass as were added faux driver springs.  A search of Hines brings up a YouTube video of a 0-8-0 chassis in action, obviously the Mike chassis modded to make a switcher.  I hope the poly drive solved some of the problems exhibited by the YT example.  Mine runs pretty sloppy too.  The dimensions follow exactly that of the USRA heavy mike, lending itself well to super detailing, which is what I did to mine.

Bruce

Hello all thank you for your kind words.

Dennis my Walthers 060 is not much too look at but here it is ......sorry no paperwork for it...

Bruce ....yes Hines maybe....could be ...

The Hines was designed by Bill Lenoir in 46~7......Lenoir did work for Walthers 36~7..perhaps 8 ...Lenoir was everywhere ...designing engines and improving trains for a bunch of folks ....when I first picked up the 38 Mike ...I jumped to the Lenoir tie in ...which could be the case ........but then it could be Acme's , unknown if Lenoir knew or worked with.or for Roy Robbins of Acme. .....many mysteries still to solve. 

Here is a photo of the 38 Walthers and Hines Mike together ....very strong similarities , separated by 8 years and a war.

Cheers Carey

 

 

 

Wow!  Quite the variety of early O there, Carey.  Your Hines stirs a sense of nostalgia in me when I think back to the as found condition of mine.  In my enthusiastic desire for realism I destroyed it's originality.  Maybe another will some day come my way...One I promise not to mess with.I

One of those little 0-6-0 switchers is now on my bucket list too.

Bruce

Thanks Carey,

I'm thinking my 0-6-0 doe not have the right frame with it as the drivers are very unequally spaced.  Looks like yours are pretty close to equally spaced.  Also, my steam chest does not fit the curvature of the boiler.... I'm wondering if my frame is from a 2-6-0 or something instead, but I am pretty certain the boiler is from the 0-6-0 based on catalog pictures etc.  My wheels are also the plastic centered variety.  I'll get it figured out one day. Thanks again.

Carey, you may need to write a book on all these early manufacturers some day!

Hello all ..thank  you for your kind words ....I'm just learning ...lots more to digest.... early O scale is a fun place to play ..... some very talent folks/ master craftsman/ manufacturers  have left us some beautiful models to collect, operate ,  research , preserve  and pass on to the next generation...to keep this thing rolling  down the track . 

Cheers Carey   

Interesting thread.  I have an older locomotive that I have never been able to identify.  It is more or less a USRA Pacific and it looks very similar to the Mikado you posted.  I'll need to pull it out and look closer.  Is Walthers marked anywhere on these locomotives?

Photos!  I bet we can identify it for you.

Hello all ..... many / most early models have no identifying name tag....that just adds to the fun ..... Walthers poly-drive pieces have Walthers on the many of the various castings ...  please post some photos ( bottom also)  of the mystery pacific ...collectively  with luck we can pin a name on it .....but there are and will remain many unsolved mystery engines out there ....

 

Cheers Carey  

That is a nice outside rail, track. The ones I saw running as a kid were more like gaurdrail barriers, much taller, and made of roundstock, pickups sat close to the cab floor in slots, or under them with a spring at the fwd part of the firebox to angle the pickup rod so to reach higher. Do you have an owner history?. It looks like a familiar shelf queen from my youth, and I know I have a box of old brass grommets like that. (A history would/should be with it if thats it.) Out of my league today anyhow, just curious

Carey Williams posted:

Hello all ..... many / most early models have no identifying name tag....that just adds to the fun ..... Walthers poly-drive pieces have Walthers on the many of the various castings ...  please post some photos ( bottom also)  of the mystery pacific ...collectively  with luck we can pin a name on it .....but there are and will remain many unsolved mystery engines out there ....

 

Cheers Carey  

I need to dig it out of storage where most of my trains sadly now reside.  I thought I had a photo of it and apparently I don't.  It is a 2 rail locomotive converted to operate on 3 rail track, but without a blind center drver flange it doesn't like 3 rail curves at all.  Photos when I get a chance!

 

Had a chance to drop by my storage unit today.  Here are photos of my mystery Pacific.  They aren't the best quality and I can get better ones if I need to.  It's set up to run on inside 3rd rail, but it has 2 rail flanges on all the wheels and without the flanged center driver it required large radii to turn on.  Perhap scratchbuilt?  The frame is reminiscent of 1950's Penn Line locomotives.  I assume the motor is a universal AC/DC motor and it has a flywheel on the rear of it.  I ran it once on my 3 rail modules and it runs well in the straight sections.

Thoughts?

 

Jonathan     I believe this to be an International Models effort from the early fifties I'd say.        cTr....( Choose the Right )

Stephen Bloy posted:

Jonathan     I believe this to be an International Models effort from the early fifties I'd say.        cTr....( Choose the Right )

Stephen,

That is a strong possibility.  I have another International brass electric from perhaps a few years later, but it is 17/64" scale.  Did International do both 1/4" and 17/64" steam?  This one is 1/4" when compared to my other Pacific class locomotives. 

Obviously it needs a restoration.  Thanks for the information.

 

Hello all ...as Stephen ..pointed out ...International .....  ....below your Pacific from their 1952 catalog .....

scale ???? International pieces vary with which kitchen table they were made on ..   the box cabs they made are big  ok call it 17/64ths ..or just big ...     most the steamers I've seen all seem to be closer to 1/4" ....  but quality does vary ....(greatly) ....   I have two International Challengers ......one  well it looks like International ...the other wow ...this builder must have been one the hand selected to go on to Max Gray (KTM)  stuff ...both runs just fine .... but International noted that the Challenger just special order .... above their normal pieces ....their Swallow is quite  nicely done also .....

International is certainly an interesting page in early O scale ... 

 

below also photos of the two Challengers .... original price $225.00 ...big bucks at the time... ..you can see from the photos ... no way the same person built both engines ...one was building International pieces for a living ...and the other builder had real talent and went somewhere in the model train world 

Cheers Carey 

 

 

 

 

Carry,

Thanks for the information!  Mystery solved.   l like the Challengers!  The difference is clear.

I've posted this elsewhere, but this is my boxcab.  It is noted at 17/64" on the blueprint.  Interestingly enough though is it is based on a Japanese prototype of a narrow gauge electric.  It is a fun piece to have and like its steam powered cousin, needs work.

@GG1 4877 posted:

I've posted this elsewhere, but this is my boxcab.  It is noted at 17/64" on the blueprint. 

The only thing I can contribute to this is an instruction sheet:

Sorry, but that's all I got... 😐

Mark in Oregon

I have the same mikado that I bought in pieces a while back. its two rail and came with a drawing that says its IMP. mechanism  rolls very nice just have to remoter and put it all back together. it looks like someone cut the brackets off that held the worm gear in place . it had a solid shaft from motor to worm. had a big old AC motor with a diode bridge on it.

@GG1 4877 posted:

Had a chance to drop by my storage unit today.  Here are photos of my mystery Pacific.  They aren't the best quality and I can get better ones if I need to.  It's set up to run on inside 3rd rail, but it has 2 rail flanges on all the wheels and without the flanged center driver it required large radii to turn on.  Perhap scratchbuilt?  The frame is reminiscent of 1950's Penn Line locomotives.  I assume the motor is a universal AC/DC motor and it has a flywheel on the rear of it.  I ran it once on my 3 rail modules and it runs well in the straight sections.

Thoughts?

Almost looks like it was , at one tme out side 3rd rail

Tempting to hit the "reply with quote" button.  We could do the Matryoshka trick and see how many frames we could get them in.

@bob2 posted:

Tempting to hit the "reply with quote" button.  We could do the Matryoshka trick and see how many frames we could get them in.

@Dave Koehler posted:

Almost looks like it was , at one tme out side 3rd rail

Nope.  Thankfully we can no longer nest photos or text.  That is a giant step forward.

Let me see if this works

Nope - fortunately we can no longer nest huge groups of photos more than once.  That is a good thing.  And now I no longer understand how to edit - note that this note got captured in Dave’s box.

@bob2 posted:

Nope - fortunately we can no longer nest huge groups of photos more than once.  That is a good thing.  And now I no longer understand how to edit - note that this note got captured in Dave’s box.

sorry if I did something wrong

everybody does it.  It is a copyright violation, although nobody will ever take it to court.  We are all friends here.

I have some International models freight cars, and would like to find out more about them.