Lobaugh early , middle , and late ..and really late .

Thanks , Carey!  

What a history lesson!   $100 was a lot of money (Berk) but at least it got you a lot.

John

Yay! Another terrific thread about vintage O scale. 😊 I recently picked up a 1941 Lobaugh catalog: much different from the 1939 edition...

Mark in Oregon

Oh, you guys are asking for it.  A lot of info there that I was unaware of.  But most of you know that I have at least one of every locomotive Lobaugh produced except the MoPac Mountain, the Suburban, and the ten-wheeler.

I don't have much Lobaugh, just a few cars.  Here are both sides of the prewar R-40-10 PFE reefers, UP on one side and SP on the other.  And a couple of clean UP sides I picked up a few years back.

Hi Carey,

I have Lobaugh catalogs from the early 1960's.  At the time the company was owned by Jack Campbell and based in Los Angeles.  I know we were still able to get some Lobaugh kits and parts at Model Railroad Equipment Corporation (NY) in the 1970's. I think Lobaugh models went directly from Al Ellis to Jack Campbell around 1960 then mostly to Locomotive Workshop & Trackside Specialties in the 1980's.  It is now owned by Stevenson Preservation Lines.

BTW, the Rollin J. Lobaugh company is still around for metal fabrication and CNC machining and is still located near San Francisco in Belmont, CA.  see"http://www.rjlobaugh.com/"  Rollin passed away in 1965.

JJ

I met Jack. For about 25 years I owned Jack's display Challenger - the last completed Lobaugh kit owned by Lobaugh scale models.

I also met Al Ellis - nice guy, but difficult to interview.  My best interview (published) was with Bob Smith, about the history of the PA models.

But I digress - here is the Pratt/Lobaugh 1937 SP switcher in 17/64.  Hold your breath; you get to see one of each!

1221 is now on display in Deming, New Mexico.  It was the shop switcher in San Jose back when boilers were green and road names were raised nickel silver.

Yeah, ok.  I guess that one was too primitive for this crowd.  Here is the postwar version, parked with the Stevenson Preservation Models display switcher.  I should add that my friend George Wilson (RIP) did a lot of work on the post war version, and his name appears on several Lobaugh kit blueprints.

Bob, I'de be proud to own and run  yours.

Hello Bob ...what issues are your interviews in? ...inquiring minds want to know ...thank you 

How do you marry a Pratt PRR and Lobaugh SP ? 

Cheers Carey 

Bob - who did the painting and weathering on those switchers? The work is superb.

Test - one, two

Well, that worked.  I thought I was banned because of a lack of cookies.

Thanks.  I do all of my own work, including driver machining, painting, and decaling.

Carey - I don't have an index of articles - wish I did.

Pratt sold the SP 0-6-0 to Lobaugh, probably around 1936/7.  More in next post.

I was thinking I was following the catalog order by posting the 0-6-0s first.  Not true - the 1941 catalog starts with the FEF.

The order is then the B&O Pacific, the D&H Challenger, the UP Challenger, the NP Challenger, and then the smaller NH 4-4-0.

Then come the SP and MoPac Mountains, the SP Mike, and the CNW Berk, and finally the lowly 0-6-0.  So as usual, I started hooked up in reverse! 

There was a 1941 supplement with an AC-8 Cab Forward and a GS-3 Daylight.  We think there may be under 20 Cab Forwards out there, and I have seen only two original tenders.  Gerry White told me personally they never quite got the Daylight off the drawing board - the only part we are aware of is a roller bearing (GS-5) trailing truck casting.

A note on my Lobaugh - about half of it arrived here already built up.  Some came really trashed, and others required only a bit of mechanical work and some paint.  Only one kept the paint job it had on arrival.  The Stevenson 0-6-0 was assembled here for Bob to display, but the one behind it is a genuine 1950 version, and received only paint and decals.

The FEF below came to me fully assembled.  I had to remove the cab and lower it, and in general adjust things, but the rest is genuine 1941 Lobaugh - well, I added firebox sheets.  The tender came with a sprung Centipede truck.

Hate to be an old grump.  My photos are copyright.  You may use them anywhere but in this thread, if you give me attribution.  I do not want them repeated here with the "reply with quote" button.  Thanks!

I found a couple more Lobaugh refrigerator cars.  One early prewar style Yellow PFE like I already have, one, I think, post war Orange  PFE but still single herald, and ART and FGE reefer.  I only have the 1941 catalog but remember Bob mentioning some of the postwar versions and and was curious how many of those PFE versions they did?  I think they also did a 50 footer and a rebuilt wood side but steel end car.  On the wood side, was the lettering done by hand or decal? Since I didn't get to see the other side of the cars, I am hoping the PFE cars have the proper UP opposite side and not two SP sides!!

Hi Dennis!  I had figured I killed this thread with my grumpiness.

I do have a pair of Lobaugh ice cars.  For my money, only the cabeese and tank cars are of interest - but I believe the orange used on PFE cars is brighter and richer than anything we have today.

For structure, I prefer All Nation box/ice cars.  Most are steel, but they seem to last a lifetime if you don't leave them out in the rain (or let cats pee on them).

No cats around here although I did have a squirrel manage to get in the basement last year and run a round and climb on the shelves before I could trap and remove him lol.  Named him George and so all squirrels we see are now thus called George or George's cousin lol.

I'm still waiting to fall into a good tank car or two so for now just have a few ice reefers and a box cars. lol  Scale craft is so much easier to find!  I do have a decent amount of All Nation boxcars and Ice cars as well  Have to get a bunch of them together and do a comparison.  Might be entertaining.

I prefer the All Nation because the steel is about 25% thicker.  The Lobaugh box cars are brass, but I think they were using up shim stock.  The sides and underframes are, of course, works of art.

To continue (?) the 1941 catalog, the next item was the B&O Pacific.  I have only seen the picture in the catalog, and one boiler, which I captured.  I am quite sure more of these exist, but as to where they are . . .

The catalog photo shows it to be similar to the postwar pseudo-USRA Pacific in all aspects except boiler shape, so I just married up the two.  Only one prewar model is more elusive - that is the MoPac Mountain.  I have heard that one exists.

It is not finished yet, and of course B&O was a coal road, so the tender is sort of incorrect.  I have lots of tenders.

I just landed a Lobaugh DeepRock tanker! 26$ isn't too bad, hopefully, it's all there!

@Dennis Holler posted:

I just landed a Lobaugh DeepRock tanker! 26$ isn't too bad, hopefully, it's all there!

Considered but have too many other projects; a shelf full of tank car ones that I've already put off for too long, so I passed.

@Dennis Holler posted:

I just landed a Lobaugh DeepRock tanker! 26$ isn't too bad, hopefully, it's all there!

Good score, Dennis...

Mark in Oregon

Yes.  Good deal.  If you find something missing, let me know.

Consider rings with rivets beneath the domes, and consider screwing the domes on instead of solder.

It looks complete.  The trucks alone are worth ten bucks.  Good thing I didn't look at it closely . . .

Thanks guys appreciate it.  I've been patiently waiting for a good deal on one for a long time lol.  I like the idea of the rivet sheet under the domes, will plan to do that.  Will take another look when it shows up.

I guess I will count all that as at least some desire not to see this thread die.  I thought I had killed it with my B&O Pacific.  I will post the next locomotive in the 1940 catalog next post.

@bob2 posted:

I was thinking I was following the catalog order by posting the 0-6-0s first.  Not true - the 1941 catalog starts with the FEF.

The order is then the B&O Pacific, the D&H Challenger, the UP Challenger, the NP Challenger, and then the smaller NH 4-4-0.

Then come the SP and MoPac Mountains, the SP Mike, and the CNW Berk, and finally the lowly 0-6-0.  So as usual, I started hooked up in reverse!

There was a 1941 supplement with an AC-8 Cab Forward and a GS-3 Daylight.  We think there may be under 20 Cab Forwards out there, and I have seen only two original tenders.  Gerry White told me personally they never quite got the Daylight off the drawing board - the only part we are aware of is a roller bearing (GS-5) trailing truck casting.

A note on my Lobaugh - about half of it arrived here already built up.  Some came really trashed, and others required only a bit of mechanical work and some paint.  Only one kept the paint job it had on arrival.  The Stevenson 0-6-0 was assembled here for Bob to display, but the one behind it is a genuine 1950 version, and received only paint and decals.

The FEF below came to me fully assembled.  I had to remove the cab and lower it, and in general adjust things, but the rest is genuine 1941 Lobaugh - well, I added firebox sheets.  The tender came with a sprung Centipede truck.

Bob,

I love the FEF.

Ron H

Just for that - D&H next.  Gotta fry the tortillas first.

Here we go - genuine, except the tender sides, which were inaccurate and too dented:

No, by golly - I saved the original sides and added a strip of brass on the bottom.  UPS damaged this thing in shipping, and paid me to fix it.  All 100% Lobaugh!

Two more Challengers, but only if you want . . .

I'd like to see the Challengers !!

Okay.  I am obviously going in catalog order.  This is the 1940 Lobaugh "Fetters", or baby Challenger.  about half have the gearboxes come out of the top of the frames, and a small percentage had spur gears connecting motor to drive shaft.  One of my pet peeves is those folks who cut the frames up to install USH gearboxes - the NWSL Mod O.6 is a better gearbox, and  slips in with just a few file strokes.

I am prepared to go through the whole catalog, except for the MoPac Mountain, but only if you guys keep this thread alive.  I have been known to kill threads with my photos.

The top Challenger is a stock Lobaugh piece.  I may have lowered that turret; not sure.  I did reduce the size of the tender numbers since this photo was taken.  The model was given to me by a very nice guy in New England, about a quarter-century ago.

The bottom shot is scratch-built, using many Lobaugh parts.  Note the turret - it is lower, and the cab has appropriate rivets and handrail notches.  Also note the steel cylinder blocks.

I think this one has the frame I machined from a rough casting.  Much more fun to buy them already machined, except some recent ones have the rear engine machined too far back, necessitating a patch for strength in the rear pedestal where it joins the tailbeam.  ( The frame castings for prewar and postwar Challenger models are identical.)

Ready to post the NP.

@bob2 posted:

I am prepared to go through the whole catalog, except for the MoPac Mountain, but only if you guys keep this thread alive.  I have been known to kill threads with my photos.

The top Challenger is a stock Lobaugh piece.  I may have lowered that turret; not sure.  I did reduce the size of the tender numbers since this photo was taken.  The model was given to me by a very nice guy in New England, about a quarter-century ago.

The bottom shot is scratch-built, using many Lobaugh parts.  Note the turret - it is lower, and the cab has appropriate rivets and handrail notches.  Also note the steel cylinder blocks.

I think this one has the frame I machined from a rough casting.  Much more fun to buy them already machined, except some recent ones have the rear engine machined too far back, necessitating a patch for strength in the rear pedestal where it joins the tailbeam.  ( The frame castings for prewar and postwar Challenger models are identical.)

Ready to post the NP.

I enjoy your posts and information about older models - correct information is always appreciated...

Bob2; I also enjoy the posts !

I definitely like seeing photos of your work.

@bob2 posted:

I am prepared to go through the whole catalog, except for the MoPac Mountain, but only if you guys keep this thread alive.  I have been known to kill threads with my photos.

Ready to post the NP.

Yes, please! 

Mark in Oregon

NP - this one is not genuine - most of it is from the UP Challenger parts, but the mechanisms are separately driven by two NWSL gearboxes and two 8000-series Pittmans.  The front engine is driven by a driveshaft that goes through the rear worm shaft, much like a modern turbojet engine shaft.  I call it the "twin spool" drive, and would have patented it except that patents are so darn expensive.  And that is exclusive of attorney fees, since I am registered at the Patent Office.

Oh - and the tender is a wood block with PSC trucks. 

Part of the problem is that there just aren't that many Lobaugh NP Challengers out there - my east coast friend Gene has one, but other than that I am unaware of any.  There are more Cab Forwards than NP Challengers, apparently.

Enough of that - here is the photo:

Oops - those are Lobaugh tender trucks.  the PSC are ready for installation except for that giant brake cylinder.

I mentioned the Cab Forward.  If we finish the 1940 catalog, I will do the 1942 supplement, which had a model AC-8 and a real Daylight Northern featured.  Gerry White told me they never finished much of the Daylight kit, but we think there may be twelve complete Cab Forwards out there.  I have one of them, and some parts of another, which I will share.

If we finish this.  Next on the list appears to be the SP Mountain.  For those interested, I have posted most of these before in separate threads.  I would apologize for repetition, but I submit that previous postings are years ago, and we may have a different audience.  For sure, older O Scale has seen a recent renaissance, with eBay prices of relative junk heading for the stratosphere.

Speaking of repetition, make me feel good and stop hitting the "reply with quote" button?

Okay...

Just marvelous Bob; thanks again.

Mark in Oregon

hey Bob--I missed the start of this thread , but would have encouraged you from the start !  Now, Ill have to look in here to see what new pics you post.

I will complain that your pictures should be bigger,  so I can zoom on on details .

One thing that always mystified me  - The Lobaugh cars can be made into very respectable models ,, but the diagrams they included for underbody detail , especially brake rigging , were nothing short of laughable !  don't get me wrong, I love lobaugh, but man, check out the underbody detail drawings !!!!!

Looking forward to your next post ,

JJ Davies

@Carey Williams posted:

Sorry if the following questions make me seem like a novice ( I am ) but this picture caught my eye. The un-flanged wheels seem unusual...yes ?   Also what is the purpose of that cross rod with the shoes on the end. Looks like some type of electrical pick-up but it extends well outside the rails ?

Are you talking about the outside 3rd rail pick-ups?  IF so you can clearly see them in a pre-war Scale-Craft catalog.