Freight Railroads are in business to make money. Most freight cars are used for hauling customers freight and earning revenue. But in order to make money a railroad must inspect and maintain its track and bridges, calibrate car scales, clean up derailments, clear snow and feed and house the crews who perform maintenance work in remote locations. In this installment of the O Scale Freight Car Guide we will take a look at the Maintenance of Way equipment that is available to today's model railroader.
Many pieces of MOW equipment are converted from revenue passenger and freight cars. Old coaches, sleepers, diners, boxcars, flats, gondolas and hoppers can all be found in MOW service. A modeler can simulate this practice by taking old equipment and using it in the same way as a prototype railroad. Heavy weathering would help make demoted passenger and freight cars convincing in MOW service. Some O scale manufacturers have offered standard revenue cars painted in MOW color schemes. Here, with perhaps an exception or two, we will look at MOW equipment that is uniquely tooled for models depicting cars in MOW service.
Bunk Cars
The K-Line K767 bunk car represents a box car that has been converted to a dedicated bunk car. While the K-Line box cars may not have been faithful O scale box car models the bunk car fills a unique niche. It is close enough dimensionally to fit in as part of a O scale work train. The car continued in production as a K-Line by Lionel product.
Weaver Troop Sleepers and Kitchen Cars are available in post-war MOW versions.
Cranes and Tenders
The MTH American Crane appears in the Rail King line and offers an excellent value. It is modeled after prototype cranes with long reach and medium lifting capability that makes them well suited to a variety of MOW uses.
The MTH Railking crane is based on a steam powered prototype built in the early 20th century and used into the 1960s. Railking crane tenders are available as well.
MTH's 250 Ton crane and tender first appeared in the1999 Volume 2 catalog. It is based on a late 1940s and 50s era Industrial-Brownhoist diesel powered crane still seen today. The crane features 6 wheel trucks and a manually positionable boom and hooks.
The Lionel command control crane offers electronic remote control of rotation, boom elevation and cable extension as well lighting, spring loaded outrigger deployment and coupler operation. It features diecast construction for major components including body, frame, boom and trucks. The crane tender houses the speaker for sounds.
Dump Car
The MTH dump car is based on a Difco prototype. It has appeared in both the Rail King and Premier product lines since 1999. It features smooth motorized operation from an accessory activation track.
Scale Test Car
The MTH scale test car was introduced in their1999 Volume 1 catalog. It has a diecast body and is very close to the O scale equivalent of the prototype's 80,000 pound weight.
Snow Plows
The Lionel Wedge Plow appeared in the 2009 Signature catalog. It is based on the common railroad practice of mounting a plow on a ballasted flat car or gondola.
The MTH Jordan Spreader debuted in the 1998 Volume 2 catalog. The versatile Jordan Spreader can be used as a ballast spreader and ditcher as well as a snow plow. The MTH model has movable wings and a lighted cab interior.
The MTH Russel Snow Plow joined their snow fighting equipment lineup in the 1998 Volume 3 catalog. It features movable wings and interior illumination. Its short length allows for O-27 operation.
Powered MOW equipment
The Lionel Ballast Tamper is considered a Traditional offering by its manufacturer but is a candidate for operation on conventional control scale layouts.
The Lionel TMCC Track mobile can be used to provide command control motive power for a small MOW train.
The MTH Weed Sprayer Outfit is based on a UP prototype and includes a sprayer unit and two tank cars. It has been offered in Union Pacific MOW green as well as several other road names in both non-powered and Proto 2 equipped powered versions. It first appeared in the 2000 vol 2 catalog.
Also introduced in 2000 Volume 2 MTH catalog was the DC-3 inspection car. It too is based on a UP prototype that was itself converted to inspection service from a Brill gas-electric rail car. It has been produced in UP and several other road names with Proto 2 and now Proto 3.
As always, your comments or corrections are most welcome. And let's see photos of your Maintenance of Way equipment.
Information on other types of O scale freight cars can be found at the link below.
https://ogrforum.com/t...le-freight-car-guide
