I would buy steeple cab in Milwaukee Road vintage.   Would be nice if MTH would re-issue the box cabs they did some years back as well.  I never seem to see them come up for sale.    

Also some short lines.  Like the Texas Transportation Company for the Pearl Brewery line to the SP!

Dominic, They hardly ever come up and when they do the go for a big price. I got two sets when they came out. A three unit tri-color and a black rock island that didn't sell very well. I bought the Rock Island for a song and repainted it into Milwaukee. Don

Rock Island boxcab set? Are you sure that wasn't the early Milw. scheme?

I would be in big time.

Don...

Isn't this a repeat appeal for you??  I seem to recall you made the same impassioned request a couple years or so ago?  Time to go with a bigger 'bat'??

I'm still with you on this one!!  I have no idea how I'd justify it on my present layout, but I've always dreamed of having a short overhead electrified feeder connection...industrial, rural, etc...., and a steeple cab would be the perfect excuse!

But probably just for one unit.

Several years ago wife and I visited Milwaukee's Trainfest in November.  There was a chap who had on display his layout......a l-o-n-g, narrow interurban layout.  It was an absolute jewel!!  I couldn't stare long enough at it before this tiny guy on my left shoulder dressed in red and holding a pitchfork started talking to me about getting rid of my decades worth of trains....to start over!?!?!  Fortunately (?) the 'voice of reason' prevailed (my wife, I think!).  Seeing an excellent O gauge product at a decent price/features/operation would encourage finding a compromise solution for me, though.

Besides, then I really WOULD have the perfect layout justification for one of my long-time desires....a Toonerville Trolley!....which I also wish one of today's big guys would make with all the latest animation, sounds, lights, etc..!!

So, who (mfr) should we pick on (i.e., harass) for a decent steeple cab??  I'd say that Bachmann, for their Peter Witt effort, seems to have demonstrated a sensitivity to the subject and product type.

Good luck this time around!!

KD

ETS makes a tin small electric.

But I would prefer a plastic bodied unit from MTH or Lionel. Heck, WBB for that matter.

I would love a steeple cab from one of the big manufacturers. 

Have to be from Lionel for me, with Legacy control as it'd become a great little switch engine on my RR.  Paint it ATSF and sold!

Chuck, they were Rock Island. Don't know why MTH made them.They were selling sets off for around $400. They were already painted black so it was easy to switch them to Milwaukee. Don

Quick Casey posted:

ETS makes a tin small electric.

But I would prefer a plastic bodied unit from MTH or Lionel. Heck, WBB for that matter.

 

Agreed, but the price would have to be right.  And I can't see that happening.

Good luck with your quest. It sure looks like a cool unit that would be great for a lot of smaller radius curves. 

You might find big support from the guys at the Milwaukee Lionel Club. They are always running special issues of Milwaukee Road cars. 

I know that at one point, a long long time ago, in a galaxy not sofar away, Popular Mechanics ran an issue on making a steeple cab electric from various materials. Think it was in No. 2 Gauge, and in the 1910's, but still worth investigating if you are serious about the idea.

Chuck, they were Rock Island. Don't know why MTH made them.They were selling sets off for around $400. They were already painted black so it was easy to switch them to Milwaukee. Don

KD, I think almost any layout could use one. Any town with some small factories and stores could be serviced by a electric short line. They could possibly run of Easy Streets or have short right of ways through town. Have an interchange with your main line and you would add lots of action for your layout. A small one stall engine shed would be fun to have for service of your line. Don

Electrics are always cool - any time one comes out, I notice. 

The NYC outside-third-rail types are my favorites, both because I'm a Central fan and, as they did not use pantographs*, no catenary existed on the NYC, so it is not missed on the model layout. Also, as it was a 3-rail electric format, our 3-rail models are inherently closer to prototype than just about any other form of model RR'ing. The third rail is in the wrong place, certainly, but it's still more prototypical than our "steam" and "diesel" equipment.

I have a 3rd Rail NYC R-2 electric on order; I also bought their NYC T-3 a few years ago. The Central had some small electrics and tri-power locos. How about some of that?

*I know, I know - except the small one that was used in areas of complex switches, as in a yard, where the 3-rail situation got very clumsy - we can sympathize, certainly - and a catenary section several feet long was used to get past the issue. Cleveland Union Terminal also had catenary for the big P-1 transfer motors. 

Yup. Count me in. I would take a couple to mess with

I could see Bachmann or MTH make the little electric using some parts from their 44 toner. Love to see a undecorated version. Don

Started this heavy cardstock Standard Gauge a while back. It was meant to be a pattern to make it out of brass. Before I got very far, I acquired a Joe Finelli Steeple cab with ore cars, so it was not needed. I decided to go ahead and complete it and leave it cardstock. It sits on an Ives chassis. Maybe I should do a tin or brass one in O.

Steve

I would like one, however with all the electronics that current manufacturers would fell compelled to include in a new engine I would probably be priced out.

I would be interested in a Milwaukee, YVT or Oregon Electric steeple cab!

coach joe posted:

I would like one, however with all the electronics that current manufacturers would feel compelled to include in a new engine, I would probably be priced out.

+1, Coach.

Does anyone know how many the South Shore Had

Tplee

They had seven built by both GE and Westinghouse. Don

Any chance of kit bashing two Lionel motorized units under a custom made shell?  Get rid of the front and trailing trucks and you've got two 0-4-0 engines you could hide under the shell.  Combine the e-units and I think it would work.   Maybe not Legacy but something is better than nothing.

I forgot to add to the count, at least one, probably two.

Tplee

I'd buy one also.

Malcolm (Brother_love) was scratchbuilding one last year.  His work is spectacular, and I believe he still builds them for clients. 

Bob

I used old brass Japanese shells from the 50's, detailed them plus added scale pantographs. Running gear is K-line S-2 switcher. It's a Westinghouse but I'd rather have a GE steeple cab. Don

Don, If we are talking EF-3 locomotive sets, MTH never issued them in Rock Island. As you know, The RI never had any electrics. I think you had the early black Milw scheme. Can't find any reference on MTH's site.

It for sure was not a Milwaukee set in black. It could have been Virginian, I just know I had to remove all lettering. My mind is going, it was a Virginian. 20-5573-1 The version I redid is on the cover of OGR Feb 2001, sorry for the mistake. Don

I'd like to see anybody produce / import a steeple cab, but the real question becomes which one and what style - the variety of steeple cabs that were in use is huge.  Reality of producing anything these days lies in the bottom line of numbers and sales.

So here's the one I'm cleaning up and getting back into service - little Derr kit 25T engine.....

I have a couple of those older IMP brass 85T shells to restore and re-motor as well. 

South Shore, I am in for one

I would like a few. In my "yet another project" pile, I have the makings of one, using a cut down Annie/Clara-belle for the cab, two Marx switcher tenders for the hoods, and a K-Line MP-15 (or whatever it is properly called) for the running gear.

Maybe I should just get around to building it.

Might consider one if it was SP or Pacific Electric.

WMB, that's a winner. Don

Ah nuts, now I gotta make one. Thinking Standard Gauge - maybe on a #8 frame with super motor. Not quite right but hey,  Lionel made a 4 wheel Bipolar!  Body might actually fit on an O gauge switcher frame (623 type - one of the best mechanisms ever)

Jim Waterman

Electrics ran in odd locations....Iowa, Oklahoma, Utah mining road, others I am sure...granite or marble quarry roads....etc.

Milwaukee Road steeple cab.  Sure, I would buy one.

Semafor O gauge Baldwin-Westinghouse steeple-cab

August 19, 2005

Semafor's Baldwin-Westinghouse steeple-cab electric locomotive retails for $453. It features two can-style motors, sheet-metal construction, and a headlight. For more information, check out Bob Keller's review inside the October 2005 issue of CTT.