Westbrook cars

The cars will operate just fine on 3 rail track with the issues you noted.    Tubular would be very problematic unless the flanges are fairly large.   Modern track with flat top rail should be just fine.    As you mentioned sharper curves could cause problems.   If your curves are wide enough there should be no problem.    When you say 72 inch curves do you mean radius or diameter ie. 072 ir 72 inch radius?    In either case 40 ft prototype cars should be ok as long as there is some coupler swing.    Longer cars could become a problem, but I don't think Westbrook made any long cars.    The track gauge (distance between the rails) is the same in 2 rail and 3 rail.

2 rail cars in modern times have one wheel insulated.    That is not a problem.   These older cars may not have insulated wheels, but that is not a problem on 3 rail track either, most 3 cars do not have insulated wheels because one pickup is on the center rail, and the other is both outside rails.     In the 40s, a lot of fellows built layouts with "outside 3rd rail" basically similar to NYC subways.    They often bought uninsulated wheels.

Body mount couplers let cars track better if the curves can handle it.  

Thanks for the info.  Will have to do some closer looking at the cars, and there is one loco in there also that is quite the antique too. The wheels are metal, but did not notice if one side is insulated from the other.  More checking to follow for sure.

@CALNNC posted:

Thanks for the info.  Will have to do some closer looking at the cars, and there is one loco in there also that is quite the antique too. The wheels are metal, but did not notice if one side is insulated from the other.  More checking to follow for sure.

Pictures would help!

Here's a few. There are also a couple Ives cars with scale couplers attached, and what looks like ground up builds of gondolas.  I just put up a pic of one of the locos in the group, asking what its origin was.  Listed under 3 rail scale and "what is this loco?"

I think only the gon is Westbrook; boxcars are Athearn or All-Nation, or something else yet.

Those large flanges look like they might be Walthers 3 rail wheel sets; the L&N car looks to have Weaver roller bearing truck frames with those same Walther(?) wheel sets...nice cars.

I have a handful of Westbrook cars; perhaps I can post some pictures later, if you want.

Mark in Oregon

@CALNNC posted:

...just put up a pic of one of the locos in the group, asking what its origin was.  Listed under 3 rail scale and "what is this loco?"

That looks to have been deleted?  Maybe try again in this part of the forum.

Did not realize Athearn made cars of this construction.  All of them have wood floors, some have metal doors, some plastic, some have metal grab irons and ladder rungs that are nailed to the wood sides.

OK, I had put it in 3 rail as it has a center pickup, but will post it here.  It is a bit furry, I have not cleaned it up any.  The soldered on bell fell off, and part of the valve gear on the right side that was soldered on was off too.  A lot of solder work on this, as is all the locos I have gotten from this fellow.  What you might call and E unit in the tender appears home made to run the two power trucks that were put in it.  The loco does have its own motor, so this must have been a puller in its day, or it ran very poorly.

Wow, spectacular old-school technology there! I'm impressed with that tender drive. Anybody recognize the manufacturer of the boiler and chassis? I'm not that familiar with the Westbrook line and I've never associated it with a locomotive model but rather freight car kits. Thanks for posting these!

@CALNNC posted:

Did not realize Athearn made cars of this construction.  All of them have wood floors, some have metal doors, some plastic, some have metal grab irons and ladder rungs that are nailed to the wood sides.

Yup!  Athearn as well as AN made cars that were assembled like that....plastic doors I end to associate with later versions sold by LWS.

@atlpete posted:

Wow, spectacular old-school technology there! I'm impressed with that tender drive. Anybody recognize the manufacturer of the boiler and chassis? I'm not that familiar with the Westbrook line and I've never associated it with a locomotive model but rather freight car kits. Thanks for posting these!

Varney//All-Nation but those tender drives look a lot like old Walthers traction drive units. As far as I know Westbrook never made locos of any kind; just freight car kits.

I don't know what the loco is.    I would be suspicious it might be scratch built, of perhaps kitbashed from a Hines or Pierce Mikado kit.    Or there also some other builders back in the 30s that might have done a 4-8-2.

the tender looks like it was made with tinplate.   All the All Nation/General Models locos I have seen have cast tenders, or brass wrappers without rivets.    the rivets look a little crude implying had shaped.    Also the rivet lines are good, but not perfectly straight.  

I can't see enough of the wheels and rods up close to tell if they have the unique All Nation/Varney/General Models wheel mounts.    All that I have seen use a slotted, threaded cyclinder that screws on to the axle.    The end of the axles are threaded.    When I built an AN kit, the instructions explained how to take a screw driver and file a slot in it  to install these.   they fit into the wheel hub.

All Nation Did make a 4-8-2 and it is relatively rare.    I have seen a few over the years and I remember them looking bulkier than this loco.    the loco driver flanges appear more like 2 rail, but the lead truck flanges look like 3-rail

It would be fun to see some photos after it is cleaned up some and also show the under side.

For what it's worth ... The Evergreen car was perhaps manufactured by Kris Model Trains, or Frank's Roundhouse; anyway, it appears to be descended from the AMT / Kusan tooling. The former owner evidently tried to detail it some by adding corner steps. Don't know about its trucks, but the wheels are modern Lionel or compatible. The NKP boxcar has what look to be MPC wheels in the truck on the right of the photo, unsure about the left one. The L&N car is fitted with Postwar Lionel "AAR" plastic trucks with the appropriate wheels.

I clarified with my friend who gave me all these, plus more to come later, that it was his father in law that built all of these, and had a massive layout in the attic of his house, and this was in SC, so summer time would have been a cooker.  The father in law was the son of a man named Buckwalter, (I forgot his first name, will dig it out) the primary inventor of the roller bearing.  Lea, the son in law who is 85 now, so we are talking 1930-40's for the main build, his son  ran the layout with his granddad as late as the 1960's.  The layout could be run automatically with a mechanical clock that could be programmed that the granddad built that did things like cut in and out different track blocks, and moved turnouts allowing the train to take different paths on each pass, selected by the minute hand.  Trying to get any photos of it,

I'll clean that engine up a bit and get some better photos, but its 8 drive wheels and trailing truck are not kit bashed, but the lead truck is.  I don't think this was originally a 4-8-2, but a 2-8-2.  The center rail pickup is a bit kluge, perhaps he had to repair it at some point.  I wonder how he got the loco drive and the dual motors in the tender to all work together?  The E unit in the tender also was wired to the loco drive, and judging by the type of wire used to hook loco and tender together, almost looks like aviation grade Teflon, it was redone much later than the original build.  The valve gear and piston remind me of an O scale live steam loco.