Large Scale Central

New Train for Veteran’s Day

Last Veteran’s Day my club, Del Oro Pacific, participated in the fair held at the Long Beach VA Hospital. I was surprised to see many of our members had special trains honoring veterans and the armed forces.

YouTube link https://youtu.be/qyzbJDC_1IA

I was also envious because all I brought to run were my standard 1890’s GG&SB trains. I got to thinking that I could use early steam engines if I created a Civil War era train.

A little research, a couple of new purchases, some specific loads, and here is the results.

I started with a HLW 4-4-0 “General”. It’s a great match for many of the locomotives in the war photos. I was planning a United States Military Railroad train, so the name had to change. (General started the war on the Confederate side.) I installed a TE Revolutions receiver, a Phoenix PB17 sound card, and a 3” speaker in the tender. Some light weathering and the motive power was ready. A box car became the battery car.

I used a standard flat car for a field artillery load and a short LGB European passenger car was repainted and re-lettered. Here I mounted a 34 star flag to show the colors on Veteran’s Day.

I mounted a large cannon on a short flat car to provide forward defense and a large mortar on another to allow for offensive action.

That’s purty kewl!!..(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Very neat!

Nice Era military train… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Nice Era military train… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Now you just need to crew it with some Federal artillerymen! Beautiful!

Great post Dave, not many model that era, especially as well as you have here. Good job!!

Hey is Don Gage still involved with Del Oro??

Eric Mueller said:

Now you just need to crew it with some Federal artillerymen! Beautiful!

I’ve spent countless hours searching for figures. The ones in uniform are always attacking which doesn’t go well with a train ride!

What about British or European railroad workers? They are usually depicted in uniform, that with a little work can be adapted to a military uniform, and they aren’t in such aggressive poses.

That is going to make a grand looking train. Aw man, wish I had an answer about correctly sized figures for you. Only know of some as large as 1/32 scale, not 1/24 or larger and they are often cast metal and a bit pricey for a train full. For example, https://www.michtoy.com/item-ONW-ACW008-Hardtack_and_Coffee.html

Dave,

depending on your scale (and ability to paint), it might be worth, to look out of the box.

https://www.michtoy.com/michtoy_search.php

https://www.toysoldierco.com/

I’m a diesel guy but I can appreciate this. Nice work!

Dave,

As you consider your uniforms and crew and what options you wish to explore, may I offer the following?

Looking more closely at the first picture, you will note this gun is mounted on a naval carriage and that the gentleman next to it is wearing a rather light colored coat. Note also the seated figure does not have the US in a brass oval on his cartridge box. I am wondering if this might be a photo of the Confederate “land iron clad” employed near Richmond during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. Gives you some options…

More generally, the advice to use civilian figures could work great, as the Federal fatigue uniform was a nominally modified civilian working uniform. The Federal coat, a sack coat, was based on a common four button civilian pattern. Though not evident in these pictures, many troops, especially in the West, adopted a dark, civilian hat known as a slouch hat. This is a black, broad brimmed hat with a the brim curled up all around. The crown was normally left peaked. Unlike a “cowboy hat,” which would come late, the crown was not pinched in the front. The mortar crew is shown in a Federal issue “horse hair” shirt, also based on a civilian “square block” pattern, with buttons running from the collar to the breast bone. These were beige, grey, and blue (You can google the shades.), so that lets you vary up the crew a bit. Note that if you try to model the hats in your pictures, these are “forage caps,” not “kepis.” The forage cap was flat across the top; the kepi had a roll on the top, and was usually a privately purchased item, especially as the war progressed. This means you should be able to modify a construction helmet or other hat pretty easily by trimming the brim and flattening the top!

I should mention, I have not TRIED the conversions above. I just hope a little arcane Civil War trivia might help you out!

Aloha,

Eric

Thanks Eric. When I tired of looking for soldiers in casual poses, I started searching for working men in general. I was surprised at the lack of 1/32 scale figures in work clothes suitable for the 1800’s.

Dave, yea. It makes it fun modeling that far back in the past.

Dan Gilchrist said:

I’m a diesel guy but I can appreciate this. Nice work!

Yep!

Here is video of our club on Veteran’s Day, including my new train: https://youtu.be/vmiEIOhRurk