Pictures show my 1:48 On30 model of Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes 2-4-4T Forney #11 offered by Bachmann around 2007. These engines ran on railroads of the two-foot narrow-gauge system in Maine until the 1930s. The prototypes were built by Baldwin between 1907 and 1909.
Locomotives of this type were also built to standard gauge (56-1/2 inches) by Alco-Brooks in 1910 for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad and hauled short passenger trains on the Putnam Division between 155th Street in Manhattan and Getty Square in Yonkers. Similar 0-4-4Ts ran in New York City on elevated lines prior to electrification in 1903. The Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn three-foot narrow-gauge railroad also operated this type of locomotive in commuter service prior to its electrification in 1928.
My pictures show the model sitting between the center and an outer rail of Atlas O gauge track on my 10’-by-5’ model railroad. On30 models have a gauge equivalent to 30-inches at full scale which can run on HO track or, more correctly, on accurately scaled On30 track. I don’t have an On30 setup and have this model just for display. It is very small, fragile, and difficult to handle or clean – which I did quickly before taking the pictures.
At this point, I believe that many of us have plenty of the best-known types of steam locomotives. These days, I’m much more interested in small engines to run on my small layouts. And, I would certainly buy a model of one of the New York Central 2-4-4T engines. I think that Scott Mann, of Sunset Models, would be the only person who might consider making one.
MELGAR
