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Does anybody out there know much about the scratch built circus and work trains that were built Built up master craftsman, Dave Reichard?  I believe that he recently passed away but could be wrong.  I have a huge circus train that is absolutely incredible and a 9 piece work train that is even more impressive.  I would just like to know a little more about him and these fantastic trains that he built.IMG_1286IMG_1287IMG_1288IMG_1289IMG_1290IMG_1291IMG_1292

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I recognize some circus car & wagon kits but I don't know the craftsman name, or recall the kit maker... but an online search for O gauge circus wagon kits might at least pull the kit info up.  It was a main focus for this kit company if I'm not mistaken.   Wardie-Jay and Circus Craft... that's it!  I see Wardie-Jay for sure.

Adriatic posted:

I recognize some circus car & wagon kits but I don't know the craftsman name, or recall the kit maker... but an online search for O gauge circus wagon kits might at least pull the kit info up.  It was a main focus for this kit company if I'm not mistaken.   Wardie-Jay and Circus Craft... that's it!  I see Wardie-Jay for sure.

I figured that they were made by those manufacturers but was hoping to know more about Dave Reichard, TCA #74-6469.

astarr posted:

the work car at the top of the next to the last picture with the guys standing in line on the deck...I think that is from an Amproid Payroll car kit.  It was 90% wood with some metal accessories.

It’s neat to know that some of these were made from kits, the details are incredible and the glue is virtually undetectable.  Dave Reichard was a master at building.  I’d like to know what else he made because if they are anywhere close to these masterpieces, then they’d have to be a wonderful sight.

I have been looking to purchase a Circus Train or build one myself, never can seem to find the kits when I am looking,
I have found a coupe of complete trains, one was a poor quality build, the other was a nice build but the guy wanted
a Gold and Diamond mine for payment! I have also been looking for more Southern Pacific crew cars. Thank you for
posting this topic, ncng

ncng posted:

I have been looking to purchase a Circus Train or build one myself, never can seem to find the kits when I am looking,
I have found a coupe of complete trains, one was a poor quality build, the other was a nice build but the guy wanted
a Gold and Diamond mine for payment! I have also been looking for more Southern Pacific crew cars. Thank you for
posting this topic, ncng

Both of these trains and a bunch more will be offered at auction on December 8th, www.toystrainsandotheroldstuff.com

We also have a decent chunk of 2 rail O scale an On3 brass, most LN to mint in box that will be sold in this sale.  Also have some really old built up stuff from the late 1930’s through maybe the mid 1950’s.  Catalog will be posted by Thanksgiving day.

Adriatic posted:
Someone from the forum, in Pa. had a buch of the Wardie Jay kits around. I just didn't have the funds for a polite offer. With Circus and Wardie Jay as search terms, you may be able to figure out who it was...? I'll try, but I haven't been able to access the menu...I'm still waiting on an update to take care of that.

There’s a ton of them from a collection that I am auctioning.  I’m thinking about doing a solid O and On3 auction in May or June 2019 with hundreds of vintage kits and other related items.  This collection has a ton of hard to find stuff and a bunch of it is NOS.  Would that conflict with any big O scale meets out there?

Carey Williams posted:

O scale west is normally held over Memorial Day weekend ....may wish to avoid that date as an auction 

Thanks for letting me know, I think I was planning on a may 31, June 1 auction or could slide back to June 7 & 8 to let guys get back home and regroup before trying to buy a bunch more stuff.  i could also just make that my April auction for Saturday.  i already scheduled some killer HO trains for that weekend but it can't hurt to do HO and O scale in the same sale, just split it up about half way through.

Over the years I amassed a goodly collection of Wardie-Jay/Walthers, plus others, off eBay. There is something almost every week.

Beware: the stripwood is often not very good. I've replaced the kit wood with new stripwood from various vendors.

If you want to scratch build wagons, the organization Circus Modelers https://www.circusmodelbuilders.club/   under the Magazine subheading has 415 different plans, some quite detailed, for about every wagon you could possibly desire.

One of the back issues of their magazine (I forget which) describes a 6-car circus train that would be ideal for starters.

  Oh my!  You guys need to look at the site photos.  These shots just don't do them enough justice.

  I don't care if you have an interest in circus items or not, this is worth the ticket price just to see the show. (and some of the other vintage goodies as well)

    The work cars are far more unique than I had originally percieved from the overhead shots here. Click the thumbnails there as they aren't high res., the main photos themselves are much better.

  I told Wylie in private I didn't want to see this thread fade. But that was mostly because I like the circus trains so much. Now it's out of respect for the craftsmanship/appearance, and general concept grouping as a whole.  

   I'm not sure if you're limited to what you can share here Wylie, but I'd be filling the page; they NEED to be seen from "their good side" by every modeler imho.

  MWB and Bother Love are really the only two folks to draw this much excitement and envy out of me with their hand built gems. 

  MWB's thought provoking stye meets Brother Loves technical, store bought look of perfection.

(I'm likely just too busy with my own imagination to note any "perfection" or lack of it when seeing your work MWB; I consider you more inspiring ).  (Those pdf.s & flipbooks still hate me though )

Adriatic posted:

    MWB and Bother Love are really the only two folks to draw this much excitement and envy out of me with their hand built gems. 

  MWB's thought provoking stye meets Brother Loves technical, store bought look of perfection.

(I'm likely just too busy with my own imagination to note any "perfection" or lack of it when seeing your work MWB; I consider you more inspiring ). 

Thank you very much,

I'm trying to build this Santa Fe work train. I have suitable locomotives (three U25's standing in for a pair of C30-7's), the crane, and "donor" heavyweight cars. I haven't been able find any good CNW work train photos, but I did mock the one up in the video below.

derik1

This was done several years ago. The plan is after I build the 2-rail ATSF work train I'll build this up in 2-rail as well. I'll add some more equipment and probably use GP38's to pull it around. I've since replaced the C44-9W's with scale-wheeled units for the other train in the video.

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