odessy of Lobaugh

I wonder if you stumbled upon Henry Pearce remnants.  Henry had a barn in LaPeer, I think.  Suburb of Saginaw?  Anyway, he died about a decade and a half ago, and he had so much stuff his buddies couldn't haul it all.

You need only find the truck side frames.  These kits did not come with motors or wheelsets, or even couplers.  Most just use the All Nation transmissions, but one can build them up as display models.  Only my Great Northern A unit has power.  I don't have time or energy to run every locomotive in my collection once a year, so often I just leave out the power.

When you solder these things together, you need to first jig them together with spacers and screws.  The nose can be clamped, but you need to screw it on to the body with 1/4" square brass, arranged so you can mount truck bolsters.

It takes a propane torch, welding gloves, and good flux to get these things assembled.  Not difficult, but it takes about 20 minutes to get everything hot enough.  Cleanliness and new flux are the secrets to soldering, and tinning ahead of time is not a bad idea.

These are not Lobaugh.  Henry did not have much Lobaugh in stock - but we can help you identify parts if you share.

Here are a couple of cast bronze items, just for kicks:

I have a Lobaugh search on a popular website.  Several Henry Pearce items have shown up labeled as Lobaugh.  Henry's parts were as good as Lobaugh, and his gearbox was better, but Lobaugh collectors are a discerning group.  Lobaugh drivers have a keyway broached 45 degrees from the crankpin - Henry either did not broach a keyway or put it in line with the crankpin.

I found out the hard way - you cannot mix and match.  Crankpin throw is just enough different to cause side rod lockup.

Bob your account fits. The guy i got them from bought and repairs machine tools and saved these from the scrap dealer due to the ornateness of the parts, thinking he might do something with them. He too said there was so much no one's truck could hold it and much went to scrap.

Again, thanks for the help. i am enclosing a few pics. Most are brass type parts. It is just the tip of the iceberg. I did get communication from Stevenson, but alas they do not have paperwork.

Enclosed is a few more pics. I also threw in a pic of the late thirties XX American Flyer whistle model i am freeing up. i was amazed due to condition the blower housing had not seperated. So far 3 in ten i have touched actually still work. The mechanical gearing to run the blower and seperate reed asm. amazes me. (and it sound almost real).

Cylinder blocks are Pearce/Hines.  Henry collected everything - shame to hear most went to scrap.  These days a lot of that is not worth the price to ship, except to a few crazies like me.

A lot is known about Lobaugh and Lobaugh production over the years.  Almost all Lobaugh has identifying characteristics - all but the Lost Wax Mike of the early 1950s have cast one-piece frames machined for 3/8" axle boxes and four screws per axle holding pedestal binders.  Lobaugh produced no Diesels, and only briefly offered Pomona Valley kits in the catalog.

The Lobaugh catalog itself is of use - a 1940 catalog tells you most of what you need to know - very few models survived WWII, and only a few reasonably available locomotives were designed and produced after the war.

Notably, these were the Jabelmann Challenger, the semi-USRA Pacific, the Greenbrier, a revised and smaller SP 0-6-0, and maybe a suburban tank locomotive.

Henry, on the other hand, had almost nothing to do with Lobaugh - he amassed a great pile of sand patterns.  He acquired the Hines Lines products, and ultimately managed to get most of the Lost Wax Mike patterns.  Those are now in the hands of Stevenson Preservation Lines, and are part of a kit that Stevenson sells.

So far, it seems you have gathered some very nice Pearce parts.  You may spend some time ascertaining the market value, but lately it seems that some of these sand cast Diesels can command impressive prices.

I missed three of these because I refused to bid over $50.  One is enough, but they are superb casting sets.  No idea whose foundry did the pouring, but I believe my pen pal Jack Raymus did the patterns.  Modern O Scalers turn their noses up, but I consider these old doorstops to be an art form!

i wil search for the catalogue('s) . I know they won't be common, but may be i can even find some one i can aquire a copy from.  I will not scrap them. They are works of art and an example of how things were made before plastic fantastic. When you look at that last pic of the unpainted model it is something. Some one a thousand  years from now could find one of these and still be amazed. Thanks agan so much. 

The diesel casting set appears to be a Ken Kraft FA1. Some consider these some of the most accurate of the cast diesels car bodies made back then. There was a O Scale Archeology installment on these in OST not too long ago if not recently.

I may have shown this before, but what the heck...it applies here:

52 pages: lots and lots of parts and hardware. Previous owner cut out a number of the freight car pictures , but the locomotive pages are intact; including the Mountain type. The only other engines are the Challenger, Mikado and (2) types of the 0-6-0. I can post more pictures if there's any interest...

Mark in Oregon

Thank you.

i would be most grateful to see a part blow out diagram. Esp for the building of the model. If they have a similiar model esp. If not anything would be better than what i have. From what i am hearing the Co. did not have specific motors, is that true? Also the undercarriage is of great interest. Thanks so much. 

I can help.  Which parts do you need to identify?

I got a pristine 1939 catalog off eBay for nine bucks.  Keep your eyes peeled.  1940 is better, and easier to find.

The Lobaugh engine frame is the key to identifying locomotives.  I have no photos of the cast frames without drivers, but these two photos are Lobaugh-style machining.  The difference would be that you would see a rough indentation between driver slots where the casting was not machined.

The only known variation was the lost-wax Mike, which is two slabs, machined like these photos.  Wheelbase is strange; existing rods do not fit, unless Stevenson has the originals.

So far i did not find anything matching. yours. The closest lower section like yours is in the bottom of pic i am enclosing. The top pair i threw into show. it is a beautiful piece. I have talked to Stevenson. He said he had very little stock of this model/style. I may have to substitute. It looks like there was wiggle room to allow some creativity. Thanks again, this gets me a step closer. I might find more in the bottom of another box too. Over time things did get seperated which has made it difficult. 

Forgot pic

Not an expert on Ed Alexander stuff, but I am going to guess top pieces are Alexander C&O.  Possible that they were part of the C&O Berk that CLW was working on.  Not at all sure.  None of that is Lobaugh.

Bottom pieces are scrap.  Somebody may want them, but cheaper and lots easier to build your own.

Thanks for the help. It is apparent there is a jumble of items. Too bad the gentelman was not alive. But it does show how important it is  to mark the boxes and bags you store spare parts in.

@bob2 posted: ...snip... but cheaper and lots easier to build your own.

Not if you do not have the machine tools or the ability/skills to use those tools.

You have not looked at shipping costs lately.  Using someone else's frames means you have to find side rods and axle bearings that fit.  You are almost better off with a hacksaw and a file, unless you can find the proper size drivers, rods, and bearings.

If Henry had not sent rods, I would never have used his Lost Wax Mike frames - they are just slightly shorter than the Lobaugh Berk, and that Berk is easy to find rods for.

I see you sold the Diesel FA shell.   You did quite well.

My collection of old sand cast doorstops seems to be accruing value as fast as Apple stock!  Yippee!

Seeing i have several i figured i would see to help pay cost. The person bought it for display art. The crazy cost of brass for example; the  (thinner) 1/8 BRASS SHEET PLATE NEW 4"X 8" at .125 Thick at 17 dollars and 9 in shipping sure is not hurting the value. It gets a little better price in larger sheets and qty but you can see why people use plastic. My son does work in the design and cutting of machine parts so hopefully if we can't come up with the parts, we can find the catalogue and from  pictures he had the ability to make the non molded ones.   Thanks to your help i have a couple guys looking for the parts needed in their piles. it is going to take time for sure.  (they aren't cheap either). May be we can resurect another one. Thanks again.