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Wonderful World of Miniature Railroading, The Catalog 87 pages C.H.D. Pub SC
The Wonderful World of Miniature Railroading Catalog 87 pages C.H.D. Publication Indexed. Soft Cover Date unknown Coer pulled a little loose from staples, minor tears at the stapled area. AHM, Atlas, Athearn, Bachmann, Model Die Casting, Camppbell, more Many scales.
Model Railroading is FUN. It is a hobby that never reaches completion, although it may have many stopping places where the modeler, for a short while at least, says, "There, I've built my Model Railroad."
No one really knows when true MODEL railroading first started. Models were built of the first primitive locomotives, with the idea of displaying them in order to raise financing for building the prototypes. Then came the crude toy trains, as early as the middle of the nineteenth century. Scratch building of Model Locomotives and the accompanying cars were being done by craftsmen in 1900. But it took more modern methods to develop "kits" of parts for less skilled modelers. These began to appear in the early 1920's. Now- there are "kits" to build practically anything associated with railroads, from early times to the most modern.
There is something for EVERYBODY who is interested in model railroading. Locomotives, cars, trackage both simple and complicated-all for the one who likes to build and operate model railroads. There are a multiplicity of kits for structures, from a mountaineers cabin to 1975 high-rise office buildings, factories, railroad structures of every type, even old Western towns. Landscaping materials of every description-terrain, trees, tunnel portals, you name it-it's available. For the strictly operational buff, elaborate trackage and signalling systems are available. Beautiful miniature layouts are within the reach of everyone, and there is always something more that can be added. It's a hobby that never dies. Instruction books on every phase are available at your Hobby store. If you don't particularly like railroads-there is a vast supply of Traction (Streetcar) equipment and supplies available. And people! Hundreds of tiny people, wagons, cars & trucks, animals-most of which are already painted.
There is something for every member of the family. For example, while Dad is building locomotives and cars and laying track, Mom is making buildings and building terrain, hills, valleys, streambeds, etc. , and younger members of the family are assisting in painting, and, you may be sure, making suggestions. It's real, enduring, and satisfying fun and relaxation for everybody. And more, you're proud to show it and operate it, to the admiration of the visitors, who frequently want to stay with it all evening, and often become "converted" to the hobby as well.
Now, it will be of interest to everybody to know a little about how railroading all began, long, long ago. Following is an extremely condensed history giving some of the high points of the birth and expansion of railroading. The "facts" given are gathered from the best available authorities, and although there may be some who disagree with some of these statements, remember, we are only quoting what far more authoritative writers have researched. Model Railroading IS fun. If you're not already involved-check up on what you are missing. The National Model Railroad Association, (NMRA) can tell you where your nearest RR Club is located. And it's a group you'll probably join-eventually.
Records of the beginning of the application of steam to produce power are clouded in antiquity. Apparently it was first developed in 2500 B. C. , when Heron of Alexandria built a spherical pot, with a curved spout on one side, mounted on vertical pivots. When partly filled with water and heated to a boil, steam escaping from the spout caused the assembly to whirl-a basic jet engine!
This principle was applied to drawings by Sir Isaac Newton in 1680, and although the resultant locomotive was never built, a model of his invention, (Fig. 1), made from these drawings, is in the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. museum. The first genuine working locomotive was built by Capt. Nicholas Cugnot, a French military man, in 1769. (Fig. 2) A 3-wheeler, designed for operation on roads, actually ran, although it never saw practical application. Many experimental "locomotives" were built in the following 30 years, but the first true railroad locomotive, designed to run on rails, is generally conceded to be the "Newcastle", built by Richard Trevithick, of England, in 1805-1806, (Fig. 3). A kit to build a model of this "first" is available. In 1814, George Stephenson, (England), built the "Blucher", which ran on angle rails, and pulled coal cars for the Killingworth Colliery, perhaps the first real freight railroad. In 1825, Stephenson built the "Locomotion", a rocker-arm drive locomotive, which was credited with pulling a 29-car train of passenger and freight cars over a short stretch of track at the startling speed of 8 m. p. h. In 1929, Stephenson built the famous "Rocket" (Fig. 4) which won the Rainhill Trials in England, in which various inventors participated. The "Rocket" was outstandingly successful, and is credited with being the first fully practical locomotive to run on rails. It is often referred to as "the first railroad locomotive". A kit to build a model of the "Rocket" is available.
In 1831, John B. Jervis built the famous American locomotive "DeWitt Clinton", (Fig. 5), at the West Point Foundry of New York City. This railroad locomotive hauled a train of stagecoach-styled passenger cars on the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, 17 miles in less than an hour! While the DeWitt Clinton was the 4th railroad locomotive to operate in America, it was the first to be classified as a genuine success. Through previous years, and following this development, many one-of-a-kind locomotives were built, although many were strictly experimental and never saw service. As designs advanced and improved, larger, more powerful locomotives came into being.
The general configuration of locomotives that was the basis of most future designs, was first evident in the 1850 "Eight-Wheels-Connected" built by
M. W. Baldwin & Co, for the Philadelphia and Reading R. R. (Fig. 6) In addition to the horizontal boiler, drive and side rods, it had an enclosed crewmen's cab, a bell, and a whistle, although the headlight had not yet made its appearance. However, it retained the outside frame, which was to give way to the inside frame in the next 2 years. In 1863, James Milholland designed the "Pennsylvania". (Fig.?) with 12 driving wheels. It developed so much power that it destroyed the light cars built for hauling bulk freight, such as coal.
As the end of the 19th century approached, such locomotives as the Pennsylvania Railroads "American", 1890, (Fig. 8) were developed, and this type was so remarkably successful that many makers followed this design. The "Americans" and modifications of them, functioned on America's railroads for many years. Thus we come to the 20th Century, whose locomotives, steam and diesel and electrics, are very well represented throughout this book by the model kits illustrated.
This brief rundown, condensed as it is, and skipping over dozens of developments, serves to give the modeler an introduction to the background of what has been termed the greatest factor in the development of our nation-the Railroads. Hundreds of books with detailed histories and absorbing anecdotes of the history of railroading have been written and your Public Library is a marvelous source of information. It also shows that, not only is Model Railroading FUN, but a preservation of history, as well.
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