It’s no secret that I like unusual lokies and rolling stock. I have many models of the weird and wonderful equipment once found on the Michigan-California Lumber Company, Diamond & Caldor, or West Side Lumber Company. I was brought up as a young railfan and modeler on these railroads and the mighty Southern Pacific.
As I mentioned in the January/February 2024 Gazette, I was inspired to model two logging lokies by photos in a logging book. I have since seen hundreds of photos of neat old logging equipment and have built models of many of them. A number of years ago I saw the photo shown below, right, of a Class A Climax with the boiler and engine removed converted to internal combustion. So, I built a model of it. It didn’t run too well, but it got me toward my MMR. It now is posh clutter next to my engine house. After building both horizontal and vertical boilered models, I decided I needed an internal combustion version.
ABOVE: Below: Here is the photo that inspired my I.C. Class A Climax. It was taken by Ken Schmeltzer on the Cabin Creek Lumber Company and was published on page 33 in the March 1976 Climax Special Gazette.
When the late Gordon North got me into converting HO gauge Life-Like Diesels to On3, my first conversion went into a little box cab, homemade locomotive, based on one I saw in a photo of the 42-inch gauge, 22.5-mile-long Rio Grande Railroad in Texas. I built the model and ran it for years on DC, and later converted it to DCC with sound. The locomotive has always run reliably and stayed on the rails. My next internal combustion model was a freelance railbus that I usually run at open houses. Nothing to derail, uncouple, or stall.
For years I have been enviously reading the detailed reviews of modern Diesel models in Railroad Model Craftsman and Model Railroad News. I am amazed at all the models available, and they all come with DCC, sound, lights, and current keepers. I kept wondering if one of these models could be converted to On3. But they are not inexpensive; all that quality costs money.
Finally, I decided to try one and chose a Walthers EMD SW 7. It was short, had DCC, sound, lights, and a current keeper. It only cost about $180.00, so, I ordered one. I found that removing the superstructure and side frames was easy. I was disappointed that the cover plates on the trucks were snapped on not held with screws. But I had no trouble un-snapping the cover plates and found the axles were in brass bearings that mounted into slots in the power truck’s frame. I was really pleased to see that the pick-up was off the bearings, and I would not have to modify the pick-ups.
ABOVE: My internal combustion Class A Climax at rest by the engine house.
After removing the wheel sets, I used my cave man method of re-gauging the wheels as shown in the photo above, right. I place a little piece of brass with a slot in it across the open jaws of a machinist vise and tap in the axles using a punch and small hammer. I turn the wheel sets around tapping from both sides and constantly check the spacing on an NMRA OO/On3 gauge.
Then I popped the wheel sets back into the trucks and snapped on the cover plates. But when I ran my converted mechanism, it jumped off the track at the first turnout it crossed. The turnout was perfect, my wheels were in exact gauge, and my railcar ran over the turnout with no trouble. So, it didn’t take me long to determine one of my cover plates was hitting because I had not snapped it tightly in place. An-other snap and all was well.
I am pleased with my internal combustion lokie. It fits in with my other models and is really reliable. I know locomotives like this are not in everyone’s interest, but if you model logging or mining lines, using home-made equipment models like this are reliable, inexpensive and a lot of fun.
—Bob Brown, Editor
