Author Topic: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)  (Read 20735 times)

Ed Lecuyer

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Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« on: May 25, 2020, 10:52:50 AM »
NOTE: THIS IS BEING OFFERED BY CARL SODERSTROM- LM649



I have acquired an etched brass Loco kit  of a Portland Forney like #9 Titled "Maine Two Foot Forney"

This is a nice looking kit, a work of art, and in my opinion would be suitable for framing if not built. Roughly 5 X 10 inches. This is a "Craftsman" kit.

It is designed to fit an "N gauge" mechanism (not supplied). Four pages of history and instructions are supplied.

7 Hinkley & 7 Portland engines are listed. Encompassing all Maine 2 footers.
The one most relevant is SR #5 = SR&RL #6 = KC = WW&F #9.



TERMS

This is an experiment, if it goes not too badly it may be repeated.
There are several reasons for doing it this way:
  • It will give WW&F Members & Friends a better chance of being aware of the kit being available.
  • There will be no additional fees ALL money does to the WW&F Gift Shop. So be generous.
  • There will be no last minute bidding - the proposal is that 3 days ± after the last bid the sale will be closed. With a minimum of 14 days to allow people to be aware that the sale is going on. Then the sale will be closed.

The winning bidder will be notified on the site. The Successful Bidder will remit payment to the WW&F Gift Shop with the "ship to address." I will then mail the kit, saving postage. It could be picked up at the Gift Shop. (When things settle down.)
« Last Edit: June 04, 2020, 05:49:11 PM by Ed Lecuyer »
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Dan Malkowski

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2020, 12:21:52 PM »
I guess I'll start the bidding at $25

Wesley Ewell

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2020, 04:13:36 PM »
Do you have any indication of what scale this is? N-scale track was used by some early Sn2 modelers. Can you give us some dimensions of the parts? Thanks -Wes Ewell
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Carl G. Soderstrom

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2020, 04:35:56 PM »
The instructions indicate HO.

When I click on the above attachment it opens to about 90% size (on my screen)
As stated roughly 5 X 10. Get a scale out and enlarge your screen or shrink (for us old geezers)
to size.

« Last Edit: May 25, 2020, 05:00:12 PM by Carl G. Soderstrom »

Wesley Ewell

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2020, 07:53:57 PM »
It scales out to 1:48 or On2. Much too big for an N-scale mechanism.
Wes Ewell

Dan Welch

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2020, 08:39:55 PM »
I'll up the bid to $50.00. 

Carl G. Soderstrom

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2020, 01:59:26 PM »
The instructions say HO

I took a few measurements (very few)

On the cab front:

The hole for the boiler = 3/4 inch,
It is 1 19/32 inches wide,
It is 1 11/16 high

Cab side = 1 5/8 not including the roof overhang.

Hope you can extrapolate from that.



 

Ed Lecuyer

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2020, 06:00:34 PM »
At least according to Google....

HO is 1:87 scale
S is 1:64 scale
O is 1:48 scale

If the cab side on the model is 1.625", that scales up to 78 inches at 1:48 (O Scale)

The well-known line drawing of #9 (used as the WW&F logo) shows the cab side at 6' 5", or 77 inches.

Thus, the model up for auction APPEARS to be On2.

A little mystery we have here...
« Last Edit: May 26, 2020, 06:15:38 PM by Ed Lecuyer »
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Ed Lecuyer

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #8 on: May 28, 2020, 07:14:07 PM »
Carl has provided the instruction sheet that comes with the model:







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Pete Leach

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #9 on: May 29, 2020, 10:28:20 AM »
So, reading through the instructions, this is an HO scale model that would run on scale 30 inch gauge track, aka HOn30. This is the same scale and gauge made popular by Bob Hayden and Dave Frary many years ago. These models run on N Scale (9mm gauge) track. The instructions posted recommend a Bachmann N-Scale 0-4-0 Dockside Switcher mechanism to power the model (Available on eBay and other sites.)

This is still an active form of modeling Maine 2-ft railroads. Chris McChesney (co-author of the Narrow Gauge in the Sheepscot Valley series) was very successful in getting these very small locomotive models to run. He even wrote a book on the subject and is available on Gary Kohler's Portland Locomotive Works website.

I personally have tried and failed to accomplish what Chris and others have done. My eyes are too bad, my fingers are too fat, and my abilities are lacking... I am modeling my version of the WW&F in O scale, 30 inch gauge (On30).

This would be a great model for someone willing to take the time to build and tinker with the mechanism (not included).
Good luck,
Pete Leach

Bob Springs

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #10 on: May 29, 2020, 12:11:32 PM »
I have experimented with HOn30 and found the biggest problem is reliable power pickup from the track.  Keeping the wheels and track totally clean seems to be the main issue.  There is a sure fire way around this.  Battery power R/C, and yes, systems are now small enough to do this in HOn30.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbooLfzvvAk 
Adapting this technology would take some tinkering but could be well worth it.
Also consider that using a mechanism from a smaller scale to model narrow gauge in a larger scale means the model bodies have more room for the tech stuff and to add more weight. 
Going back to using basic track power, just adding more weight helps a lot.
While HOn30 uses N scale track and mechanisms the SCALE is HO so all those structures, figures, etc. that HO offers are there for one to use and HO has, by far, the greatest selection.

Tim Fillion

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2020, 08:41:37 PM »
I will up the bid to $65.00.  I believe this is an O scale kit with HO Scale drawings in the instructions.  I plan to built an Ariel/Puck out of this in On30.
Tim Fillion
Bedford  Mass.

Donovan Whittemore

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2020, 09:28:38 PM »
Hi All, I'm a lapsed member who's been lurking for many years, but I just had to log in and respond to this thread. I am almost certain that this is an HOn30 kit from the 70's or early 80's, meant to be built over the Bachmann N scale Dockside 0-4-0. I would have given anything to find one of these back in the day, but I had to build my number 8 from scratch instead, all good fun of course! At the time this kit was made, HOn30 was the prevalent scale/gauge for 2 foot narrow gauge models, thanks in great part to the wonderful models and articles put together by Bob Hayden and Dave Frary. Of course, there were pioneers of Maine 2 foot gauge modelling before that: Hugh Boutell, Dick Andrews and Bob Brown all scratchbuilt amazing O scale models in the 40's and 50's, and Bob Brown built his famous Wiscasset waterfront module in the early 60's. I digress, this is a great little etched brass cab and tender, but I do hope whoever buys it realizes that it will almost certainly be HO scale.

Mike the Choochoo Nix

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #13 on: June 02, 2020, 04:49:53 PM »
As to the scale, If the hole for the boiler in the front of the cab is 3/4 inch than it has to be O scale as that would be three scale feet. HO would scale closer to six feet, way too big.
As was stated before, it's a O scale model with HO instructions!
M. Nix
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Donovan Whittemore

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Re: Maine 2 Foot Forney (kit)
« Reply #14 on: June 02, 2020, 07:12:22 PM »
I think if Ed could take a second photo of the etched parts alongside a ruler it would settle the question nicely? Robert E. Sloan made kits and parts in several scales, but the instructions for this kit do specifically say "HO." They could possibly be O scale parts with a set of HO instructions, but this same kit in HO scale is also pictured in this link: https://maineon2faq.wordpress.com/2016/11/21/sloan/