Author Topic: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)  (Read 5456 times)

Tom Casper

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #15 on: April 21, 2023, 12:48:26 PM »
Wider tires!
I don’t think wider tires would make the gauge narrower! :)

Its the back to back that would be a problem between the gauges.

Tom C.
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Keith Taylor

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #16 on: April 21, 2023, 01:15:16 PM »
Wider tires!
I don’t think wider tires would make the gauge narrower! :)

Its the back to back that would be a problem between the gauges.

Tom C.
Tom….yes that is true. There are several tracks that accommodate both 7 - 1/4” and 7 - 1/2” gauge equipment. The issue I was trying to point out is that if someone here in the Northeast wants to buy a 7 - 1/2” gauge locomotive, they will not be able to run at any of the local tracks.
Keith

john d Stone

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #17 on: April 21, 2023, 02:13:31 PM »
We could just spike a third rail to the existing mainline

John Kokas

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #18 on: April 21, 2023, 06:03:45 PM »
Keith,

Why not!  The Erie did it with their Russian Decapods .........
« Last Edit: April 21, 2023, 10:01:22 PM by John Kokas »
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Benjamin Richards

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #19 on: April 21, 2023, 07:52:30 PM »
The 7-1/4 vs 7-1/2 gauge issue is utter nonsense, and it's a shame there isn't just one person to blame for it. Else I'd string him up by his toes!

I've read that a cleverly designed loco will be able to handle the break of gauge. I'm not quite sure how it works. If this loco isn't already set up this way, it would be a nice improvement  for whoever becomes the next owner.

Ed Lecuyer

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #20 on: April 21, 2023, 08:02:39 PM »
The 7-1/4 vs 7-1/2 gauge issue is utter nonsense, and it's a shame there isn't just one person to blame for it. Else I'd string him up by his toes!

Actually, you would string him up by his mouse ears...

Urban legend is that Walt Disney is (at least partially) responsible for the 7.25" vs 7.5" difference in gauge. Something about the engineers designing Walt's backyard railroad getting a (key) measurement incorrect.

I have no idea how true it is, but it makes for a good (or goofy) story.

Now, don't ask me why the Mt. Washington Cog RR is 4' 8" and not 4' 8.5"...
Ed Lecuyer
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Mike Fox

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #21 on: April 22, 2023, 04:20:26 AM »


Now, don't ask me why the Mt. Washington Cog RR is 4' 8" and not 4' 8.5"...

The same reason that 2 Foot is 600mm overseas and 610mm in the US.. Or is it the Roman Chariot to blame (4'8" overseas, 4' 8 1/2" here).
Mike
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Keith Taylor

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #22 on: April 22, 2023, 04:31:12 AM »
Ed, the Disney story is not true. In fact Walt Disney’s backyard railroad was 7 - 1/4” gauge which was the standard for 1-1/2” scale.
The 7 - 1/2” gauge issue happened in the Chicago area. There was a 7 - 1/4” gauge railroad at a private home in Michigan. A Chicago area banker visited the line and was impressed with the size and heft of 1 - 1/2” = 1’ scale. He decided to build a locomotive of that size and he wrote to the owner of the Michigan line asking about the track gauge. Unfortunately the owner of the Michigan line, who was also a tinplate toy train operator mis-measured the gauge. In the tinplate world where they use tubular rails, they measured the gauge from the center of the rail head to the center of the rail head. This Lionel Std. Gauge tracks that are 2 - 1/8” gauge, were advertised as 2 - 1/4” gauge! So the Michigan owner measured to the center of the rails and came up with 7 - 1/2 inches! The fellow in Chicago built a beautiful Hudson type loco and other live steamers in the Chicago area built to 7 - 1/2” gauge so they could run on the bankers track. His line became famous and when the folks in California started to build to the larger scale….they wrote to the chap in Chicago for details. And that was the beginning of the issue.
Keith Taylor (former East Coast Secretary of the International Brotherhood of Live Steamers)

Joe Fox

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Re: 7.5 in scale live steamer for sale (B&SR #7)
« Reply #23 on: April 28, 2023, 11:17:01 AM »
I reached out to the guy in hopes to purchase the engine, but it has been sold. 😔 What a beautiful engine though.

As for the gauge issue, it should be relatively easy to regauge, outside frame and all. Maybe next time.