Blessed Mother of MOW Machines, Look at This....

[ljudice]

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10285564

Definitely a machine used in the US/Canada....   1/150 of course and not too expensive.

[Denver Road Doug]

Nice!   Always good to see MOW stuff in N-scale-ish.   I have the Hobbytrain tamper from several years back.  That combined with the Showcase Miniatures ballast regulator will handle most of the MOW operations on my railroad, but I might spring for those if I was doing something like the Powder River or the Transcon.   (both eventual possibilities)

[Scottl]

Love it, but I just don't like the idea of the 1:150.  Any sense if it would visibly be noticeable?

[Catt]

I would not worry about the size difference unless I was running it with 1:160 scale MOW equipment.

[Scottl]

I would with the Showcase Miniatures unit.  Do you think it would be noticeable?

I love MOW stuff, N scale needs the equivalent of the HO Kibri line.   

[ljudice]

I would with the Showcase Miniatures unit.  Do you think it would be noticeable?

I love MOW stuff, N scale needs the equivalent of the HO Kibri line.

This is a good question...  I think these machines are "international" - and so designed to the lowest common denominator loading gauge, so they are a bit smaller in stature to start. I've seen some 1/150 stuff that easily passes for 1/160.

There is another machine pictured that is less familiar - my Japanese being rusty (ha ha ha) - anyone know what that is about?

[Philip H]

Cr@ptastic!  I need a bigger hobby budget.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I'm pretty sure these were purpose built for Japan's meter gage and are actually a bit smaller than the US counterpart. This means a 1/150 should match up pretty well with the US 1/160 excluding the door sizes and smaller hardware.

[Scottl]

Searching around on Google images, I determined: a) I know almost nothing about MOW equipment (despite loving it) and b) this particular model does not seem to find use in North America, at least in the sense it is photographed.

[C855B]

... b) this particular model does not seem to find use in North America, at least in the sense it is photographed.

Robyn and I seem to run across track/tie replacement or grinder trains way too frequently in our railfan travels. [Translated: no trains anywhere in sight, for hours, due to MoW ops. Memo to self: take pics anyway, despite scowls and dirty glances from crews.]  No doubt, watching this stuff is amazing. In operation, tie planters like this model represents would make Rube Goldberg proud.

You make a good point about the North America angle. I've noticed that the Euro and now Japanese versions of this heavy equipment are more streamlined than U.S. versions. They're very close and the basic mechanicals are the same or similar, but non-U.S. stuff have a lot more covers over the fiddly-bits. It's those exposed mechanicals that make U.S. track maintenance equipment such a pill to model - sort of like steam locos but there's so much more of it. Think a Shay times 10.

[Scottl]

I think you are right, they do look quite different in that sense.  Too bad, I would have loved one of these beauties, but hard to justify.

[ljudice]

I am quite sure if you look around for current, in production continuous action tampers, you will find this machine, sans the noise baffles in use in the USA/Canada.

[Kisatchie]

I like the little note at the bottom of the web page:

"This item is limited to 10 per household."

Rats.


Hmm... with that limit,
how can anyone make
a unit train...?

[VonRyan]

Well, I just reserved one. At that price, I'm not going to complain. Plus I had a few points from a previous purchase to use.

[Denver Road Doug]

tie planters like this model represents would make Rube Goldberg proud.

Ha....indeed!  You nailed it, that's exactly M.O.W. equipment in a nutshell.

It's those exposed mechanicals that make U.S. track maintenance equipment such a pill to model - sort of like steam locos but there's so much more of it. Think a Shay times 10.

Yes, very true.   That's why I'm sticking with the Hobbytrain tamper for now.  While I would like to have the spindly grasshopper looking contraption that usually accompanies the ballast regulators, it would be an expensive brass model or an insane scratchbuild.   The Hobbytrain one is a nice compromise.