PRR A5 in N Scale

[pjm20]

A5s had a very limited distribution...  Most seem to have been found in Philly with a few in Altoona and a handful of others.

The tiny tender assured that it rarely moved around the system; I suspect it deadheaded if ever it did.

There was at least one in Harrisburg (no not Enola).

[LV LOU]

The minitrix K4 and the 0-6-0 shells from PRR-Parts.com are plastic.  They are resin moldings from the original.  If you go to his website and contact him via email he will give you pricing.

They're resin,they may be my castings.I sold Jeff a bunch a while ago,and a few molds..

[Kiasutha]

They're resin,they may be my castings.I sold Jeff a bunch a while ago,and a few molds..

The minitrix K4 and the 0-6-0 shells from PRR-Parts.com are plastic.  They are resin moldings from the original.  If you go to his website and contact him via email he will give you pricing.

Ach, sorry- this explains it. I remember Lou's castings being spoken of briefly a while ago.
But  as they are not listed on PRR-Parts website anywhere, some of us don't know about them...
I had a similar B6 resin shell a friend gave me many years ago.
The "plastic" cab was a great help balancing my MiniTrix to "E6" conversion.

[OldEastRR]

The December, 1952 Model Railroader has drawings (R side) of an A3 with tender (1591), an A3a tank (310) (L side), front and back views for tender and both locos, a cross-section of the A3a, and a three-quarter B&W photo (R side) of A5 511. The A3 tender is roughly 24' from coupler face to mid-drawbar, the loco/tender are 46 feet end beam to end beam. Loco drivers are 7 feet apart. The notes say these drawing were taken from official PRR prints.

[mmagliaro]

The Model Railroader Cyclopedia Volume 1 has those A3 drawings in it too (at least, I assume they are the same ones since they
also appeared in Model Railroader).   The A3 is a significantly smaller animal than the A5.  The engine and tender are a lot
shorter.

[towl1996]

Does any one know if there is a casting of the Trix B6 tender?

[VonRyan]

A bit of news.

I finally scored an Atlas 0-4-0 in working order, and it is arriving in my mailbox today.

The plan now is to try and replicate and improve upon this kitbash of an A5 (also in N)
https://picasaweb.google.com/m/zoom?uname=Gregg.Mahlkov&aid=5069253064027630929&id=5072347830879022178&viewportWidth=320&viewportHeight=416

I will utilize the Bachmann tender only until I can score a Minitrix tender, which at that time I will scavenge the trucks from the Bachmann tender to upgrade the Minitrix one.

I am also going to use a Minitrix K4 shell since it is of a heavier plastic and in the photos it appears that the entire A5 kitbashed shell is just one big cut down K4.
This is the current plan... Unless Max or someone else convinces me otherwise.

The plan is also to put a TCS Z2 into the tender. I'm also going to attempt to put some smd LEDs as head and tail lights. Which begs the question... What is the smallest size of smd LED? I'm guessing warm white is best to use?


That's all for now, until the postman arrives.



-Cody F.

[chicken45]

Can't wait to see how this develops!

[garethashenden]

Sounds like a good plan. I would however worry about building a model of a model rather than a model of the prototype...

[VonRyan]

Sounds like a good plan. I would however worry about building a model of a model rather than a model of the prototype...

Well, the kitbash I am taking inspiration from has done an excellent job of capturing the look of a PRR A5.

My idea is to emulate what I think is the methods used, but at the same time make any and all possible improvements that I or any other TRW members see fit.

I'm going to be straightforward and say that although I certainly am no Max Magliaro, all I can do is empty my wallet and slice and file until I'm blind and hopefully I'll end up with something good looking.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Damn, this reminds me of all the reasons I miss Gregg.

[Dave V]

Damn, this reminds me of all the reasons I miss Gregg.

+1.

Meeting Gregg and seeing his stuff at the Cocoa Beach proto meet a decade ago helped convince me that kitbashed Pennsy steam was possible.  Gregg was a treasure trove of info and a gentleman to boot.

[mmagliaro]

Ya know, that engine of Gregg's is one darn fine looking A5
I agree with you - copying his approach should produce a good model.

To my eye, the two biggest things I would change would be:

1. Add the big, vertical air tanks that sit below the cab.
Looking at prototype photos vs Gregg's, that was the only thing that jumped out at me as missing. It would
fill in that open air space under the cab.

2. Shorten the Trix K4 cab.  Since you are slicing and dicing anyway, notice how short and stubby
the A5's cab really is.   Shortening it up would let you leave more firebox in there and preserve the overall correct length.
I wonder if you could carefully cut the sides off, cut them shorter, and glue them back under the roof so you
woudl get the big roof overhang.  You would have to fix up the rivet detail afterward, but those Archer rivet decals
make that easy these days.


Here is a brass HO A5.  This is very VERY handy for getting details and proportions right because the
brass makers usually get their hands on drawings and info that I can never find (I wonder how they do it)
And this site has lots of really good close-up photos of all angles of the model.

http://www.brasstrains.com/classic/Product/Detail/050468/HO-Brass-Model-Train-Key-Imports-CS-73-PRR-Pennsylvania-0-4-0-A5s-94

This will be a fun project.   I will enjoy following along!

[VonRyan]

Well what Max says, goes.
I can already tell that I'll need a few of your etched pipe hangers.

I don't know about shortening the cab though... I may need the length to hide the motor.
Plus I've never used decals before, so the archer rivet decals may be quite a stretch of my ability.

The HO model certainly is going to be a major reference as well as whatever prototype photos can be had off the net that are legible.

Sadly when I was at the RR Museum of PA for Trains & Troops weekend, I only briefly glanced at the A5.
I was too busy being a PRR Defense Corpsman and had to go hunt down German spies.

[Dave V]

I'd love to see you do this kitbash.  Just a note, though, from an operational standpoint...  A5s didn't stray very far from a few key locations.  Philly/Camden and other parts of Jersey seem to be their home range.  This may not matter to you, but it's worth noting in case it does. B6s were a little more widespread, but again, they never strayed far from a major yard.