The Whiskey River Railway

gbwdude

General Manager, W.R.Ry.
Jun 14, 2010
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Another hint

The Whiskey River caboose C3 has a uncertain history to it. While at first I thought it was a pre-plastic Roundhouse kit I am even more stumped. I have identified one part from the caboose, the wood tool box/truss rod details as being Red Ball castings. I don't know if Red Ball produced a caboose or not but I'll have to research it some more.

Tyler
 

Doctor G

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Sep 1, 2008
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It has been a while since I've posted anything until lately. Due to my job I'll be going back to Korea for a year so these last couple weeks I've been getting everything squared away (or at least trying to). And yes, part of which is deciding what to bring as far as train projects. One night while I was researching more on the Korean National Railroad Museum (since I didn't go last tour) I found a website owned by a Korean War vet who was in the Railway Operating Battalion over there. While browsing through the photos I saw two things of interest; one of their clean looking Pacifics and a neat four-wheeled bay window caboose.
kpc49.jpg
knr1136.jpg

Now normally I'm not into international railroading nor am I into four wheel cabeese, but the heavens have parted to shed a new light to a modeling perspective. Now the Pacific, as American looking as it is, will lose the angled plate on the pilot and look like the "real" WRRy Pacific #1919. I do like it's clean lines on the boiler, the straight boiler and secretly the streamlined tender. The caboose is something unique for sure, as you can see the ring for a machine gun up top which would not appear on my model. The caboose that is attached to the old C&S Heisler as a pickup will probably be the candidate for rebuilding since it already has a spot on the roster as C8 and I shouldn't need anything bigger than that down in the quarry (that's where that caboose will operate out of, to not only guard the rear of the train when it backs down the grade but also to transport quarry personnel).

Tyler

Hey Tyler,

I have missed you a couple of times at the choo choo club because of my Haitian adventures.

I did see this interesting vid about steam in all too crazy North Korea.......check out what they use for fuel in their steam engine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpTH2h9_WVw

I am praying that things settle down and Peace prevails on the Korean peninsula.

If you would like to see your WRRR box car in action on the expanding Little River RR let me know when you can come by and we can run some BIG trains.

Tom
 

gbwdude

General Manager, W.R.Ry.
Jun 14, 2010
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Mystery solved!

Tom,

In the WRRy's timeline it'd be the War Department breathing down their necks rather than the EPA if they were to burn what the DPRK burns in their lokies. Quite interesting find there Doc.

I'll have to take you up on your offer also. I'll email you when I do plan to go to the club on a Saturday and hopefully our schedules will mesh.

Today with minimal detective work I figured out who made the C3. Working off of a hunch I went to Hoseeker.org to filter through their collection of instruction manuals. Nothing close was found in there, but then I thought that it may have been a limited run model or something so I checked their magazines and catalogs. A few pages into one of their later publications I found this:
redballflyerpg06.jpg

The only difference between what the picture shows and what I have is the lack of the raised center window on the cupola to make it more vintage looking. Apparently someone had the same style as the WRRY and just slightly modified a readily available kit to make it a old but modernized caboose. As you can see in the picture below, someone filed the roof to nearly eliminate the round center window. That, and while I was looking at the LaBelle website under their detail parts, lots of the parts matched what that caboose had for details.

Tyler
 

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gbwdude

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Good Article

While going through my MR and RMC magazines to scan potential articles of worth to me I found this neat little article. Just thought I'd share it. Not many people do this to their lokies anymore, and once I get hot in the shops I think it'll set the WRRy apart from most other railroads of it's kind.

Tyler
 

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Bill Nelson

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While going through my MR and RMC magazines to scan potential articles of worth to me I found this neat little article. Just thought I'd share it. Not many people do this to their lokies anymore, and once I get hot in the shops I think it'll set the WRRy apart from most other railroads of it's kind.

Tyler


I have done that kind of work, preferring freight pilots, wooden cabs , and Radley Hunter stacks, a preference for Baldwin locomotives; but then again my railroad is old school with a 45 year history.




Nelson
 

gbwdude

General Manager, W.R.Ry.
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What a weekend!

I had a pretty great weekend. I went back home before going off to Korea for my second tour there and that weekend just happened to be the Titletown Train Show. My home model railroad club was there with their Timesaver and got to see some of the guys I used to BS with, and I ended up getting EVERYTHING I came to get... and then some. Granted my shopping list wasn't huge or expensive, but it's nice to know that I got everything I needed/wanted for $19 (not including admission). I picked up my decals for the Green Bay and Western steamers (both early and late variations), which I will put the older ones to use when I build the Boyd Models GB&W 2-6-0 kit that I picked up on eBay many years ago when people still thought this kit was a myth. (I say that because a British firm making a prototype of a small railroad's one-off steam engine is super unusual. I also believe 99% that this is my first eBay purchase.) Also from Mr. Manlick (who provided the decals) he sold me a one-off reefer decorated for what I believe is his railroad. Then from another club's sale they had the four bay hopper body and the 50' Rock Island gondola for $3! eBay can't beat that! The gondola is cast metal and I believe it's a Silver Streak kit while the hopper is just a run-of-the-mill Tyco artifact.

The next day I was over at my buddy's place and he was cleaning out his closet to shove more crap in there. In one of the boxes while I was there he found his old collection of motors from when he used to rip apart forlorn toys and reuse them in new inventions. He was about to toss them when I asked if I could have them, which he agreed. I think I'm set on motors for a while now... hopefully. I did find a double shafted motor I may be able to use in my Super American project in his collection, but even that looks a little wimpy, but you never know.

Finally I was cleaning out my desk when I ran into an old kit of a cast metal gondola. Assuming my casting materials hold up over the year that I'm gone I'm going to try molding and casting those parts to hopefully have a fleet of neat wooden side gondolas. One thing I'm going to incorporate in my castings (like my failed boxcar attempt) is to add Kadee coupler boxes to the car to streamline that assembly.

Now to pack and clean some more...

Tyler
 

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Doctor G

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Hi Tyler

hi Tyler,
Thank you for your nice post. I am glad you had a chance to pick up some very nice model railroad equipment before you ship out for your tour to Korea. Good luck in Korea. I hope you can keep posting so that we can learn more about your adventures over there and also to keep up with the model railroad club here in Clarksville.

Talk to you soon. Dr. Tom
 

zathros

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I don't wish to be nosy but your shipping out to Korea? I wish you all the best luck. You are such a constant here. :)
 

zathros

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O.K., I have never been to that part of the world, and the longer I live, the less I want to travel. I still like riding around on my motorcycle way too fast, and would love to go on a nice sailing trips, like I used to go, but I think I am staying in New England from here on out, till the flame blows out. Yes, I am a Yankee. Born and bred in New England. :)
 

gbwdude

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One of my good friends is from Vermont, and it's funny because he's trying to argue to a Wisconsinite about how Vermont cheese is better. He never won. He did get me on the maple syrup however.

I joined the Army because I wanted a decent job without going to college, traveling all over was just another benefit. Hopefully this will be my last tour to Korea and a better one than last time. Where I was stationed wasn't the issue (I was stationed in Yongsan, in the heart of Seoul), the issue was the people in charge. Try being stuck in a dental unit when you're a truck mechanic...

Assuming it's like last time, I should have ample time to dedicate to my trains and hopefully getting promoted. One thing I will do that I didn't do last time was railfan over there, and looking on the internet there isn't much of a fan base for Korean railroading. Their stuff is different but similar to what we have here in the states. The biggest thing we should learn from Korea is the use of high speed rail, granted their country is about the same size as Indiana I think it'd rival some airlines and possibly bring a new age of rail travel. I know I'd love to zip through America going 200+ mph and still see a lot of cool stuff. Then again, maybe I'm just an old-fashioned 25 year old. (I must be since I model stuff that I've only read about in books and heard from old-timers!)

Tyler
 

zathros

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Well, I know you are into planes, but if you looked at some of the Paper Models they have their, and brought them back to the states, you could make a killing. There are models there that just are not available to the rest of the world. We have a member named Goodduck here, a master designer and builder, who has done animation for the major companies of the world. You would know his work instantly, and he has told me of models that e has been trying to get but to no avail.

As far as cheese goes, I love cheese so much that for me to hear people argue about which cheese is better is like saying my water taste buds are better than yours. I love Wisconsin cheeses. I have been to Wisconsin, even did the Wisconsin Dells trip. It is some of the most beautiful country in the world, it's not New England though. I wish we had your big sky, but I would miss our forests and streams. I guess that is what makes America great, that you can travel so freely and see such extreme variety of life and culture, and yet, we are all Americans. Those there Vermonters know how much people like their Maple Syrup, and they squeeze every penny our of our pockets because of it!! That stuff is expensive, but oh so good, especially the high grade, though sometimes, I like the lower grades because of the darkness and rich "tree-like" flavor. Come to think of it, you Wisconsinites charge a pretty penny for your cheese too!! That's O.K. though, we here in Connecticut charge a pretty penny for the BlackHawks, CH53's, Submarines, and Jet engines we make. I had 9 years at Sikorsky Aircraft, and have made thousands of parts right up to ESSS stub wing bulk head attachment points, the part that is on the actual frame of the BlackHawk Helicopter. :)
 

gbwdude

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Gents,

I made it to Korea safe and sound. I got one hell of a surprise when I was almost done inprocessing at Camp Casey, I was interviewed to work up at the Joint Security Area at Pan Mun Jom (also known as the DMZ). There aren't many of us who work up here as most of the work is done by the Korean Army (a.k.a. the RoK Army) so it's very prestigious to work here. As they say here, I'm "In front of them all".

I'm waiting on my stuff to get here so I can proceed with work on WRRy equipment as well as my hi-rail CCKW. I just got internet so I have at least a million emails to check over as well.

Tyler
 

Doctor G

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Hello Tyler from a RR bud.

Hi Tyler,

I am very happy you made it to Korea safely.

That had to be a big surprise for you when you were put on the DMZ!!!!


You truly are "the tip of the spear". Maybe you can get some of the young North Koreans interested in model trains and bring peace to the peninsula.

What assignment did you receive? The last we talked you were going to be working with a dental unit. I doubt a dental unit is encamped at the DMZ???

I hope you can get working on your model railroad project soon. I know this will be a great way to occupy your free time.

I was interested in what you're describing as "hi rail CCKW". What is this project? Is it similar to Lionel type trains?

Write when you can. Your railroad buddies always like hearing from you.

Dr. Tom
 

Bill Nelson

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greetings

We are glad you made it to your destination safely, and are back in touch. You are in our thoughts and prayers, if anything count on the prayers, as we don't think much or particualrly well. Let us know when your goodies arrive, and you start to get to work on some projects.


Nelson
 

gbwdude

General Manager, W.R.Ry.
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Doc and Bill,

Thanks for the prayers, it sure helped getting placed where I am now. And Doc, I was at the dental company last time I was here, this time around I had no idea where I was going.

I started a thread in the r/c section here on Zealot, but unfortunately since this site is pretty much dead I ventured out of my comfort zone. I found a forum that does essentially what I want to do but on a bigger scale, so I made a new thread. Like most forums, you have to log in to see pics. But I'll be nice and include both links in case one gets curious:
http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/showthread.php?p=967235#post967235

And then the Zealot one:
http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?p=965594#post965594

Tyler
 

Doctor G

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Now I understand

Hi Tyler,
Now I understand when you say "hi rail CCKW" what you are talking about. A very neat project you are anticipating. Looking forward to following along on this project.

Doc Tom
 

gbwdude

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Modifying Plans and maybe some progress... we'll see

I haven't been on here much due to the simple fact that since I've been in Korea I've not only been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to inprocess various places but my household goods haven't come to me yet hindering any choo choo progress. This last weekend I went to a Korean baseball game and watched the LG Twins stomp the crap out of the Nexen Heroes, 9-0. Eight of those runs were in one inning! Personally I root for the Doosan Bears, so yes it was pointless for me to go, but I've wanted to see a baseball game so badly that I made do with that.

The weekend before I was going through my magazine article scans that I "hoarded" on my hard drive and found a interesting track plan that I modified using MS Paint to suit my needs. I like using existing drawings because it gives me more of a scale that I should work by to plan out size features. Both plans were taken from MR magazines from various years, I believe one from 2004 and the other from 1968. I don't believe that would be copyright infringement if you take something published and modify it to your own, right? Anyways, I'd like to hear some feedback on the trackplans.

Also since my room is a lot bigger than when I was in Korea last, I might be able to start on a module while I'm here. I have 16' 9" x 11' 4" to work with, with one wall being off limits due to that's where my main door, closet door and desk are. I also found out that one of my sergeants here is a woodworker and makes pens and knives in his spare time. If I do build a module, I'll be using the Mosquito Module approach to save weight.

Tyler
 

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Doctor G

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neat plans

Hi Tyler. It is good to hear from you. I am glad you are doing well in Korea. Thank you for sending the different diagrams. I also enjoyed reading about the mosquito module.

I think the second plan in the L shape is to me the most interesting. The change in elevations, the tunnel and the overall interesting track plan would make for a fun build. I will be looking forward to your continued reports.

Please be careful and be safe. Dr Tom.