S. Berliner, III's Model Railroad Page 4
keywords = model rail train Z HO scale Ztrack Western Fruit Express WFEX Great Northern GN Pennsylvania Pennsy PRR Berlinerwerke Vest Pocket Long Island Degnon Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal BEDT Marion River Carry Adirondack Hobbytown of Boston Bear Locomotive Works
Updated: 29 Sep 2007, 20:30
ET
(Created 07 May 2001)
[Ref: This is mrr4.html (URL http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/mrr4.html)]
Model Railroad Page 4
Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology
Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher
MODEL RAILROADING Page 4
This site has now been visited 
times since the counter was installed.
NOTE: It would appear that my pages are limited by AT&T, without warning, to 30kB! Thus, I have been forced to add this continuation page and separate pages to fit the lengthy Berlinerwerke saga in HO and Z scales.
INDEX
(truncated to conserve space)
Sunrise Trail Division (STD) of the
Northeastern Region (NER) of the
National Model Railroad Association (NMRA)
Long Island - Sunrise Trail Chapter (LIST) of the
.
National Railway Historical Society (NRHS)
.
Long Island Live Steamers.
Vest Pocket Railroads You Can Model
Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad
(now on its own page)
Degnon Terminal Railroad, plus
Murrer's Sidings
Kearney Sidings,
Marion River Carry Railroad
(now on its own page)
REALLY HEAVY Electrics -
(moved from Main MRR Page - 18 Oct 99).
Model Railroad Miscellany -
(including material moved from Main MRR Page - 18 Oct 99).
and including:
A and B vs. F (and 1 and 2) Ends.
PRR/Wrong Island #007 Cabin Car.
Garden Railway Scales.
Making a Stacker from a Front End Loader.
Berlinerwerke-ALCo RSD-1m.
Model Railroading HELP!.
On this (4th) MRR page:
Railroad Grades
Model Railroad Photography
More Model Railroad Miscellany, with
Hobbytown of Boston (Bear Locomotive Works/Bear Locomotive Co.).
Vest Pocket Railroads You Can Model - continued
Atlas Terminal RR
Vest Pocket Railroads You Can Model - continued
Atlas Terminal RR
Life-Like ALCo DL-109.
Oyster Bay Marine Turntable
(moved from RR Page 3 and greatly amplified 07 Jun 2004).
(07 Jun 04)
HOMABED®
Roadbed.
Great Northern/Western Fruit Express Reefers
(moved to MRR page 4 from the main page 07 May 2001
and to this page 10 Nov 2004).
See also the Rail-Auto Page, with "critters" you can model.
On Z-Scale pages:
Z-Scale
Z-Scale Narrow Gauge (really)
Scale and Gauge
Scale Conversion Table
Z-Scale Miscellany
Z-Scale Wiring Conventions
Z-Scale Vehicles and Märklin Rubber Autos
and much more on Page 2 and noted below.
Z-Scale Page 3 with
Half-Z Scale - 1:440 Tiny Trains and even 1:900 Tiniest Trains!
Ztrack Magazine
On the LIRR Continuation Page 3:
Victorian Stations Still Standing on the LIRR
(with dimensions)
On separate pages:
S. Berliner, III's Pennsylvania Railroad Page
with THE SOUTH PENN RR
and PRR Modeling (Penn Line/Cary/Bowser)
Berlinerwerke Saga (HO, included with Horseshoe Curve info.)
Horseshoe Curve Cont. Page 3:
Dimensions of the Horseshoe Curve -
a mile-by-mile and even foot-by-foot guide to the Curve - and
Dimensions in N (1:160) and Z (1:220) scales -
Horseshoe Curve Cont. Page 4, with satellite photo and description.
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga (Z-Scale) and ff.
Berlinerwerke Apocrypha (tall tales of the BW and its equipment and such>
Berlinerwerke Guest Apocrypha (taller tales?)
ALCo (American Locomotive Works)
EMD - Electro-Motive Division of GM - models, etc.,
including the fabled BW DDP45 and other EMD engines
EMD may never have dreamed of!
HOW TO BOOT A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE or How to hostle without really tiring -
(Firing up a cold oil burner - in 1:1 scale).
Schnable and other Giant RR Cars, et seq..
The Whyte System of Classification (4-4-0, 4-6-2, B-B, etc.).
Visit these courtesy and official home pages:
Long Island Sunrise - Trail Chapter
(National Railway Historical Society)
Sunrise Trail Division
(Northeastern Region)
(National Model Railroad Association)
Ztrack Magazine
The Newsletter for Z Scale Model Railroading
Z-Scale is only 1:220 with rails only ¼" apart!
It is about 2½ times smaller than HO!
Long Island Live Steamers
You may also wish to jump to SB,III's RAILROAD Page
MODEL RAILROADING - 4 (continuation)
Great Northern/Burlington Northern - Western Fruit Express Reefers and Boxcars
(moved to its own separate page 10 Nov 04)
RAILROAD GRADES CHART
Effective Date: 17 Jan 02
% GRADE = RISE/RUN. RISE IN INCHES = (k) x (no. of feet), where k = (0.12 x %).
RISE IN INCHES
(and nearest fractions) per:
GRADE (NOTES) ONE TWO THREE SIX TEN
FOOT FEET FEET FEET FEET
[k = ] --> [% x 0.12] [% x 0.24] [% x 0.36] [% x 0.72] [% x 1.2]
O.5% 0.06 (1/16) 0.12 (1/8) 0.18 (11/64) 0.36 (23/64) 0.60 (39/64)
0.75% 0.09 (57/64) 0.18 (11/64) 0.24 (15/64) 0.54 (35/64) 0.90 (29/32)
1% 0.12 (1/8) 0.25 (1/4) 0.36 (23/64) 0.72 (23/32) 1.20 (1-13/64)
1.25% 0.15 (5/32) 0.30 (19/64) 0.45 (29/64) 0.90 (29/32) 1.50 (1-1/2)
1.45% (3) 0.17 (11/64) 0.35 (23/64) 0.52 (33/64) 1.04 (1-3/64) 1.74 (1-47/64)
1.5% 0.18 (11/64) 0.36 (3/8) 0.54 (35/64) 1.08 (1-5/64) 1.80 (1-51/64)
1.59% (8) 0.19 (3/16) 0.38 (3/8) 0.57 (37/64) 1.14 (1-9/64) 1.91 (1-29/32)
1.73% (5) 0.21 (13/64) 0.42 (27/64) 0.62 (5/8) 1.25 (1-1/4) 2.08 (2-5/64)
1.74% (4) 0.21 (13/64) 0.42 (27/64) 0.63 (41/64) 1.25 (1-1/4) 2.09 (2-3/32)
1.75% (2) 0.21 (13/64) 0.42 (27/64) 0.63 (41/64) 1.26 (1-17/64) 2.10 (2-7/64)
1.81% (6) 0.22 (7/32) 0.43 (7/16) 0.65 (21/32) 1.30 (1-5/16) 2.17 (2-11/64)
1.85% (1) 0.22 (7/32) 0.44 (7/16) 0.67 (43/64) 1.33 (1-21/64) 2.22 (2-7/32)
2% 0.24.(15/64) 0.48 (31/64) 0.72 (23/32) 1.44 (1-7/16) 2.40 (2-13/32)
2.1% (8) 0.25 (1/4) 0.50.(1/2) 0.76 (49/64) 1.51 (1-1/2) 2.52 (2-33/64)
2.25% 0.27 (17/64) 0.54 (35/64) 0.81 (13/16) 1.62 (1-5/8) 2.70 (2-45/64)
2.36% (7) 0.28 (18/64) 0.57 (37/64) 0.85 (27/32) 1.70 (1-45/64) 2.83 (2-53/64)
2.5% 0.30 (5/16) 0.60 (39/64) 0.90 (29/32) 1.80 (1-51/64) 3.00
2.75% 0.33 (21/64) 0.66 (21/32) 0.99 (63/64) 1.98 (1-63/64) 3.30 (3-19/64)
3% 0.36 (3/8) 0.72 (23/32) 1.08 (1-5/64) 2.16 (2-5/32) 3.60 (3-19/32)
3.25% 0.39 (25/64) 0.78 (25/32) 1.17 (1-11/64) 2.34 (2-11/32) 3.90 (3-57/64)
3.5% 0.42 (27/64) 0.84 (27/32) 1.26 (1-17/64) 2.52 (2-33/64) 4.20 (4-13/64)
3.75% 0.45 (29/64) 0.90 (29/32) 1.35 (1-11/32) 2.70 (2-45/64) 4.50 (4-1/2)
4% 0.48 (1/2) 0.96 (61/64) 1.44 (1-7/16) 2.88 (2-7/8) 4.80 (4-51/64)
[k = ] --> [% x 0.12] [% x 0.24] [% x 0.36] [% x 0.72] [% x 1.2]
GRADE (NOTES) ONE TWO THREE SIX TEN
FOOT FEET FEET FEET FEET
NOTES: 1. 1.85% - Altoona town line to Signal Bridge 2384.
2. 1.75% - Signal Bridge 2384 to Kittaning Point.
3. 1.45% - Horseshoe Curve.
4. 1.74% - Burgoon Run to Allegrippus(?).
5. 1.73% - Allegrippus(?) to Benny Tower.
6. 1.81% - WB - Benny Tower to Tunnels (east portals).
7. 2.36% - EB - Benny Tower to Tunnels (east portals).
8. 2.1% - Pittsburgh Division "Comp. Ruling Grade" - WB (1.59% EB).
(Notes are in West-to-East order from Altoona to Gallitzin through the PRR/PC/CR Horseshoe Curve.)
© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 1990, 2002 - All rights reserved.
MODEL RAILROADING PHOTOGRAPHY
I have been asked many times how I take those excruciatingly-close photos, especially of microscopic details on my Z-scale (1:220) equipment, such as:
(photos taken 16 and 18 Oct 99 by and © 1999 S. Berliner, III -
with digital SLR with stacked Zeiss Proxar lenses on a home-made adaptor)
[These are details from a Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik Z-scale boxcab oil-electric loco.]
{See also the Timken car truck detail on Page 6
and many other images
on my other hobby, model RR, and Z pages.}
Well, with the right equipment and some patience, it really is quite easy. I am in no way a photographer, let alone an expert; photography is only a tool for me and I use some rather bizarre combinations to get what I need at minimum expense.
I rarely use film any more, primarily just straight digital imaging. For film, I use fine-grain B&W or ordinary Kodacolor. Either way, I always use an SLR (Single Lens Reflex camera) in order to see exactly what I'm doing. I use stacked closeup lenses to get fine details, selecting the best lens combination for the shot (another reason to stick to SLRs). Real photographers will laugh hysterically at the idea that I still use a Zeiss Ikon I 35mm camera (with a fixed lens)! However, I went for broke and have an Olympus D-500L Digital SLR.
I have a full set of the old Zeiss clip-on 28.5mm Proxar lenses, from f=5mm down to
f=0.1mm power, and made up an adaptor to fit them to my 43mm Olympus digital
camera lens (so they vignette!). I managed to lose one and then misplace the
rest, so I bought brand-new 43mm Tiffen +1, +2, and +4 Close Up Lenses; they're
great! Only catch is that I just now (11 Nov 03) found the old ones - you
guessed it! Yup; I stacked the whole lot and here is my screen icon for the
camera software, shot with the Proxar f=0,2, f=0,3, f=0,5, and f=1 stacked in front of
the Tiffen +1, +2 and +4:
(photo taken 12 Nov 33 by and © 2003 S. Berliner, III -
with digital SLR with stacked Zeiss Proxar and Tiffen lenses)
Bear in mind that the depth of field shortens dramatically with the degree of
magnification; the depth of field was close to ZERO on the preceding shot, with the
front lens almost touching the screen.
Use lots of light to get the greatest illumination and allow the smallest f-stop, thereby
increasing depth of field. Always have two lights (or more), usually in close at
30° and 45°, left and right. I use a pair of 50W photofloods in reflectors on
lamp stands. 100W might be better but they get far too hot for such close
work.
I put the object on a sheet(s) of white copy paper* both to get a plain backdrop and
to reflect some light up underneath.
With the digital SLR, I try to use the higher resolutions, back away a bit to avoid
having the lens outline show (the technical term for this is "vignetting") and then crop
and fudge the digital image to get rid of unwanted background, blend backdrop paper
overlap lines, and enhance brightness.
These are just a few tips on how I get the images I do (some of which aren't half bad -
but some of which are truly appalling).
* - For jet black bodies and underfames, it would probably be better to use a
neutral gray card (as background), which can be purchased in any
well-stocked professional camera store.
MORE MODEL RAILROADING MISCELLANY
Here's an odd coal tipple I ran across in central Pennsylvania, driving back from my
sister's in Enola (Harrisburg area), shun-piking along PA Route 443 north of
Indiantown Gap, just west of I-83 at Suedburg (NOT Sudbury):
(31 May 06)
(photos taken 30 Oct 05 by and © 2005 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[Cropped and artificially lightened]
This was on the north side of the road (443) and I caught it in the waning light, so no
detail shows, and it is a tipple for loading wagons or highway trucks, not RR cars, but
it is so ramshackle and deliciously rickety, just sticking out of the hillside with no
visible means of supply, that I thought it would make a perfect scratch-building
project, either over a dirt road or over a scraggly back-woods RR track. There's
absolutely nothing to it but some poles, some cribbing, four steel chutes, and a
curved, corrugated steel roof!
Hobbytown of Boston
[Bear Locomotive Works / Bear Locomotive Co.]
Hobbytown of Boston was one of the earliest manufacturers of
brutally-powerful, craftsman kits for die-cast HO locomotives; they
had been bought out and continued by Bear Locomotive Co. of
Whiting, New Jersey (the manufacturer of "Bearmetal"
low-melting-point alloys), also known as Bear Locomotive Works.
They offered the Hobbytown ALCo PA-1 and DL-109,
FA- 2/FB-2, RS-3/RSD-5, and SW-4/SW-1500, EMD
AEROTRAIN, E-6/E-7, and FT/F-3/F-7, and Fairbanks-Morse H-10-44, as
well as many other chassis and parts. Unfortunately, owner Howard
Mosley has had to close down Bear as suppliers dried up and machined
parts became too expensive to obtain. The Bear site,
<http://bearlocomo.zoovy.com> or <http://www.bearlocomotive.com>,
is down (as of 29 Sep 2007), and remaining stocks of parts are
dwindling. The Bear line (née Hobbytown), with remaining stocks
and tooling, is available to serious purchasers who know the pitfalls
of small parts manufacturing in our failing small-business economy.
Inquiries may be directed to:
(29 Sep 07)
Howard Mosley
Bear Locomotive Co.
1361 Tuckerton Avenue
Whiting, New Jersey 08759
Tel.: 732-350-3887 (after 4:00PM)
FAX: 732-350-2557
e-mail: bearbon@comcast.net
One of my earlier model railroading memories, one which is indelibly
engraved in my mind, is what happened over a weekend ca.1951 in the
show window of Hobbytown of Boston (which actually WAS in Beantown
back then). The staff had a four- or six-axle locomotive running
on an oval in the window and left for the weekend without turning off
the power pack. With the performance of their locomotives, they
could leave them running continuously without any problem and I don't
honestly recall if it was left running deliberately for show or in
error. Be that as it may, something snagged and the train
ground to a halt without in any way affecting the loco.
When the shop opened on Monday morning, there was the stalled train
with the loco still running merrily in place, its wheels having ground
their way through the brass railheads and well into the webs, almost
down the bases, leaving well-grooved wheels sets and rails with four
or six curved notches in each! Railroad Model Craftsman (if it was called that then) ran a feature on this and Hobbytown may have used it in their ads.
(29 Sep 07)
[How I'd love pix of THAT contretemps!]
(29 Sep 07)
Here, courtesy of Bear Locomotive, are the DL-109*, PA-1, and FA-2/FB-2:
(Photos courtesy of Bear Locomotive Co. - all rights reserved)
* - Note that the DL-109 has a resin body, unlike the other shells.
A fantastic LEGO model of the world's largest railroad car is there
{where?} and now on my
Railroad Schnabel Car continuation page 1 [the foregoing
became separated from its text].
(29 Sep 07)
{Timken roller bearing car material moved to MRR Page 6 on 12 Nov 03.}
There is an incredible simulation program by Charlie Dockstadter on steam valve gear available on the Alaska Live Steamers VALVE GEAR ON THE COMPUTER page.
If you like model railroading nonsense (and good tips), take a gander at Jim Wells' incredible 
and at the AW NUTS Magazine site, "A Publication of the A.W. N.U.T.S. Garden Railway Society".
THUMBS UP!
THUMBS UP! - Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!
S. Berliner, III
To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.
of this series of Model Railroad pages.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III -
1990, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006,
2007
- All rights reserved.
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