Jackson & Sharp Passenger Cars

Growing up riding the Durango & Silverton railroad, I have become quite accustom to the "Golden" paint scheme that the passenger cars have. I was excited when I learned that I could get models of these. Some History of the Jackson & Sharp Car Company.

Jackson & Sharp had its beginning in April 1863 at Wilmington, Delaware as a partnership of Job H. Jackson (1833-1901) and Jacob F. Sharp (ca. 1815-1888). Jackson had quit school at an early age and worked as a tinsmith and mechanic. Sharp had worked as a carpenter and bridge-builder before taking a job in 1840 at the Halan & Hollingsworth car plant.

Jackson & Sharp built the first narrow gauge cars in this country for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1871. In the following years, Jackson & Sharp were to build a good many cars for this railroad. They would produce more than 400 narrow gauge passenger cars by 1876.

Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge Coach Denver built 1871 by Jackson & Sharp. Too narrow (7' wide) for the usual two seats on each side of a center aisle, this car had two seats on one side and one on the other. The arrangement was switched at the middle of the car to “maintain balance.”

Information from http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/jacksonsharp1.htm

Bachmann has done a good job recreating these cars. They come ready to roll out of the package and have lights inside.

Baggage Car (Needs more decals)

Combine Car #211

Passenger Car #284

Passenger Car #290

Passenger Car #307

Ready to roll

Bachmann only sells #284 as a single passenger car. I wanted more passenger cars but different numbered cars. I was able to find #290 and #307 on eBay that come from set that Bachmann sells. (This is also how I got my D&RGW engine #138)

The Jackson & Sharp cars are a classic sign of the D&RGW and a great addtion for a Rio Grande model railroad.

John Deere Tractor

I was wanting something to haul on my D&RGW flat car, so I bought a 1:50 scale John Deere GP (General Purpose) Tractor. I could not find an exact date that this tractor was built, but I know it was in the late 20's or early 30's. I think it looks great, but I think one more would add the perfect touch.

John Deere GP Tractor

Ready for some "General Purpose" work

Rio Grande #223

Even though I live in Utah I get to see a piece of Rio Grande narrow gauge history every day as I come home from work. #223, a C-16 2-8-0 has been parked behind Ogden Union Station for a while, under going restoration. The engine is not in good shape and needs a lot of work.

#223 in the good old days

#223 looking good


#223 in 2008

Lot of work needs to be done.


A completely new tender is under construction. This one is shot.


Front number plate.


Basically needs new everything.

Info from drgw.org-To Utah Historical Society 1979 To the Golden Spike Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society (by the Utah Hisorical Society) and is currently under restoration (dismantled) in Ogden, Utah, at the Utah State Railroad Museum. 223 was moved in 1990 or 1991. So far, the restoration team has concentrated on the tender only. The trucks have been completely rebuilt, and the wood on the tender frame has been renewed. The original tender tank is so far gone that a new one is being constructed, at a great cost. The locomotive itself has not yet been started on, save for removing the asbestos. The boiler is in very poor shape after having been on display outdoors since 1941 with wet asbestos under the boiler jacket. There is also a problem in that the city of Salt Lake construction crews that moved 223 from Liberty Park to the Utah State Historical Society in 1979 bent the frame and rods (so badly that the drive wheels will no longer turn - even with the rods disconnected). http://www.drgw.org/data/steam/history/drg223.htm

The group that is currently restoring #223 has a web site with information and pictures of their efforts. Go to http://www.trainweb.org/GoldenSpikeLRHS/ to see what they have done and some of the challenges they face.

A recent success of restoration has been #315 a DRGW C-18 2-8-0. The group that restored the engine has well documented the steps of the restoration on their web site. http://www.drhs315.org/

Photo John B. West 2008
#315 on the Cumbers and Toltec, 2008

One main advantage the #315 group had was they actually were able to do their restoration work in Durango. They had access to the Durango and Silverton RR shops and tools. They also had help from the shops in Chama.

Work on #315 continues in the Durango shop.

Restoring a 1881 steam engine is a huge task. You just can't buy parts anymore you have to make them. Rust is your enemy and money will always be an issue.

Thanks to the #223 group for their efforts in restoring this great piece of railroad history.

Logo is still visible...but not for long.


Font view.


Not holding any water any time soon.


Firebox.


2-8-0


Mixed Freight.


Steaming up for the day.

Bachmann vs San Juan Car Company

All the rolling stock I have are from Bachmann which labels their On30 line as Spectrum. I have collected each piece of Rio Grande rolling stock that they sell. My collection did not feel incomplete though, because I knew that San Jaun Car Company sold a great Rio Grande stock car. The San Juan cars are the best On30 rolling stock you can buy, and you know it because of how much they cost. I have always admired their stock car. A local hobby store actual had one on sale so I got one.

San Juan Rio Grande Stock Car

I was so excited....until I got home. I learned a lot about coupler height and On30 standards that day. The problem was that Bachmann for some reason decided to build their On30 cars with HO coupler height. See pictures below.

A HO Box Car aligns perfectly with larger On30 box cars


Close up view of the matching couplers

So if you ever get the urge to run you HO cars with your On30 cars you are set. Otherwise it is kind of pointless, and frustrating if you want to purchase On30 cars outside of Bachmann. The San Juan cars are high quality and therefore are also to scale....even the couplers. The San Juan car did not match up with my bachmann cars. It looked so good, I didn't want to give it up.

My options were to buy a couple of converter kits for the Bachmann cars and run the San Juan car in the same place (boring). Or take it back and try to build my own. I deiced to take it back. I was able to get three new Bachmann cars for the price of the San Juan car.

I started off with a Bachmann unlettered stock car and airbrushed it "Engine Black".

Bachmann unlettered stock car

In the mean time I ordered some decals from San Juan Decals (Actual a different company than San Juan Car Company, but shares a web site to save money...that's what they told me). These are actually the same decals that go on the San Juan cars. They are high quality decals, and to throw in some authenticity they are based in Durango, Co.

http://www.sanjuancarco.com/sanjuandecals/index.html

To fit the large "Rio Grande" logo I need to add some more thin plastic to accommodate the size of the logo and add another piece for the number board. I added another coat of paint to cover the added plastic and let it dry. I let it dry for about a week and then started with the decals.

Working on the decals

Two down, lots to go

Putting on the decals was pretty easy. If you follow the instructions they will turn out great. When I was younger I built a model car with all kinds of decals and eventually they peeled off. I didn't want that to happed so I used "decal setting solution", the instructions actually tell you to use it, and it works wonders for "gluing" the decal down.

Once the decals had a chance to dry I applied a clear flat finish to make sure those decals were not going anywhere. The finish also helps blend in the decals to the model and makes it look nice.

Finished Product


Fits right in place, coupler height and all

I know it is not true prototype, but it will do.


Rio Grande

It was really fun to make this stock car. I thought about doing another one, or even making them and selling them to those who own all Bachmann, and want a stock car. It is my favorite piece of rolling stock that I have. I chose to number the car 5747 for a special reason, which I will get to in a later post.

Next on my wish list is a Rio Grande Long Caboose.

Rio Grande Memories

I found a great web site. www.narrowgaugememories.com. Every Rio Grande scene you can think of is presented here. John West has been taking pictures for a long time on the Rio Grande. I have added a few from his collection. The great thing is his copyright notice: "For the record: Copyright 2007, 2008 John B. West, all rights reserved. However I encourage your reproduction of the photographs for personal use, and photographs may be used in the electronic or print media so long as credit is given to the photographer." Thanks for sharing John.

Five engines in numeric order.

Alamosa roundhouse

#490 used for spare parts.

The future meets yesterday.

On30 #138

Here is my other On30 engine. It is a Bachmann 2-6-0 that is numbered 138. As far as I can tell it is not a prototype, but I am still looking. The closes thing that it matches is a early D&RGW T-12 4-6-0.This engine is actual part of a set that Bachmann sells for around $200. I did not buy the set but pieces of the set off ebay. I was more interested in the passenger cars that came with the set, but after biding and winning those, I was in the "zone" and started bidding on the engine. The engine is not very powerful but it is fast. It can pull about five cars without any trouble, but any more than that and you will see it start to struggle. It has a working headlight and is ready to run out of the box. The Bumble Bee paint scheme is classic and looks great pulling the passenger cars. This is a great addition to the D&RGW model railroad and will see its share of action.

#138 Bumble Bee Paint

Much smaller compared to the K-28

Denver & Rio Grande Western

Ready for some main line work

2-6-0

#473

This is a Mountain Model Import (MMI) On30 Rio Grande K-28 road number 473. These models are a combination of brass and die-cast, which makes them very affordable compared to an all brass engine. Here are some pictures of my K-28.

"The Sports Model"

Was suppose to come with snow plow originally, but because of problems from the manufacturer the snow plows were not shipped with the engine. I emailed Precision Scale Co. about the snow plow and they sent me one free of charge.

I added the coal which I bought from Caboose Hobbies in Denver, CO. Glued the coal down with a 50/50 mixture of Elmer's Glue and water.

The engine does not come with a coupler. Because all my rolling stock is Bachmann I had to match their coupler height, which is actually HO height. (We'll talk more about that later)

Great detail


Great Detail