In order to find out how my wood car bodies would look, I needed some trucks. Initially in checking the magazine ads I found that Gary Raymond made a large G scale metal wheel. It scaled out to about 17-1/2" diameter. I needed 20"…close enough, and I purchased several sets. Compared to our new Sierra Valley 7/n2 wheels however, these were not exactly right. The tire was too narrow, the profile was wrong, and the flange was too big. For the time being they would suffice.

Next, I hauled all my plastic G scale stuff to a meet in Roanoke, VA, in order to sell it, and had on display samples of my 7/8n2 work, such as it was at the time. There I had a chance meeting with

Steve King's Mogal

Bob Teates, another Maine two foot fan, who kindly offered to send some of his excellent detail photos of trucks and other ex-B&SR cars which had been taken at Edaville in the 1960's. Now I had enough information to figure out how a swing motion truck was constructed, and set about adapting the design to a model truck.

Through a bit of research I found a small firm doing lost wax brass castings and made a master for a truck side frame. After many weeks of nervous anticipation, 16 pieces of bright brass swing motion trucks showed up at my door. With a bit of drilling and fiddling, and making the other wood and metal parts in the shop, and Raymond's wheels, several sets of trucks were built. In short order I had a small train of one boxcar, one gon, one flat and the B&SR Laconia caboose #101. They sure looked pretty, and a few pictures were sent around to magazines. We were literally on a roll, but still no engine.

In the spring of 1996, I decided to attend the steam up at Jim Stapleton's huge track in Northern Virginia. I gave Jim a call to introduce myself, and explained that I had cars but no engine, but wanted to run them on his track, and I wanted to learn more about the live steamers. At this point I was beginning to publicize my work a bit to see if there were any others interested. I showed up with my train, and got a lot of odd looks when they were put on the track. Compared to the other trains, including Aster and Roundhouse engines, these things were HUGE. It so happened that Stumpy Stone was on hand with a dinky battery powered lokey, which he had built in 7/8 scale. We managed to push my train around the 500' loop several times, while dodging the little G scale steamers zooming the loop around like mad hornets.

After this experience I was sold on the idea of building a live steam engine, in particular the Sandy River #6 Forney. After doing some preliminary planning, I put about $800 into a Roundhouse 6-coupled chassis and boiler kit. When it arrived and I held it up to the plan, it was clear that the boiler would not work due to the small size. The bright spot was that the wheelbase of the front and rear drivers was correct, and if the center axle could be removed, we had a chance of getting a Forney out of it.

While this is not the construction saga of my #6, it was about a year in the making, and at least one failed attempt at a boiler. In the end I learned a lot about basic machine work, silver soldering, gas fueling and the like. I began to make the acquaintance of several others who liked the idea of 7/8n2, notably Tom Eagles and Dave Cummins. As time passed I started a small newsletter. The Internet began to be part of the glue that binds our small fraternity together. Work begun with Gary Watkins to design a 20-inch 7/8"scale wheel for my new white metal trucks. I wanted a wheel that would be true to prototype design, and not a facsimile of a G scale or 1:20.3 wheel. Using an early Billerica & Bedford wheel as a plan, we made the tire 4.5" wide and the flange 1" high x 1" wide. The result you can own today, is one of the best looking and best performing wheels in the model railroading industry.

We have now reached the point where there are almost too many people to name who have made contributions to 7/8 inch scale, and helped it grow. There are all kinds in the group, with different ideas and concepts. The development of the scale has been more of a group effort than might have been possible in years past with no Internet. I never really had friends or acquaintances that shared my railroading interests, and the folks in the local clubs are usually on to something different. We are relatively few in number and often far apart, but the impact of our work is changing the hobby for the better. My thanks to all who have made it a fun ride, and it looks like clear rails ahead!

Steve King

Steve King's Engines

Editor's Note - Steve King and Dave Cummins have teamed up and are producing the James Wyman 2-6-0, the pre-production version is pictured above and to the left, from the Laurel River and Hot Springs Railroad in both kit and ready-to-run versions. The production run sold out long ago. This engine has a scale length of just over 44', which will be about 50" long over the couplers. It is powered by a gigantic Pittman electric motor and the engine has an exquisite steel frame and accurately reproduced drivers and running gear. Most of the engine will be composed of urethane castings with metal parts where necessary for strength or durability. It seems that a majority of the active 7/8" scale modelers have concentrated on industrial or estate railroading, perhaps because 7/8" models of Maine 2' gauge engines and cars are so large. But this engine will do a lot to stimulate interest in the Maine prototypes when the production versions hit the tracks around the world. I sure am glad that I ordered one early.