American Civil War/Old West Train Build.

[Rivera]

I've been looking around for a while now for something to fit the role of a Confederate Armoured Train and came across the chappy below.  It was Ģ12.00 from a certain online auction site and a bit of a gamble as I had no real idea as to its scale and I haven't had anything to do with trains for quite a few years.



I started off with the tender as it seemed easier and would give me time to do some research on the engine and get a plan outlined in my head.  I removed all the electrical gubbins and filled the On/Off switch hole with Humbrol Model Filler and then sawed off the couplings.  I also needed a cap for the water tank and found an old watch battery that fitted perfectly.  The wheels were popped off and given a coat of Matt Enamel varnish as they're made from soft plastic and which made painting them alot easier.



I found a couple of handrails in the spares box which came from an old 1:35 scale tank and glued them on at an angle.



I then turned my attention to the engine itself.  Once again I removed all the electrical gear and cut off the plastic screw supports and added a floor to the cab.  The engine shell took a bit more work but I removed the filter from the smokestack, cut out the windows and added two at the front.  I scraped off the moulded on handrail lines along the side of the boiler and sliced off the headlamp and added a larger box fitting to it.



And this is where I've gotten to so far.  The first coats of paint have been added and I need to get the filler out again.

[mysteriousbill]

At first I thought it was a Goldlock Western Express, but the smokestack looks different. and the curved track isn't as curved. I wonder if the track would be compatible with Goldlock?

While the engine looks good the cars look a bit modern for ACW or the West

[former user]

they had metal boxcars, but these looked a bit different. Tha tank car is too modern, but You can use the chassis to build the artillery waggon. You can add some armour to the loco, but don't have to. Building a wooden boxcar on the chassis shouldn't be a problem

[Rivera]

@mysteriousbill  The set just goes under the name of 'Classic Train Set' which I have a strange feeling might be made in China?  The space between the rails is bang on 20mm and I have no idea if it's a made up gauge or no - is that the same as the Goldlock one?

The engine and tender appear to be pretty good for the period with, I believe, the first 2-6-0 locomotives being first constructed just prior to the war breaking out.

@former user  The tank car will probably serve as the basis for either a flat car or for an armoured carriage, with the fuel tank already residing in my spares box. The other wagon could serve as a box car with the approprite cladding or another armoured carriage.  Decisions, decisions

I have some info about armoured trains of the era which I've gleaned from the interweb but if you could point me in the right direction for more it would be much appreciated.

[former user]

there is the Osprey book on the general development and tactics, but focussing on the interwar period
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Armored-Trains_9781846032424
and the specialized ACW book on railway tactics
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/American-Civil-War-Railroad-Tactics_9781846034527

with many examples
that should suffice for any kind of wargaming in general, unless You want to dive in deeply on skirmish level historical authenticity, then You will need detailed research.

The downside of railway wargaming this period is that Union and Confederate rail ironclads were very different, so there isn't much of the usual interchangeability and not much capturing (AFAIK), unless You want to keep it basic and use a sandbag armoured flatcar, but this would be a bit boring 

If I may offer some personal advice - try to keep the armoured additions/superstructures separate from the basic chassis/model.

I've seen a lot of people here on LAF mangling their basic train models by encasing them in armour plating etc.
Without any doubt every single one became very attractive conversions, but sacrificing the model would have been unnecessary, especially when one can simply unscrew the superstructure and build a new one that doesn't require the civilian version underneath.
You will find following this hint especially useful when You want to game Old West with civilian trains and don't need to buy and paint/convert a new one. Building a tabletop train version is nothing You do on a weekend and pay out of the petty cash...

Building a wooden boxcar with plastic sheet is pretty straightforward even with the sliding doors, and the only difference are the firing slits - the additional armour was from the inside. Building it with removable roof to game inside appears tempting, but You will rarely place based figures in a cramped furnished railcar, apart from an opened door maybe. So whatever You do to the inside only needs to look good from the outside.

I don't think that anyone needs advice how to build a flatcar with plastic sheet. If You go for the improvised sandbags, make sure to fix everything including artillery piece and crew with magnets, since You will probably want to move it around.

Also one final advice - make the rolling stock as heavy as You can - not only will it give You the real feeling, it will stop You from knocking the models over, because anything other than Stephensons Rocket will necessary be larger as anything You know on the tabletop  (apart from train models made especially "to fit" 28mm that have the usual scale compression and therefore look meek and unrealistic- but this is my personal oppinion).
Plus, realistic heft will protect You from the unrealistic impression that a 1/56 train travelling at even slow velocity can realistically brake over the length of a normal tabletop 

this said, wargaming railway is a challenging attempt beyond the usual artillery range/MG effect "suspension of disbelief" issue, but I find it very interesting and rewarding if one is open to go beyond the usual wargaming conventions 

[Michi]

this said, wargaming railway is a challenging attempt beyond the usual artillery range/MG effect "suspension of disbelief" issue, but I find it very interesting and rewarding if one is open to go beyond the usual wargaming conventions 

This! 

[Rivera]

@ former user  Thanks for the links, I've managed to download a couple of PDF files of your recommendations and I'll give them a peruse this evening.

The wooden boxcar is a good probability for my next part of the build using the smaller of the two wagons and a flat car could be reasonably easy to make using the chassis? of the tanker wagon- I don't want to get too ambitious at this stage so a large calibre railway gun might be out of the question (costly for the barrel as well).

I know what you mean about 'heft' so I'll be putting some weights inside the engine and carriages.

@ former user and Michi  Is there a bit of a problem with gaming trains then?

I'll post some more pics of my progress soon and try to remember to put in a 28mm figure to give some idea of the scale of the thing.

[former user]

oh, no - there isn't any serious problem.

the only thing is that the normal "suspension of disbelief" that is necessary for wargaming gets a serious stretch when it comes to railway.
take the siege calibre columbiad for example. This thing would be on the tabletop, but fire somewhere else.

ACWis not that problematic given the lack of machineguns. But the average rail ironclad would have 2 navy pedestal artillery pieces and be mobile, plus be heavily encased in iron sheet armour and thus impenetrable to the average opponent's assets - a game winner unless You account for this in the opponent's army list and point allowance. it is a fortress on wheels

plus the size - I would assume Your whole set is at least 60cm long - take normal vehicle movement rules and calculate how many rounds it takes until the whole train is on the table if You start off-table. This of course depends on the speed. Now calculate how many rounds it takes to brake it down to standstill (considering realistic movement rules of course). 
You end up either rushing over 2.5 m of tabletop in 2 rounds or deploying the train immobile as a terrain piece. The latter is not a problem, but You ask Yourself why You need a train 

and it goes on and on when You get to a 12 MG armoured railcar that can basically smash through interwar tanks by sheer weight.

trains simply outscale everything, and that was the reason they were employed in warfare.

the easiest way to start with is an immobile train.

[Michi]

plus the size - I would assume Your whole set is at least 60cm long - take normal vehicle movement rules and calculate how many rounds it takes until the whole train is on the table if You start off-table. This of course depends on the speed. Now calculate how many rounds it takes to brake it down to standstill (considering realistic movement rules of course). 
You end up either rushing over 2.5 m of tabletop in 2 rounds or deploying the train immobile as a terrain piece.

We handled it by "moving" terrain along the train instead of moving the 2m long train on a 2.5m long table.
This also works well for old west prarie indians on horses attacking a train.
Itīs a lot of calculating (you move models forward or back along the train depending on their speed difference to the trains. Getīs even worse when the train is accelerating or slowing down, but it works.
Immobile terrain pieces (standing figures, trees, buildings) pass the train backwards at a distance equal to the trains speed. Got it?

[former user]

way cool!! would have loved to take part in it 
reminds me of the speeder bike game in the woods I saw once

[Rivera]

A quick update - the tender and engine loosely assembled with the addition of a cradle for the bell, large handrail along the boiler with supports, small handrails to the rear of cab and glazing to the windows (not sure how accurate that is).  I also carefully scraped the paint from the raised nameplate to show the original gold colour underneath.



A picture of the loco with a figure for comparison - it's a Perry ACW metal Confederate Trooper in 28mm and looks pretty close to me.  He's been raised a tad off the surface as there is a plastic ridge underneath the rail sections.



All comments welcome

[FramFramson]

Are you leaving the couplings off entirely then?

[Michi]

The rods are upside down. Switch them left to right and they will fit. Otherwise very clean and nice engine!

[Rivera]

@ FramFramson  The couplings are undergoing construction at the mo with me fiddling about with sections of sprue and plastic card - hopefully they'll look something like in the picture below.

@ Michi  You know, I hadn't noticed that before and I must admit that I just left them as they came with the assembled train - I can only blame it on Gremlins

Please keep the comments and questions coming as they really do help me out.

[former user]

looks pretty neat so far

when I made my train I wanted couplings too, but I made the experience that unless you really have a moving train, they cause more work than is necessary. Beware of the track curves