Little engines 1" line of engines

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gwrdriver
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by gwrdriver »

It's very curious to me why with so many hundreds (if not thousands) of drawings, individually or in sets, sold for the LE 1" line are now so scarce?
I've got a few sets of orphaned drawings which floated my way (on the way to the trash bin?) which I've hung on to because I thought someday someone might need them. Unfortunately there aren't any 1" scale locomotives among them, and a few of them look like the Dead Sea scrolls, fit only to be redrawn.

FWIW . . . I'd estimate the time required, by a proficient and knowledgeable CAD operator, to copy and scrub (clean up errors and missing information) to be about 40/hrs per 24x36 sheet.
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Pontiacguy1
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

It's very curious to me why with so many hundreds (if not thousands) of drawings, individually or in sets, sold for the LE 1" line are now so scarce?
A lot of those sets were probably sold back in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's though. That was 50 to 70 years ago now. I'd wager that a whole lot of those sets of plans probably got thrown out by someone who didn't know what they were or didn't associate them with being anything valuable.

Since none of the LE 1" scale stuff has been available in the last 10 years or so, and there probably weren't a lot of 1" scale items sold by LE (or The Locomotive Works) in the few years prior to that, almost everything you will find now will be getting close to 20 years old or older. Over that length of time, a lot of that sort of stuff seems to just 'disappear' whenever the party who bought them in the first place passes away.

Places like this forum have helped to keep awareness up on stuff and give someone who has something a place to sell or trade it, but it wasn't available 20 years ago. At least now there is someplace you can ask for information!
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gwrdriver
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by gwrdriver »

Pontiacguy1 wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 11:54 amI'd wager that a whole lot of those sets of plans probably got thrown out by someone who didn't know what they were
Without a doubt.
I knew of several such sets, one of them for a LE 1" Atlantic built by a friend of my father.
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by Dick_Morris »

I'd estimate the time required, by a proficient and knowledgeable CAD operator, to copy and scrub (clean up errors and missing information) to be about 40/hrs per 24x36 sheet.
That makes me feel better about the amount of time I spend on making a drawing, They always take longer than I expect even though my drawings are only good enough for my own use.
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gwrdriver
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by gwrdriver »

Dick,
That was a ball park figure we once used to estimated the production time on architectural working drawings. Some sheets took less time, some longer, but it turned out to be a surprisingly accurate estimate and it's proven to be a decent estimate of model engineering drawing time. What it does not include, for those not familiar with the process, is design and design development time, the time you spend making decisions and figuring things out, which can take considerably longer.
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rmac
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by rmac »

Dick_Morris wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 6:46 pm That makes me feel better about the amount of time I spend on making a drawing, They always take longer than I expect even though my drawings are only good enough for my own use.
I'm in the camp that says no matter how long the drawing and planning takes, it's worth it.

-- Russell Mac
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Bill Shields
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by Bill Shields »

I have an original set of thr 0-4-0 camelback drawings. I provided them to Mike V a few years ago so that he could have a copy of the originals for his files.

Think I purchased them back in 1970's when I started in hobby. I am now back in 1" after 40 years of "now too big to manage".

Should have listened to Charlie Purinton...
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
jscarmozza
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by jscarmozza »

Yup, big enough to ride comfortably but small enough to move around. One thing I was surprised to learn was how few 4-3/4" tracks there are around the Country, I was looking at the DLS club roster and the Guage isn't as common as I thought.
INGE
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by INGE »

The 1" "Mountain" track at the St. Croix RR sees far more steam action than does the 1-1/2" line. The SCRR Highline track, now 50 years old, was rebuilt over the last 6 years with steel and concrete support structures replacing the original wood posts in the ground. Five of the members now run 3-1/2" steamers on the Highline, and at least 5 members run 1" steamers on the Highline. The Highline is also popular with junior members running battery Critters. While I understand the alure of the larger gauges, the smaller gauges are definitely not extinct.
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Builder01
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by Builder01 »

jscarmozza wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 7:37 am Yup, big enough to ride comfortably but small enough to move around. One thing I was surprised to learn was how few 4-3/4" tracks there are around the Country, I was looking at the DLS club roster and the Guage isn't as common as I thought.
Ther are more than are listed on the DLS roster. Many of them are private. Once you get to know the 1" folks you start to discover where the 4-3/4" tracks are.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by Bill Shields »

Need to come to PLS where we have 7.25 / 4.75 / 3.5 AND 2.5 all running side-bu side on the same track.

The club has quite a few 1" scale locos out on the track 'any given sunday'.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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kcameron
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Re: Little engines 1" line of engines

Post by kcameron »

The north east part of US has a number of club and private 1" tracks. Some ground running and some elevated. At FLLS we even do the occasional op session like some of the larger scales do. But Builder01 is right, once you start talking to 1" owners you find more locations exist. Not as many as the 7.25" or 7.5" tracks, but they are out there.
-ken cameron
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