Reverse Running
A
confession – I run
with dead frogs on
the BC&SJ...
Some say this is bad, bad,
bad. However, I’ve used dead
(unpowered) turnout frogs
for the last 14 years and
there are a
lot
of them on the
current BC&SJ – 34 in main
staging alone.
No, I don’t run Docksiders
(0-4-0 steam) or critters. Their
ultra-short wheelbases would
guarantee stalls over my #6 and #8 dead frogs.
Yes, locos should have a significant number of (or all) wheel
sets picking up power from the rails, and they should pick it
up from both rails. That means some brass steamers which
don’t pick up from both rails on all wheels won’t work well
on the Bear Creek. I’ve solved that problem. I don’t own and
operate many brass steamers. Besides, any old brass should
probably be re-motored and re-geared and re-pickuped to
make them run more smoothly and to get the max current
rating down from the 1-1/2 amps their open frame motors
draw when stalled.
Typical locos on the BC&SJ are ‘50s era diesels and plastic
steam. The shortest wheelbase is a Proto 2000 0-8-0 (which
had problems because it’s a first gen unit with no power pickup
in the tender – for now it’s a piece of scenery until I get the
Reverse Running: Stepping outside the box with a contrary view
by Charlie Comstock
Dead frog society
MRH-Sep 2014
