# World War II HO Scale



## James (Nov 3, 2015)

Another question I have, is it possible to do a World War II troop train in HO? Does anyone make World War II Military trains? 

Thanks,
James Sontag


----------



## JerryH (Nov 18, 2012)

Yes.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/HO-S...t=3&cat=1456&show=30&page=1&brand=Model Power


----------



## James (Nov 3, 2015)

Thank you so much Jerry. Are those pretty good cars, if you don't mind my asking?


----------



## JerryH (Nov 18, 2012)

No, they are low end rolling stock. They may exactly what you want though. There are higher end available from some other brands. Walthers may still sell some that are much higher in detail, quality, and price.


----------



## James (Nov 3, 2015)

JerryH said:


> No, they are low end rolling stock. They may exactly what you want though. There are higher end available from some other brands. Walthers may still sell some that are much higher in detail, quality, and price.


Thanks again, Jerry. I will check out Walthers. I see you are from San Antonio to.

James


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I would definitely peruse the Walthers website, and even get one of their catalogs. They don't carry everything (Athearn and Exactrail being the notable exceptions in HO), they are the largest distributor in North America, and you can get a very good idea of what is available.

Some folks on E-Bay may be selling stuff that is no longer made as well. That might be worth a look.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

James, go through this member's threads, might interest you or give you some ideals. 
WW2 in HO.

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/search.php?searchid=3110450

See if my link works.
Working on my end, check out each thread......excellent WW2 modeling.:thumbsup:

I wished he had inserted all his pictures so one didn't have to click on each one to see.


----------



## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

big ed said:


> http://www.modeltrainforum.com/search.php?searchid=3110450
> 
> See if my link works.
> Working on my end,


Did not work for me.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

MtRR75 said:


> Did not work for me.


Did you click on it?

Works for me?

Go to this member's profile bakkers2005, then click statistics then check out all his threads.


----------



## James (Nov 3, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> I would definitely peruse the Walthers website, and even get one of their catalogs. They don't carry everything (Athearn and Exactrail being the notable exceptions in HO), they are the largest distributor in North America, and you can get a very good idea of what is available.
> 
> Some folks on E-Bay may be selling stuff that is no longer made as well. That might be worth a look.


I did recently get the Walthers 2016 HO Catalog. At over 1,000 pages it is a lot tot ake in.

James


----------



## longle (Mar 7, 2015)

MtRR75 said:


> Did not work for me.


Me either.


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

James said:


> I did recently get the Walthers 2016 HO Catalog. At over 1,000 pages it is a lot tot ake in.
> 
> James


Yes it is. That's why it's such an awesome resource.


----------



## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

James said:


> Another question I have, is it possible to do a World War II troop train in HO? Does anyone make World War II Military trains?


http://www.ehattons.com/71907/Bachm..._No_3711_City_of_Birmingham_/StockDetail.aspx

Bachmann do this rather niceWW1 hospital train in OO.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

It was working for me yesterday today it is not?:dunno:

Try this one, http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=5373

You all know how to see all the threads someone has made?

click on the members handle (their name) 
then click view public profile 
then statistics 
then Find all threads started by bakkers2005 (bakkers2005 is his handle)

He has a bunch on his WW2 layout.
If the link works check out his other threads by doing the above.

Great modeling with a sad ending.


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*N scale WWII cars*



James said:


> Another question I have, is it possible to do a World War II troop train in HO? Does anyone make World War II Military trains?
> 
> Thanks,
> James Sontag


 James;
I noticed this thread saying you were interested in rail cars from WWII. Micro Trains makes
"troop sleepers", and hospital cars in N scale. I have a set and they are very nicely detailed.
During the war, railroads were stretched to the limit, and beyond, trying to move all the men and material. 
The troop cars were more like box cars than passenger cars. They were very much, "no frills" transport; but they got the job done. At the time passenger trains were crowed, mostly with military people. Civilians saw lots of ads asking, "Is this trip really necessary?" Railroads wanted to use the seats for military travelers. 
It would be an interesting time to model. Model Railroader magazine did an issue on wartime trains some time back. You can try www.kalmbach.com and see if they have a back issue available. Bye the way, what happened to the 1920s ?

Traction Fan


----------



## James (Nov 3, 2015)

traction fan said:


> James;
> I noticed this thread saying you were interested in rail cars from WWII. Micro Trains makes
> "troop sleepers", and hospital cars in N scale. I have a set and they are very nicely detailed.
> During the war, railroads were stretched to the limit, and beyond, trying to move all the men and material.
> ...


Traction Fan, boy you really have convinced me that N Scale is the way to go. Now, I'm in a conundrum. if that's the right word. I've been a World War II nut since I was a kid, and I really like railroads from the 1920's, so I'm not sure what to do. 1920's or World War II troop train in the U.S.? I didn't know there were possibilities out there for World War II railroading.

James


----------



## MRLdave (Nov 1, 2011)

As noted, the RRs were stretched to the limit, so a lot of troop trains were made up of whatever the RR had available........lots of heavyweight cars from the Pullman pool as well as the RRs own cars, plus the troop sleepers, which were also Pullman cars.

I have an N scale WW2 military train made up of Army flatcars (Atlas and MT) Boxcars (MT, Atlas) Tank cars (MT), loaded with Tanks,Artillary,trucks,jeeps,ect. that is 60 cars long. I usually pull it with 5 Intermountain F units.........3 on the front and 2 about mid train.

My troop train is 29 cars.....16 MT troop sleepers, 3 Heavyweight Pullman sleepers, 7 Milwaukee Road Heavyweight cars, and 3 Milwaukee smoothside cars. Usual power is a ConCor 4-6-4 Hudson.

N scale seems to actually have an advantage over other scale when it comes to Military trains


----------



## James (Nov 3, 2015)

MRLdave said:


> As noted, the RRs were stretched to the limit, so a lot of troop trains were made up of whatever the RR had available........lots of heavyweight cars from the Pullman pool as well as the RRs own cars, plus the troop sleepers, which were also Pullman cars.
> 
> I have an N scale WW2 military train made up of Army flatcars (Atlas and MT) Boxcars (MT, Atlas) Tank cars (MT), loaded with Tanks,Artillary,trucks,jeeps,ect. that is 60 cars long. I usually pull it with 5 Intermountain F units.........3 on the front and 2 about mid train.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much. N scale is what I am going to do. That is great news about the amount of military cars. I think I will slowly do 1920's and a World War II Military train. Am I thinking too big in wanting to do both?


----------



## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Walthers did do Pullman-Standard troop sleeper and ACF kitchen cars in HO scale (what the original question was), although I think it's been a while since the last run and you have to look for them. If you're switched to N scale, MicroTrains has the troop sleeper, but I'm not sure anyone has done the kitchen car (but many troop trains might also just use standard diners from the railroad).

In addition, lots of standard passenger cars were used in troop trains.


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Two eras?*



James said:


> Thank you so much. N scale is what I am going to do. That is great news about the amount of military cars. I think I will slowly do 1920's and a World War II Military train. Am I thinking too big in wanting to do both?


 James;

There is a school of thought in this hobby, that if you're modeling the 1930s to the 1950s;
"you're really modeling the 1950s,but not very well." I'm not a big believer in this, though I can see that trying to model two different decades, AT THE SAME TIME, would present some serious problems. That doesn't mean one can't model two different decades SEPARATELY. It's just more expensive(more models to buy) and more work(changing some buildings, automobiles, clothing fashions on the figures, and signs, to fit the era you're trying to showcase. Most buildings and railroad rolling stock would last from the twenties into the forties. During WWII, anything that would still roll down the rails was put back in service, so there would be a lot of older equipment used. You will need two sets of people and vehicles though. Speaking of vehicles, there are N scale jeeps, tanks, and trucks available for military flat car loads. 
I model two different decades. The twenties, and the fifties. I have to change the items mentioned but I don't mind. Just be sure you don't have anything on your 1920s layout that wasn't invented for another twenty years! It's your railroad. enjoy it any way you want.

Traction Fan


----------



## James (Nov 3, 2015)

traction fan said:


> James;
> 
> There is a school of thought in this hobby, that if you're modeling the 1930s to the 1950s;
> "you're really modeling the 1950s,but not very well." I'm not a big believer in this, though I can see that trying to model two different decades, AT THE SAME TIME, would present some serious problems. That doesn't mean one can't model two different decades SEPARATELY. It's just more expensive(more models to buy) and more work(changing some buildings, automobiles, clothing fashions on the figures, and signs, to fit the era you're trying to showcase. Most buildings and railroad rolling stock would last from the twenties into the forties. During WWII, anything that would still roll down the rails was put back in service, so there would be a lot of older equipment used. You will need two sets of people and vehicles though. Speaking of vehicles, there are N scale jeeps, tanks, and trucks available for military flat car loads.
> ...


Traction Fan, you bring up some very valid points that I had not thought of. Maybe I should stick to one era at the beginning and if I decide to do another, I could do it after the first is done, so to speak. I think maybe starting with the 1920's and after that is dobe, then go World War II. Maybe doing one first would be best.


----------



## p51 (Nov 12, 2015)

Here's a few things I see that are historically wrong with 'troop trains' on layouts that drive me quite nuts and I would implore anyone to avoid:
*Use civilian passenger cars.* Contrary to popular belief, troop trains generally used civilian rolling stock. There were almost no coaches marked for the military used on class I railroads. hardly any military-marked freight cars would be seen on a troop train, either.
*No OD-green locomotives.* The army had a few diesels painted Olive Drab green, but most were black or yellow. No steam locomotives were painted OD green.
*Use common types of vehicles on flat cars. *Units didn't normally carry, "one of everything" and a troop train with their vehicles would have several of the same types of vehicles.
*No removable weapons on those vehicles.* You'd never see machine guns mounted on vehicles on flat cars. Why? They're easily removed and nobody wanted to risk losing a weapon on their watch.
*Vehicles carried totally different markings in the US, v/s when the ones in Europe*. Most models come with the 'invasion' star (with the white surround border) which was never used in the US.
*Paint the figures the right colors.* WW2 US uniforms weren't green at all, they mostly wore brown-colored wool or tan colored cotton uniforms stateside.
*If you model a camp, don't have everyone doing something different.* Hollywood does this to, showing groups all doing different things at the same time. That 'slice of life' stuff isn't accurate, though. On a military post, usually everyone is doing same kinds of things at the same time, _generally_.
*Hardly no civilian autos on the layout.* There was gas rationing and hardly anyone was driving from 1943-45. Get bus and business truck models if you got to have a lot of vehicles anyway. A_ few_ civilian cars are okay, but not like you'd see in the 50s.


----------

