When I was at a train show in Suffolk last weekend, I picked up an N scale Davenport 0-6-0 diesel switcher engine for $10. It was made by Atlas, and once it was warmed up it ran rather nicely at around 15% power.
I often buy cheap locomotives at train shows as a gamble that I can resell them on Ebay, but I also like to see if I can adapt them for use on my HOn30 layout. I run HO scale equipment on track that is functionally the same as N gauge (9mm), and I am always on the lookout for new locomotives.
And I struck gold with the Davenport.
This model is loosely based on engines created by Iowa based Davenport Locomotive Works.That company made both standard gauge and narrow gauge locomotives, including 2-foot and 30” gauges. This means that if I put an HOn30 shell on this chassis, there is probably a locomotive somewhere that looked vaguely like it.
Actually, this locomotive’s shell is in good condition and has a nice amount of detail, so what I should really do is cut off the cab portion of the shell and add a new larger HO scale cab. I do not have one of those cabs at hand, so what I tried instead was to put my spare HOn30 Roco diesel switcher shell on the Davenport chassis.
It fit perfectly:
I do not know that I will keep the shell on that chassis (I already have several of those switchers running around, so having one on an odd chassis has no appeal) But it was fun to watch it circle my layout.
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