Minton Cronkite engine in motion

[Carey Williams]

Hello vintage O scale world

A Minton Cronkite Mountain followed me home from York. From the 1935 period ...O gauge and outside 3rd rail . Minton engines like his layouts are stylized with just the essentials, allowing your mind to fill in the openness.

Bob Turner ...have you been to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum ? .....they have a number of Minton's pieces ... they were kind to send a photo of their Mikado ... see below ....you can see from the construction same lines and feel of my engine.
There is a captured spring that works as a shock to keep pressure and weight on the front drivers ? ...the spring no doubt has collapsed over the 83 years .... so need to replace to help create a bit more space under the cylinders to swing the pilot truck .... the front wheel set can travel vertically about 1/4" within a slot . Center drivers blind .... but pilot is not happy with the current 48" radius ... perhaps it will be happier with the 60" loop once up

Please see link to a short video of engine running and more photos

Cheers Carey



https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/min ... -in-motion

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[Robert]

At the risk of showing my years, I remember Minton Cronkite having the occasional article in early hobby magazines I bought with my teenage budget...Model Trains and Railroad Model Craftsman I think. I was fascinated by his 1/4 scale trains, and that peculiar outside rail pickup. I recall his layout or whoever owned the ones I saw in his article photos seem largely devoid of scenery and heavy on track work. It's nice to know some of his equipment has stood the test of time.

Robert

[Carey Williams]

Hello all

Yes Minton was at the birth of O scale ..first in the east coast CT till about 1933 then out to CA . Rumor has it he made his fortune in investments in the 20's and was not adversely effected by the depression .. which allowed him time to develop O scale layouts .

Minton can be found through out the 30's and early 40's in many of the magazines .

Cheers Carey

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[Erik C Lindgren]

Awe cool

[bob turner]

For decades my contribution to the museum was locomotive maintenance. I am a life member, as is the Greek, so I suppose we have done our share. I had not seen the Mike - maybe that is because it cannot run on the layout. But they have a Cronkhite Pacific that is similar, and that one has seen my shop on many occasions. I will look for a photo.

Cronkhite's kid and I used to fly airplanes together. I never connected the two until the 1980s. See my OSN article.

[bob turner]

Nope - darn it - thought I had a digital photo. Consolation prize - here is a genuine Dorazio, from the Seacrest collection:

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[rrjjf]

Carey,

Nice find! Seems to run well for a model over 80 years old. I was at the TCA meet last Friday but did not walk the halls as I am not looking for any more projects right now. I was handed two N&W articulated locos (Y-3 and Y-6b) for conversion to 2 rail. These will be the last conversions I do until September. I will spend the summer finishing a few of my own locomotives.

Best regards,

Joe

[Carey Williams]

Hello Joe ..sorry I missed you at York ..with 12,000 folks it can happen ....good luck finishing up your projects this summer

Bob nice Dorazio.......ok what characteristics make it a Dorazio ? ...he was big in custom HO also .....building late 40's -50's ?

I'll see you your Dorazio, and rise you a Scale Model Railways engine of the same model .... circa late 30's ..runs like a champ ..but wait it has a headlight that works !!!!..oh the simple joys in life . Thank heavens for blind drivers ...as this giant is happy running on the Multiplex layout with a 48 radius.
Cheers Carey

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[bob turner]

I found it! Please excuse the front driver; I have since re-gauged the display track. This model operates at the San Diego MRR Museum daily.

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[Carey Williams]

Hello Bob

Thank you for posting the photo of the "Club " Pacific ....

In a 1934 Model Maker article about Minton's new railroad in CA .....he credits Mr Barney and Mr Brown of the west coast ..and C. O. Noack (Carl Otto Noack) of Crovan Railway Models .

Carl Otto Noack was a prolific inventor in the lock and typewriter filed receiving many patents... Carl died in in May of 1936 at the age of 74 ..listed as the head of Crovan Railway Models ...

Somehow Minton , Noack and H. B Vanderhoef all of the Greenwich / Stamford area get together ? formed Crovan ..which I heard was suppose to be a combination of Cronkhite and Vanderhoef names ...to build a display called
“The Miniature Fair of the Iron Horse” in 1928 ?

Minton moves west in 1931 + - ...but in some lines is connected with one of the Railroad displays at the Chicago 1933 World's Fair ? ...Crovan , Minton were modeling PRR engines late 20's ( as was the rest of the greater O scale world) .... so one would assume their trains would ave been used on the PRR 1933 /4 layout ..... Scalecraft ( with the help of Icken drives) took the credit for the PRR rolling stock ...... Alexander supplied equipment for the B&O layout ...which leaves the IC layout ...?

Has anyone ever seen a bona fide died in the wool Crovan piece ? .they speak of reinforced aluminum sided passenger cars ..and cast freight cars ... sounds as if they may have been working with Alexander .... who was in New Rochelle , NY at the time ..so all the players were close to each other .

Any Crovan flyers , catalogs ? .....

Any history about Mr Barney and Mr Brown ? on the west coast ...

Thank you
Cheers Carey

[bob turner]

There is this guy in Indiana - I will think of his name in a minute - who collects CroVan. Bill something.