B&M 1100, One Of A Kind

B&M 1100, an early GE diesel switcher paid a visit to the Green Mountain Division recently

Tom Oxnard's Scratchbuilt General Electric Diesel...by Don Janes

     On Monday my friend and fellow B&M modeller Tom Oxnard stopped by for a visit on his way to Michigan. I have known Tom for several years now and a couple of years ago George and I stopped into see Tom's layout in New Hampshire when we were on our way to the National Narrow gauge Convention in Maine.  Tom is an accomplished modeller and has produced some beautiful scatchbuilt structures, some of which have been published in the various model railroad publications. This time Tom brought his scratchbuilt General Electric, Ingersoll Rand center cab diesel switcher. The prototype was built in 1935.  It was a one of a kind unit for the Boston and Maine but similar to units delivered to the DL&W.  It was retired in Oct. 1950.

    Tom used a Proto 2000 SW  9, 1200 chassis for the drive but that is where any similarity to the model ends.  The rest was all scratchbuilt following plans and drawings of the prototype.  The model features a Tsunami 2 sound decoder with keep alive unit and working headlight and rear light. The truck sideframes were all individually scratchbuilt including each tiny journal box and hinge. The amount of detail Tom added is incredible.  The engine also runs as good as it looks.  I was extremely impressed with this model and was really hoping Tom was going to tell me to add it to my locomotive roster but alas he packed it up and took it with him when he left.

     I just thought I would do a short post on this great looking model to show the amazing work that some modellers do and what most of us only wish we could accomplish. A full write-up of the model is in the latest B&M Historical Society "Modellers Notes". Check it out.

This shot of the rear of the units shows all the screening on the end and the many louvers Tom added to the sides. You can also see a lot of the roof details that were added.

This side view of the engine really shows off the great looking truck sideframes Tom fabricated from styrene.

A couple more shots of the engine on the green Mountain Division