HELLO FROM A NEW MEMBER, I AM TRYING TO BUILD AN 8TH SCALE MODEL OF THE L&N #3600 BRILL CAR. IT RAN FROM COLUMBIA TO SHEFFIELD,AL FOR 26 YEARS. I WANT TO RUN THIS CAR ON OUR LOCAL CLUB TRACK. www.midsouthlivesteamers.org COME SEE US SOMETIME.

I NEED TO KNOW IF THERE ANY MORE BRILL CARS STILL IN EXISTENCE. CAN YOU GUYS HELP. I KNOW OF THE PRR466 AT RINGOE, NJ AND THE RED HEIFER AT DELAWARE & ULSTER RR. ANY MORE???? I NEED PICTURES, THANKS

P.S. MY NEXT PROJECT WILL BE AN 8TH SCALE FORD (WAG) SWITCHER. THANKS

There's M-1 at East Broad Top:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Doodlebug_ebt_m1.jpg

I'm told it was sent unassembled to EBT who then finished the car in their own shops.

The intrepid guys at Laws, California, recently finished a down to the frame rebuilding of one. They certainly would be well positioned to advise you on all the bits and pieces.

Oh, and you could look at the Edwards car in Montgomery to see a similar beast up close and personal.

dave

I don't know how narrow the requester's search really is, but he said gas-electric cars. The Laws car is a Model 55 gas-mechanical. We have a Model 55 here in Kingston too: http://www.tmny.org/tmny0120.html

Hey Columbia!
RFDTV did a few shows on live steamers last year. Now that got my adrenalin pumping until I looked the prices of the equipment. But it is still wa-ay cool!

Later!
Mr. Ed

Brill chose not to build just one narrow gauge gas-electric car for EBT, so they furnished the EBT shop with the blueprints and a kit containing engine, air tanks, standard gauge trucks, and Westinghouse electricals, traction motors, and brakes. The EBT shop built the M-1.

links to photos:
http://www.transitspot.com/gallery2/v/o ... 09_078.jpg

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery2/v/o ... 09_100.jpg

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery2/v/o ... 08_100.jpg

So you're saying that the EBT Shops fabricated the car body themselves, right? This is contrary to my understanding, but perhaps I have had the wrong impression over the years.

Les

I don't have information on the car bodies.

One preserved Brill doodlebug that comes to mind is Santa Fe M-160, located at The Age of Steam Railroad Museum in Dallas, TX.

I believe there is a Brill Model 55 at the Kentucky Railway Museum, however this car would be quite a bit smaller than the L&N 3600.

The Illinois Railway Museum used to have a Brill doodlebug (Pennsylvania Railroad #4668) which was privately owned by Herb Hansen. This car was sold many years ago. If memory serves me correctly, it was sold to Clint Jones and is now stored in Wisconsin or Michigan.

Just in case you don't already know, there is a photo of the L&N 3600 in Edmund Keilty's book Doodlebug Country. If it is of any help, the 3600 appears to have been equipped with Brill 27-M.C.B. trucks. These were used under interurban cars as well as doodlebugs, so it should be possible to find a photo (or existing example) of this truck to base your model on.

Dan, you have covered the scene quite well. All of the 6 preserved Brill gas-electric cars that I know of have been mentioned except the PRR car at the Wilmington & Western. However, it is not a true Brill, as the body was built by Pullman. The two cars mentioned in the original post are probably the closest to the L&N car. The ex IRM car is identical to the car at Ringoes.

Another good source, if you can find a copy, is the 1973 reprint by Kalmbach of the 1940 Car Builders Cyclopedia. There are side view and floor plans for a 1930 GM&N car in that book. This is a slightly later design with a different front end treatment than the L&N car. It is similar to the PRR car at Ringoes.

Finally, I believe that the Brill builder's photos have been preserved, although I do not know where. Perhaps someon on this board can supply that information

Thought of another reference. The book, Pennsy Passenger and Freight Car Diagrams, Wayner Publications, 1981, contains a drawing of a very similar car on page 45.

If you need a close-up look at a Brill 27MCB truck, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum currently has one being rebuilt on our shop floor.

That is correct. The EBT purchased the rights to use the Brill design. They changed the design by reducing it to narrow gauge proportions and enlarged the baggage area at the expense of the passenger area. As said, Brill provided the mechanical parts.

The trucks had to be regauged to 3'. Reportedly standard gauge traction motors would not fit, so the M-1 uses mine locomotive traction motors.