I have some with the aluminum wheels--maybe all of them. Some are the vertical can motor on an inboard axle with an O-ring to the outside axle. They tried other transmissions; the weirdest one I ever saw was on an engine that Cal Lasley in OKC had. It was a gear that set flat on a vertical shaft, it was as large as the ID of the shell would allow, The motor had a more conventional worm on each end, but it was canted off the centerline of the engine so the worm would make the turntable gear on the side next to shell wall. Art and John were definitely known for some weird stuff. Before Ludington, Michigan, it was 10143 South May in south Chicago, a little bungalow in a neighborhood almost within walking distance of Evergreen Park, and the RI commuter line. I made it there once. They were very cordial and interesting, and obviously giving their best shot to what could have been a decent product. The notorious humps sometimes did not show up until later, the best A-B I had went 5 years after purchase before the humps popped up. The decision to simulate the rear end overhang on an F-7 (both ends on the B) by canting the entire end out in the middle was also a primitive answer to clearing a mold out. The plastic frames left a lot to be desired in terms of strength and endurance also. DJE
----- Original Message ----- From: ed_loizeaux To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 12:10 PM Subject: {S-Scale List} Re: RE:Spring 1964 issue of S Gauge Herald "Thomas Baker" wrote: > 6. Inside the front cover is an advertisement from Enhorning, at that time in Chicago. The ad lists the variety of F7 diesels available in about 28 road names. Did this outfit sell very many? Hi Tom....."S"peaking as one of the gray heads, I can relate an interesting tale regarding the Enhorning Bros. and their F-unit endeavors. This might not be the total story, but I think it represents a goodly chunk of the history. It all started when EMD was looking for some promotional gifts for their F-unit customers. They had sort of decided on a static display model that could be placed on a desk or maybe a shelf. HO was too small to be impressive. O scale was considered too large for the typical space available. So S, with it's perfect size, became the choice. Somehow, EMD and Enhorning got connected and started talking. Enhorning realized that if EMD financed the body/floor/trucks molds/tooling, the major cost elements would already be paid for. This EMD display model was unpowered. Thus, the Enhornings would only have to add a motor, gears, etc. none of which required much, if any, tooling. Enhorning got the EMD contract and the project got started. How many of the static display models were actually produced and sold to EMD is unknown -- at least to me. I think there were two generations of operating S scale diesels from Enhorning. The first had brass -- or was it aluminum -- wheels which suffered from arcing, pitting, poor electrical contact, and probably a few other things as well. I seem to remember nobody was impressed much with the running qualities after a period of time. Also, due to the mold design, the cooling of the molten plastic caused warpage in the roof of the F-unit just behind the cab. Thus the phrase "Enhorning Hump" came into popular use to describe the upward bulge that resulted. I suppose EMD didn't care about the bulge, but the rivet counting modelers sure noticed it. The second generation of F-units was announced at about the time I entered S scale. I was thrilled with the NYC lightning stripe paint scheme in their advertisements. Reminded me of the Hobbytown ads in HO. Loved those lightning stripes!! Anyway, if I remember correctly, the new generation was to have a better motor, better wheels, better this and better that. And so I sent in a deposit and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. Waiting was part of the S scale game way back in the '60s just like it is today. Month after month, the ads implied it was only going to be a short while more. Eventually, I tired of waiting and took matters into my own hands. I telephoned them. Now this was back in the days when long distance phone calls cost serious money. No such thing as the "300-minute plan" back then. So I called Enhorning in Michigan all the way from the Los Angeles area where I lived at the time. One of the Enhorning brothers actually answered the phone and we embarked on a discussion of what was happening with the F-unit project. He summarized it neatly for me by saying (paraphrased): "It is all done except for the magnet." I asked, "What magnet?" He then went into a long dissertation about how they were going to make their own motors and were experimenting with iron particles (dust) and were thinking of compressing them in a mold to form a magnet for the motor. The experiments were taking longer than expected, but everything else was completed. I asked why they didn't just buy a motor instead of making their own. He replied that commercial motors were "not good enough" or something similar. And so the waiting game was to continue for an indefinite time until the magnetic dust experiments were concluded. After some cogitation, I wrote to Enhorning and asked that they send me all the plastic parts they had (which they did) and then I started looking around for something to power them with. Jon Beveridge -- or was it Locomotive Workshop -- came upon the scene back then with power units and that solved the problem. Total elapsed time to get an F-unit back then was well over three or four years -- forgot the exact time frame, but there was no such thing as instant gratification. None at all!! I also remember writing a letter to Frank Titman suggesting that running ads that unrealistically promised an F-unit were not doing S scale any favors since, in reality, it was going to be years away if at all. I felt being honest about the situation was better and, apparently, Frank agreed because the Enhorning ads were discontinued at about that time. To the best of my knowledge, the so-called second generation of powered Enhorning diesels never made it to market. I would still be waiting for an F-unit today except for Tom Marsh, Jim Kindraka, Don Thompson and Ron Bashista all of whom have brought us F-units in one form or another over the years. Cheers...Ed L. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
