Welcome To
Foothill Model Works

P.O. Box 470, Willits, CA 95490-0470, USA
(707) 459-5587, 9am to 5pm (Pacific Time, GMT-8), Mon. - Sat.
info@foothillmodelworks.com

Welcome to Foothill Model Works’ new home on the net! This set of web pages is designed to provide our customers and friends with an online reference to our company and our products. Always a work in progress, please check back here from time to time. We now have our entire catalog of currently shipping products presented online. Drop me a line and tell me what you think or what other information you would like presented here.

See the “How to Order” link button on the left for information on ordering from FMW and how to contact us.


New Products!

NEW!Proto-Freelance 20′ Coal Car KitNEW!




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Click Photo Above to Enlarge

Yet another new addition to our growing line of high quality, prototypically correct, all styrene car kits, and designed to fit our On30/On3 20′ Flat Car kits: this free-lanced coal gondola is typical of many such cars used on short line narrow gauge railroads in the first half of the twentieth century. While there is no prototype for this particular car, it was designed and built following standard building practices of the day and closely follows the construction method used on the Colorado & Southern’s home built, 1902, 30′ coal cars (#4246 — 4407). The cars could be easily loaded using any chute type of loader and could be emptied using a rotary dumper, but would typically have been hand shoveled out. These cars had a low weight capacity due to the light construction of the cars and the relatively low capacity of the trucks, though we did match the cubic capacity (in coal) of the gondola bin to the theoretical capacity of the car.

We believe that this highly detailed, easy to assemble kit will make as excellent an addition to any layout as it is on ours!

This high quality, styrene kit features the following:

Proto-Freelance, 20′ Coal Car Kit:

These kits include all the castings and parts required to complete ONE or 6 cars as indicated (paint and decals not included).

Scale
Stock No.
Description
Price
On3FMW-2219Single car kit$45.00
On3FMW-2219/66 pack$243.00
On30FMW-2330Single car kit$45.00
On30FMW-2330/66 pack$243.00





Special Sale!

MacLeod Western T-15 Truck Sale

Photo of MacLeod Western T-15 truck sprue. Four of these sprues constitute set “T-15.”

Photo of a completed T-15 truck, with FMW-4000 Wooden Brake Beams, FMW-4004 Truck Brake Levers, and FMW-4006-On3 24″ Wheel Sets (FMW detail parts sold separately).

Our mistake can be to your benefit! While getting ready for the Narrow Gauge National in Colorado Springs, we initially ordered the wrong trucks for our 20′ Flat Car based kits (not to worry, the kits were packaged with the correct T-16 trucks). As a result, we are offering these truck castings, bulk packaged, for a low, low price of just $5.00 (regularly $8.50)!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these excellent, highly detailed trucks; we just don’t need 100 pairs of them. The prototype for these trucks are the South Pacific Coast’s Carter Brothers’, 10 Ton, 3 foot gauge, 3′ 7″ wheel base, wide bolster, arch bar, swing motion trucks. Though supplied with On3 bolsters, they can easily be used in On30 by using our FMW-4006-On30b wheel sets.

Act now, supplies are limited and dwindling!

MacLeod Western T-15 Truck Sprues:

These castings form the basis for a pair of South Pacific Coast’s Carter Brothers’, 10 Ton, 30″ or 3′ gauge, 3′ 7″ wheel base, wide bolster, arch bar, swing motion trucks. (Brakes, wheels, and screws not included.)

Scale
Stock No.
Description
Price
On30 or On3Sale T-15Pair of truck castings.$5.00




Using FMW-4006-On30b wheel sets.


Featured Product of the “Week” (more or less)

O/On3/On30/On2 American Car & Foundry, 24″ “Washburn” Pattern, Chilled Iron Wheels (in Celcon®)

It just doesn't get any better than this!

Something new, scale American Car & Foundry, 24″ wheels! And we do mean scale (O Scale to be exact, gauge to be determined by axle length, just like the real thing). These are very accurate copies of 24″ double plate or “Washburn” pattern, chilled iron wheels used on the Casper, South Fork, & Eastern and Mendocino Lumber Co. disconnects based on exacting measurements of those preserved in the Roots of Motive Power collection in Willits, California. We even cut the wheel tread to an exact match of period M.C.B./A.A.R. recommended practices (no mangling to match RP25 here). Also note as you look at the photos and read the captions, these wheels are only 0.5″ in diameter (aka the detail really is that small)! Production has begun and orders have been shipping since June!

New Wheels Sets installed in MacLeod Western T-16 Truck w/FMW-4000 Wooden Brake Beams and FMW-4004 Truck Brake Levers. (Yes, I did replace the cast brake rods with 0.0156″ wire. And, yes, I know the tops of the two levers aren’t suppose to be connected. I do it that way to keep the rods from interfering with the operation of the trucks - it doesn’t show on the finished model.)

Front and Back of the new wheel. The wheels are shot from the center of the wheel, so there aren’t any nicks in the flange or along the rim (only a tiny bit of flash that is easily cleaned off). Nor did we use knock out pins. The letters were cut with a 0.003″ diameter end mill for scale 1/8″ thick letters! The small rectangle on the back of the wheel is the gate or the place where the sand casting was filled on the prototype (which never seemed to be in the same place twice), the three holes were used to support while casting and drain the sand afterward that formed the hollow (or double plate) of the prototype, see below. Note: the 1/8″ thick arc on the back of the wheels is correct. AC&F didn’t build these disconnects specifically for the C.S.F.&E. or the M.L.Co., they were built as catalog items, hence the dash. Had they been built specifically for the C.S.F.&E. or the M.L.Co., the railroads initials would have appeared here (true for any built to order wheel/car order, no matter how small the railroad - even the NCNGRR’s wheels had their initials on them).

A cross sectional view of an early styrene test shot (cutting Celcon® isn’t easy). The styrene test shot had some slight warp-age (not present in the final Celcon® part), but does accurately show off the how closely the model follows the contours of the real wheel.

Assembled Wheel Sets (On3). We follow Cliff Grandt’s axle design for On3 - an exposed axle 1/16″ in diameter with an overall length of 1.165″. We’re using thin-walled, stainless steel, hypodermic tubing to simulate the straight, 5″ diameter axles of the prototype. They are not effected by under-track uncoupling magnets.

Typical AC&F 24″ wheels being measured and photographed at Roots of Motive Power, Willits, CA. Note the build-up of “stuff” of the face of the wheels on the left. Sometimes a lot of die cutting work will get lost in the real world.

Produced in a bright, metal-like color, these wheels are cast in Celcon®; a high strength, wear resistant acetal copolymer similar to Delrin®. Unlike the styrene wheels of old, these wheels don’t pick up any more dirt than metal wheels, roll just as freely as metal wheels, and are much quieter to boot. And because of the way we designed the wheels and axles, it is relatively easy for us to make custom wheel sets to any gauge and axle length. Just keep in mind that we aren’t able to produce pointed axles (so use in San Juan Car Co. trucks are out) and our fine-scale wheels don’t work with the NMRA’s 5 foot gauge “O Standard.” Though they should work well with the NMRA’s Proto-48 standard. While no set-up fees or minimums are required, all custom wheel orders will be final - no returns or refunds - and our regular shipping/sales tax charges apply.

American Car & Foundry, 24″ “Washburn” Pattern, Chilled Iron Wheels (in Celcon®):

These wheel sets include four axle sets in the following gauges. Recommended for use in Grandt Line Products, MacLeod Western, and most brass and white metal trucks. Not recommended for use in San Juan Car Co. trucks or any truck that uses pointed axles. All sales of custom axles are final and are non-returnable/non-refundable.

Gauge
“Back-to-Back”
Wheel Spacing
Axle Length
Description
Stock No.
Price
On2 0.416″ 0.915″ NMRA Standard On2 on NWSL Length Axles FMW-4006-On2 $10.00
On30 0.566″ 1.025″ NMRA Standard On30 on HO Length Axles FMW-4006-On30a $10.00
On30 0.566″ 1.165″ NMRA Standard On30 on On3 Length Axles (for use in On3 trucks) FMW-4006-On30b $10.00
On3 0.666″ 1.165″ NMRA Standard On3 on Cliff Grandt/NWSL Length Axles FMW-4006-On3 $10.00
Custom Specified
by Customer
Specified
by Customer
Wheel sets built to customer’s specifications FMW-4006-Custom $10.00







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Rev. 1/22/10.