Doodlebug

Hi all.
I want to start a new thread as something separate from heavyweight car conversion I talked about these a few years ago, and also RDCs. The Z community was fortunate to get the Budd RDCS. I would love to have a doodlebug. They were the same kind of thing as the RDCs (I am sure RDCs were called doodlebugs and dickeys in some places) but the ones I am talking about are Gas Electric cars. A good link about them and a blueprint for one could be found here www.mtmuseum.org/jsr/roster/cbq9735.php

A doodlebug like in your link can be done some etched parts, a half MTL or AZL chassis for the drive and a passenger car truck at the end. Should be not too hard. The fret would be around $50 or so. So if there are some guys around willing to take a fret or a complete car I could activate my gray cells...

Gerd I can try and scan some diagrams and pictures from the same book they reference above, with different models of doodlebugs. That might make it easier for you to mate the body with a chassis. Radiator/exhaust stacks would probably have to be molded or turned on a lathe.Burlington Route Historical Society also published a book on their doodlebugs. I could send you info on that too.

Bachmann makes some nice looking gas/electric doodlebugs in N scale ( www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?searchStr=doodlebug&act=viewCat&Submit=Go&WWS=1&FAW=1
but about ½ that price on eBay). I think this would be a great product for AZL to look into making. They’d probably sell even better than their RDC’s.

Now Joe, we want Gerd to make his money too
You know, they made so many of these and they were all different, if 3 companies made them that would be cool, as long as they were different types and models. That thing Sea-Rails made with the Mack truck front end was a the granddaddy of them all. (though the real one had 4 wheels in front for a pilot and 2 drive wheels in back not four) CB&Q had one at the turn of the century and sold it to another railroad where it ran for year and years afterwards.
But if someone wants to make one for real, I would like this one. CB&Q 9844 www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=762729
abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?march12/03-26-12/CB_Q844WmMiddleton_ScanColl.jpg Earlier picture, it was renumbered to 9844
I have diagrams of it too and I can scan and send to anyone interested in making this model. Truck centers are 57 feet, 3 5/4 inch apart.

Kelly, don't forget to ask for a trailer car at the same time! Otherwise either we'll never see it, or it'll be 10 years down the road after the introduction of the doodlebug.

having done several doodlebugs the half chassis up front works, but you really need track pickups on the rear truck for dependable operation, unless you are doing an articulated like Santafe ME190. Many of the doddlebugs had the same truck at the front end as at the rear.

Here is a link to some history of EMC cars many built in late 1920's at St Louis Car company and under license in Australia in Victoria state

here are a couple of my creations. one a modern version of the ME190 style articulated car and the other an older style EMC version shorty version. both units powered by GP chassis with truck side frames from Bachmann old timer street cars in n-scale which are a typical traction truck design.

another good source of information is a book called doodlebug country by Edmond Keilty and published by interurban press of Glendale Calif. in 1982. I have a copy and have built manyof these criters in N-scale using switcher chassis to power them and after cutting rear truck off the the switcher I extended the drive shaft with brass tubing to connect with rear truck for power. I usually started with a combine car as the donor car body and created a trailer from either a coach or an observation car and sometimes both were used as trailers. I have also seen doodlebugs that were built from a combine car with the rear porch from an observation car. I now have several in Z scale as well. in including the ones seen here I have a M10000 for a total of 4 that run on 6.5mm track.

today the most likely ones to be seen are the ones operated by Sperry rail services if still in service. DC3 was the last one I saw and it was in the Toronto area in 2002. Many of Sperry's fleet started life as doodlebugs or gas electrics and several were purpose built for Sperry by EMC and St Louis car company. many were converted to diesel electric as late as early 2000's, but today most have been replaced Mack hi line trucks. Those cars acquired by Sperry had a long service life.

Hi Kelley,
shoot the drawings over, I will have a look what can be done. A doodelbug is fine with one powered truck, what should it pull apart from 1 other carriage? Power pick up with some metal wheels on the rear truck is on the list.

You could pull a heavyweight coach, or a box car or two or maybe a caboose at most. Things in real life were not made to pull much. Most carried the mail becasue they had to becasue it was the law for the railroads to do this. My railroad is flat so if it pulls itself I am happy with that. I am sure someone out there will want it to pull 10 double stacks in a suitcase over and under layout with 6 percent grades and 95mm degrees radius. I will get drawings to you ASAP

A doodlebug would be nice. I've seen video of a PGE doodlebug hauling a passenger car.
That would be fun to model.

Hirailtruck wrote: A doodlebug would be nice. I've seen video of a PGE doodlebug hauling a passenger car.
That would be fun to model.

have you got a URL of that photo?

I lived near the PGE or BCR and don't ever remember doodlebugs though I have seen pictures of several interurbans that were converted to doodlebugs with gas engines pre WWII. In my time PGE ran an RDC train from North Vancouver BC to Prince George BC 3 times a week and in winter it was made up of two RDC units and in the summer it could have as many as 4 but 3 was more common. The only passenger train I saw on those rails was the Royal Hudson excursion train from North Vancouver to Squamish during the summer for many years with a 2-8-0 stand in if the Hudson was out of service for any reason