A few years back I came across a photo of some MOW equipment spotted on the old Nagle Lumber spur in Iowa City. Since it fit the modeled era for The Hills Line, I wanted to included some representation of that scene on the railroad.
The only commercially available product I was able to locate were kits from Custom Finishing. While they would have worked, the effort required to complete those kits was (and remains) well beyond my means. I put this project into my “some other day” folder.
Fortunately some other day is here. Recent I discovered a set of construction equipment from Diecast Masters. Normally the smallest scale available for most toy, farm, or other die cast gear is 1:64. However, they offer a large selection of ready-to-run machinery in 1:87.
Buried in their catalog is the Caterpillar M323F Railroad Wheeled Excavator, complete with rail clamshell and ballast tamper. It’s a perfect fit for my modeled era, especially since the Iowa Interstate did a fair amount of track work on the industrial spur during their lease period. A few moments with some Dullcoat, an India Ink wash, and some PanPastels and I was done. The excavator adds a great little scenic vista to the railroad.
Standard disclaimer: I’m not in anyway associated with Diecast Masters. I’m just a satisfied customer.
The Hills Line 