GE 65 Tonner #112 and GE 44 Tonner #111 switch cars at Reisdorf Brothers Mill in North Java, New York, on May 17, 2004. North Java has been the end of the line since the Tonawanda Creek flood heavily damaged the railroad in 1957. PHOTO BY DARREL RATHBUN
The Arcade & Attica currently operates between Arcade Junction and North Java, NY.
	Arcade & Attica No. 111 crosses the Cattaraugus Creek Bridge in Arcade, New York, with a short freight on July 10, 2003. PHOTO BY DARREL RATHBUN
	Arcade & Attica No. 111 leads a northbound freight at Genesee Road on the way to Reisdorf Brothers Mill in North Java on May 17, 2004. PHOTO BY DARREL RATHBUN
	The author visiting the cab on a recent trip to the Arcade & Attica. PHOTO PROVIDED BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	The A&A owns three center-cab engines, and each one is unique. Plus, they have all been repainted several times. I used my research to help me identify the differences in the fleet and compare to the models from USA Trains. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	As they came from USA Trains, they looked great right out of the box. I ordered undecorated units for this project. The handrails will be added later, after painting. The engine came with a fully detailed interior, but I cannot live with the jade green color or the weird looking engineer, though. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	To allow the couplers to swing on sharp curves, the model had a big, unrealistic gap in the pilot. I took the cover off and snapped some picture of the motor and gears. You can see the speaker spot on the left (for a future sound system perhaps?) PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	To close the gap in the pilot, I decided to mount the couplers on the body. To do this, I needed room to build a mounting pad. Then, I built my own coupler height gauge and determined how high the pad should sit from the tops of the rails. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	I drew out plans for the coupler mounting pad. Working from the underside of the engine down towards the rail, I figured out how tall the pad would have to be. DRAWING BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Different couplers for large scale trains. From left to right: (1) LGB “hook and loop,” (2) USA Trains knuckle, (3) Kadee knuckle. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	By mounting the coupler on a pivot screw, I could then allow it to swing just enough to negotiate turns. This would require a much smaller pilot gap than the original. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Arcade & Attica #111 was a tough challenge to model because it had different pilots on each end--And one of them was taken from #110 when that engine was retired. I had to check my photos carefully for the right information! PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	The rear plow of #111 was made of three boards mounted at angles. I staggered the ends and added "wood grain" to the styrene. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Arcade & Attica #111's front pilot was a greater challenge as they looked like two pieces welded together to make a bigger snow plow. I decided to use brass sheet to model this plow. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Making the plow was not as hard as I thought. I was able to bend and dent up the brass a little bit, making it look like the real plow that is used to push heavy drifts of snow. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Engine #112 had near-identical plows on each side. I used these nails to represent bolts. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	After my modifications, the gaps in the front are smaller and the plows make the engines look more realistic. While their appearance was greatly enhanced, there were still more details to add. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Engine #112 had different style handrails on the front and rear than what came included with the stock USA Trains model. I decided the only way to make new handrails would be to use brass wire and solder new ones together. This was my first soldering project, and it came out better than I expected. I also designed and built the soldering jig pictured here. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Here is one the completed replacement handrails for engine 112. I could have used silver solder for additional strength, but instead I used a little super glue at the joints for reinforcement. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	The A&A uses really large, unique Nathan M5 air horns and Ozark Miniatures recently released a kit to model them. The folks at Ozark Miniatures were very helpful and a pleasure to work with when I was selecting details for my project. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Arcade & Attica 111, just like it looked when it was painted in the 1970s! The custom decals were created by Ricky Rupp, and the custom paint job was executed by Bob’s Custom Trains. The large scale of the USA Trains model really lets you appreciate the added details and modifications. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Engine 112, just as it looks when it was repainted by the railroad in 2003. The engine resembles its appearance when it was delivered new in the 1940s. Finishing was completed with custom decals by Ricky Rupp and custom paint by Bob’s Custom Trains. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	The custom paint job really shines in this view of the large scale Arcade & Attica fleet. Once I finish painting the details, like cut bars and handrails, the models will be complete. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Arcade & Attica 111 and 112 at work on a friend’s outdoor garden railway. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI
	Arcade & Attica 111 and 112 at work on a friend’s outdoor garden railway. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MAGGI

By Benjamin Maggi/Photos by the author
Originally published February 4, 2008

For me, it was love at first sight. From the very first tug of the coach as the train left the station to the last shudder as the brakes dug into the wheels, from the pull of the whistle cord, where the whistle echoed off the hills and trees, to the sounds of a steam engine that groaned and hissed with each rotation of the wheel, and the wafting of coal smoke as one hung on to the shaking open gondola car, riding the Arcade and Attica Railroad was an experience that overtook all five of my senses. More than a quaint excursion trip through rural western New York, it was a trip back in time.

Even though I am only 26 and born long after regular use of steam locomotives ended, I was fortunate enough to live near the only working steam locomotives in the state. Every father’s day, family would drive from Rochester south to Arcade and ride the train. It was a magical experience for a young boy in the late 1980’s. As a lover of anything train related, to see a steam locomotive up close and working hard was incredible. The railroad used to let you tour the engine during the layover stops, (something that insurance and other safety reasons prohibits today), and being so close to something so powerful was scary and yet exhilarating. Riding back in the gondola, which was coupled to the front of the engine for the return trip as no turntable or why was in Curriers, my ears would ring from the bell, hurt from the whistle blowing, the car would bounce around on the track… making me sometimes wonder if I should have stayed in my seat. But to a boy, it was everything happiness is all about.

As I grew older, my family would sometimes vacation in western New York, which meant occasionally driving through Arcade. I crossed my fingers, hoping the route we would take would pass through the city. Sometimes it did, sometimes, it just missed. It did not matter, as even glimpsing the bright orange station was exciting. And, as I grew into a model railroader in both talent and financial resources, I knew I had to have it for myself.

First, I began taking pictures. Taking pictures of anything related to the railroad. My father once took me early in the morning to Arcade on an overcast day, and we waited and waited for the local freight to return. I got some great shots of centercab 44-tonner #111, and to me, that was railfanning. The entire experience was short, as soon the engine was in the engine house for the night, but I knew I had to have that engine. Engine #111. I had always been drawn to centercabs, as my grandfather’s Lionel train engine was none other than a Lehigh Valley 44-tonner. While crude in rendition to the prototype, it was close enough for me. Later, in the early 1990’s, Bachmann released an HO scale 44-tonner model. It was reasonably priced, ran well, and detailed well enough to pass my standards (which were quite low at the time).

On that trip to Arcade in 1997, I also talked with General Manager of the railroad. She was quite accommodating in dealing with me, then 15, and she answered all of my questions. I mentioned to her that I wanted to model the railroad, and she told me about the article in Model Railroader magazine. She mentioned a recent article in Railfan & Railroad magazine that covered the railroad, and of course I had to have that too. Since then, I have worn over many issues of the magazines!

This was only one trip of many that I would take to photograph the Arcade and Attica Railroad. While always being on public property, with a nice camera one can still get a great many shots of the equipment. On one trip, I ran out of film and literally was running around Arcade looking for a store that sold cameras and film to purchase more… with the knowledge that any moment a double-headed freight train was due! No one said short line railroading was not exciting! I now have a binder full of useful information gleaned from these trips, with pages for each piece of equipment owned by the line, its history, pictures spanning several decades, and modeling tips. I also have brochures, other magazine articles, articles in other relevant magazines about topics like Boonton coaches and 44-tonners in general. I scour eBay for stuff on a daily basis and have for years, and in the process have met the same few other collectors who also bid. This has led to a friendly agreement amongst us to not bid up prices on things that can be “shared.” As my fiancée puts it, I am “obsessed.”

A little history
Today, many of us know the Arcade & Attica as the western New York shortline that has been operating steam excursions since the 1960s. While that has been a large part of their public operations, they have a long history as a freight hauler as well. The A&A can be traced all the way back to 1870, when the Attica & Arcade Railroad was chartered to build a line to connect what would be the Erie at Attica with Arcade. The railroad went bankrupt in 1873 and was never completed. In April 1880, the Tonawanda Valley Railroad was organized (with financial support from the Erie) to construct a narrow gauge line south to Curriers. The first trains ran that September, and plans for the Tonawanda Valley Extension Railroad to continue to Sardinia were put into place. That winter, the route was changed and construction began to connect Curriers with Arcade. Once the TVE reached Arcade in May 1881, further extension was in the works. That July, the Tonawanda Valley & Cuba began building towards Cuba, New York, to meet up with another Erie route. To simplify matters, the connecting lines were merged into the TV&C, and the full Attica-Cuba narrow gauge route was completed that September. Facilities to transfer cars from standard gauge to narrow gauge allowed interchange to take place.

While the route was now complete, a series of name changes, line closures and sales would take place through the end of the century. By 1884, the TV&C was defaulting on its bonds and entered receivership. As a cost cutting move, operations were cut back from Cuba to Sandusky, New York. In 1891, the section from Attica to Freedom was sold and operated as the Attica & Freedom Railroad. The A&E went bankrupt in 1894, and the Buffalo, Attica & Arcade was organized to operate the line. The goal of the new management was to convert the line to standard gauge, and by 1895 trains were again running between Attica and Curriers. By the end of the year, the rest of the route to Arcade was opened and running. In 1897, a two mile connection was built to interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Arcade Junction.

By 1902, the BA&A had extended to Sandusky, but a flood destroyed the line south of Arcade. In 1904, the connecting Buffalo & Susquehanna purchased the BA&A, and operated the line until it was sold to a Pittsburgh investor in 1913. The railroad fell into decline and suspended operations in 1917. At that time, the Arcade & Attica Railroad was organized to take over the operations of the BA&A. The fortunes of the little line began to look up, as the railroad settled into its new role hauling agricultural products, lumber, and other materials. A new GE diesel switcher, No. 110, arrived in the 1941 to replace the aging steam engines, dramatically reducing operating costs. A second switcher, No. 111 arrived in 1947 The Tonawanda Creek flood of 1957 caused major damage and the line between Attica and North Java was abandoned for good. While diesels helped improve the bottom line, the management saw the value in bringing back steam passenger excursions in the 1960s- a popular attraction to this day. Engine 18 came from the Boyne City Railroad in 1962 (currently completing a multi-year overhaul), while Engine 14 came from the Escanaba & Lake Superior in 1963 (currently stored out of service). The last engine acquired by the A&A was GE 65-tonner No. 112 from the City of Colorado Springs in 1988.

Preparing Large Scale Models
It was innocent at first. I had room for N scale, and quickly sold off most of my HO scale stuff and bought N scale equipment. But, there was no chance of modeling the A&A in N scale, considering that no 44-tonners were available or would probably ever be, steam locomotives that ran well and looked the part were also nonexistent, and “Boonton” coaches would not happen either. And so my collection of memorabilia and pictures grew, but my roster of equipment did not. Then, while reading a copy of Model Railroader, I saw that USA Trains has 44-tonners in large scale, represented in 1:29 proportion. While technically not a correct size for the tracks, it was good enough for me. And something about the size of the trains appealed to me. No more squinting like in N scale or even HO, I could really build an impressive train. Plus, my fiancée liked the large scale trains because they had sound effects and other realistic features (she keeps begging me to weather my trains to make them more realistic and it is I shudders at the thought of making pretty trains dirty… can you believe that?!). We have toyed with a garden railroad once we are married and have space for one, so I thought that I would get a jump start on it by building some equipment early.

A quick phone call and two undecorated units were on their way to my door. When they arrived, I was floored. This stuff is big! I knew that if I added rivets, I would be able to see them. Same with other details. Paint alone was not going to cut it, nor would the addition of number decals without more. I wanted each engine to represent as close as I could come to the real thing.

First, I had to settle on what to model. The A&A owned two different 44-tonners, and also a 65-tonner. Each was quite similar in appearance, but each also had their special traits. I loved #111, and knew it was going to be modeled. Then, another shock. The A&A repainted its motive power in 2002 into an attractive “tiger stripe” scheme as it originally came from the GE factory 60 years before. I now had three engines to model, with several different paint schemes to choose from. In essence, I could model #110 as it originally came in the tiger-stripe scheme, or in the 1970’s repaint of solid orange and black. Same with #111, but that was also repainted in the “retro” scheme which was quite similar to the original scheme. Finally, #112 was acquired used from another railroad and I could paint that as its “arrived in” scheme or the new retro-scheme. So many choices. I wanted one of each, and #111 had to be the solid orange and black scheme, because that was what I had wanted since I was young. This would be engine #6 (5 HO models and one large scale model) and I was going to get it done right! So, I had a choice: #110 in the original scheme or #112 in the “retro” scheme. I chose the later, because modeling the earlier #110 would mean lots of detail changes (and some cool additions like actual cow-catcher pilots!), and I had not the inclination to do it right. I certainly did not want to do it half-way, so I have the option in the future to add another engine to my roster!

To make things more fun, the railroad had some unique features on their engines. All have Nathan 5-chime air horns, which in 1:29 was impossible to find. Making my own and then casting them was an option, as was gluing together lots of horn parts bought from Aristocraft or USA trains. Then, a quick call to Ozark’s Miniatures confirmed that they had just begun stocking Nathan five-chime air horns! So new, they were not online or in their catalog. Call it fate! I ordered pair, and then began thinking about couplers. I wanted to use Kadee’s realistic knuckle couplers, and also wanted to close the pilot gap in the front with plows, which meant body mounting. Talking with Kadee’s customer service representative, he helped me figure out what I needed. Even when I managed to lose one to my huge 55-gallon garbage can, he sent me another free of charge (That, by the way, is excellent customer service). Along the way, I bought and used a tap to allow 4-40 screws to be used (my first use of a tap) and I built the coupler pad out of epoxy (my first ever time using that type of glue). Everything was coming together, because I had 10 years of planning under my belt.

Plows were another matter. The A&A has to fight lots of snow in western New York, so they have built some plows for their engines. Not regular ones either, but large, shop-created ones. And, on some engines each end had a different style plow! Plus, they seemed to move them from engine to engine, as I have pictures of both #110 and #111 with the same plow. Using pictures to model the engines was mandatory, and even my models are dated to certain times when I can confirm that all the details are appropriate. I built at least two models of each plow, having messed up or changed my mind along the way, and can say with confidence that watching football while trying to detail an engine is a bad idea!

I added more details, and soon it was time for handrails. I thought #112 would be tough, as it had handrails that did not match those supplied with the engine from USA Trains, and that would mean scratch-building them. I had read about this before, but had never done it. I made a jig anyways, fired up my old soldering iron (which is about ready to die) and made one. And it looked great! I could not believe it! I made another, and it came out nice too. I then super-glued the joints just to be on the safe side, and packed them away. I would not add them until it was time for painting, as I did not want them broken. I also built sunshades, other grab irons, and things like that. Everything was fine until the day I was supposed to send my engines to the painter, when I realized that I had not noticed an important detail: #111’s end handrails do not attach to the end of the hoods, but actually bend out and form one long, wrap-around railing. This was in my pictures, but I had missed it completely! I had no time to make new ones, so away they went. I will have to fix this in time, though I am sure only I will ever know about it (and you readers, too).

Once again, I needed decals, and this time two sets- one for each paint scheme. I called up Ricky again, who remembered my name, and we talked about it for a while. He still had some G scale decals (mentioned above) but they were only for coaches and the gondola, not the engines. He agreed to make mine, but would need some pictures from me of the prototype as well as the actual models so that he could properly size them. He lives near Arcade, so he said he could also drive down in case he needed more pictures. That sure was convenient, to have a local painter familiar with the prototype. I did not want to mail my engines, so I drove them to him on a trip home (and my parents thought I was there to visit them!) Ricky did not custom paint engines anymore, but his friend Bob of Bob’s Custom Trains did, and Bob agreed to take on my project. He is currently very busy, but I was in no rush… I waited 10 years, I could wait a little longer, and the engines came back perfect! I just need to touch up the grabs and handrails in yellow and add the sunshades and they will be done! It was a long and winding road, but finally I had my beloved #111 just as I wanted her. The paint was perfect, she was nice and detailed, and big enough that I could appreciate her on a shelf across the room. Hopefully, she will hopefully have a railroad to run on when I buy a house with space for a garden.

Even larger scale… and larger yet!
Recently, I have been active in the Adirondack Live Steamers and have talked with several members about building 1/8 size models of A&A equipment. One member owns a 44-tonner engine, which currently is not manufactured commercially by any company. He built it himself, and it looks great. And, I know of two men who built exact models of A&A #14, the ten-wheeler which I wanted to model myself. I have talked with the one surviving person, and I might purchase castings from him when they become available to build a model of it myself. Clearly, the size of my efforts was increasing! Soon, I might even purchase some actually A&A equipment. I have offered to purchase one of the two remaining cabooses from the line, currently owner by a private party, but backed off when the railroad contacted me for information about its whereabouts- they want to purchase it too! And, better them than I.

Conclusion
Future plans call for continuing my collection of 1:29 scale equipment. I have already scaled out Aristocraft heavyweight coaches, and know that by shortening them, changing the window patterns, installing proper 4-wheel trucks, other details and repainting them, they will make passable models. Aristocraft is also releasing their C16 Consolidation soon, which is actually 1:24 scale but too small for it to look good. However, with a new stack, pilot, smaller and more modern cab, and a new tender, and some paint, it will look pretty much like A&A #18. No commercial models in 1:29 come close to a composite gondola, so that will involve scratch-building… something I am eagerly awaiting in this large size. Who knows, maybe other projects will come up. Micro-Trains just announced for June that they will release an A&A boxcar in N scale, and that means that on my N scale layout a little bit of the A&A will surface!

My projects are more than just an obsession of mine to model the railroad. It is about bringing back memories of my childhood, promoting awareness of the only short-line in NY that has working steam locomotives, preserving history for future generations, and also taking pride in New York. Lots of people have helped me along the way, and a few are: Jason Galloway, Pat Connors (A&A Historian, Board member, and Friends of the A&A member); Allan Crowe and Bob’s Custom Trains (my custom painters); Ricky Rupp (my decal maker); John Brahaney (former A&A Operations & Safety Manager), and my friend John Camerota (NYSDOT). Finally, my fiancee Sarah Watrous, who grew up in Arcade two houses down from the engine house (when I heard that, I knew she was a keeper!) and who has accompanied me on several railfanning and research trips to the area.

References
Model Railroader, September 1978, p.78-89, 116-117.
Railfan & Railroad, June 1996, p.50-55
Railroad Model Craftsman, June 1969, p.24-27
Model Railroader, September 1978, p.112-115.