Civil War Era Wagons
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Wagons and limbers
The answer would depend what you mean by"wagons." If you are asking about the rail vehicles that Europeans call "wagons", and Americans call "freight cars" then the answer would be railroad flat cars.
On the other hand, if you mean horse-drawn road vehicles, then the answer would be "limbers." A limber is a type of reinforced two-wheel, horse drawn cart, specifically designed to pull artillery. A typical civil war cannon was a muzzle loading field artillery piece mounted on a gun carriage equipped with two large diameter spoked wooden wheels (commonly called "wagon wheels") The gun carriage also had a "trail" beam projecting backward behind the wheels, and the "breach" or rear, of the actual gun barrel.
In action the trail sat on the ground and helped keep the cannon steady. The crew could aim the gun by lifting the trail and slewing it to one side or the other. When the cannon had to be moved any distance the trail would be lifted, and a ring attached to the trail would be connected to a hook on the limber. Horses could then pull the limber, and cannon, to wherever they were needed. Limbers also had a freight compartment, like a car's trunk. It carried ammunition spare parts and other supplies for the gun crew.
Western movie type "conestoga wagons" were also heavily used during the civil war, though not often to pull cannon. They were the civil war equivalent of the ubiquitous "dece & a half" 2-1/2 ton truck used by the US military in WWII. They carried everything from food to ammunition to medical supplies.
As for models, Preiser make beautiful horse-drawn wagons, complete with horses, in N-scale, and HO scale.
The first half of the 1960s was the centennial of the civil war and I remember some flexible-plastic toy civil war soldiers (appropriately molded in blue or gray plastic. They were about HO-scale, and they had cannon, limbers and, I think, wagons too. You might try a google search for "civil war toy soldiers" and see what's available now.
Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:
aquakiwi;
The answer would depend what you mean by"wagons." If you are asking about the rail vehicles that Europeans call "wagons", and Americans call "freight cars" then the answer would be railroad flat cars.
On the other hand, if you mean horse-drawn road vehicles, then the answer would be "limbers." A limber is a type of reinforced two-wheel, horse drawn cart, specifically designed to pull artillery. A typical civil war cannon was a muzzle loading field artillery piece mounted on a gun carriage equipped with two large diameter spoked wooden wheels (commonly called "wagon wheels") The gun carriage also had a "trail" beam projecting backward behind the wheels, and the "breach" or rear, of the actual gun barrel.
In action the trail sat on the ground and helped keep the cannon steady. The crew could aim the gun by lifting the trail and slewing it to one side or the other. When the cannon had to be moved any distance the trail would be lifted, and a ring attached to the trail would be connected to a hook on the limber. Horses could then pull the limber, and cannon, to wherever they were needed. Limbers also had a freight compartment, like a car's trunk. It carried ammunition spare parts and other supplies for the gun crew.
Western movie type "conestoga wagons" were also heavily used during the civil war, though not often to pull cannon. They were the civil war equivalent of the ubiquitous "dece & a half" 2-1/2 ton truck used by the US military in WWII. They carried everything from food to ammunition to medical supplies.
As for models, Preiser make beautiful horse-drawn wagons, complete with horses, in N-scale, and HO scale.
The first half of the 1960s was the centennial of the civil war and I remember some flexible-plastic toy civil war soldiers (appropriately molded in blue or gray plastic. They were about HO-scale, and they had cannon, limbers and, I think, wagons too. You might try a google search for "civil war toy soldiers" and see what's available now.
Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:
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Civil war railroad equipment
Bachmann made HO-scale, and N-scale 4-4-O "American type" steam locomotives and civil war era freight and passenger cars. Perhaps they still do, or you could certainly find them on Ebay. The freight cars included flat cars, an early version of a "tank car" (a flat car with three large wooden tubs on it) and boxcars. The passenger cars were the wood sheathed, open vestibule, clerestory roof, type seen in many western movies. The locomotives were based on the two that were in the famous photo of the golden spike ceremony, held at the completion of the U.S. transcontinental railroad. Which was shortly after the end of our civil war. Similar locomotive types were used before , during, and after the war. All the cars were short by more modern standards. About 30 feet for the average freight car of the time. They were nearly all wood with truss rods under the floor to prevent sagging. Archbar trucks and other types of early "built-up" (of many individual parts) rather than cast trucks were used. Kadee, and Micro-Trains offer these trucks in HO & N scales respectively. These cars could easily be scratchbuilt from basswood and/or brass. You could,in fact, make a better model than the Bachmann commercial offerings, which are a bit crude with all hardware quite oversized. The real cars would have used link and pin couplers, which are not commercially available, and would be a royal PITA to couple and uncouple in either scale. The Bachmann cars came with Rapido coupler on the older N-scale versions I have, but if the cars are still produced, they may come with knuckle couplers now. The Kadee/Micro-Trains trucks are available with/or without These brands excellent automatic, magnetic knuckle couplers attached.
Good luck, Have fun!
Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:
aquakiwi;
Bachmann made HO-scale, and N-scale 4-4-O "American type" steam locomotives and civil war era freight and passenger cars. Perhaps they still do, or you could certainly find them on Ebay. The freight cars included flat cars, an early version of a "tank car" (a flat car with three large wooden tubs on it) and boxcars. The passenger cars were the wood sheathed, open vestibule, clerestory roof, type seen in many western movies. The locomotives were based on the two that were in the famous photo of the golden spike ceremony, held at the completion of the U.S. transcontinental railroad. Which was shortly after the end of our civil war. Similar locomotive types were used before , during, and after the war. All the cars were short by more modern standards. About 30 feet for the average freight car of the time. They were nearly all wood with truss rods under the floor to prevent sagging. Archbar trucks and other types of early "built-up" (of many individual parts) rather than cast trucks were used. Kadee, and Micro-Trains offer these trucks in HO & N scales respectively. These cars could easily be scratchbuilt from basswood and/or brass. You could,in fact, make a better model than the Bachmann commercial offerings, which are a bit crude with all hardware quite oversized. The real cars would have used link and pin couplers, which are not commercially available, and would be a royal PITA to couple and uncouple in either scale. The Bachmann cars came with Rapido coupler on the older N-scale versions I have, but if the cars are still produced, they may come with knuckle couplers now. The Kadee/Micro-Trains trucks are available with/or without These brands excellent automatic, magnetic knuckle couplers attached.
Good luck, Have fun!
Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:
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Never mind; I got the reply " I have a car that has two field pieces on it, they were convention items from the Train Collectors Association, I think from the 1980's. They are O gauge. I found it at a train collectors show. They also had a flat with cotton bails and a passenger car. "
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Not sure if these folks are still in business, but the website works:
http://www.btsrr.com/bts9509.htm
http://www.btsrr.com/bts9509.htm
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1,473 Posts
You must mean The Dictator. BTSRR.com has it, even with the funky car. I put it on a regular flatcar so it can chase the General. The flatcar and box car are also BTSRR. I think Mantua makes some cars of that era also.
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Thank you for all your replys, I'm learning a lot from this forum. A wee bit off topic, I brought this pack of Civil War soldiers on ebay from Scenesetters .
The retailer assured me they are HO ................but they are at least three times bigger, not 1/32 but perhaps 1/48th or similar.
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The retailer assured me they are HO ................but they are at least three times bigger, not 1/32 but perhaps 1/48th or similar.
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12,873 Posts
Yeah, I'd get your money back on that one. An HO scale person is a little over 3/4" (about 2 cm) tall. Those are possible a blended HO/OO scale (1/72), but more likely S (1/64), using the end of your thumb for a scale reference.
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