1:22.5 AND 1:20 SCALE DETAIL CASTINGS
Manufacturer: Ozark Miniatures, P.O. Box 22, Linn Creek, MO 65052. Price: OM-107-2 loco and tender poling pocket $1.25 per bag of four; OM-141-2 water or oil hatch $3.00 each.
HERE THEY ARE, two more tidbits from your pals at Ozark and they're up to Ozark's usual standard of excellence. Both are white metal castings for detailing your locomotive and tender.
When a locomotive crew wanted to move a car along a parallel track without actually switching onto that track, they pushed the car by means of a pole. The poling pocket provided a kind of "socket" to receive the ends of the pole. The practice was common and lasted for years. If you look at the ends of an ARISTO-CRAFT boxcar, for example, you may notice a pair of outward facing semi-circles on each end. They are poling pockets. Virtually all locomotives whose duties included switching had poling pockets at both edges of the front and rear pilot beams. Ozark's castings reflect a triangular mounting plate design; many were square or rectangular, too.
The water or oil hatch kit contains two castings and a short brass rod. You must core the hinges on the base and cover castings, then insert the rod, and cement the assembly to the tender, side tanks, or saddle tank of your locomotive.
Our samples have crisp detail, are clean, free of flash, and of excellent quality. Try one; you'll be happy.-RR
