On a recent Amtrak journey through the hills of western Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, I was looking forward to seeing evidence of the coal mining operations in the region. Some call it a family vacation to Washington D.C., but for me it was also a trip to survey the landscape in preparation for building CTT’s Readers’ Choice Railroad O gauge project layout.
As daylight broke on the second day of travel, I moved to the observation car with the hope of spotting something representative of regional industry. But as I looked out, I was surprised by what I saw. Not a single coal tipple, but there were several wind turbines towering above the treetops. This was the present-day “coal country” that we could easily re-create with a new K-Line operating wind turbine.
Out of the box
The K-Line KBL Wind Turbine Technologies Corp. operating wind turbine stands 15½ inches tall or
approximately 62 feet (base to top of housing) in O scale. But when you assemble the three plastic blades, the overall height raises to 22 inches. At that height, it’s one of the tallest toy train accessories on the market. With the blades attached, you’ll also find the 15-inch width of the accessory is equally impressive.
After installing (no screws provided) the wind turbine on a flat surface, two wires extending from the base are all you’ll need to connect the accessory to 12-18 volts (AC). Once powered, the blades will immediately begin to rotate at a slow pace of approximately 18 complete revolutions per minute. There’s no on/off switch or speed control, so a separate sale switch and variable voltage power supply are useful additions.
Overall, the sleek lines and mesmerizing movement of this modern-era accessory makes it one of the most dominating structures you can add to any O or S gauge layout. And if just one isn’t enough fill your layout skyline, a trio of the turbines (Lionel no. 16850) is available at a $224.99 retail price.
Price: $74.99 (no. 22583)
Features: O or S gauge; requires 12-18 volts (AC); slow-rotating blades; plastic construction
Pros: Modern, forward-thinking structure; simple mechanism
Cons: No warning beacon, on/off switch, or mounting screws
Made in the People’s Republic of China
Just bought one, it is very noisy to me . Is that normal,how can you soften the noise and can you take it apart to see why it makes noise? Thanks
Looked at several that are locally available. Yes, a bit expensive for what you get. So is most of O-guage. If somebody stopped by my layout in their time machine they would be confused to see steam, an old time radio station, microwave towers, and now – maybe- this. But, their footprint is small and they don't take up much of my rapidly vanishing real estate. Charles says they are underscaled, and I am sure he is right, but they look soooo big to me. Can you see I am equivocating?
I put one of these on the layout this past Xmas and it got great reviews from family and friends. It's a nice change from and addition to the standard O-gauge retro accessories. Mine came with screws, so setup was quick. A separate on/off switch would be handy, but I'm not sure I'd agree with Kent about the variable voltage supply…this is a windmill, not an airplane, and I think it works just fine at its factory 20 RPM. If you're not happy with the height, there's an article in the March (?) CTT on how to make it taller and add a strobe warning light.
yeah yeah yeah
Good thing these aren't scale models. The real ones stand 300' with 100' blades, making a total of 400' or, in scale over 8'! Maybe that would make them worth the high price, especially if they were really functional – you could run your trains with them.
Scatch building takes too much time. I'm going to get one myself.
I have 3 of these, and they work perfect. You can run them slow or faster if you wish. Well recommended.
The turbine is toomuch money for a little decorate thje railroad. it' necessary a bib table with a green sspace for installed it. The quebec citizen had a problem with real turbine insi the comntry, Te propeller is very slow.
why spend the 75 bucks you scratch build one out of modeling wood thats cheaper and its paintable and you can do varialble speeds with the proper engine with it