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Dear fellow modellers,

before I start to talk about what Stoner Creek is all about I like to introduce myself to those who do not met me at the last narrow gauge conventions. My name is Steffen; I live in Germany and was born in 1961. In my 9-5 job I am a civil engineer “playing” with real trains.

When I came into HOn3 some 15 years ago while visiting Chama and then Caboose Hobbies in Denver I was very frustrated with the performance of the first used brass engine I bought. After being in re-motoring European Narrow Gauge engines (HOn2, HOm (meter gauge) for over 15 years I tried to transfer the ideas I had to HOn3. As most of the American narrow gauge engines are larger than those over here it was not complicated to get excellent results. I wanted my old WSM C 25 a strong and slow yard switcher for my layout and I started a conversion with a Faulhaber gear head motor. Performance was great but I was not satisfied. The engine did not „simulate weight“as I saw it on my former conversions. You have a significant protract during acceleration and slow down which is typical for the prototype operation. My goal was to reach this without electronical gimmicks. She should perform like an On3 gauge engine or even better. This led me to build in a new gear head motor with double shaft and a flywheel (the back head had to be removed to give the flywheel space, but it do not stick out of the cab). The result was stunning, minimum speed was now 0.2 scale mph, maximum speed was 30 scale mph, coasting at top speed about 10 inches. This engine and my other conversion perform better than most On3 engines I saw. You can regulate them so sensitive that you can couple with a car (with exceptionally free rolling trucks) without moving the car. After doing some re-motoring for fellow modellers over here, I started Stoner Creek Miniatures back in 1997.

When I collected more and more engines over the years I saw that even new engines from prime importers like PSC or Key did not perform half as good as they look. Most have straight armature motors and low reduction gearboxes and you will search in vain for flywheels (except some old PFM Shays). When I showed one of my conversions at a Caboose Hobbies in Denver in 1999 every one of the staff and the customers was astonished that and 40 years old WSM/Nakamura K 37 could perform so superb. I have re-motored about 1200 engines (mine, friends and customers) in the last 10 years and sold over 2500 re-motoring kits in the same time frame. One of my bestsellers is the WSM C 16 kit which was sold 225 times. The feedback was great; everyone is satisfied with my drive systems. Engines with my drive systems are found all over Europe, the US and East Asia. The wider use of the Internet gives me now the possibility to share my ideas with more people around the world.

Target of my company is to provide the serious HO/HOn3, Sn3 /On3, On2 modellers with drives systems that have superb mechanical qualities and are easy to built in. Not everyone has a lathe or easy access to one. When I started Stoner Creek I did not had one too and I designed my kits for “kitchen table conversion”.

So, till today 97 % of the kits are easy to built in and require no re-gearing, axle gear change, quartering, milling or any other "top mechanical wizardry". It will take only 30 - 90 minutes to re-motor an engine. The kits were designed for the average modeller with normal skills to built in (I tested building in of some kits with the 12 year old son of my neighbours and he managed it without problems).

All kits came with a detailed and pictured step by step "How to do" manual. The kits contain all needed parts to re-build the engine. Most are screw in kits; others are designed to be glued in. Only some kits require changes on the superstructure or the frame, but these changes are minor and could be done with the basic tools every modeller have.

F. e. the WSM C 16 kit requires the removal of a small brass strip between the windows on the rear side of the cab underneath the roof to give enough motor clearance. Time to do with a motor tool about 60 seconds.

The reason I use coreless motors in my kits is they perform a lot better than normal can motors. Those Faulhaber and Maxon motors have up to 21 skewed poles instead of 3 -7 on a normal can. So there is no "stepping" and they run smooth right from the start. They also draw incredibly low amp and run very silent which is very essential for DCC operations.

Every prototype of a new kit is tested for 6 weeks on my layout then it is released to the public so you can be sure the kit will work when installed.

Steffen Rosmus

Stoner Creek Miniatures & Trading Post
Fine Model Railroads, Native American Jewellery and Crafts
Proprietor Steffen Rosmus
Paul-Lincke-Weg 2
61267 Neu Anspach
Germany

phone: 0049 6081 960460

(please remember: there is a time difference between the US and Europe (depending where you live: up to 12 hrs), I love and need my customers but I love and need my sleep as well ;-)

fax: 0049 6081 960460
email: info@stonercreek.de
web site: www.stonercreek.de
UST- ID-Nr.
DE 210545361

E-Mail: info@stonercreek.de