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Re: Lime Unloading IC/LTRR Gondola

Garth Groff
 

Don,

Richard Hendrickson said the Ertl gondola was good for ACL as well, though it needs a straight center sill. Ertl did the car in ACL (I have one), but in freight car red instead of the correct black. I will repaint mine someday.

This spring at a train show in Virginia I came upon a large clutch of Ertl cars of all three types. I picked up two gondolas to reletter for my Virginia Midland. The boxcars I passed, since I already have two (1950s repaints and upgrades for GN and SP&S) and they were pretty by the late 1950s. I also have a couple of the flats stashed. Ertl cars are still out there, but getting hard to find.

Yours Aye,


Garth Groff

On 9/10/2019 8:06 PM, Donald B. Valentine via Groups.Io wrote:
Most easily by going to a limestone quarry and choosing the proper size from those that are offered.
I did that with an empty 2 lb. peanut butter jar and got a second one of smaller size for ballast. The
coarser one is to load the low side MEC gons, the prototype for the Ertl car that no one likes just
because its Ertl, that were loaded at the Swanton Lime Co. on the St.J. & L.C. for delivery to the
MEC in St. Johnsbury enroute to the Maine paper companies. Since I first mentioned this some two
years ago I'e not seen more than one Ertl MEC gon on eBay. So some of us know a good thing when
we see it even if most want to grouse about Ertl cars. All Ertl cars are so easy to improve details on
and with scale thickness, operating doors their USRA cars are the best buy for HO scale USRA double
sheathed cars we have ever had!

My two bits worth, Don Valentine

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