Hi All,

In spite of Byron's glowing review, I just had to pick up a Branchline
ACF/URTX reefer in NKP paint this weekend...OK, so the price of $7.50
helped ;^) From my evaluation of the problem with the sides..it seems as
if they are too thick and this causes the problem at the ends. I realize
that most of us on this list can fix this in our sleep, but we aren't the
buying public these days. It seems like such a stupid mistake - didn't
anyone at Branchline actually build a production kit to make sure it was
OK? I hope this combined with the 40' boxcar doesn't kill them as a
company. In addition, y'all may have noticed that a photograph with the
door latch bar in the correct position is nicely featured on the box cover
(oops!). BTW, should the NKP car have the type A or type B ice hatch?

On to another reefer. I'm putting together a few of the IM premium R-40-10
models (Thanks Richard!) and the "gothic" paint scheme (reweigh - Tucson,
1962) has me puzzled. I think IM molded the floor in orange to allow the
sill details to be in the correct color, but this leaves the floor BRIGHT
ORANGE! When dropping the underframe onto this, the black of the
underframe parts on the orange is simply astounding! Having picked up
Tony's PFE book this weekend (a little light reading) I still cannot figure
out what the bottom of this car should be painted...I looked at the paint
diagram in the back, but I've learned that different paint diagrams often
use terms differently, and "underframe" usually refers to the steel parts
only. I know it would get dirty FAST, but would the bottom of the floor
boards have been unpainted, orange, or black (car cement)? I'm leaning
towards the third choice and just giving the car a good jolt from below
with my airbrush...

Coming tommorrow - the "reefer madness quiz"...I shot a wood sheathed
reefer this weekend...so its time to play "identify that car" as soon as I
scan the pics!

Happy Rails
Bruce

Bruce F. Smith V.M.D., Ph.D.
Scott-Ritchey Research Center
334-844-5587, 334-844-5850 (fax)
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~smithbf/

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin
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