Friends,

ATSF Sk-K class cars, as in the second photo, are depicted in Gregg's TRAIN SHED CYCLOPEDIA No. 36, "Freight Cars (Part 2) from the 1919 Car Builders Dictionary. The illustrations include a side view and two interior views. This particular volume also includes a photo and drawings of an more conventional SK-M stock car, plus a side view and end drawing of an Sk-N. Add a photo and drawings of a SFRD Rr-T, and this volume becomes a must for early 20th century Santa Fe modelers.

Yours Aye,

Garth Groff

Were the interiors of stock cars painted or were they natural wood?

Jared Harper

If it is any help in your decision, I know one of our STMFC members was assisting them with this project, a tank car guy (not I).

    This is good to know.

-- 
Jon Miller
For me time stopped in 1941
Digitrax  Chief/Zephyr systems, 
SPROG, JMRI User
NMRA Life member #2623
Member SFRH&MS

Yesterday I spent some time building a styrene fixture to help me split 10-inch wood scale boards into 5-inch boards. Having given the fixture 24 hours to cure I started splitting the wood to model the flooring in a resin DT&I gon as has been discussed recently here. The results are in a Dropbox folder "DT&I Gondola Wood Floor 5-inch wide Board x Board Construction" the link for which is below. What I did is rotate the test patch four times to effectively catch the sunlight from different directions. You will see a 5-Pointed Star drawn on the Blue Tape for orientation. As you can see I used a blade to damage the wood in an attempt to show a floor after years of service.

My favorite cutting tool is a Single Edge Razor Blade (SERB) but I recently purchased an EXCEL Hobby Knife that I picture in a separate folder. I used this exclusively on this little experiment. It is light weight, easy to see, and does not roll around and when capped it is very safe. It is definitely replacing my X-Acto handle.

Because a #11 blade is a little wider than a SERB I thought it would create a slightly wider bevel when splitting the wood and help create a more defined edge to the wood. Because I am using scale 10 x 3-inch wood, I did not try to split the wood in one pass of the knife and after a couple of passes on the wood I realized I liked the effect and so some of the wood you see is actually a 10-inch piece with two or three passes of the knife. The board next to the Star is one such board. There are 3 or 4 more mixed in with individual 5-inch boards. Your feedback on how this is looking will be appreciated.

I am using CA to glue the wood onto a sheet of 0.010 styrene. I am going to experiment with PanPastels and Colored Pencils to age the floor. I am curious to see if the flexible substrate will allow me to do some of the boards separately. Here is the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h9ee98zwzre8l7f/AAAsR7NJdne4PNFSe1Ed89zTa?dl=0

Bill Welch

If there are any Broadway Dealers on this list that will be splitting up the bulk packs and taking reservations for their new tank cars? If so can you please let us know who you are?

Bill Welch

    I am not a dealer but ordered a 4 pack, #6126 assorted.  I am only going to keep 1 or 2*.  Willing to trade or sell (cost +shipping) the remaining.  Cost is not MSRP.  Might make some arrangement through my dealer, private email please.  Remember BLI cars are not packed for individual sale so additional packaging is required.

* dates that fit my era

-- 
Jon Miller
For me time stopped in 1941
Digitrax  Chief/Zephyr systems, 
SPROG, JMRI User
NMRA Life member #2623
Member SFRH&MS