I just matched a partially assembled Tangent tank car with a Red Caboose Undec 10K tank car kit. The Red Caboose tank is a perfect match to the Tangent frame. The bolster to bolster length is the same. In fact the truck screws on the Tangent will screw directly into the existing holes in the bottom of the Red Caboose tank.

The existing Red Caboose dome is 60". The dome on the CSC tank in the picture might be the same. The major item we still need is DECALS.

Jim

I had far too many freight cars when I finished building my layout.  I measured each siding, including the yard tracks and figured out how many forty-foot cars would fit onto those tracks.  Then I divided that number by two which gave me the maximum number of cars that could be on the layout at any time.  This prevents gridlock and makes plenty of room to actually operate the layout.  After that I looked at the industries on the layout to determine what kind of freight cars I needed to service those industries.  I immediately eliminated refrigerator cars because there was no place to deliver them.  I have a coal mine that can handle nine cars so I needed eighteen hopper cars divided between loads and empties.  Flat cars are not really needed either so I have only a couple.  The time frame is 1953 so no cars have build or reweigh dates later than 1953.  The layout is set in northwestern Pennsylvania so the emphasis is on eastern roads although, because there is a lumber yard, a few western and Canadian boxcars are occasionally used for lumber traffic.  I still have too many cars and will sell off some more sooner or later.  No point in having them sit on boxes on shelves when someone else might enjoy having them.  Hugh t Guillaume

 

Jack, 

What an amazing layout. The Scenery is outstanding. I was impressed that all the Structures appear to actually be on foundations or timbers. I can say that for your modeling of freight cars and track work as well. Love the animations for the signals and water spout. 

I have a question on 3D printing. Is Sketchup still available. I thought I heard the free version is gone?

Thanks for sharing 

George Tpman

 

Exactly, Tony. I try to be correct, but sometimes you see something and just have to have it.

Thanks!
--

Brian Ehni

From: STMFC List <STMFC@...> on behalf of STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Reply-To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at 12:19 PM
To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Ratios

BRIAN EHNI wrote:

It’s my railroad.

Brian cites the familiar "Rule No. 1" employed by many modelers. But as Tony Koester often says, if you hide behind Rule No. 1 all the time, you are confessing that you aren't really trying to model anything specific. That's a perfectly fine hobby, but it's not modeling real railroading. I think if you use the context right (as I believe Brian does), Rule No. 1 only says "I get to choose my prototype and era," but I would say, "beware of using Rule No. 1 for everything."

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA

2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com

(510) 540-6538; e-mail, tony@...

Publishers of books on railroad history

On Jun 13, 2017, at 9:37 AM, Armand Premo arm.p.prem@... [STMFC] <STMFC@...> wrote:

I have had a major problem dealing with ratios .Considering the number of variables  that affect a relatively accurate of freight car distribution  i.e. Date ; Region ; Railroad.I have a relatively large roster  ,but have been troubled that I didn't have an  accurate distribution ,by car  type i.e wood vs steel  ,Reefer vs Box car  etcI ,etc ,etc .I would like to hear from others on how they deal with prototype practices ..Armand Premo

 

You mentioned "date". If you establish a date, or at least a narrow range of years for your railroad you can eliminate any cars that did not exist before that time. Beyond that others on this list more knowledgeable than I will explain how to use the railroad modeled, the region, industries modeled, wheel reports, etc. to hone in on a realistic freight car fleet.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

On Tue, 13 Jun 2017 at 16:31, fgexbill@... [STMFC]

wrote:

 

I am more interested in the evolution and design of freight cars, especially boxcars, and the variations as designs and thinking evolved. Because of this I have way too many GN, ATSF, CB&Q, and NP models built and kits to be built even though I am a "Ya'll" modeler. Even though steel cars were arguably more standard, there was still great variation in sill design, door sizes/types, ends, etc. that are interesting to represent. I don't think I have ever given "prototype practices" much thought. I just do what interests me.

Bill Welch