About 20 years ago, I was a guest on a motorcar inspection trip over the southern remaining trackage of the former interurban Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern RR, newly re-minted as the tourist Boone & Scenic Valley RR. The principal features of the railroad were two substantial bridges in the beautiful Des Moines River valley: a high spindly trestle over a deep side-ravine (we would call it a canyon here), and a more substantial and longer bridge over the Des Moines River itself (the famed massive C&NW Kate Shelley high bridge over the Des Moines was- and still is ,of course- not too many miles downstream. We stopped to "inspect" each of these impressive FDDM&S bridges, and I commented in what great shape they seemed to be, much of the steel still having its mill finish intact (pretty important maintenance issue for a tourist line!). It was explained to me then that the bridges' great shape was due to the fact that the railroad historically hauled very few reefers "...to drip brine to corrode the steel,- unlike the Kate Shelley bridge which is currently so heavily corroded from refrigerator brine that they are constantly repairing it" .

I note that the Kate Shelley bridge is apparently currently slated for replacement. It would be interesting to know to what extent this giant project has resulted from years of brine corrosion (probably mostly from PFE cars :-) ).

Denny

--
Denny S. Anspach, MD
Sacramento

Excuse my ear to ear grin as I respond. Precision is
not necessary, nor practiced by me. The epoxy simply
needs to be mixed a little on the "Rich" side for the
White component to get good material. Remember the
tear-off windows on the Front Range kit boxes? I mix
my Devcon on pieces of these cut outs, laying down a
stripe of White first, followed by a stripe of cream
hardener along side the first stripe. It is important
that both tubes have the same sized openings punched
by an awl, so each stripe is the same diameter. When
oozing out the cream hardener, stop where you feel
that it is slightly less than the white stripe. I
often mix amounts that would weigh less than 1/2 gram.
I suggest squeezing out the White component first, as
the cream hardener tends to flow out and flatten,
making eyeball estimates harder.

Also, while I could not believe it, a friend found
that regular rubbing alcohol can be used to thin the
epoxy with little to no observed degradation, so very
low viscous pours can be done. I also clean up the
tools and cardboard mixing board w/ alcohol.

One more thing, if you encounter a situation where you
need to patch a hole (such as plugging a caboose
window), simply stretch a piece of transparent tape
(Scotch) over the opening from the outside, then lay
in the Devcon from the inside. the transparency allows
for visually following the fill, voids will look
black. Allow to cure for at leat 12 hours, and peel
off the tape. You will not have to do any other prep
work, and the patch will be quicker and superior to
cutting and fitting styrene plugs. This is where it is
important to get the 55:45 mix, for if your ratio is
off, the rubbery epoxy will distort as the tape is
peeled off, and a slightly wavy surface will result.
On the other hand, if you want the effect of rippled
patch panels, use that trait to your advantage. You
will be amazed at what can be done with Devcon.
-Andy Carlson
Ojai CA



--- timboconnor@comcast.net wrote:

On Thursday, July 28, 2005, at 08:44 AM, Richard Hendrickson wrote:

Is Charles Winters (St. Louis) still selling his freight car and

steam

prints?  The last communication I had from him was in the
early/mid-90s.
If he's still active, can someone verify his mailing address and

phone

number?

Jim, it's my understanding that Charlie is in bad health and no longer
doing darkroom work, but that Howard Vollrath has access to the Winters
negative collection and may be able to make prints.  The last address I
have for Vollrath, which I believe may still be current, is 1000 West
97th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64114.

Jim,
Richard's account of Mr. Winters is correct. However, Mr. Vollrath's
first name is Harold with middle initial K. (his phone number is
816-942-3423).
Regards,
Ed Hawkins

On Jul 28, 2005, at 8:48 AM, ed_mines wrote:

Were meat reefers ever used for produce, particiularly in the '40s?

I'm reluctant to say never, Ed, but if done at all, it would have been very rarely and only on an emergency basis. Meat reefers were specially equipped for meat service with meat rails, floor racks, brine retaining tanks, etc. and thus were not really suitable for produce shipments.

Thanks Tom--now I know roughly where you are talking about---I know it by the
Route 31 number. Thanks.

Robert "Rocky" Jackson

In a message dated 7/28/2005 4:45:23 PM Central Standard Time,
tgmadden@worldnet.att.net writes:

Tom---the Oxford you refer to was it in Pennsylvania or was it in

New Jersey?

Oxford Furnace, NJ, a few miles north of Washington NJ on the old main
line. It's on Route 31, which used to be Route 69 until the late '60s
when the local classes of '69 coupled with the sexual connotations of
that number caused the highway signs to disappear faster than they
could be replaced. Route 69/31 ends at the junction with Route 46 at
Butzville, where there was a three-level crossing of the DL&W bridging
the L&HR which itself bridged what I'm remembering was the Pequest
river.

Tom Madden

Andy, how do you measure the stuff with such precision? Do
you have a scale, or do you do it by volume? I wonder if the
50:50 ratio works by weight but not volume, or vice versa?

Tim O.

On Jul 28, 2005, at 10:56 AM, phrwy wrote:

Some years ago this detail kit consisting of parts and an
installation drawing was available, but I have not seen it for a long
time. What I am seeking is a copy of the drawing sheet that came in
the kit. Could someone please scan a copy and place it in the Files
section, or else contact me offline? Many thanks,
Ben Brown

Ben,

A quick trip to the Bowser web site will let you download the diagram for set 190-324.

Try http://www.bowser-trains.com/pdf/cal_scale_frt_cars.pdf

Regards
Bruce

Bruce F. Smith
Auburn, AL
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~smithbf/

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin
__
/ \
__<+--+>________________&#92;__/___ ________________________________
|- ______/ O O &#92;_______ -| | __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ |
| / 4999 PENNSYLVANIA 4999 &#92; | ||__||__||__||__||__||__||__||__||
|/_____________________________&#92;|_|________________________________|
| O--O &#92;0 0 0 0/ O--O | 0-0-0 0-0-0

Hello Ben,

You can view and print the Cal-Scale drawing from the Bowser Web site at www.bowser-trains.com.

So long,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
Executive Editor
Model Railroader magazine
asperandeo@mrmag.com
Phone: 262-796-8776, ex. 461
Fax: 262-796-1142
www.modelrailroader.com

Tom---the Oxford you refer to was it in Pennsylvania or was it in New Jersey?

Robert "Rocky" Jackson

Ben,

Bowser has put some stuff on line. See:

http://www.bowser-trains.com/img/190-324.jpg

Regards,

Mike Aufderheide

--- phrwy <benbrown@iglide.net> wrote:

Some years ago this detail kit consisting of parts
and an
installation drawing was available, but I have not
seen it for a long
time. What I am seeking is a copy of the drawing
sheet that came in
the kit. Could someone please scan a copy and place
it in the Files
section, or else contact me offline? Many thanks,
Ben Brown

__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail
Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour:
http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html

As I recall it was the same as their regular UC passenger car set with
the addition of end buffer castings. The plumbing and positioning
diagram should be similar. Both sets may now be available from Bowser.

Cut and pasted from their website:

Part # Description Price

190-300 UC Brake Set for Passenger Cars $2.50
190-324 Express Reefer Detail Kit $2.95


regards,

Andy Miller

Yes, I have seen Devcon in a 1 pound package, though a
visit at Devcon's web site yielded nothing about
retail packs.

Some hardware stores sell Devcon's "Liquid Steel"
which to me seems identical to 2-Ton White, except for
the color. I use a little of this black epoxy to give
a nice light grey color to the White 2-Ton.

One nice feature of 2-Ton is its paste-like
consistency, which is useful for casting one piece car
bodies w/o the need for an inner mold. I have a WP N
scale F7A I made years ago (before Kato made their F7)
cast totally in Devcon White 2-Ton, including the
"High Line" pilot mounted snow plow. I still have that
model, and it is holding up just as well as if it were
styrene.

I would again caution against mixing 50:50. I suggest
55:45 White to cream hardener, or a rubbery expoxy
will result.
-Andy Carlson
Ojai CA

--- "Thomas M. Olsen" <tmolsen@UDel.Edu> wrote:

I know the Ma & Pa Railroad served several canneries in Maryland and
Pennsylvania. I went back and looked up a report from May 22, 1937 that details the
industries they served. The report comes out of the Oppice of the Preseident &
General manager of the railroad located in Baltimore dated May 5, 1937. From
that report here is the canneries they served:

Hillsboro-Queen Anne Cooperative Corporation in Whiteford, Maryland (this had
at least one or more private sidings to it)

C.P. Scarboroguh in Delta, PA
Howard Proctor in Delta, PA

E.G. Ruff in Bryansville, Pennsylvania

J.T. Gemmill in High Rock, Pennsylvania

I don't know what the canneries processed as that is not detailed in the
report. As of 1960 the population of these towns was as follows---Whiteford--120,
Delta--822, Bryansville--25, and High Rock--I don't know.

Therefore, given their population as of 1960---given when the canneries were
operating it doesn't seem like they would have been huge operations.

Robert "Rocky" Jackson

Some years ago this detail kit consisting of parts and an
installation drawing was available, but I have not seen it for a long
time. What I am seeking is a copy of the drawing sheet that came in
the kit. Could someone please scan a copy and place it in the Files
section, or else contact me offline? Many thanks,
Ben Brown

Were meat reefers ever used for produce, particiularly in the '40s?

Ed

On Jul 28, 2005, at 5:41 AM, Jim King wrote:

Is Charles Winters (St. Louis) still selling his freight car and steam
prints? The last communication I had from him was in the early/mid-90s.
If he's still active, can someone verify his mailing address and phone
number?

Jim, it's my understanding that Charlie is in bad health and no longer doing darkroom work, but that Howard Vollrath has access to the Winters negative collection and may be able to make prints. The last address I have for Vollrath, which I believe may still be current, is 1000 West 97th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64114.

Tim,

That sounds more like it! Most peach traffic by rail in those days
(and nowadays) probably was canned peaches and preserves. If anyone
has information on the location of major cannery areas in the U.S.
I'd love to hear about it... I know Central California is such a
place.

Tim O'Connor wrote:

Tim Gilbert wrote

In 1950, 3,307 tons of fresh peaches not frozen were originated on Class
I RR's in the US. At roughly 25 tons per car, that would be 132 carloads.

Tim, where did you get that number?? The area around Grand Junction
is a large peach growing region, and in 1950 roads were poor and the
markets distant... And there is a fine 1955 color photo of G.J. yard
absolutely JAMMED with ART ice reefers... more than 100 are visible.
Did peach traffic suddenly expand from 1950 to 1955?

Tim O.

Whoops! Read the Class II RR data from Table 50 of the 1950 "Blue Book" (ICC's 64th ANNUAL REPORT ON THE STATISTICS OF RAILWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES).

Correct number is 115,210 tons of Fresh Peaches (Not Frozen) originated on US Class I RR's in 1950 (or at the 1956 tons per car loading rate of 15.4 tons) about 7,481 car loads.

Tim Gilbert

My 1950 ICC Revenue Freight Report for the DL&W showed that the DL&W alone
carried 1,240 tons of Peaches, fresh, not frozen in 103 carloads, or 12 tons
per car. No tons were originated on the DL&W, and 9 carloads terminated on
line. The rest were delivered to connecting roads.

It would be interesting to learn why one third of the US peach traffic
passed through the hands of the Lackawanna that year.

Incidentally, looking at other produce entries in the ICC report, it appears
that many of the agricultural commodities were carried in lots around 10-15
tons in size. Even allowing for full ice bunkers, that seems like a light
load.

Michael Mang

Tim Gilbert wrote

In 1950, 3,307 tons of fresh peaches not frozen were originated on Class
I RR's in the US. At roughly 25 tons per car, that would be 132 carloads.

Tim, where did you get that number?? The area around Grand Junction
is a large peach growing region, and in 1950 roads were poor and the
markets distant... And there is a fine 1955 color photo of G.J. yard
absolutely JAMMED with ART ice reefers... more than 100 are visible.
Did peach traffic suddenly expand from 1950 to 1955?

Tim O.