Were not these firms acting as freight consolidators? and did
they not complete their service by local trucking delivery?
Tony Thompson

Tim O'Connor writes-

Tichy makes tank car pipe stanchions too, although I don't know
if they are accurate for any of the Sunshine kits.

If I am not mistaken, Southern C&F uses the Tichy stanchions- which do
really look nice-, but also seem to be available only in Tichy's Tank
Car Set (formerly Gould). These Tichy stanchions are similar to that
provided with the Vinegar Tank Car kit, while the PSC stanchions have
a slightly longer mounting flange with high relief rivet detailing.

However, the wall thickness of encircling pipe holders are as
follows: 1) Sunshine Vinegar Tank: c. 2.5"; 2) Tichy c. 2.0"; and 3)
PSC 1-1/2". The rivet/bolt detailing on the PSC is superior, with the
Tichy only very slightly behind. The Sunshine stanchions are cookie
cutter plain.

I am sticking with the PSC -lovely parts.

Now (*now*)- and this is new wrinkle just noted on the photos enclosed
with this ever-challenging car kit: None of the handrail stanchions
along the sides of the car are actually mounted on the tank directly.
They are instead all bolted directly on to strategically placed rod
tighteners with plain pipe holders of stanchions that look like none
of the above! Of course, there is no note of this in the directions;
Although -with thought- such mounting makes sense, now -again, within
sight of completion, the kit builder faces yet another unexpected
demand on time, ingenuity, and the drive to replicate the prototype.

Right now, my inclination is to look into mounting the stanchions on
the bands securing the tank to the frame- certainly a common stanchion
mount location on more numerous and less exotic tank cars.

I will see what I might be able to do with parts photos. No promises.

Denny

GUYZ,
These are the kits that require prescription meds.
Viagra --------- to keep your neck straight while manipulating small
parts.
Prosac --------- to maintain a joyful attitude toward the project.
Valium ----------to relax once you put the tweezers down.
Thorazine ------to keep you quiet the rest of the night.

Pierre, that is exactly my plan. The PSC (#32110) stanchions are
pretty precise, enough IMHO to overcome the fact that they are a
totally different article than those cast resin stanchions in the kit
that supposedly replicate the prototype. I am also using PSC's 90º
pipe elbows.

Denny S. Anspach MD
Sacramento

Tim O'Connor wrote:

That particular car could have been repainted in the mid 1950's (the
reporting marks originally had lines above and below as was standard
practice in the 1940's) so they may have decided just to patch it as
the paint appears to be in excellent shape.

Tim refers to the photo on page 48 of RP Cyc 17. SP discontinued
use of the lines or stripes in February 1952, so the lettering clearly
postdates that; and might date from any time up to the end of the
spelled-out road name in the mid-1950s. Since the car was rebuilt in
1949, this repainting within a few years was likely the result of a
repair.

Tony Thompson

Pierre, that is exactly my plan. The PSC (#32110) stanchions are
pretty precise, enough IMHO to overcome the fact that they are a
totally different article than those cast resin stanchions in the kit
that supposedly replicate the prototype. I am also using PSC's 90�
pipe elbows.

Denny S. Anspach MD
Sacramento

FULLY repainted cars are easy to spot -- the medallion is gone and
the bold Southern Pacific road name is now on the right side of the
car.

I'm not sure what Tim means to say here, but the SP lettering
drawings DID show the billboard lettering ALONG WITH the medallion
until the medallion was removed in the fall of 1957. So the impression
should not be given that any "FULLY repainted" car would not have a
medallion. They certainly did get medallions until late 1957.

Tony Thompson

The photo of the B-50-12A in RPCyc has intrigued me. It appears they
added a paint patch, and then the new number, but no Billboard or
other changes. So that might be an example of one they just didn't
bother fully repainting?

I have an older Microscale SP set that contains several sizes of
Billboard lettering. Did 1955-57 "Add On" billboards have lettering of
one size, and full repaints which got the billboard on the right,
another? Or were they all the same size, and in either case, what
size?

In 1955 SP began applying the large gothic road name -- this was
placed to the left of the door, while the medallion remained on the
right. It's my theory that many cars simply got the new bold road name
and number (after 1956) and the medallion was simply left alone.

FULLY repainted cars are easy to spot -- the medallion is gone and the
bold Southern Pacific road name is now on the right side of the car.