Hello Rich, I remember Taurus Products brass caboose ladders: https://www.oldpullman.ch/kleinteile-rollmaterial-metall/30256-707-101-ho-caboose-ladders-kit-.html These certainly look much better

There are a few other railroads that had these also, Santa Fe and New York Central to name a couple. Ted Culotta has an excellent kitbashing article

Great article Lester. Some good modeling tips. George Toman

You can buy caboose ladders already made with the loop in the top as parts from Athearn. -- John

 Hi Dave, There may be a typo in your email. I suspect I have the same photo, but the road number is PRR 570862, not 570826 as you stated in your email - 6 and 2 got reversed. To confirm, my

The dies were cut for me by Grandt Line. I don’’t know if the current owner was able to retrieve them when Grandt went out of business. – Al Westerfield Sent from Mail for Windows 10

Hi Rich, Oregon Rail Supply used to offer such brass ladder stock. It still shows up as Item 142 on the order form. See: http://oregonrail.com/order.html. Pax, Ralph Brown Portland,

Walthers used to, and may still, carry punched metal ladder stock that can be cut to any length. And caboose ladders is what I used it for. Pat Wade Santa Barbara, CA

Speaking of ladders.... Does anyone currently manufacture metal ladder material in long pieces that can be cut to desired length? I’ve been scratchbuilding cabooses and have found that I do not

Here ya go Steve Prototype N Scale Models (TM) by George Hollwedel 2108 Buffalo Tundra Dr Austin, TX 78754-5960

Lester, an inspiring and very practical article. Thank you very much for posting! Gary Laakso Northwest of Mike Brock

I have added a new post on my blog focusing on prototype ladder standards for freight cars and how I add or make ladders on my freight cars. Photos and writeup are on my blog I started to share

Hi Dave, Regarding a breakdown of various lots of early cars indicating truck types, I’m sure what you mean by “lot” as opposed to year built, but there is a breakdown on Page 10 of the March

Mike, I would go with the Westerfield. They are both made for the H21 and the Westerfields are finer detailed. The Bowser part includes the side of the door as well as the latch. Regards, Bruce

Bruce: My collection of X29 photos is very meager, and I have never seen a breakdown of the various lots of early cars that indicates which trucks were installed initially (but perhaps one exists?).

Thanks Curt I just ordered some Fenton

Dave, Actually, it appears that very few of the 1st series of cars were even built with arch bar trucks. I have photos including a builders photo of 569091, built 5-24 with 2D-F8 trucks. And yes, I

HPT&D 405 is not one of the tall ARA boxes; rather, it is an ex-N&W B-7 (rebuilt from their class BS) with a 1920s Viking peaked roof (not the Viking Corrugated roof of the 1930s). David Thompson

I use the brass ones from Custom Finishing. Available from Walthers and in stock. I didn’t know Bowser had a detail part. Curt Fortenberry

Were these cars built brand new, or were they rebuilds of older cars? I have several shots of cars without the end doors. Tim O'Connor On 3/23/2019 2:50 AM, Rupert