Ray, Red pigments are one of the earliest color pigments that human used. Red pigments occur naturally in the form of iron oxides, hence the name "oxide red" as a common paint color for that boxcar

‘Outside braced’ first appears in Model Railroader in the September 1939 ad for Laconia Industries, Inc. freight cars. Again, blame the editors and manufacturers for introducing and perpetuating

Ed Mims asked: "Tony Thompson is correct. In the real world they are not "stirrup steps" they are sill steps and always have been. Where did the name 'stirrup steps' come from?" The same place where

It’s the model press that introduced and perpetuates the term stirrup and stirrup step. The kit manufacturers contribute to its continued use. Same thing with roof walk. The first mention of

Tony Thompson is correct. In the real world they are not "stirrup steps" they are sill steps and always have been. Where did the name "stirrup steps" come from? Ed Mims

I know that the answer for individual railroads will differ, but I am wondering when the "caboose red" started to be used? Color photographs (there are not many) of older cabeese show a boxcar red or

Brian, Thanks much. Obviously there is a lot of track missing from the Sanborn map. Yours Aye, Garth Groff 🦆

Does anyone know where I could get double-sided Murphy ends for this car? I have a few of the flat kits but want to detail the interiors. -Phil Lee

To compliment Tony's post, I bought 3/16 and 1/4 in. pan machine screws to mount couplers and trucks on flat cars from FMW Fasteners. I use 3/8 and 1/2 in. machine screws for other cars, with the 1/2

Here you go, Garth. You can see the spur coming off the State Belt main tracks from the south. -- Brian Stokes North Point Street in Proto:48

On Sat, Jul 3, 2021 at 01:34 PM, Clark Propst wrote: My question is when did the NYC do away with the stripes above and below the initials/numbers? I'd like to do the car for 1950 +- 5 yrs. The 1”

This topic is off discussed and while a very narrow sampling, might provide some info on coal hoppers off-line. The Interstate was a coal mine short line in the most western part of Virginia. If you

The link to Hathi Trust that Ken Martin senthttp://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000552394includes the 1925 CBC at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006056561 Rupert Gamlen Auckland NZ

In the prototype world, they are called “sill steps.” Always have been Tony Thompson tony@...

The old Car Builders Dictionaries are terrific. Thanks for posting. I'm still looking for "stirrup step" in one. There seems to be no such thing used on full size railroad equipment--only used on

hi garth: i'm going to go out on a limb, (the saw is already working), and due to the distorted pixelization, goingbto say this is an earlier car, the left side, i believe reads hill brothers r.r.

Still scratching my head a bit on this one; 349000-349999 were built in three lots 379-G; 389-G and 403-G. I have-not been able to located anything on the 658000-611999 series; there were a group

Brian I hope the canopy glue holds I am sure it will be ok. Cheers Paul

Brian, as an engineer, I’m sure you know that most of the work of a thread is in the first turn or two. Of course there can be a loosening problem with so few turns, but for load-bearing, not

Bob and Friends, Interesting that both Santa Fe cars are 50' auto cars. I have attached a 1949+ Sanborn map which sadly does not show the trackage. My best guess is that this was the State Belt