Shawn asks about Santa Fe freight car diagram books. Yes, they did produce one, it was called a Freight Car Folio. They were about the size Paul Hillman mentioned--12x16--and were grouped by car type.

Say what? My experience with these Kato trucks (both types) is that they are the absolute best rolling trucks availible... bar NONE! The only draw-back to them as far as I am concerned is that the

Tim O'Connor reveals: You SOLD it?!?!?!? You, a Freight Foamer, let go of an original AT&SF Mechanical Department document??? That's it, we're pulling your Freightcar Mafia membership... Shawn

Richard and others, Thanks for your comments. I cannot recall from the steam to early diesel era the type of rust on cars we see today. I was beginning to believe that my memory was playing tricks

In a message dated 8/11/2005 6:19:55 PM Central Standard Time, rhendrickson@... writes: And the undersides were invariably an oily mess; plain journals shed oil at a great rare onto the

To all our fellows, Hey,...I'm pushin' to be 60 yrs old. When I was first into model railroading, in the '50's, and "plastics" (shriek!!) began to come into existence, I remember a great

I sold an 800+ page Santa Fe diagram book last year on Ebay. Stephen Priest was the high bidder... It covered every car and variation from 1950 to the 1980's. So the diagrams are out there you just

Richard Hendrickson wrote: Allen's caricature modeling is not open to doubt, but I think perspective is useful here. Go back to the MR's of the 1950s, and you will see that practically no one

Larry Jackman said: NO!?! An error in MR?? Omigosh, I feel faint . . . Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705

That book ( I had one) was done by MR and they had some errors in in it. Even a coach with pullman sides and ACF roof or something like that. I remember some one talking about it. thank you Larry

Paul Hillman wrote: Paul, Thanks for the info, but I'm looking for something a bit more "nuts and bolts" that would probably have been put together by the Santa Fe's Mechanical Department for

Shawn, Yes the Santa Fe used to have a large-paged paperback book, like 12" X 16", of steam, diesel, frt. & pass. car drawings and photos, that they'd give out for free, through their Public

[snip] Jim, on the whole I think you're right, and other respondents have added some useful insights. In the steam era, cars were typically repainted at about ten year intervals (though of course

area of the country the car passed through? So, apply the base for your area in lighter tones, then add for the part of the country in which it has returned from. > Fred, I don't know; all I've

Elden, Certainly we know that hoppers were not as free-roaming as box cars, so I would GUESS that they would have a greater tendency to show the regional bias in weathering. [This is the part

Cool Bill. I just ordered several sets... trying to get those tiny bits of chain to stay in place is one of my least favorite underframe detailing tasks. Another item that would be useful -- the

Tim O'Connor wrote: Tim makes a good point. All the Western roads were relatively more prosperous in the 1950s, in part because the Interstates weren't yet siphoning off their long-haul

Since I was the person that I think suggested and provoked their production, I suggest checking out this website for some really fine rendering of brake chains. It has been awile since I had checked

Jeff, Would it not be true that the weathering will reflect the last area of the country the car passed through? So, apply the base for your area in lighter tones, then add for the part of

Following up on Elden's comments, I would say the best guide for most modelers is panoramic photos of yards in the area you are modeling. A collection of good yard photos will yield a good amount of