First let me say we don't know just how lucky we really are to have as comprehensive of a membership as we do and certainly Richard, Tony and Ed have carried the flag for many years... Richard

Charlie Vlk wrote: I suspect that the liability point is the decisive one. But Charlie is way wrong to assert that non-manufacturers cannot or should not rate or evaluate products. There are

While I tend to agree with much of your statement,personally I feel that the decline came about because of internal bickering.Everyone's ego needed to be stroked.Too many wanted to be chief.I dropped

Create your own Wiki, folks. -- Bookmark the good sites when you find them, and takes notes! Don is exactly right -- numerous times we have tried to create a "public" forum for prototype information

The problem with Wiki's is that the capture everything, so the folks who say "wasn't there a Penn Central steam locomotive I know I saw the model" get as much play as somebody like Ted Culotta/

The NMRA is actually once again going down the road of self-destruction in attempting to set itself up as a Consumer Protection Bureaucracy for the Hobby of Model Railroading. I believe that one of

B&O frequently made up for its available car shortfalls by buying, begging, borrowing, commandeering and leasing cars from other railroads. By 1960, a financially troubled B&O had accumulated a

In a message dated 3/27/2006 3:16:47 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, jmischke@... writes: B&O frequently made up for its available car shortfalls by buying, begging, borrowing,

For B&O, I would suggest a modernized M-53 wagontop with a Youngstown door, there are several resin kits. Also a Red Caboose M-26 (Pennsy X- 29). The M-26B variation is a PRR clone right down to the

Jared Harper wrote: A few weeks ago I had the thought that it might be possible to set up a freight car Wiki to capture in a more organized form some of the knowledge that frequents this list. And

Well, de facto, that's what we have now. Those few manufacturers who care about getting it right consult on a regular basis with a number of the subscribers to this list about steam era freight car

fugitaboutit :-)

Jared Harper wrote: Jared, MRIA has never touched the topic of accuracy or any other discriminator among products. The only organization to do that was the NMRA, and under today's timid

I think the MRIA ought to set up a committee of some of the freight car gods, Richard, Tony and Ted, perhaps, and run all the paint schemes by them as to prototype accuracy. Jared Harper Athens, GA

Doug Brown wrote: The book is called "America's Driving Force," and it does contain substantial information. I'd recommend it. The photo Doug mentions is on page 36. Tony Thompson

Don, the C of G cars had AAR self-aligning spring-plankless trucks. As these were forty ton cars with (relatively) small truck journals, I'd use Tichy's mis-named "Bettendorf" trucks. Richard

10 years or so ago I had a string of "realistic" looking tank cars (so I thought) on the shelf. I dressed up (wire grab irons ......), painted and decaled cars from Mantua (cast metal undersection),

Not true, Al. All the way back to before WW I, MCB rules required the nominal capacity in pounds to be stenciled on tank cars, though it was applied to the center sills, not the tank (nominal

Schuyler I find this unlikely -- there were slight variations, doors and roofs and ends, from road to road. Recall that Kadee has resisted doing cars when the TACK BOARDS on the doors were in the