I don't believe that "Standard Railroad of the World" was really refering to anything to do with equipment standards. Instead, it was a marketing phrase intended to say that the PRR was setting the

Richard writes: As of 1950, Heinz rostered 24 vinegar tank cars, not a large fleet but one that traveled widely (there are photos of them in west coast locations like Los Angeles and Oakland),

Malcolm, back in my braking days I caught a boxcar to ride the handbrake...it was a jade green NYC box with a high stemwinder brake. This was about 1971. M.J. Buckelew used barred

I will add that, when John Purcell became the Santa Fe's chief mechanical officer in 1912, he immediately began a systematic standardization and parts inventory program which became known in the

Thanks to Al and Ed for the information. There is also an image of the NKP version in that Feb 95 Mainline Modeler. And thanks to the off-line responses on these hoppers. It is all very

Tony - You're right - a slip of the keystroke. - Al Westerfield

There is going to be an RPM type meet on August 18th, 2007 in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa area. It will be a one day affair. We are still in the early planning stages so stay tuned for updates. If

Rich Orr wrote: During the Harriman era, Railway Age editorialized that the Harriman roads had carried standardarization further than, as they put it with tongue in cheek, "certain well

In a message dated 3/25/2007 10:36:33 AM Central Daylight Time, timboconnor@... writes: So there you have it. I suppose one should preface one's question with "What is the answer today?"

A quick search of Walthers and others show these out of stock and availability unknown. So I'm guessing they are out of business or at least have not produced any product for some time. The

I'm an enthusiastic admirer of the Tahoe Model Works arch bar trucks, but the arch bars applied to the prototype cars when new were 5' wheelbase with a different side frame configuration, so the

As of 1950, Heinz rostered 24 vinegar tank cars, not a large fleet but one that traveled widely (there are photos of them in west coast locations like Los Angeles and Oakland), since carload lots of

Greg Martin wrote: Tell us again, Greg, which railroad it was which styled itself the "Standard Railroad of the World." Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906

Al Westerfield wrote: Correct, Al, except they were NOT per diem payments, they were mileage payments. Some lease contracts provided for subtracting the mileage payments on a car (for that

Greg Martin wrote: What Greg and the other Pennsy apologists forget is that 25 years earlier, PRR was taking the lead in OPPOSING larger cars, what they termed "unnecessarily large" cars. They

Thanks Rick for all the detail about SLRX.. Your comment about Varney was interesting. They were nice kits, but I've never had a feeling of the extent to which lettering on them was for cars that

The worst problem in my opinion was that the per diem that the railroads had pay to haul long distance shipments in the leased cars was so great that the lessees' lease cost was more than covered by

I agree with you, Tony. :-) I always understood the intention of the 'ban' was to curb such abuses, whereas advertisement of one's own products on one's own freight cars (covered hoppers, reefers, box

Kurt Laughlin wrote: As I stated back in 2002, this aspect was a very small part of the abuses which the ICC stepped in to correct. The free advertising was indeed ruled a rebate, but this is