Bill Williams wrote: The FOTFC shirts were orange and said "Friends of the Freight Car." If there were also "Freight Car Mafia" shirts at that convention, I missed them. Tony Thompson

Larry, After looking at the excellent data that John Hile provided, I think an obvious question arises. Did grain need to be shipped (via the UP between Laramie and Rawlins, WY) to

We are all familiar with the photo of the man squirting oil into journal boxes as the car rolled down the hump. Is that how journals were maintained towards the end of the steam era? If so, then that

I attended the 1990 Pittsburg convention. I remember seeing Richard walking with GN guru Staffan Einhbom (sp?) who I knew, wearing mineral brown shirts that said "Freight Car Mafia" on them.

Hi, Don't forget to factor in the effect of grain elevators. Grain is often harvested and stored in relatively local elevators and then shipped to the users (such as bread companies) "as needed".

Larry, The "grain rush" varies depending on the type of crop grown. On the Great Northern, which served a territory that produces a lot of spring wheat and durum, the grain rush runs from August

Larry, I have the following from the 1954 World Book Encyclopedia regarding wheat and wheat harvesting... Arizona, southern California - May South of about 40-degrees north latitude - June Northern

Greetings, I'm starting to build an HO scale F&C Reading GHc/GHd gondola and am not sure if the decals are appropriate for 1926. Here's the finished image from the F&C

Hi Tony, It's been a long time since I bought any brass freight cars, but the two screws on either side of the coupler pocket were usually 1.4mm, the same as on locomotives and passenger cars. See

Larry; Your data straddles the grain rush nicely. Having once lived in Laramie also, wasn't the vast majority of grain grown east (well east) of Laramie? And didn't most grain grown in the mid-west

Tony, Does that mean there will be a Naperville next year?? Has someone or a group come forward to continue this? Rich Orr

Hi Folks When is the grain rush? The reason I ask is that for the next Union Pacific Freight Conductors' Train Book I transcribe I would like to choose a report that includes the grain rush. My

Bill; Many of us share your frustration, and some of you have also had these same conversations with manufacturers over the possibilities of offering modular parts on more than box cars. Hoppers and

Does anyone know the metric screw size of the standard coupler pocket screw in brass HO freight cars? Tony, Most are 1.4 mm screws........with varying head styles. Mal Houck

I wrote: This is a coarse pitch thread (NOT fine), which is normally the default in metric threads. My mistake. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest Ave.,

Thanks, Ray. YEs, NWSL has a lot of metric fasteners. I take it that the 1.4 mm diam. screw with fine threads is normally 0.3 mm pitch, and I can just choose the length. Tony Thompson

Hi Tony Metric thread of 1.4mm, should be available at NWSL and others. Ray Z

Jim Babcock wrote: The problem would be the venue at which to make the shirts available. One possibility is next year's Naperville. I've volunteered in the past to do a new shirt at Cocoa

Schuyler Larrabee wrote: Thanks, Schuyler. I am among those waiting for the 1950 version, and I've just ordered one. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest

Tony, Am I detecting a willingness on your part to produce another run? Jim ________________________________ To: STMFC@... Sent: Mon, October 12, 2009 3:06:42 PM Subject: Re: [STMFC]