I was fortunate to find an IC GS gon at a show. My plan is to make it into a "cob" loading gon (I know wrong group, because they were converted in the 60's) . When they were converted the drop doors

Not quite. The big problem with the Detail Associates GS gon for those of us who model the mid-west is DA only ever modeled the Enterprise "link" door mechanism. This featured custom roller chain

Steve Lucas wrote: "Ironically, were I modelling seven years earlier than 1956, I'd instead need models of B&O hoppers that carried coal to Lindsay and Peterborough, Ontario across Lake Ontario on the

Tim-- I can only agree with your post. I consider myself very lucky to have a decent-paying job and other benefits that go with it. Even if I often find myself working nights and weekends. Very

I have this vague memory, that I read somewhere that the largest mine on the Wabash in the postwar era was somewhere in Indiana, not Illinois... Does that ring a bell with anyone? The Wabash for

Ray-- A number of other Canadian modellers of CN steam operation in Southern Ontario, as well as I, will--I'll go out on a limb by including them as in this asssertion--buy good RTR HO models of

Now I can use that D/A GS gon that I bought years ago (this kit is wrong for CN Enterprise-design GS gons) AND model an IC loco car carrying loco coal. Serendipity? Steve Lucas.

Ray, this is starting to feel comical. Are we looking at the same July 1950 Official Railway Equipment Register?? The "Total" listed in my copy is 53,640 cars. If I add up the tallies of cars in your

In the 1/43 ORER, US Pipe & Foundry (UPFX) is shown with three tank cars as their whole fleet. None of the companies listed appears in the 1/53 ORER. Were the hoppers not used in interchange? Al

From the WRHS, Coal on the Wabash by Mark Vaughn, from Illinois State Mine Inspector's Annual Report Millions of tons Originated: 1900: IC 5322, CBQ 1799, C&EI 1789, Wab 1586, NYC 1287 1910: IC 7488,

I have researched the railroad thoroughly. There is very little that has been written about this railroad. I have been working on a history, the Sloss Furnace Museum in Birmingham has the first

If you live in Southern California here is an opportunity for you to see steam and transition era model railroads and meet some great layout owners. Some of the layouts include: Rick Graves – Rick

Hi again Tim, Wow, were my numbers off. Guess I need to ash-can them and do a recount! (I may have gotten the numbers from the IC's 1/1951 list of stations & equipment. A quick check shows the

Gentlem, Agree completely that the UTLX X-3 (X-4,X-5), AAR Alternate Standard, and IC and similar nonstandard offset side twin hoppers would be welcome. I also hope that some manufacturer does them,

Ray Breyer wrote: Okay, so it's not "action" you want--it's just Midwestern layouts. Yawn. Not "yawn" about the Midwest, just "yawn" about anyone who bemoans insufficient hobbyists in HIS

Bill, watching quarrels about what part of the country is best to model is like being in the visitors' gallery at the La Brea tar pits. In any case, I don't want to give Ray any encouragement.

Folks, Let us remember that our purpose here is to discuss steam-era freight cars. It is NOT the place to criticize others' choice of prototypes to model, nor is it the place to

I'm with Ray on this. Those of you who have seen my railroad or had the pleasure (I hope) to operate on it know that it is set in north central Ohio for the traffic generation and multitudes of

I grew up with prototype "black snake and trees and tunnels and grades. But at least once a year I operate on a Detroit yard based layout and a local modeler is doing Sn3 western layout. I think

Ray I don't know about early ORER's but the later ORER's all have "summary" tallies of freight cars by type that you can use to double check your arithmetic. Tim