On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:27:01 -0400, Tim O'Connor wrote Whenever I have metal to metal, I use Labelle 102 which is called "gear oil". It's considerably thicker than 107 or 108. Typically a car lubed

Bob, they were plastic. One thing you can do with plastic-plastic contact is put graphite in the bearing. This is very easy with Neo-Lube which is a paintable graphite. With metal-metal contact I

Isn't that "step" just where the tab is bent into an "L" shape, i.e. aren't we looking at the bottom of the "L" edge-on? If so, maybe the "stepless" tabs were trimmed differently, so when they were

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:49:33 -0000, rwitt_2000 wrote I put Kadee wheelsets into various one-piece delrin trucks over the years. Athearn, MDC, Walthers, Train Miniature etc. I don't know what the

I just finish with a (to be) M&StL 50' flat car. Made by splicing two Red Caboose 42 fters and adding a new deck. Not perfect, but close. Much to my dismay, I don't know which color to paint it, BCR

Tim O'Connor wrote: "At a train club I belonged to, MANY cars with Kadee wheels (mostly in non-Kadee sideframes) wore down the ends of the axles to a round nub! In a high-use context, metal axles

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE the H10 but, I could use quite a few. Actually, anyone modeling a northeastern or eastern Midwest road should have a bunch of them. Fron a variety of

Dave Sieber wrote: Not true, Dave. You can see it on Pressed Steel Car and Bethlehem cars built before WW II. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest Ave.,

Dave Sieber wrote: "Jim, Then again, I might mention that you (like most everyone) missed a minor identifying characteristic of Pullman-Standard's boxcars of the '40s, seen on both their AAR

At a train club I belonged to, MANY cars with Kadee wheels (mostly in non-Kadee sideframes) wore down the ends of the axles to a round nub! In a high-use context, metal axles last longer. Also

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:09:20 -0700, Richard Hendrickson wrote I've never had one wear out either, and I have some which date back to the late 1970s although those are on old bluebox cars and they

Jim, you must run your freight cars a lot more than I do; I've never had a Kadee axle wear out. However, I just put a pair of Northwest Short Line Code 88 wheelsets into one of new Kadee trucks

Sam Clarke e-mailed me this morning to say that Kadee's Code 88 wheelsets, which I knew they were thinking seriously about, already exist and are in the catalog. Stock numbers are: #530 33"

Hope I might acquire insights from the experienced here. I'm working on a couple of TT scale projects for which I wish to learn how some of the parts manufacturers form wire into railings, eye bolts,

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:26:05 -0700, David Sieber wrote Maybe but the stepped bolster tab info is pretty interesting, and I will start looking for it and hopefully use it to at least identify PS built

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:03:14 -0500, cvlk wrote It would be fascinating to see the process of how a 3D CAD drawing of the prototype is turned into the actual tooling specs for the model. I've been

My apologies to all - that last email was intended to go only to Jim King. I'm a very satisfied customer of Smokey Mountain Model Works. Dave Sieber

Jim, Thank God - I was beginning to doubt my sanity or my memory (or both), since I thought the TC boxcar had been built with the Pullman riveted roof (smooth, with overlapping sections above

Rob Kirkham wrote: "But it makes me wonder - would useful CAD drawings substantially reduce a manufacturer's costs and make some projects more viable?" Good question. I am not sure the jury is in

David Orr and Don Strong, please contact me off-list. I need your email address. Jim King Smoky Mountain Model Works, Inc. Ph. (828) 777-5619 <www.smokymountainmodelworks.com>