This is embarrassing but I realize now that none of the 3 NYC hopper cars in the 1948 list are USRA hoppers, rebuilt or original. I remain grateful to all who provided information. Because of all

Doug Harding wrote: Well said, Doug. Girder bridges in particular have length to depth proportions which depend on loading, for obvious reasons. Paul Mallery's bridge book (Carstens) lays all

Hi Bob, Norm has been out to St. Louis RPM for a number of years. Great guy, and he brings a great series of products to the market. He will do custom work--he produced some SAL decals for me for an

The "mushroom system" Bob mentions incorporated a funnel shaped top on each concrete column, so that thin deck actually has much more support than is evident from the view looking down. The Same

Read http://skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/VERTICAL_URBAN_FACTORY/concrete.php for more about Turner and his mushroom system. Basically he discovered that if you flare out the top of a concrete column, ie

Hi Tim, I had the same thought as you when I was looking at the prototype bridge. It's not the only one (now gone) in that part of town that seems very thin to my eyes. It could be my model

Very impressive! Bob can you describe the under-structure of that road bridge? I'm amazed by the shallow depth of the prototype bridge seen from the side. Of course in 1910 they didn't have to worry

I recently worked up some HO concrete railings (appropriate for steam era layouts) and described them on my blog: www.bobsworkbench.com Photos of the models are included there. Bob Sterner St.

Does anyone on the list have current contact information for Keith Sirman (The Sirman Collection) photo dealer? Mr Sirman was scheduled to be at the Amherst/Springfield Mass. Train show this past

Does anyone on the list have current contact information for a photo dealer named Robert J. Lewis from Delaware? Mr. Lewis used to sell photos of tugs, covered barges, steam lighters, car floats and

Curious if there were any freight car highlights to reports from the big Springfield show this past weekend? Bill Welch

I know some of you have already seen these, but over the last month I've completed a series of three posts to my blog, about my approaches to modeling rust on freight cars, and the reasons for color

Doug Harding wrote: "Ben I have some of the same lists as Gene. Two of them are bad order or set out lists from 1948-50 & from 1958-59. Most set outs were due to hotboxes. In the 1948 list these were

Ben I have some of the same lists as Gene. Two of them are bad order or set out lists from 1948-50 & from 1958-59. Most set outs were due to hotboxes. In the 1948 list these were the three NYC

So true! Quoting O Fenton Wells <srrfan1401@...>:

And Spellcheck wouldn't have caught that typo, because monument is a real word. Quoting cepropst@q.com:

I my case over the years both are appropiate, as weak moments lead to weak monumnents...it truly piles up. Thank goodness for eBay. Fenton Wells -- Fenton Wells 3047 Creek Run Sanford NC

Addendum to my earlier post: Charlie Smith's article on the NYC USRA hopper cars is richly illustrated with more than 40 photos, 7 diagrams of different lots, a lettering diagram and a comprehensive

Also, the RMJ articles and photo are available on-line at the Trainlife site: http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/441/32209/may-1995-page-15 The car appears to be red, with a 1944 reweigh

Gene Green wrote: "The list of 1300 freight cars known to be on the M&StL in my modeling period included very few foreign road open-top hopper cars. Included in these few are 3 NYC open-top