Tim O'Connor wrote: The PFE people I interviewed said NO straw, sawdust or anything else was used in storage houses. Photos of interiors of those structures confirm this. Tony Thompson

Jerry Glow wrote: Sawdust was commonly used if there were sawmills in the area. My father in law cut, harvested & stored pond ice in the Poconos (PA) into the late 1960's and always used sawdust for

I rescued an old Golden Spike kit for an FGE reefer from an abusive home. It has the underframe parts painted either the same freightcar red as the ends and roof or simply left unpainted metal. I

Heck,The Rutland used to send hay and cedar posts in their stock cars.Armand Premo

I suspect it may but thought the use of sawdust was more common. Jerry Glow

How common were cars with the original doors in the 1950's? I have only seen one photo of a car with its original doors in this time period, compared to many photos of cars with replacement

My recollection is that straw is often used in conjunction with ice in storage. Perhaps to prevent those 300lb blocks from turning themselves into 3,000lb blocks? Surely the straw could simply be

Thanks, I've read good things about Tahoe trucks, so I've mailed Brian. I've realised that I need to be a bit more specific when I post queries, I'm fairly good at researching proto info, but coming

Joel, Tahoe Model Works does not yet have a web sit, but if you, or anyone else, would like information, please contact me OFF-LIST at brianleppert@... and I can email all the TMW catalog

Hi, I picked up an extra large sized FOTFC shirt at "Son-of-Naperville" last month. The person who I thought wanted it declined. If anyone wants it for $25.00, plus $5.00 priority mail shipping,

Hi Ben, Does Tahoe Model Works have a web site? Joel Holmes

Tim David asked: "Also, any recommendations for the best trucks to use?" According to a PRR Truck Classification List dated June 5, 1922, Class GR gons were equipped with Class 2D-F1 Arch Bar trucks

Bill Welch wrote: I think Ben Heinley was talking about natural ice, usually cut in much smaller blocks than 300-lb. manufactured ice blocks. And of course (as Bill knows) the 300-lb. blocks were

Can anyone answer this one?

However the same 300 blocks of ice used in the bunkers would have also been ground and sprayed into cars for those crops, mainly vegetables, that were "top iced" so this ice too should have been as

Steve Bishop wrote: Steve, they were very similar cars. Certainly most modelers could not tell the difference. Most of the differences, in fact, were internal. The R-40-8 cars were a little

Ben Heinley wrote: And if straw was used, you can be sure the ice was not intended to be used in reefers. Straw would clog the bunker drains. You might be thinking that surely reefers weren't

Dear Colleagues: I am considering using a Tichy PFE Class R-40-4 reefer as a stand in for the New Haven Ice car I-74. According to the New Haven Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment, I-74 was

I know I asked this question some time back . . . . but was there a guideline for loading materials like pig iron on the floors of a freight cars?  I've heard stories from retirees talking about

Thank you Scott for the good laugh . . . I needed that this morning.  Al Kresse