Date   

GM&O 72,000 Flat as built info.

Matt Smith
 

Looking for information on the GM&O 72,000 Commonwealth Flats as built 3-51.

I only have one grainy picture and its hard to tell,
#1 Color 
#2 Type of truck used.

Any information or data is appreciated!
Matt Smith
Bloomington, IL


Steam era eBay listing links

Clark Propst
 


WESTERFIELD MODELS Newsletter, Vol 7, No 2, May, 2018

dahminator68
 

Hello Steam Era Modeler:

 
We are pleased to announce that Westerfield Models is having a NATIONAL TRAIN DAY SALE!  
This sale will be in effect from 12:01 am May 11 through 11:59 pm May 21, 2018 and is available for orders placed through our Website, 
Mail-in Order Form, via Phone order, and via orders emailed to westerfieldmodels@... (email order payment via secure card invoice).
Our business hours are from 9am to 5pm, Pacific Time Zone.   Mailed in orders must be postmarked by May 21, 2015. 
Please enter Coupon Codes as shown and indicate which sale you are using in the comment section.
 
Please choose one of the following Sale Options:

FIRST OPTION:       Buy 3 Items and get 50% off the Third Item.
                                 This option is for like-items only.  For example, buy 3 Kits and get the third Kit at 50% off or 
                                 buy 3 Decals and get the third Decal at 50% off.
                                 This option is for the following types of items only:  Kits, Decals, Detail Parts & Disks.  See Restrictions Below*.
                                 USE COUPON CODE:  BUY3SALE

SECOND OPTION:  Buy 3 Items and 3 Sets Tahoe Trucks and get 50% off the Third Item and 50% off the Third Set of Tahoe Trucks.
                                  This option is for like-items only.  For example, buy three Kits and three Tahoe trucks, get 50% off the third Kit and third Truck set.
                                  This option is for the following types of items only:  Kits and Tahoe Trucks.  See restrictions below*
                                  USE COUPON CODE:  BUY3TAHOE
 
THIRD OPTION:      Buy 6 Items and get the 6th Item FREE.
                                  This option is also for like-items only.  For example, buy 6 Kits and get the 6th Kit Free or 
                                  buy 6 Detail Parts and get the 6th Detail Part Free.
                                  This option is for the following types of items only:  Kits, Decals, Detail Parts & Disks.  See Restrictions Below*.
                                  USE COUPON CODE:   BUY6ONEFREE

FOURTH OPTION:  Buy 6 Sets of Tahoe Trucks and get the 6th Set FREE.
                                  This option is for like-items only:  For example, buy 6 sets Tahoe Trucks and get the 6th set Free.
                                  This option is for Tahoe Trucks only.  
                                  Tahoe Coupons do not apply to sale orders.  See restrictions below*.
                                  USE COUPON CODE:   BUY6TAHOE

All of our Kits are available at our secure website: westerfieldmodels.com
 
Non-sale items can be ordered but will not receive discount.
Please Note:  Shipping is not included in prices and is added when order is complete.  Shipping will be combined for multiple orders.
 
*RESTRICTIONS ON SALE ITEMS:  KITS - The following Kits are NOT eligible for FREE KITS:  All Kits Priced $45 and Higher or Sets #7598, #7599.
                                                             DISKS - The following Disks are NOT eligible for FREE DISKS:  ACF Disk, PRR ORER Disks I, II, III or the set of 3.
                                                             TRUCKS - Tahoe Model Works Trucks are only available in sales TWO and FOUR.

Westerfield Kits include new HO scale unpainted urethane castings, and are complete with quality details, detailed instruction/history sheets 
and proprietary decals covering all versions of the prototype car.   Trucks and couplers are not included but are available - See below.

We are pleased to announce that TAHOE MODEL WORKS Trucks and Kadee Trucks and Couplers are now available through Westerfield Models.  
Tahoe Trucks are now listed on our Website Secure Model Store under "Tahoe Model Works Trucks".   All fifteen of the Tahoe Truck types are available with any of three wheelset types:  
Frame only, RP-25 Wheelsets, Semi-Scale Wheelsets.  
We also have a "Tahoe Trucks Listing" page on our Main website page that provides information on each type of truck and, in some cases a user list for that truck.
Kadee Trucks and Couplers are available on our Website Secure Model Store under "Add-On Trucks and Couplers for Kits".  Please note that Kadee products are only available with the purchase of a Kit, while Tahoe Trucks are available separately.
 
Link to our Tahoe Trucks page:    https://id18538.securedata.net/westerfieldmodels.com/merchantmanager/index.php?cPath=264

Link to our Kadee Add-On page:  https://id18538.securedata.net/westerfieldmodels.com/merchantmanager/index.php?cPath=153

Westerfield Models is available for custom casting work.  We can make castings from your patterns, both from your custom masters or your 3D printed masters.  Please see our Website, Main Page "Custom Castings" for more information.  Link to page:  http://westerfieldmodels.com/116622.html

Questions or Suggestions?  Feel free to email us at:  westerfieldmodels@....
 
Thank you,
Andrew Dahm
Westerfield Models, LLC
westerfieldmodels.com
westerfieldmodels@...
Like us on Facebook!




HO scale wood coal gondola

Eric Hansmann
 

Doug Forbes has been developing a model for a wood coal gondola used on the Illinois Traction System in the early decades of the 20th century. The prototype is very similar to a Penny gondola of the late 1800s. Check out Doug’s work on the DesignBuildOp blog.

http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/2018/05/11/ho-wood-coal-gondola/

 

 

 

Eric Hansmann

Murfreesboro, TN


Armour and Company - Seattle

Bob Chaparro
 

This photo is from the Pauldorpat.com website, which features the Seattle-now-then column:

https://i1.wp.com/pauldorpat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/armour-building-then.jpeg?ssl=1

Comment from the website: "While surely formidable, the Armour and Co. building at the northeast corner of Third Avenue and Jackson Street was not designed to be admired on the merits of its east façade, as seen here looking west from the sidewalk on the west side of Fourth Avenue South.  Instead the building’s show-front looked south over Jackson Street to the railroad depots.  The railroad tracks showing here connect the Great Northern Depot with the tunnel that still passes north under the business district to the foot of Belltown’s Virginia Street.  The tunnel, first opened in 1905, was the best reason why J. Ogden Armour, the “millionaire Chicago packer,” chose this location for his refrigerated distribution center for the Pacific Northwest, as well as Alaska, which was then still paying for some of its meat with nuggets.  Seattle was also nearer than either California or Portland to the hoped-for meat eaters of the Far East."

Notice the cross-over tracks along the loading dock. And one can't ignore the Soo Line reefer which has the word "Armor" (a misspelling) chalked on the left end, along with something else as well:

https://i2.wp.com/pauldorpat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/armour-detail.jpg?ssl=1

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA 


ATSF Fe-U 50' car as Bx-35

John Barry
 

These cars retained this look when the aux doors were disabled and they were re-classed as Bx-35 single door box cars. Unfortunately, all the photos I've seen of the Bx-35s are after their rebuilding with steel sides. Sure would like to see what the 1944-45 version looked like.

John Barry
 
ATSF North Bay Lines 
Golden Gates & Fast Freights 
Lovettsville, VA


707-490-9696 


PO Box 44736 
Washington, DC 20026-4736

--------------------------------------------

On Thu, 5/10/18, charles slater <atsfcondr42@...> wrote:

Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??
To: "main@RealSTMFC.groups.io" <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io>
Date: Thursday, May 10, 2018, 2:19 PM



The Fe-U does
not have the massive underframe. (see photo) They were also
not painted off white but the builders photo was for better
visibility of the construction. All the cars were delivered
in the normal mineral
brown with white lettering. See photos.
Charlie
Slater






Sent from Outlook









From:
main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on
behalf of Tim O'Connor
<timboconnor@...>

Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 10:12 AM

To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io

Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose
model is this??
 



Steve I had exactly the same thought. And wouldn't a
Santa Fe auto box of

that era have a massive fishbelly underframe?







Could it be
scratch built or kit bashed?  The underframe appears to be
Athearn, with the snap on coupler covers.  The ends look
like the old stamped metal ones.  The
hat section framing and sides look like wood shapes and
sheets.  I remember the wrap around metal roof ribs,
too.

 

Steve
Hile




From: bill woelfel via
Groups.Io

Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 9:42 AM

To: RealSTMFC.groups.io

Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model
is this??



Sorry, forgot the link.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/332639060495


Re: ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

charles slater
 

Here is the builders photo that was used to model this car. It was stripped off my last text.

Charlie Slater


Sent from Outlook




From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 1:39 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??
 

Thanks Charlie, excellent photos!


>The Fe-U does not have the massive underframe. (see photo) They were also not painted off white but the builders photo was for better visibility of the construction. All the cars were delivered in the normal mineral brown with white lettering. See photos.
>
>Charlie Slater





Re: ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

Tim O'Connor
 

Thanks Charlie, excellent photos!

The Fe-U does not have the massive underframe. (see photo) They were also not painted off white but the builders photo was for better visibility of the construction. All the cars were delivered in the normal mineral brown with white lettering. See photos.

Charlie Slater


Re: class of this ATSF box car?

charles slater
 

The underframes by the late 1940's and early 1950's  were rusting out, and like most of the 50 foot Fe-class cars received new bolsters, end sills and draft gear pockets. (see page 58 of the SFRH&MS book Vol. 3 "Furniture and Automobile Box Cars") The small "I" beam tab was only on the AS rebuilt version of these cars.

Charlie Slater 


Sent from Outlook




From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of Eric Lombard <elombard@...>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 11:15 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] class of this ATSF box car?
 
Charlie, et al, that other classes received the "tabs" is great to know. Scratch one possible spotting feature! And I note in the Fe-15 photo you included that the side sill reinforcement is of the long variety extending a side panel's width beyond the right door opening. Scratch a second spotting feature. And I have received a couple of Fe-19 photos without the "tabs" as well. Scratch a third potential spotting feature. It would seem, as you say, that the tabs were added to members of all classes with advancing age. By 1975 the last few Fe-19s in service had underfames between 60 and 64 years old. Come to think of it when I reached into that age bracket I was thinking  "tabs", might be a help, too.

The leaves the formation of the corner between the end and side plates. Fe-15 and Fe-19 have the continuous angle riveted to both the side and end. My suggestion would be that is because of their greater inside width at 9-5 making the reused end-stampings too short to wrap around to the side as in the Fe-5 inside 9-2. Sure would like to see a photo of an Fe-12. At inside width 10-3 it is hard to predict the structure of the corner joint.

Eric


Re: ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

charles slater
 

The Fe-U does not have the massive underframe. (see photo) They were also not painted off white but the builders photo was for better visibility of the construction. All the cars were delivered in the normal mineral brown with white lettering. See photos.

Charlie Slater


Sent from Outlook




From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 10:12 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??
 

Steve I had exactly the same thought. And wouldn't a Santa Fe auto box of
that era have a massive fishbelly underframe?



Could it be scratch built or kit bashed?  The underframe appears to be Athearn, with the snap on coupler covers.  The ends look like the old stamped metal ones.  The hat section framing and sides look like wood shapes and sheets.  I remember the wrap around metal roof ribs, too.
 
Steve Hile


From: bill woelfel via Groups.Io
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 9:42 AM
To: RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

Sorry, forgot the link.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332639060495


Re: class of this ATSF box car?

Eric Lombard
 

Charlie, et al, that other classes received the "tabs" is great to know. Scratch one possible spotting feature! And I note in the Fe-15 photo you included that the side sill reinforcement is of the long variety extending a side panel's width beyond the right door opening. Scratch a second spotting feature. And I have received a couple of Fe-19 photos without the "tabs" as well. Scratch a third potential spotting feature. It would seem, as you say, that the tabs were added to members of all classes with advancing age. By 1975 the last few Fe-19s in service had underfames between 60 and 64 years old. Come to think of it when I reached into that age bracket I was thinking  "tabs", might be a help, too.

The leaves the formation of the corner between the end and side plates. Fe-15 and Fe-19 have the continuous angle riveted to both the side and end. My suggestion would be that is because of their greater inside width at 9-5 making the reused end-stampings too short to wrap around to the side as in the Fe-5 inside 9-2. Sure would like to see a photo of an Fe-12. At inside width 10-3 it is hard to predict the structure of the corner joint.

Eric


Re: class of this ATSF box car?

charles slater
 

The Santa Fe USUALLY but not always just change the first letter to a "W", however sometimes they were simply marked as "We" and box cars as "Wx" sometimes they were mismarked as coming from the wrong class. 
Charlie Slater


Sent from Outlook




From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of Garth Groff <sarahsan@...>
Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2018 5:58 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] class of this ATSF box car?
 
Eric,

I then suppose the car below is a former Fe-19. The class We-19 almost seems too easy. Photo taken in South Los Angeles, March 1975, complete with an insouciant pigeon on the roof (at extreme left).

Yours Aye,


Garth Groff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿



On 5/9/18 8:24 PM, Eric Lombard wrote:
Tim and Charlie... and everyone else who might have an interest:

Observations and thoughts...
In my original response(s) I did not consider the the other classes because the physical features of the car indicated Fe-19 to me.
1. The cars get bigger with time:
  1. Fe-5 inside width 9-2, inside height 10-4
  2. Fe-12 inside width 9-3, inside height 10-5
  3. Fe-15 inside width 9-5, inside height 10-5
  4. Fe-19 inside width 9-5, inside height 10-6
2. Some physical details change with time:
  1. Fe-5: at the corners the end plates wrap around and are riveted to the side plates as is seen in early steel cars, the ends of the body bolsters (or bolster extensions?) appear as an I-beam, the side sill reinforcement is confined to little more than the width of the door opening
  2. Fe-12: Photo needed!! 
  3. Fe-15: at the corners the end and side plates are covered by an angle riveted to both, the ends of the body bolsters appear as an I-beam, the side sill reinforcement is confined to little more than the width of the door opening.
  4. Fe-19: at the corners the end and side plates are covered by an angle riveted to both, the ends of the body bolsters are covered by a large channel "tab", the side sill reinforcement extends a side panel width beyond the outer edge of the main door (though I have seen one photo of an early member of the series with the short reinforcement).
The features of the car in question is identical to #4, a Fe-19 as is the car nee #5792 in the Arizona Ry Museum. 

The end features of the cars are apparently NOT class specific - at least that anyone has been able to determine. Rather mixes of "reverse" Dreadnaught and reverse Murphy panels and blank sheets are used in all classes (and in 50-6 cars being rebuilt at the same time). In both cases the two ends of the car may be different.

Some of the cars were renumbered:
Fe-05  63000-63254 RENO 4400-4648  begin 1956
Fe-12  63651-63750 RENO 5100-5199  begin 1953
Fe-15  63255-63504 19 RENO 6360-6378 1943, IH 12-4, end doors, airplane, RENO back 1945-6 to original height
20 RENO 6670-6689  1944, XAP airplane parts, RENO back 1945-6
All remaining cars with end doors  RENO to 6700-6723  1949
Fe-19  5200-5599  5 RENO to 6550-6554? 1957 but off roster 1-1958

Photos of Fe-12s in original or renumbered series are probably rare. There were only 100. None of the usual on-line sites have one, nor any publication I have examined. If someone out there has one I would love to have a peak at it!

Thanks entertaining my thoughts on this!

Eric



Re: class of this ATSF box car?

charles slater
 

The Fe-5 and 15 also received those large channel side sill tabs in later years, as did the Fe-19.

Charlie


Sent from Outlook




From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of Eric Lombard <elombard@...>
Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2018 5:24 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] class of this ATSF box car?
 
Tim and Charlie... and everyone else who might have an interest:

Observations and thoughts...
In my original response(s) I did not consider the the other classes because the physical features of the car indicated Fe-19 to me.
1. The cars get bigger with time:
  1. Fe-5 inside width 9-2, inside height 10-4
  2. Fe-12 inside width 9-3, inside height 10-5
  3. Fe-15 inside width 9-5, inside height 10-5
  4. Fe-19 inside width 9-5, inside height 10-6
2. Some physical details change with time:
  1. Fe-5: at the corners the end plates wrap around and are riveted to the side plates as is seen in early steel cars, the ends of the body bolsters (or bolster extensions?) appear as an I-beam, the side sill reinforcement is confined to little more than the width of the door opening
  2. Fe-12: Photo needed!! 
  3. Fe-15: at the corners the end and side plates are covered by an angle riveted to both, the ends of the body bolsters appear as an I-beam, the side sill reinforcement is confined to little more than the width of the door opening.
  4. Fe-19: at the corners the end and side plates are covered by an angle riveted to both, the ends of the body bolsters are covered by a large channel "tab", the side sill reinforcement extends a side panel width beyond the outer edge of the main door (though I have seen one photo of an early member of the series with the short reinforcement).
The features of the car in question is identical to #4, a Fe-19 as is the car nee #5792 in the Arizona Ry Museum. 

The end features of the cars are apparently NOT class specific - at least that anyone has been able to determine. Rather mixes of "reverse" Dreadnaught and reverse Murphy panels and blank sheets are used in all classes (and in 50-6 cars being rebuilt at the same time). In both cases the two ends of the car may be different.

Some of the cars were renumbered:
Fe-05  63000-63254 RENO 4400-4648  begin 1956
Fe-12  63651-63750 RENO 5100-5199  begin 1953
Fe-15  63255-63504 19 RENO 6360-6378 1943, IH 12-4, end doors, airplane, RENO back 1945-6 to original height
20 RENO 6670-6689  1944, XAP airplane parts, RENO back 1945-6
All remaining cars with end doors  RENO to 6700-6723  1949
Fe-19  5200-5599  5 RENO to 6550-6554? 1957 but off roster 1-1958

Photos of Fe-12s in original or renumbered series are probably rare. There were only 100. None of the usual on-line sites have one, nor any publication I have examined. If someone out there has one I would love to have a peak at it!

Thanks entertaining my thoughts on this!

Eric


Re: ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

Tim O'Connor
 


Steve I had exactly the same thought. And wouldn't a Santa Fe auto box of
that era have a massive fishbelly underframe?



Could it be scratch built or kit bashed?  The underframe appears to be Athearn, with the snap on coupler covers.  The ends look like the old stamped metal ones.  The hat section framing and sides look like wood shapes and sheets.  I remember the wrap around metal roof ribs, too.
 
Steve Hile


From: bill woelfel via Groups.Io
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 9:42 AM
To: RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

Sorry, forgot the link.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332639060495


Re: ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

Steve and Barb Hile
 

Could it be scratch built or kit bashed?  The underframe appears to be Athearn, with the snap on coupler covers.  The ends look like the old stamped metal ones.  The hat section framing and sides look like wood shapes and sheets.  I remember the wrap around metal roof ribs, too.
 
Steve Hile



From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io [mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io] On Behalf Of bill woelfel via Groups.Io
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 9:42 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

Sorry, forgot the link. https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Scale-Unknown-ATSF-Santa-Fe-50-039-Box-Car-66201-Custom-Painted-Wood-Model-/332639060495?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=MFJePdeMfBCNeZ5XSv3ijREO%252Fuw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


Re: ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

Jon Miller <atsfus@...>
 

I can't seem to get ebay to show me closed auctions anymore.  Is this normal?


Re: ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

bill woelfel
 

Sorry, forgot the link. https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Scale-Unknown-ATSF-Santa-Fe-50-039-Box-Car-66201-Custom-Painted-Wood-Model-/332639060495?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=MFJePdeMfBCNeZ5XSv3ijREO%252Fuw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


ATSF Fe-U 50' car Whose model is this??

bill woelfel
 

Feebay just sold a HO  wooden kit (built)  that seems to be  a fair copy of an Fe-U. Who made this, I'd like to get a couple.  Thanks,  Bill Woelfel


Re: Archer Surface Details Decals

spsalso
 

I would recommend sourcing the drop grabs elsewhere.

Ed  

Edward Sutorik


Archer Surface Details Decals

Bill Welch
 

After Media Blasting twelve models Monday the crew at the Clearwater Car Shops was anxious to get to start on followup work and after washing up key areas of two models, brushed on Future/Pledge on two different Tichy USRA 50-ton rebuilds in preparation for applying Surface Detail Decals:

—Most of the Aluminum & Black scheme Georgia rebuilds had a welded roof with twelve panels. To model the butt weld joints I used Archer's "Aircraft Panel Line" #AR88013 set. I selected the narrowest lines as in the prototype roof photo I have of one of these cars the weld lines are barely visible. Before I applied the decals I used a square to mark the lines with a .005 pen to help me line up the decals. The Future/Pledge smeared some of the lines but not enough to interfere with lining up the Panel Line decals. Attached are three photos on my model with the "weld beads" in place. One caveat: Don't be tempted to trim the decal film too close to the lines as the film helps keep the lines straight and makes placing them much more manageable. The film is very thin and once the decals are in place and set with Microscale Red label is is not at all objectionable in my opinion.

—The P&LE model needed more rivets in addition to the harvested rivets I had already placed. The sides of each end are totally devoid of rivets and adding them made a big difference in making the model look finished. Previously I had used .005 styrene strips to recreate the flanges on the ends of the roof to create the illusion the metal of the roof ends over and covers the top of the end. This ares also received the Archers rivets from their #AR88087. Attached are four photos

I will give all of these decals one more application of Red label and then will seal then with Future/Pledge.

Bill Welch