Tony Thompson writes:

"But we really need a good aftermarket part for this application. I know a couple of people have thought about designing such a product, but to date, no dice. Here's hoping SOMETHING does emerge."

While Tony and Bill Darnaby are correct that we DO need a model of a dome platform for various tank cars, it IS possible to build one yourself. I hesitate to blow my own horn [ namely because someone will instantly emerge with a better model ] but, blush, I have done one to fit the AC&F 10,000 gal uninsulated Semet Solvay car. Photos are in the STMFC photo section in the album Semet Solvay [ I hope ].

Some interesting aspects. I at first assumed the platform to be of an open grate design called Apex Trilox as shown in Kaminski's book, Tank Cars, on page 231. However, upon further review, I noticed that photos of tank cars reveal a shadow effect on the surface of the tank produced by the platform. Platforms made of an open metal grating design show this pattern in the shadow as can be seen on SHPX 16511 on pg 17 of RPCyc 3. The shadow produced on the Semet Solvay car shows a solid platform. So, what might be the material? I had thought perhaps a metal diamond shape. A drawing on pg 230 of the Kaminski book reveals either wood or metal "boards" on another earlier apparently 1930 design. Finally, I just used the diamond shape for the platform because, once painted, the surface didn't show a design anyway. I used the dimensions of the drawing on pg 230.

The 4 corner uprights were probably the most difficult parts to build since they were two pieces with wider bottoms than tops. Anyhow, it was an interesting "bash" and gives my tank car trains a bit of unique variety. I should also give a warning to any one that might ram the car with a Big Boy [ like I did to my wooden CA-1 caboose { knocking it to the floor }].

Mike Brock

On May 5, 2014, at 10:21 AM, railsnw@... wrote:

This morning I finally had the opportunity to use the eyelet etchings that
Pierre Oliver (Yarmouth Models) produced. Not only a real time saver
but they look much better than the .010 eyes that I had been forming.

Thank you Pierre:

Bill Pardie

Martin Lofton did have such a product for the Sunshine UTLX X-5 tank cars
that was a brass etching the user folded into shape. Where that stands now
I have no idea.

Bill Darnaby

We have discussed occasionally on this list the need for a prototype-size platform around the "dome" (really the valve casing) of the Athearn insulated tank car, which Athearn calls a "chemical" car. I made one attempt to improve that platform, though not entirely successfully, and have described what I did in a new blog post. If you're interested, the link is below. But we really need a good aftermarket part for this application. I know a couple of people have thought about designing such a product, but to date, no dice. Here's hoping SOMETHING does emerge.

http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2014/05/upgrading-tank-car-dome-platforms.html

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, tony@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

Anybody know anything about the company Williamson & Pries? I was going through some Spokane, Portland & Seattle records and I found an AFE to change 50 double sheathed boxcars from Williamson & Pries roofs to Murphy roofs. Poking around on Google I found one mention of a W&P internal roof on some other cars and also some mention of W&P draft gears.

Also the same AFE had work being done on some cars to change to Bradford draft gears. Another company I've not heard of.

Thanks,

Richard Wilkens

On May 4, 2014, at 7:46 PM, Robert <rdkirkham@...> wrote:

Clark,

Alps printed decals can be tough to get to settle around surface details, especially rows of rivets among other things. This depends a lot on how they were printed and, to some extent, cannot be avoided. The reason for this is the number of layers of ink that may be involved in the printing of Alps decals. If the printer (the person not the machine) is using spot colors the number of printing passes may vary from one to several and will almost for certain contain at least two unless the color of the print is black or metallic gold or silver in which cases only one pass may be used.

If the printer is using the normal color matching system there will be four passes involved at a minimum. add to either method a layer or two of white for opaqueness and you can get some thick ink. Now for black or the metallic colors a white undercoat it not necessary of opaqueness.

The best way to decal using Alps decals is to soak all the glue off the decal and lay it on a paper towel to dry. Then place a puddle of Solvaset or other stetting solution on the place where the decal will be placed and position the decal on top. This does require quick work as there is very limited time to get the decal positioned before it becomes so soft that any attempt to further move it will damage it. This method is used by many for all kinds of decals as works very well to settle the decal around surface details. There have been several articles in the modelling press over the years espousing this method and it does work well.

The problem with getting  the decal off the backing may go back to decal paper problems from a couple of years ago when almost all paper suppliers had problems. There are few providers of bare decal paper world wide and at one time one of them made a bad batch of paper. Bare decal paper is teh backing, usually light blue in color to which the decal carrier film is placed. This is the printing surface and is the film that we all have to soften in order for the decal to settle down and that we then apply overcoats to help hide the film on the finished model.

The paper in question made it near impossible to get a decal to slide off eh backing without breaking up into unusable  pieces of confetti. I had some and I had gotten it from more than one of the printer ready decal paper suppliers. There is nothing to do for it if this is what you have. If you can get your supplier to reprint for you fine, other wise your are s.o.l. I had to reprint several orders using exactly the same method on new paper to replace the bad stuff and the re-prints all worked just fine. I also had to toss several sheets of the crappy paper. Oh well, stuff happens.

While the settling situation can be difficult to work with be aware that Alps decals often are more opaque than any other method of printing. The simple fact is that any decal that is fully opaque is going to have ink or pigmented color (i.e., paint) that is going to thicker than "normal", whatever that is. And thicker means stiffer. I have had several customers remark at the opaqueness of my decals as compared to others using screen or offset printing methods. Yes this will include some very recognizable names.

John Hagen

     My basis for this is not only my professional experience in both academic and industrial metallurgy, but my multi-year experience on the AAR Research Committee, involved in research on materials for both rail and wheels, including meetings at the AAR Research Facility near Pueblo, Colorado (now the Transportation Technology Center). Believe me, we covered wheel production and wheel materials to exhaustion.

A few days ago there was a discussion about the purpose of ribbed back wheels, and the answer was the "ribs" were there for cooling during forming - casting of the iron wheels. But, when did we see ribbed-backed wheels disappear from the rails? Apparently the "ribs" went away with the use of steel in wheel making.

 

So, what time period is proper for using ribbed-back wheels? Was there some RR "rule" condemning them?

 

Paul Hillman