Date   

Chlorine car ?

fiddlertrain
 

Hi
While looking through an old Model Railroader book, Easy to Build Model
Railroad Freight Cars, [The price on the cover is $3.00]I found a story
on a Chlorine car. I would like to model it but have no drawings other
than the illustrations in the article. Do any of you have a scale
drawing that they could share?
Thanks in advance
Fiddler


Spring cleaning sale

Rob Sarberenyi <espeef5@...>
 

Springtime brings spring cleaning, and with it a chance to sort out what's
needed and what no longer is. I've posted a variety of items on eBay,
including freight cars, locomotives, magazines... maybe even a few things
you'll find of interest.

http://stores.ebay.com/Espee-F-5

Thanks for looking!


Rob Sarberenyi
espeef5@...


Comment about foreign reefers in 1st Qtr/08 Warbonnet

gn3397 <heninger@...>
 

Group,
I too noticed the MP hoppers in the photo just referenced by Mr. Brock and wondered if it
would be brought up on the list. My supposition was correct.
Anyway, my question is in regards to a statement by a former ATSF brakeman in regards to
citrus shippers who couldn't get the desired SFRD cars, and were forced to take FGEX, ART,
MDT, BAR, etc., cars. He states (in a caption on pg. 33) the shippers complained because
the foreign cars required bracing to prevent shifting of the loads. Why was this necessary?
Were SFRD reefers of a different inside width? Having read both the PFE and ATSF reefer
books cover to cover, I can remember reading that shippers preferred the SFRD and PFE cars,
but I thought that was because of the generally better condition and maintenance of the
SFRD and PFE fleets.
Thanks in advance for any answers.

Sincerely,
Robert D. Heninger
Stanley, ND


Re: The Strange Case of the MP Hoppers on the Santa Fe

Richard Hendrickson
 

On Mar 25, 2008, at 5:00 PM, Mike Brock wrote:

Santa Fe gurus are no doubt pulling out what hair they have left today
after
viewing the photo on pg 25 of the just appearing War Bonnet, First
Quarter
2008. They probably thought...ohhh nooo...when they looked carefully
at the
photo. It shows a nice view of the San Bernardino yard in 1950 with
mention
that the El Captitan is arriving. However, much more interesting to
those on
the STMFC that are always on the lookout for "eastern style" hoppers
in
California is a string of cars 5 tracks away. Here we see no less
than 8 MP
3 bay hopper cars [ maybe more ]...filled with what looks
like...well...coal. MP's coal source was primarily the fields in
Southern
Illinois which is categorized as "...a high volatile, medium sulfur,
low
ash, high BTU bituminous coal" in the book Burlington Bulletin No.
35, The Q
in the Coal Fields". Coal gurus can tell us if this source is
classified as
metallurgical coal but the Burlington book does not give such an
impression.

Coincidentally, there are photos of other MP hopper cars "lost" out
in the
"real west". America's Colorful Railroads shows no less than 2 MT's
being
returned eastward on the D&RGW in Tennessee Pass and The Iron Horse
and I
shows MP hoppers in...of all places...Laramie, WY.
Mike, I can't account for MP hoppers in Laramie, but their presence in
San Bernardino is no surprise. In the 1950s MP hoppers were
extensively used to bring coal to the Kaiser steel mill at Fontana.
Where that coal came from I don't know; in the '40s Kaiser got a lot of
Utah coal via the Rio Grande/UP/Santa Fe, mostly in D&RGW, UP, and UCR
drop bottom gondolas, but I assume the MP hoppers were carrying coal
from some other point of origin. In any case, those MP hoppers never
got any further into Southern Calif. than Fontana, which is only a few
miles from San Bernardino. So my claim still holds that, in the Los
Angeles area post-WW-II, one literally saw hopper cars less often than
helium tank cars.

Richard Hendrickson


Re: The Strange Case of the MP Hoppers on the Santa Fe

Dave Nelson
 

Mike Brock wrote:
MP's coal source was primarily the fields in
Southern Illinois which is categorized as "...a high volatile, medium
sulfur, low ash, high BTU bituminous coal" in the book Burlington
Bulletin No. 35, The Q in the Coal Fields". Coal gurus can tell us if
this source is classified as metallurgical coal but the Burlington
book does not give such an impression.
No, the coal mines served by the MP that had met coal were in NW Arkansas.

Coincidentally, there are photos of other MP hopper cars "lost" out
in the "real west". America's Colorful Railroads shows no less than 2
MT's being returned eastward on the D&RGW in Tennessee Pass and The
Iron Horse and I shows MP hoppers in...of all places...Laramie, WY.
See above, think Geneva Steel, Provo UT.

IMO it would be ***highly*** unlikely that ordinary steam coal would be
shipped to the west coast from S. Ill or NW Arkansas, given the ready
availability of equivalent coal from Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
'Course, it could be coal from those locations that happened to be in MP
hoppers... but I'd bet, oh, a nickle, that it was met coal from Arkansas.
Esp. as it is documented the Fontana steel in CA. did bring in Arkansas met
coal for trial.

Dave Nelson


The Strange Case of the MP Hoppers on the Santa Fe

Mike Brock <brockm@...>
 

Santa Fe gurus are no doubt pulling out what hair they have left today after viewing the photo on pg 25 of the just appearing War Bonnet, First Quarter 2008. They probably thought...ohhh nooo...when they looked carefully at the photo. It shows a nice view of the San Bernardino yard in 1950 with mention that the El Captitan is arriving. However, much more interesting to those on the STMFC that are always on the lookout for "eastern style" hoppers in California is a string of cars 5 tracks away. Here we see no less than 8 MP 3 bay hopper cars [ maybe more ]...filled with what looks like...well...coal. MP's coal source was primarily the fields in Southern Illinois which is categorized as "...a high volatile, medium sulfur, low ash, high BTU bituminous coal" in the book Burlington Bulletin No. 35, The Q in the Coal Fields". Coal gurus can tell us if this source is classified as metallurgical coal but the Burlington book does not give such an impression.

Coincidentally, there are photos of other MP hopper cars "lost" out in the "real west". America's Colorful Railroads shows no less than 2 MT's being returned eastward on the D&RGW in Tennessee Pass and The Iron Horse and I shows MP hoppers in...of all places...Laramie, WY.

I've always been an admirer of the MP "Eagles" logo but I must confess I didn't think those in California would be so blessed as to see it as well as those in Laramie.

Mike Brock


Re: Weathering wheels, trucks, and hoppers

Richard Townsend
 

Dennis Aust had an interstinge article on weathering wheels in the December 1988 Mainline Modeler.? It included a description of a jig he made to hold the wheels for painting and weathering.?


Richard Townsend
Lincoln City, Oregon

-----Original Message-----
From: Rod Miller <rod@...>
To: STMFC@...
Sent: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 9:55 am
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Weathering wheels, trucks, and hoppers






An alternative to the sandpaper is to use a Bright Boy. Lightly
touch the end surface to a bench grinder (a carefully applied
cut-off wheel in a grinder may also work) to put a sharp corner
on it which allows cleaning the root of the flange. This also
serves to polish the wheel tread. NWSL's steel O scale wheels
look great after this.

Rod

Richard Hendrickson wrote:

[snip]

on the backs and axles overlap on the wheel treads. Each wheel can
then be chucked in a small lathe or other power tool and the treads
cleaned and polished with fine (e.g., 320) abrasive paper. I cut the
abrasive paper into approximately 1" wide strips, fold it to make it
reasonable stiff, and keep doing that until it's used up. Of course,
this assumes that you're using metal wheels such as Kadee, Life-Like,
or - my preference - Code 88 wheels from Reboxx, Intermountain, NWSL,
etc.

Richard Hendrickson
mailto:STMFC-digest@...
mailto:STMFC-fullfeatured@...



Re: Boxcar red

John Hile <john66h@...>
 

--- In STMFC@..., "ed_mines" <ed_mines@...> wrote:

Those are for the classic solvent borne paints, right?
Ed,

The paint manufacturers in the table are as follows: AccuFlex,
Accu-paint, Floquil, Scalecoat.

John Hile


Re: soft iron wire

Fred Swanson <Fred_Swa@...>
 

I don't know which jeweler's tool you speak of but if it is the one
with holes that are progressively smaller. It is a lot of work. In
this case with .014 wire you need to taper the end to be able to draw
the wire through a hole .014 or the closest to it and then draw the
wire though the hole the next smaller size. Can't skip hole sizes as
that will probably ruin the piece or the tool. Annealing would be a
good idea too. Clamp the wire at one end and hold the other with
pliers and run a lit match back and forth quickly. Cool slowly.
This work for straightening wire also. It can be chemically
blackened if it clean of grease and oil. Lot of work. Myself I use
Phosphor Bronze wire as it's easily bent where I want it. Has some
spring to it so if I grab the model wrong it helps keep its shape on
longer pieces. Tichy sells it as thin as .008. I think I saw another
place online that sold .004. It too can be blackened.
Fred Swanson

--- In STMFC@..., "ed_mines" <ed_mines@...> wrote:

Year aho I bought a spool of the smallest size of soft iron wire
available from McMasters. It's 30 gage (gauge?) & .014 inches.

The wire is a very uniform flat black. It was perfect for the side
grab irons on Intermountain's SFRD reefer.

I'd like to get the wire in smaller sizes for brake lines but the
maufacturer said I had the smallest diameter regularly stocked.

Is the jewelers tool for reducing the diameter of wire easy to use?
Would it strip off some of the black? If it did would black it or
some other chemical restore the black color?

Would the tool strip off the green color from florists wire? Has
anyone ever removed the green coating?

I have some larger sizes of soft iron wire from the same source
(McMasters) which are the more typical silvery iron color with
patches of rust.

Years ago I used the "blacken it" chemical on Arbour castings which
were made of some sort of soft metal. It did the job and then some.
The Arbour kit was real jumk.

Ed


Re: Southern36' SU box cars

Dave & Donna Johnson <ironhoss@...>
 

Thank you Frank, I just ordered a copy.

Dave J.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Greene" <frgreene290@...>
The SRHA has copies of "Southern Rails" No. 22, Fall 1988, which
contains Al Westerfield's plans for the various versions of the SU:
http://www.srha.net/public/grab/item_detail.asp?id=114

--

Frank Greene
Memphis, TN


Weathering

cgsiegel@...
 

BlankAutomobile pin striping makes excellent masking for wheels, inexpensive and very easy to apply, and it gives good results. The easiest way to do it I have found.
Gerry Siegel
Mountville Pa


Re: Boxcar red

al_brown03
 

The RP CYC table gives formulae for AccuFlex, Accu-paint, Floquil,
and Scalecoat, typically one or two formulae per railroad although
one can interpolate.

Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.


--- In STMFC@..., "ed_mines" <ed_mines@...> wrote:

--- In STMFC@..., "John Hile" <john66h@> wrote:
Volume 3 of the Railway Prototype Cyclopedia series had a table of
freight car reds and browns with model paint suggestions.
Those are for the classic solvent borne paints, right? I've been
hoping
that they'll update the table with the newer paints that can be
sprayed
directly on polystyrene.

Ed


Re: Boxcar red

Charles Morrill
 

You can airbrush spray the solvent based paints like Floquil directly on styrene. I've been doing that for several decades. Just don't try to use a hand paint brush for a solvent paint without an undercoat or primer.
Charlie

----- Original Message -----
From: "ed_mines" <ed_mines@...>
To: <STMFC@...>
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 11:18 PM
Subject: [STMFC] Re: Boxcar red


--- In STMFC@..., "John Hile" <john66h@...> wrote:
Volume 3 of the Railway Prototype Cyclopedia series had a table of
freight car reds and browns with model paint suggestions.
Those are for the classic solvent borne paints, right? I've been hoping
that they'll update the table with the newer paints that can be sprayed
directly on polystyrene.

Ed


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

Yahoo! Groups Links





Re: Boxcar red

ed_mines
 

--- In STMFC@..., " Westerfield" <westerfield@...> wrote:
Railroads maintained "drift cards" of the standard colors they used
for quality control.

They didn't stay those colors very long.


Re: Boxcar red

ed_mines
 

--- In STMFC@..., "John Hile" <john66h@...> wrote:
Volume 3 of the Railway Prototype Cyclopedia series had a table of
freight car reds and browns with model paint suggestions.
Those are for the classic solvent borne paints, right? I've been hoping
that they'll update the table with the newer paints that can be sprayed
directly on polystyrene.

Ed


Re: Weathering wheels, trucks, and hoppers

Schuyler Larrabee
 

Larger numbers may make spraying a more
attractive process.

Denny

Twenty at a time, at least. And I never bother to clean out the airbrush between colors. (SHOCK!!!
HORRORS!!) I mean, we're putting on a mix, random, mottled look anyhow, right? And if that bottle
of Tuscan is EVER so slightly lighter because the last color was, say, box car red, well, so? So
what? And going from Tuscan to black, or reefer orange to black or gray, you get some interesting
and quite prototypical colors.

SGL


Re: Weathering wheels, trucks, and hoppers

Jack Burgess <jack@...>
 

It depends on the masking technique that you use....yes, if you use tape,
you can brush paint faster as Denny suggests. But I don't brush paint
anything except for air hoses...I like the thin application achievable with
an air brush vs. the thicker application sometimes resulting from using a
brush. But the painting times that you cite aren't accurate with a holder
which covers the threads and axle bearing surfaces. With the holder I built,
time to put a wheelset in the holder...5 seconds. Paint the outside
surfaces, switch bottles for the color for the inside surfaces and shoot it
onto the air brush booth filter to clean out the first color and then paint
the rest of the surfaces takes a minute or so. I then open the holder and
drop the completely painted wheelset out...total time maybe a couple of
minutes, 3 at the most per wheelset.

But to each his own...

Jack Burgess
www.yosemitevalleyrr.com


Re: Weathering wheels, trucks, and hoppers

Schuyler Larrabee
 

O-rings!!!! What a great idea!!!!

Thanks!!

SGL

-----Original Message-----
From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of Rod Miller
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 10:18 PM
To: STMFC@...
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Weathering wheels, trucks, and hoppers

Another way to protect the wheel treads from paint is to
put o-rings over them. A 1 or 2 inch long piece of heat
shrink tubing (may have to shrink to fit) will protect
the axle ends (may not work for some pointed axles).

Rod

Schuyler Larrabee wrote:
I may be accused of being masochistic, but I have for years masked the
treads with a short piece of
Chartpak tape. It doesn't take long to do, and when done, it peels off
and leaves a perfect surface
on, as Richard said, Reboxx, IM, or other metal wheels. The other thing
is to mask the point of the
axle with either some MicroMask or some rubber cement, so that the point
is clean when done. This,
combined with masking the journal on the inside of the truck frame with
stick-on dots from the
stationery store, retains the rolling qualities of the trucks.


accupaint primer

radius158
 

does anyone know where one can get accupaint primer??? seems hard to find

Doug Gardner


Re: Weathering wheels, trucks, and hoppers

Denny Anspach <danspach@...>
 

Like Richard, I brush paint all my wheel sets, a very rapid, clean, and accurate process. I used to spray, but it was so inefficient that I gave it up years ago. The masking mounts still hang on the wall within view.

Re: spray painting wheels. By the time the masking tape is cut and applied, the wheels are mounted safely in a masking device, the paints are prepared , the air brush is brought to life, the compressor is turned on, the first color applied, the air brush subsequently cleared, the compressor turned off, the wheels are turned or remasked for the second color, the paint is changed, the compressor is turned on again, the second paint application is applied, the air brush is cleared a second time, the compressor is turned off, and the masking materials removed, I have not only hand painted a very large number of wheels and axles one or two two colors cleanly (not the treads), set them down to dry, and gone on to initiate my daily nap or some other productive activity.

I custom fit wheel sets of different axle lengths to each new truck, so I rarely paint no more than about 20 wheel sets at a time, much more often far less. Larger numbers may make spraying a more attractive process.

Denny