Gerry White was a fellow member of the West Bay Club in Menlo Park in the '50s and '60s. He was a tremendously skilled modeler for himself, and a professional custom modeler ("Superior Models", as I recall) for others (his true day job). His speciality was O gauge locomotives, although I recall a spectacular HO PRR S-1 6-4-4-6 that he built for some lucky person. We used to see all of these models as they were tested on the Club's HO and O gauge layouts (the S Gauge layout was difficult to test inasmuch as it was 40 volts DC).

He was one of the key persons behind the NMRA RP-25 wheel contour, and much of the actual engineering occurred in his shop. I do not know the details behind the segue from Kurtz to White, but Gerry indeed owned Kurtz Craft when I knew him along with a single partner who in the end reportedly left him holding the bag, causing Kurtz Craft to be sold off.

To my knowledge, the Kurtz Craft PS-1 was the very first HO flat styrene kit.

I have a small number of Gerry White productions, including a spectacular Winton/MaRa C&O 2-6-6-6 that he built with Frank Weiss, which even today out pulls and outshines just about any contemporary Asian production.

One of my most peculiar memories was Gerry's mysterious desire to purchase or trade me out of a Walthers "Shuttle Jack" (a poor man's ATSF M-190 articulated gas electric). He finally gave me in trade an entire 10 car Blue Line steel-shell silk-screen painted Broadway Limited- which I thought at the time was a pretty good deal.

As we speak, I have just spruced up a long-finished Kurtz Craft PS-1 (decorated as a c.1956 TNO PSCC) to help people my layout. Although the underframe is rudimentary, the running boards are relatively thick, the grabs and ladders are thick (thin by standards of the day) and the end corrugations are sort of blobby, if one lavishes some of the simple attentions that Richard has been teaching us to do with current ready-to-run styrene, the car can and does look quite presentable within any string of finer, newer models.

Note that the ladders, the bracket grabs, and the running board lateral grabs were all separate 3-D moldings- revolutionary at the time.

Denny
--
Denny S. Anspach, MD
Sacramento

To carry or to escort?
KL

L&N 1650 - 1653 were baggage dormitory cars rebuilt from 10-sec/3dbr Pullmans. Steve Johnson's L&N Color Guide, Vol. 2 states "...they were assigned to haul nuclear material for atomic/hydrogen weapons to and from the AEC's facility at Oak Ridge, TN.... Dorm space was provided for four armed security personnel ... stenciling near the side doors 'ASSIGNED UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION LOADING ONLY. WHEN EMPTY RETURN TO L&N R. R. OAK RIDGE TENN.'"

The caption for a photo of 1653 at Memphis in 1976 notes it is accompanying an Oak Ridge Operation Office (OROX) box car. So, escort service as well.

Frank Greene
Memphis, TN

I picked up a new business card from Bob at the Naperville meeting but seem to have lost it since. Does anyone have the new Kentucky address handy? TIA.

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, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

I'm assembling a bunch of kits that I've had sitting around for quite a while and noticed that the door hardware at the bottom of the Youngstown (?) 6/6/6 (or is that 6/8/6? - how does one count the overlapping panel section?) doors in the two kits differ, with one a more rectangular shape and the other more triangular. Are these differences based on different prototype designs - and if so, can anyone provide names & dates when they were introduced or that sort of thing. Obvious;y for modelling if I just match a photo I won't go too wrong, but I'm curious....

Rob Kirkham

Steve if you on this list please contact me off list. I have a question
about the UTLX tank car you had at Naperville.

Also, very nice RI Boxcar presentation.
Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY

From: timboconnor@...

Was it ILLEGAL to ship cement in bulk by truck before 1959???
That's just goofy!


Tim, I grew up just above the NY/PA border, and my family had occasion to travel into the wilds of
Pennsylvania from time to time. My memories of the roads there would lead me to think that the PUC
might well have been protecting the roadways and especially the bridges, not so much on the main
roads, but on the back roads. Once you let a truck out there, they can go anywhere, and Load Limit
signs on bridges are not exactly read very carefully by the local trucking drivers. It's possible
by '59, there had been sufficient work done to upgrade the highways so as to make it safe to let the
cement trucks (which are likely to be very heavy) out to roam freely on the roads.

This is in contrast to what I've seen of Pennsylvania's more rural roadways today, beyond the scope
of this list. They are good, well built and drained, and appear to be well maintained. Very, very
different from what I remember as a kid.

SGL

Thanks, Edwin. I will try to track down these sources and look at the pix.
This is a big help!

Dave Siegfried

Thanks, Stan.

Dave Siegfried

To carry or to escort?

KL

Not to disparage the accomplishments of Jerry White but I always
believed the Kurtz Kraft line was produced by Dick Kurtz (who later
went on to produce the Milepost 501 line) and Bob Wigner (who later
was the major partner in Details West). I knew both of the latter and
would appreciate any clarification on the circumstances.

Jerry Glow

--- In STMFC@..., Rod Miller <rod@...> wrote:

Jerry White, formerly of Menlo Park, CA, passed away October 26 in
Napa, CA.

Jerry was one of the giants of model railroading.

He was known for his scratch built to order steam locomotives in

scales

ranging from TT to O. He scratch built to order numerous complete
passenger trains. He re-powered and re-geared (he called it

customzing)

dozens if not hundreds of imported brass steam locomotives.

He developed and produced the Kurtz Kraft HO scale PS-1 boxcar and a
reefer, both of which had free standing molded ladders and grabs.

He had a lifelong passion for trains and for building models of

them,

and was a tireless promoter of the model railroading hobby.

Jerry began model railroading in the 1930s before the advent of the
NMRA. His experiences with incompatible model railroads made him a
staunch advocate of standards, and as an NMRA member he worked hard

on

standards, to all of our benefit.

He was fun loving, personable, and always quick to crack a joke.

A longish obituary that touches on his many contributions and
accomplishments can be found at

http://www.rodmiller.com/jerry_white_obituary

Thank You to the many who already have shared condolences and your
personal experiences with Jerry.

Rod Miller

Hey, as a Twin Citian I resent being called "crazy". Goofy or silly, occasionally moronic. Definately not crazy.

Jerry White, formerly of Menlo Park, CA, passed away October 26 in
Napa, CA.

Jerry was one of the giants of model railroading.

He was known for his scratch built to order steam locomotives in scales
ranging from TT to O. He scratch built to order numerous complete
passenger trains. He re-powered and re-geared (he called it customzing)
dozens if not hundreds of imported brass steam locomotives.

He developed and produced the Kurtz Kraft HO scale PS-1 boxcar and a
reefer, both of which had free standing molded ladders and grabs.

He had a lifelong passion for trains and for building models of them,
and was a tireless promoter of the model railroading hobby.

Jerry began model railroading in the 1930s before the advent of the
NMRA. His experiences with incompatible model railroads made him a
staunch advocate of standards, and as an NMRA member he worked hard on
standards, to all of our benefit.

He was fun loving, personable, and always quick to crack a joke.

A longish obituary that touches on his many contributions and
accomplishments can be found at

http://www.rodmiller.com/jerry_white_obituary

Thank You to the many who already have shared condolences and your
personal experiences with Jerry.

Rod Miller

Checking a Champ C&O mill gon set, I find all the PROGRESS logos are
the post-1954 style (compare to the 1948-54 logo shown on the diagram
that comes in the set.) I thought an additional pair of logos might
be hiding in the envelope but no.
C&O had some 1939-built mill gons that are an Athearn kitbash
(Richard Hendrickson wrote an article in the old "Prototype Modeler.")
There were Pere Marquette gons (1944) of the "Proto 2000" type which
got C&O lettering later, but maybe not by your time period-- I've
read of cars staying in pre-merger lettering until their equipment
trusts expired. (P2K did the car in C&O but it's a 1960s scheme--
and it has a little mistake even for that lettering.)
C&O had cars you can improve from the Con-Cor Pennsy-style car, but I
think those came in 1952...

If you can find the hopper set from Microscale somewhere, you get a
lot more than on the Champ. And the Champ set may cost as much as
$6.60 retail (but the last one I got was on a "Two for 99 cents,
Nobody Actually BUILDS Models Anymore" sale.)

Scott Pitzer

Mont,

Schwereman Trucking was the company that came to Dixon in 1961 to
handle the Medusa business, both bulk and bags. They may have also
been the first trucking company to get the Marquette's business at
Oglesby.

Chet French
Dixon, IL


--- In STMFC@..., Mont Switzer <mhts_switzerm@...> wrote:

Dennis,

I'm a late comer to this thread, but from what I know about

tractors and trailers the technology to do pneumatic unloading (dry
bulk) was just coming into its own in the late 1950's. I recall that
one of the largest cement haulers in the 1950's and 1960's,
Schwereman Trucking Co., Milwaukee, WI had flat bed trailers for the
bag loads as well as the cement cans.

All of the regulated rate stuff is right on. It was a lot

different then when operating authority was similar to a franchise.

Mont Switzer

Dennis Storzek <destorzek@...> wrote:
--- In STMFC@..., timboconnor@ wrote:

Was it ILLEGAL to ship cement in bulk by truck before 1959???
That's just goofy!

Why? Most the things the ICC did were goofy, too. The state public
utilities commissions weren't nay better.

I'm sure it was never illegal to ship your own cement in your own
truck. I'm sure the issue was that it required a published tariff
before you could offer the service to others on a common carrier
basis. Without the tariff being in place, there was no impetus for

any

common carrier to purchase the specialized truck needed to ship bulk
cement, as he'd have no basis to set the rate to charge his

customers.

So, someone finally filed the tariff, and then I'm sure all the
carriers that carried BAGGED cement challenged it on the basis that

it

undercut their rates. I'm sure this issue perked through the
administrative law system for a couple years before the tariff was
finally published.

Such are the joys of regulated commerce.

Dennis





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--- In STMFC@..., timboconnor@... wrote:

Was it ILLEGAL to ship cement in bulk by truck before 1959???
That's just goofy!

I think the demise of L&NE was mostly due to closure of anthracite
mines, following the disastrous recession and steel mill strikes of
1958-1959. Naturally when L&NE folded they sold off everything as
fast as they could.

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Jerry Dziedzic" <jerdz@...>

Pennsylvania's PUC ruled to allow bulk shipment of cement by

truck in

1959. <snip>

Trucks began servicing the cement mills at Dixon, LaSalle, and
Oglesby, IL in the spring of 1961. This began the downward spiral of
the cement business on the IC's Amboy Dist. Prior to that, all
cement, bulk or bagged, went out in carload shipments. If Northside
Lumber Co., in Dixon, needed to order bag cement from the Medusa
plant in Dixon, they had to receive a carload that was, at least, the
minimum weight allowed in the tariff. The local redi-mix plant also
received covered hopper loads which moved about two miles from one
business to the other. Today the tracks are gone at the old Medusa
plant which is still in business as St. Mary's Cement.

Chet French
Dixon, IL

Dennis,

I'm a late comer to this thread, but from what I know about tractors and trailers the technology to do pneumatic unloading (dry bulk) was just coming into its own in the late 1950's. I recall that one of the largest cement haulers in the 1950's and 1960's, Schwereman Trucking Co., Milwaukee, WI had flat bed trailers for the bag loads as well as the cement cans.

All of the regulated rate stuff is right on. It was a lot different then when operating authority was similar to a franchise.

Mont Switzer

Dennis Storzek <destorzek@...> wrote:
--- In STMFC@..., timboconnor@... wrote:

Was it ILLEGAL to ship cement in bulk by truck before 1959???
That's just goofy!

Why? Most the things the ICC did were goofy, too. The state public
utilities commissions weren't nay better.

I'm sure it was never illegal to ship your own cement in your own
truck. I'm sure the issue was that it required a published tariff
before you could offer the service to others on a common carrier
basis. Without the tariff being in place, there was no impetus for any
common carrier to purchase the specialized truck needed to ship bulk
cement, as he'd have no basis to set the rate to charge his customers.
So, someone finally filed the tariff, and then I'm sure all the
carriers that carried BAGGED cement challenged it on the basis that it
undercut their rates. I'm sure this issue perked through the
administrative law system for a couple years before the tariff was
finally published.

Such are the joys of regulated commerce.

Dennis





__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

1959 sounds about right. The local plants never shipped by truck until
60. Then it was with just one carrier each. The Lehigh plant used
Mitchell (blue trucks) They have a plant in Mitchell IN, maybe that's
where the trucker was from? NW States used Ruan (red trucks), Ruan out
of Des Moines was a major stockholder in that company.

Jerry, was nice to see you again. How'd you get mixed up with those
crazies from the Twin Cities? Most of the cars in the cement load
routes you posted started on home rails and went to customers off
line...interesting.

Thanks,
Clark Propst

Rich: This is at the bottom of the detailed listing for that set:

"Sorry, we are currently sold out of 'Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O)'. Please
check back later." and the Number of Active Units in Stock is "0".
Hency my search...

Does anyone know if the Champ set for the Mill Gon is appropriate for
early 50's cars?

Andy L.

--- In STMFC@..., SUVCWORR@... wrote:

Microscale has the 87-1045 in stock at 6.00?

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?
Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CO

Rich Orr

For those of you who have or will get the kit here is my attempt at the correct instructions.

All references are viewed as looking at the UF with the car upside down.

Fill the center of centersill with styrene such that this cover is about 1" below the centersill flange.

Simulate 3" angle with two pieces of styrene 1 x 3 cut to run between the bolsters. An angle attaches to the centersill at each of the two flanges at their extreme edges such that the angles face inward and downward.

Install the four crossbearers. They face out, in, in and out in that order. In reality, they should be in halves separated by the centersill but it isn't worth modeling that.

The crossbearer halves are attached to each other and to the centersill with 4' lengths of Z angle that can be simulated with three pieces of styrene 1 x 3. The Z's also face out, in, in and out just like the crossbearers and are centered about the centersill. The first horizontal leg attaches to the centersill, the vertical leg against the crossbearer and 2nd horizontal edge across the top of the crossbearer.

Mount the cylinder to a piece of styrene that spans between the center crossbearers. Mount the reservoir to the 2nd crossbearer between the 1st and 2nd. The single lug of the reservoir attaches to the crossbearer. The double lug needs its own bracket formed out of 1 x 6 styrene formed into an upside downVee with a flat bottom that spans from the side sill, to the reservoir and to the UF at the inside stringer. The valve attaches to the floor oposite the reservoir.

The lever hangers attach to the sides of the 3" angles. The dead lever either pivots off the rear of the cylinder or off a pad on the 3rd crossbearer depending on the prototype. The B&O pivoted off the cylinder. The WM off the crossbearer. You can see this if you study the proto photos in the data sheet. Ted Culotta has close up photos of this. I had a left over Royal K slack adjuster in the parts box that I cut down and attached to the rear of the cylinder for the pivot.

That's about it. Full plans of the UF appear,with an M55a as an example no less, on page 302 of the '49-'51 Car Builders. And, Ted C has prototype photos of the UF showing the lever mounting. I will not post somebody else's photos. My dial up modem wouldn't like it anyway.

Bill Darnaby

--- In STMFC@..., timboconnor@... wrote:

Was it ILLEGAL to ship cement in bulk by truck before 1959???
That's just goofy!

Why? Most the things the ICC did were goofy, too. The state public
utilities commissions weren't nay better.

I'm sure it was never illegal to ship your own cement in your own
truck. I'm sure the issue was that it required a published tariff
before you could offer the service to others on a common carrier
basis. Without the tariff being in place, there was no impetus for any
common carrier to purchase the specialized truck needed to ship bulk
cement, as he'd have no basis to set the rate to charge his customers.
So, someone finally filed the tariff, and then I'm sure all the
carriers that carried BAGGED cement challenged it on the basis that it
undercut their rates. I'm sure this issue perked through the
administrative law system for a couple years before the tariff was
finally published.

Such are the joys of regulated commerce.

Dennis