Mark, at the same period, 1880s, the private owner stock car fleet grew to its largest. Many of these private owner cars were equipped with extra hay racks and water tanks for the "in car" feeding

Hello Richard. I caught the MRH May issue today, before the ink was dry, and selected your treatise on Freight Car Trucks 1900-1960 first thing. I look for your posts on STMFC, and appreciate the

thompson@...> wrote: period start and end? I can imagine it taking several hours to load a train . . . The clock started when the first animals entered the car. And BTW, the 28-hour

Of the three men I'se known during my lifetime named Francis, only one had the stones to go by that name; everyone called him Franny. The other two went by Bill and Buddy. If Francis E. Hollow's

Al Westerfield wrote: Well said, Al. I too remember these cars as a revelation when they appeared: a whole bunch of DIFFERENT cars. That the TM folks mixed and matched (in some cases) roofs,

Yes, the Train Miniature boxcars were passable for their day, and not so much today. But there's an exception -- the T-M PS-3 hopper. With improved detailing such as wire grabs, slope sheet braces,

Chuck Peck wrote: Each car had its own loading time, which had to be shown on the waybill. The clock started when the first animals entered the car. And BTW, the 28-hour rule could be waived by

I did a quick look at the loaded stock cars running between Laramie and Rawlins, WY, in March/April 1949. The results are a bit surprising. 1. Of the 34 frt trains listed there were 10 trains

Mark Rickert wrote: Good summary, Mark, except this happened in the 1880s, led by Gustavus Swift and his colleagues. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. My John Galt Line had over 100 TM cars because they and MDC were the only shake-the-box kits that were suitable for my era. Because I needed about

Train-Miniature was also an innovator in Model Railroad Marketing. They, for a while, had a regular predictable new product release program with point-of-sale merchandising packaging. As

Thanks, Richard, for your scholarly contribution(s) to the ever-growing knowledge base of railroad technology... it is also nice to sort-of be a part of RPM (by your sharing information presented at

Don Valentine wrote: In the dim recesses of my memory I have this notion that Ted's given name was Francis. Francis E. "Ted" Hollow. ??? Thomas C. "Tom" Madden

Some STMFC members have seen the clinic I've presented at Naperville, Cocoa Beach, and other meetings covering prototype freight car trucks from 1900 to about 1960. An expanded version of that clinic

Wouldn't surprise me either. I heard the same thing at our club in the Chicago suburbs regarding the TM reefers: "They just don't look right!" (when compared to an Athearn reefer). Fortunately, I

I agree with Tony, At the time we were happy with TM, their offerings broke up the Athrean monotony. I remember repainting several cars for local roads. When I see them at swap meets now I still

Just for the sake of completeness, the line was originally called "Train-Master"; I always imagined that there was some problem with Fairbanks-Morse having rights to the name, and it was quickly

It started when the first hoof hit the car floor and stopped when the last animal left the car. This is why you did not load a car and have it sitting on the siding loaded waiting for the train to

While the topic of stock cars is active, when did the 28 hours on-car period start and end? I can imagine it taking several hours to load a train and a few to unload as well. Did the clock start when

I distinctly remember one of the hobby shop "experts" holding court on Saturday morning proclaiming them to be "under scale" for HO... "closer to TT." The point of comparison, of course, was the