Randy,

Rapido does indeed release some road specific details for their locomotives.  Unfortunately, many of the details are incorrect.  The current SP&S FA-2 has at least 9 points of failure on that matter.

Athearn has been pretty good about accurate detailing, lately.  I bought a BNSF diesel that was properly detailed for an era a few years ahead of the one I wanted.  I will now modify it to the era of my choice.  And.  It was remarkably affordable.

These new models, while generic and consequently somewhat overpriced, will still be welcome.  


Ed

Edward Sutorik

Rapido told me that the B units will be here in May. 
--
Charlie Duckworth 
Omaha, Ne.

Doug  Harding commented:

"That is the only known photo of the car �Egg�. Unfortunately we cannot make out the car number. It is a Live Poultry car, ie LPTC reporting marks. Most Live Poultry cars were named, but not all. They were named for people, places, or different kinds of fowl, or fowl related words, ie  Egg. By the late 20�s there were over 2800 poultry cars on the nation�s railroads.

I have compiled a list of poultry cars, their numbers and their names, based on photos. Photos are the only record we have of these cars. The list has less than a 100 cars. There is no known list contain such information or records of the Live Poultry Transit Corporation or of the Palace Poultry Car Company. Eventually both companies were owned by North American Car Co."

Bob Webber

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io [mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io] On Behalf Of Bill Welch
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 11:54 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: [RealSTMFC] Riding the Rods Part 2 GN 9996

Here is a Great Northern truss rod boxcar inspired by a circa 1954 photo by the late Bruce Meyer built w/a Westerfield kit I ordered when Al announced he was retiring and selling his business. i ordered several kits "just in case" he did not find a buyer—Thank you Andrew Dahm! Pretty much out-of-the-box except for the scratch built Running Board system, and the brass wire and brass turnbuckles for the underframe. Decals are from the kit plus the GN medallion from a Microscale set as I wanted to exactly copy the reference photo I used. The only variance is the GN reweigh location because I could not find the "Q" I needed. Obviously need to install the brake wheel. Painted w/Badger's "Maroon Tuscan Oxide Red."

Bill Welch

On 13 Apr 2020, at 17:54, Bill Welch <fgexbill@...> wrote:

Here is a Great Northern truss rod boxcar inspired by a circa 1954 photo by the late Bruce Meyer built w/a Westerfield kit I ordered when Al announced he was retiring and selling his business. i ordered several kits "just in case" he did not find a buyer—Thank you Andrew Dahm! Pretty much out-of-the-box except for the scratch built Running Board system, and the brass wire and brass turnbuckles for the underframe. Decals are from the kit plus the GN medallion from a Microscale set as I wanted to exactly copy the reference photo I used. The only variance is the GN reweigh location because I could not find the "Q" I needed. Obviously need to install the brake wheel. Painted w/Badger's "Maroon Tuscan Oxide Red."

Bill Welch

Attachments:

• GN 9996 left side.JPG
• GN 9996 _B_ end.JPG
• GN 9996 roof _ scratch built wood running board.JPG
• GN 9996 wood plank inserted in turnbuckles.JPG

On Apr 13, 2020, at 11:36 AM, Craig Zeni <clzeni@gmail.com> wrote:



On Apr 13, 2020, at 6:01 AM, main@RealSTMFC.groups.io wrote:

6a. Re: Tamiya primer (was [RealSTMFC] Painting brass)
From: Denny Anspach <danspachmd@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2020 01:26:29 EDT

I have gone back to always using a light colored primer (gray or white) on brass simply because I have found -convincingly so- that the utterly flat finish offers an opportunity to see clearly, iron out, sand out, and eliminate blemishes that are so often impossible to perceive until you see them on the terminal finish coat. I do the same on resin, styrene and wood. Like others reporting this change back has been eased by Tamiya after studying the raving reports of its use coming from the military and car modelers. If it interferes with detail, it is detail that -thankfully- I do not perceive.

Bill Welch, this is all your fault. You're the one that made me start considering paints besides Scalecoat... *shakes fist*

I have to say that my experience well mirrors Dr Denny's, this after not being a primer user for years. I just didn't use it. But when I started working on F units a couple of years ago with plugging horn holes and working on smoothing the parting lines found on the nose and sides of the nose, I decided to try a primer. I'd heard a LOT of good things about the Gunze product Mr Hobby "Mr Surfacer 1500". Sprayed with their "Mr Color" thinner, it is wonderful stuff. Goes down dead smooth, cleanly and easily. And it will show the results of filling holes and such. If I didn't get the hole filled perfectly, it will show. The Mr Hobby "Mr White Putty" is so superior to any of the regular hobby putties it's not even funny. Super fine grain, easy to sand, and reportedly not prone to shrinkage. I then have been painted with, yes, some of the Mr Hobby paints and their thinner "Mr Self Leveling Thinner"...and the paint is also wonderful to spray. The thinner works wonder, makes it all very forgiving. I've also been told that the Mr Self Leveling Thinner works well with the Tru Color paint; I've not tried it myself.

There's actually not a "Mr ____" product that I've tried that I didn't like. Their Mr Dissolved Putty is a styrene filler, not a putty - think of the old trick of dissolving sprue in Testors liquid cement and using it as filler...same thing. The coarser "Mr Surfacer" product (500 and 1000) are also light filler/sandable primers.

I've also had great results with Tamiya paints, MIG paints, and the Vallejo line tho' the latter primarily as weathering. There some great products used by other modelers in other realms. Hasegawa offers some chisel tools - if you heard my clinic at Cocoa Beach you heard me just rave about those...

Craig Zeni
Cary NC

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io [mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io] On Behalf Of spsalso via groups.io
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 10:39 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Question re: upcoming Rapido USRA DS box

Bill,

Your statement about having to widen the model's roof to accept a fascia implies, to me, that that had to have been true for the prototype.  If so, it would seem to mean that the fascias were ONLY applied when new (wider) roofs were, also.

Or.  One could ask:  "Whatever would prompt someone to add a strip of wood at the top of a box car side?"


Ed

Edward Sutorik



On Mon, Apr 13, 2020 at 07:43 AM, Bill Welch wrote:

On Sun, Apr 12, 2020 at 08:36 PM, spsalso wrote:

I am not very knowledgeable about the variations on these cars.  I do think that for the price, Rapido should do the "easy-peasy" mods.  The fascia strip appears to be such a thing. 
Edward Sutorik

 To apply the facia, the roof needs to be widened to lap over it. Not sure how easy that will be w/the Rapido model. Easy to do w/the Westerfield kit.

Bill Welch

Claus,

 

Correct. Indeed, I see no footage of the GN car being righted, but that wimpy little derrick was clearly not up to the task of lifting the car and remaining upright. It also looks like they may have been dealing with 2 different GN cars, or that they dragged the GN car clear of the cut and then rolled the derrick trying to get it back onto the rails.

 

Note that the PGE and its successor, BCRail, always had serious avalanche/rock fall problems on many of their lines.

 

Regards,

Bruce Smith

Auburn, AL

 

 

---

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of Claus Schlund &#92;(HGM&#92;) <claus@...>
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 8:57 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io>
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Question re: upcoming Rapido USRA DS box

 

Hi List Members,

 

Colin wrote: “A video from the Pacific Great Eastern of a GN USRA being righted after a wreck.  From the mid-fifties.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdtnVk2M3YU&t=2s

 

Thanks Colin for the video link, it was fascinating to watch some of the process involved in fixing things up when a mess like that occurs.

 

It looked to me like at some point the wreck crane itself tipped over, and they had to right it again, am I interpreting this correctly?

 

Claus Schlund

 

 

 

From: Kemal Mumcu via groups.io

Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 9:01 AM

To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io

Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Question re: upcoming Rapido USRA DS box

 

One thing about these Rapido cars that could be corrected is the incorrect ride height.  They ride high on the trucks.  This was the same problem with the NP cars.  I had to make a jig and sand down the excess bolster material to bring down the car to ride at the right height. 

A possible solution:  Make the cars with the correct bolster ride height and add a fitted washer to deliver the cars.  The toy train types will be happy and more discerning modelers can remove the washer to bring down the car to the right height. 

Colin Meikle

A video from the Pacific Great Eastern of a GN USRA being righted after a wreck.  From the mid-fifties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdtnVk2M3YU&t=2s

On Apr 13, 2020, at 8:50 AM, Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...> wrote:



Someone may have corrected you already Tony.

This is my daughter in 2011 in front of a 300+ foot tall Sitka Spruce, not very far from Forks, WA.


On 4/12/2020 2:19 PM, Tony Thompson wrote:

Tim O'Connor wrote:

They look like Lodgepole pine logs. The Lodgepole grows like a weed in the northwestern
states and forms dense stands. It's not a Douglas Fir or one of the mighty Spruce trees
from the Olympic Peninsula (that grew well over 300 feet tall) or even Ponderosa pine,
but not all lumber needs to be high quality. :-)

      Tim has (probably unintentionally) garbled his statement a little. The 300-ft. trees on the Olympic Peninsula are Douglas fir, not spruce (for record spruce trees, visit Vancouver Island). Lodgepoles 100 feet tall would be a VERY tall tree of that species. As I said, this doesn't CONTRADICT what Tim said, hopefully clarifies it.

Tony Thompson

--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts

<Katy largest SitkaSpruce in the HohValley OlympicNatlPark 08-16-2011.jpg>

Most likely for paper and pulp as you mention. The "Aroma of Tacoma" mainly is no longer evident due to the major cessation of the mills.

Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula has one too and they're on the last days of doing business if not outright closed. These mills always carry the distinctive smell and PT still has it. The MILW ran into and by this operation on its way to Port Angeles. As for logging the peninsula certain sections like the Duckabush must have been exceedingly challenging. I mtn bike the old roads and hillsides are incredibly steep.

Tony Pawley