-----Original Message-----
From: scott_w_krause <scott_w_krause@yahoo.com>
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, Nov 24, 2009 7:42 pm
Subject: [STMFC] Pennsy box car # PRR81945


Could someone tell me about PRR 81945 a box car with a dreadnaught end door. It
is in a photograph that appears to be in the late 1940's or 50's. I am looking
for what era this car would have been in service and what class of cars they
were in. Were they build for a specific type of service?



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At 11/24/2009 09:22 PM Tuesday, you wrote:

"scott_w_krause" <scott_w_krause@yahoo.com> 11/24/09 6:43 PM >>>

Could someone tell me about PRR 81945 a box car with a dreadnaught end
door. It is in a photograph that appears to be in the late 1940's or
50's. I am looking for what era this car would have been in service and
what class of cars they were in. Were they build for a specific type of
service?

PRR 81945 is class X41a, 81890-82089, built 1946. These cars served
into the PC era.
http://prr.railfan.net/freight/PRRdiagrams.html?diag=x41a.gif&;fr=cl

This is a classic "Automobile car". It was likely equipped with
automobile loaders when built, and could be loaded either by the end
door or the side doors. Of course, with the racks stowed, the car could
be used for larger vehicles, or for general lading.

Regards
Bruce Smith
Auburn, AL

----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Schneider
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:42 PM
Subject: [STMFC] Kit instructions: - was Stan's long stock car



Clark commented:
"because they are written just like Stan talks. He did not included (sic) several of the assembly steps"

Sorry Clark, too good to pass up... ! (will duck at Cocoa). Sadly, I have become so used to dealing with Chinese English ("your cars will have been shipped tomorrow"... think about that) that I almost missed it!

Seriously, resin kit instructions run the gamut from "Buy the kit, build the kit, paint the kit" to the "New Testament According to (your favorite "retiring" manufacturer here)". Some assume a certain level of familiarity with the prototype while others will tell you all that you want to know about the prototype - in text - with a minimum of photos.

Personally, I prefer a portfolio of good prototype and model photos along with some basic paragraphs of text explaining parts layout and departures from the norm in assembling the kit. I would assume (rightly or wrongly) a certain level of familiarity with building resin kits, but not always the same comfort level with the prototype. The kit manufacturer has already had to dig up the photos and/or drawings in order to design the kit, so either sharing them or at least pointing to a source would be very helpful for both detail and lettering placement. In may case at least it would prevent me from going to friendly sources on the opposite coast (thanks Dr. RH) to complete decaling a kit after spending untold hours assembling it!

Bill Schneider








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At 11/24/2009 07:42 PM Tuesday, you wrote:

Could someone tell me about PRR 81945 a box car with a dreadnaught end door. It is in a photograph that appears to be in the late 1940's or 50's. I am looking for what era this car would have been in service and what class of cars they were in. Were they build for a specific type of service?

----- Original Message -----
From: Clark Propst

. . . The instructions made me laugh because they are written just like Stan talks. He did not included several of the assembly steps, so like most small maker kits, you're on your own. He does provide some poor photocopies of the constructed model. . . .

. . . Next time I talk to Stan I'll recommend he amends his instructions to make each step clearer to the builder.

On Nov 24, 2009, at 12:31 PM, Clark Propst wrote:

I just decaled one side of the gon and about had a heart attack. The New Date on the decal sheet is 1957. I model 54. But, a quick glance at the prototype photos showed one with a reweigh date of 1950.

I find it extremely necessary to include a prototype data sheet with each model kit.

Decals are nice quality, no repack data though.
Clark Propst
Mason City Iowa

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, bill Vaughn <atsfmodlr@...> wrote:

By 1978 I remember swithcing 50' double door cars with Christmas trees.  But again very old and on there last legs.  Some may not have made the empty return trip.
 
Bill Vaughn

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, charles slater <atsfcondr42@...> wrote:


From: charles slater <atsfcondr42@...>
Subject: RE: [STMFC] Shipping Christmas Trees
To: "STMFC List" <stmfc@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 10:39 AM



I worked as a switchman in L.A. from 1970-1984 and at least up until 1975 we would handle box cars only loaded with Christmas trees beginning in late November up until mid December for Safeway and Market Basket (two large grocery stores chaines in Southern Calif) and they would arrive in the oldest junk 40 foot box cars. The trees were loaded crosswise in the cars about 6 to 8 feet high and top iced with crushed ice blown into the cars and covered the trees about 12" thick. Sometimes the doors were closed and sometimes they were left open. And sometimes a few were missing when the cars arrived in L.A. The stores allways gave us a tree when we delivered the cars to them if we wanted one.

These cars were old NP, SP&S, GN, Milw, SP, CB&Q and just about anything from the northwest and all of these cars were in the last years of service.

These cars were delivered to their warehouses for unloading and trucked to the stores for sale. The only good thing about those cars is you could smell them a long ways off.

Charlie Slater   



To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
From: pc66ot@...
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:00:35 -0800
Subject: [STMFC] Shipping Christmas Trees

 



Were Christmas Trees shipped in reefers? Were insulated boxcars around in enough numbers to be a reasonable alternative? (I model 1952) Did they, reefer loads of Christmas trees,  need to be iced, or simply kept at a reasonably cool temp?

Did these loads make up a significant "surge" in traffic to take up much of the unused slack in reefer fleets during November and December?

I ASSume November and December are slow months for Reefers. I know that many reefers were pressed into express service to handle the increased mail and express load as we got closer to Christmas, but did the shipment of trees make a dent in this use of reefers?

Were loads of cut trees sent to a metropolitan produce market's for distribution to retail outlets? Were cut trees a sort of "produce"?

Tons of questions but it sparked an interest. Thank you all in advance.

Paul Catapano

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--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "soolinehistory" <destorzek@...> wrote:

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "kjstrenski" <kjstrenski@> wrote:

Bill and Group:

I had sent two e-mails to Intermountain requesting info on the Soo caboose tooling and received no response. Sounds like this is why.

Without making you feel uncomfortable did that un-named manufacturer have any plans for the Soo caboose?

Thanks.

John
WF TX

No, because Ron just had my resin kit patterns copied after he bought the line from me.

Why not just order issue 24-2, Spring 2002 of The SOO from the society web site:

http://sooline.org/publications/theSOO/past.html

It has the same drawings I worked up for the kit patterns cleaned up for publication.

Dennis

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, Jason Greene <jason.p.greene@...> wrote:

I used to work at one of the by-products plants here in Birmingham. The size is not the same as ballast. The lumps are generally between a softball and football in size. As for the color, it depends on coal it is coked from. Alabama coal leaves you with a darker coke than PA or KY coal. Generally though I would say to start with grimy black and lighten it just a bit. I do not have a color photo unfortunately.

I can tell you that black coke hoppers or gons should weather with a grayish black dust, ask anyone who has seen one of my trucks...My wife hated that place when I would come home with a nasty truck.

As for Bee-hive ovens, if you are modeling steel mills, iron furnaces, or coke ovens you will not be dealing with these unless you were modeling pre-1920 or so. This is the time period when the bee-hives were completely replaced by bee-hives. The "modern" ovens came about during that time.

If more information were available about the Mary Lee, Alabama Consolidated Co. and Sloss-Sheffield railroad equipment pre-diesel era, I would be tempted to model the Mary Lee instead of the Southern Rwy. Very interesting railroad.

Jason Greene
Birmingham, AL

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem


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