Greetings:

This is a reminder about this weekend's 2009 Amherst Railway Society
Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, Mass.

Here are the basics:

The show is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat., Jan. 24; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun., Jan. 25

Admission is $10 a day. Kids 15 and under get in free when accompanied
by an adult. The Eastern States Exposition charges $5 for parking.

This year's show is again in four buildings – the Better Living
Center, the Young Building, the Stroh Building and the Mallory
Complex. Next year there's a good chance the show will expand into the
rest of the Mallory Complex.

There are hundreds of exhibitors and vendors and dozens of layouts.

Manufacturers/vendors attending include Atlas Model Railroad Co.,
Athearn, Branchline, Intermountain, Lionel, Bachmann Trains, Bob's
Photo, Bowser-Stewart, The Caboose, Broadway Limited, City Classics,
Con-Cor, Funaro & Camerlengo, Kadee, Kato USA, Marklin, Micro-Trains,
NCE, NJ International, Scenic Express, River Point Station, Speedwitch
Media, Sylvan Scale Models, Sheepscot Scale Models, Train Control
Systems, Tony's Train Exchange and Walthers Inc.

You can check the show's website, www.railroadhobbyshow.com, for more
information and for the location of exhibitors.


Thanks,

Dave Owens
West Hartford, Connecticut

Ned Carey writes:

"I have a Barnhart log loader (a type of crane)..."

Ah yes. But not a type of frt car. Ned, Ned, you need to venture back down to Cocoa Beach, warm up and...ooops...well, not tonight but surely tommorrow...anyhow, attend some of the clinics so you'll better understand the differences between a log loader crane and a frt car.

"I bought some thread for model ship building but was disappointed. Despite the description, it had fuzz. Apparently modelers use beeswax to cut down on the fuzz but that seems like it would make it look even less like a cable."

Before I terminate this out of scope thread, I'll mention that I used thread with something applied to it...a lot of help, eh?...and it really reduced the fuzz. By far the biggest problem was keeping the thread from snagging on the pulley attachments rather than staying in the pulleys. A nightmare. I finally realized that the only hope was to keep the "cable" under tension.

"Is there a group specifically for modeling MOW
equipment?"

Yep. There's a Yahoo group...North_American_M-O-W@yahoogroups.com

Mike Brock

On Jan 22, 2009, at 3:50 PM, Tim O'Connor wrote:

Chet

Were the Wabash AAR flat cars painted black, or oxide red?

Black.

Richard Hendrickson

I don't like what I see on the web site shot. The trend has been
toward wire for underbody plumbing and rods but in the pic they look
like the molded items we've seen in the past. Is it wire or ??

Jerry Glow

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "gn3397" <heninger@...> wrote:

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "Hunter, James R." <jhunter@> wrote:

I just received my Intermountain GN plywood boxcar. Anyone care

to

comment on its accuracy?
Jim

From photos I have seen, the IM GN Plywood cars are solid 3-

footers. Biggest gripes: The

side sill detail is too shallow, I think the sheathing attachment

bolts are too large, and on the

painted orange and green examples I have seen, they are painted

incorrectly. The sides of

the ends should be green. It's too bad they couldn't have executed

these cars as well as their

covered hoppers.

Bottom line: I am a GN modeler, and I will be sticking with my

Sunshine cars.

Sincerely,
Robert D. Heninger
Iowa City, IA

As a 7 year old, my dad bought me a train w/ a Revell PRR gondola,
an Athearn UP F7A, Athearn UP stock car, and Revell UP CA-1 caboose.
I was a prototype modeler and didn't even know it!

Tim O'Connor

Sent in an order via email to Speedwitch last week, received email from Ted 2 days later, kit within a week
Joe Binish

Tim,
I spent a fair amount of time with him in Cocco Beach. He has wayyy "to many irons in the fire", other than that he is fine. Don't know what you ordered, but he has had some casting issues.

Paul Lyons
Laguna Nigel, CA 92677

Chet

Were the Wabash AAR flat cars painted black, or oxide red?

Tim O'

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "Hunter, James R." <jhunter@...> wrote:

I just received my Intermountain GN plywood boxcar. Anyone care to
comment on its accuracy?
Jim

From photos I have seen, the IM GN Plywood cars are solid 3-footers. Biggest gripes: The
side sill detail is too shallow, I think the sheathing attachment bolts are too large, and on the
painted orange and green examples I have seen, they are painted incorrectly. The sides of
the ends should be green. It's too bad they couldn't have executed these cars as well as their
covered hoppers.

Bottom line: I am a GN modeler, and I will be sticking with my Sunshine cars.

Sincerely,
Robert D. Heninger
Iowa City, IA

Speaking of Ted, has anyone heard from him lately? I
sent an email (regarding a Speedwitch order) a couple
of weeks ago but no reply...

Tim O'Connor

UP CA1. As to how close, I cannot answer.

Jerry Glow

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "David North" <davenorth@...> wrote:

While we are discussing older manufacturers, does the Revell wood

caboose

have a prototype, please?

Cheers

Dave

While we are discussing older manufacturers, does the Revell wood caboose
have a prototype, please?

Cheers

Dave

As you'll recall, I was the first to manufacture resin freight car kits. At
the time Athearn kits were selling for $3.50. We had to charge almost 5
times that much. I was really scared that the market would not support such
a price. We came in that low only by using 55 gallon drums of polyester. The
urethane we now use costs 5 times as much, ruins molds rapidly and must be
handled in very dry conditions - none of which were problems for polyester.
And one piece car bodies take 3 times as long to make as flat castings. So
as things have become much easier for the modeler the opposite is true for
the manufacturer. - Al Westerfield



Amen, Brother Westerfield!



Jim King

Smoky Mountain Model Works, Inc.

<http://www.smokymountainmodelworks.com>

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, Bruce Smith <smithbf@...> wrote:
Dave,

Both the Sunshine kit insert and the Proto-west web page (http://
www.protowestmodels.com/ProtoWest_HO_Kits.htm) have fairly

detailed

histories for the 70 ton AAR car. From the web site I get:

ATSF (200, class Ft-V, 3/44)
DTI (50 cars, 1942)
New Haven (100, 1944)
NYC (500, 1942-43 and 500, 1950)
IHB (100, 1943)
Pere Marquette (350, WWII? and 1950?)
Wabash (50, 1944)
Baltimore & Ohio (?, 1951?)
Erie/Erie Lackawanna (200?, 1952)
CRP/CNJ (100?, date?)

I hope IM will be running other road names, and of course, undec
kits, for those who cannot wait! With the paucity of WWII models

of

70 ton flats (the PRR F30A is the only other one that comes to

mind),

these may have to be represented in higher percentages than would

be

seen nationally as "stand-ins" for other 70 ton flats. Clearly,

the

NYC fleet should be represented, perhaps by more than one car, and

a

DTI car can be used (perhaps with a home-road load from the

Detroit

Tank Arsenal? Finally, ATSF, NH, PM, Wab and CRP can be included

if

the dates work, however, my memory says that several of the "1944"
cars were past my June cut-off so they are no-go for me.

Bruce,

You can scratch the Wabash cars. 37 cars were built in Feb., and the
remaining 13 in March 1945 at the Wabash's Decatur shop. At the time
they were placed into service, they were the only flat cars in
revenue service on the railroad. I am surprised they weren't built
earlier to help in the war effort.

Chet French
Dixon, IL

I just received my Intermountain GN plywood boxcar. Anyone care to comment on its accuracy?
Jim

Quoting Peter Ness <prness@roadrunner.com>:

On Jan 22, 2009, at 10:30 AM, benjaminfrank_hom wrote:

...The gon is an Erie prototype, 2000 built by Standard Steel Car
Co. in
1923-1924. 749 were rebuilt with sawtooth hoppers in 1934. Richard
Reichenbach's did an article on these cars in a past issue of the
ELHS' publication. (My photocopy of the article has the date cut
off. Maybe one of the Erie guys can help you out with the date of
the article.) The 1925 CBC also has a builders photo of these cars.
These were large gons - 44 ft IL - and were used mainly for hauling
coal.

Original numbers were 43000-44999. The 749 cars rebuilt into quad
hoppers got the letter H prefixed to their numbers. From late 1937
to mid-1939 600 cars were rebuilt with drop doors removed and solid
steel floors and AB air brakes applied. They were renumbered
45000-45599 and, with some judicious re-detailing, can be modeled
with the Lindberg/Mantua models.

Richard Hendrickson

Hi Dave,

The New Haven 17300-series flats were built in 1944 by Greenville
this is the IM car (or the old Sunshine kit, if you have one). Ted
C's excellent model of a New Haven flat (K-102)represents the 17200-
series which was in service earlier.

For all STMFC modelers, additional info on New Haven Freight Cars is
always available on my web site on the freight car page;

http://www.freewebs.com/newhavenrailroad1959/newhavenfreightcars.htm

Just pay no attention to the post '60 stuff...there isn't much of it
to avoid <VBG>

Regards,
Peter

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "devansprr" <devans1@...> wrote:

<snip>
IM's site now lists 4 of the flats scheduled for May/Jun delivery, in
roads ATSF, B&O, Erie and New Haven.

My '43 ORER only shows the Erie flats (50 cars). Was this car

produced in quantity during WWII, or was it primarily a post war car
(in numbers produced). Does anyone know if the ATSF, B&O, and New
Haven bought these flats during'43 & '44?

<snip>

Thanks for any help - trying to balance a WWII fleet.

Dave Evans

My wife uses stretchable monofilament line intended for jewlery
making & beading- available in different sizes at beading stores,
it's quite strong & flexible.

Rob Simpson



--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "al_brown03" <abrown@...> wrote:

Bruce's tie-downs caught my eye at Cocoa Beach because they're all
straight not bowed, as though in tension like the 1:1 thing. They
look that way because they *are* in tension: the EZ-line stretches.
Gorgeous.

Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.



--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, Bruce Smith <smithbf@> wrote:

On Jan 22, 2009, at 3:59 AM, Ned Carey wrote:

I have a Barnhart log loader (a type of crane) that I am

working on. Does anyone have a good suggestion for what to use to
model the cable?

<SNIP>

This must be a common problem for anyone who has modeled a

crane.

Any suggestions? Is there a group specifically for modeling MOW
equipment?

Ned,

I used EZ-line from Berkshire Junction (http://
www.berkshirejunction.com/) to rig my crawler crane. It has the
advantage of being flexible so I can have the boom up or down.

It is a monofilament so it looks like cable, not thread. I also use
this for the cable tie-downs on many of my loads.

Regards
Bruce

Bruce F. Smith
Auburn, AL
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/index.pl/bruce_f._smith2

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the STMFC
group.

File : /PRRT&HS Flat Car Book Order Form Winter 2008.pdf
Uploaded by : benjaminfrank_hom <b.hom@worldnet.att.net>
Description : PRRT&HS Flat Car Book Order Form

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STMFC/files/PRRT%26HS%20Flat%20Car%20Book%20Order%20Form%20Winter%202008.pdf

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/original/members/web/index.htmlfiles

Regards,

benjaminfrank_hom <b.hom@worldnet.att.net>

Ed Sutorik wrote:
"New book about PRR flatcars (I received mine in the mail yesterday):

"Pennsylvania Railroad Flat Cars, Revenue & Work Equipment, 1881 to
1968" by Elden Gatwood & Al Buchan

It's a 118 page book with lots of really well reproduced photos.
There's a lot of body and captions too, but I haven't got to reading
that yet. Many of the photos show loads, something that can transfer
over to modelers interested in other railroads. It's of particular
interest to those of us who've bought the various PRR brass
depressed, well, and heavy duty flats over the years. It is an
excellent complement to the series on modeling these cars that has
appeared in the Pennsy modelers on-line magazine.

If you like odd cars, Pennsy cars, flat cars, I recommend this book.

It's published by the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical
Society and is available through them."

Ed, thanks for the plug! I've uploaded a PDF copy of the order form
in the group Files.


Ben Hom