Schuyler, They look like 1959 Cadillac's which would date the photo late 1958 or the first half of 1959. Mont Switzer

I'm not sure what the notches in the sides of the converted gondola were for, but they were not for releasing the fifth pin from the car mounted hitch. The fifth pin would have been released by a man

Didn't RMC just add a person to the staff charged with, among other things. writing for RMC? Didn'tmake sense to me. Mont Switzer

Bill is correct, just ask you dentist. I asked my dentist and he gave me a hand full of various picks he no longer used. I was afraid to ask how he managed to break the ends off of a couple of them. Y

Schuyler and all, RMC has some 1950's material, several articles, some even requested by former editor Stephen Priest. It appears to me the magazine has gone in a different direction. That being said

It appears that the car is being unloaded through that long pipe that extends along the side of the building. I hope it goes to a substantial storage tank or tanks. This is unusual. Most tankage is lo

The individuals and/or companies offering tank wagon servcie were typically independent contractors. They owned the chassis as Dennis mentioned. However, where branding was involved (like Standard Oil

Good morning John Barry, Am I one of those guys who is supposed to tell someone (you?) that I still need the Duryea under frame for this project? I know there was a list about a week ago but with work

I counted Greg among my friends. Even though we was 2000 miles away we did a little business together and enjoyed the hobby that brought us together. Sad, sad day, Mont Switzer

And of course there was the issue of the hot sun “warming” the seats on farm tractors without cabs. According to a book I read this is why John Deere wen to the yellow seats; they absorbed less heat.

Yellow boxcars: Muncie and Western RR (MWR) had a couple of hundred Mather boxcars painted yellow and THE BALL LINE slogan on the sides, Ball canning jar on the doors. Around 1958 they went to cars si

Looks like a good plan B for when I get kicked out of the kitchen. Mont Switzer

Before anyone gets any ideas, a friend once tried the following with his microwave oven: 1. baking paint on a brass model---------almost had what seemed like an electrical fire. Lesson: no metal in th

John, Oh yeah, it was well-done alright. It was wondering what that sound was coming from the kitchen, the tink, tink, tink, which turned out to be turned brass air tanks from several Alco C-420 frame

Many years ago I learned a hard lesson about baking brass models. In conjunction with that lesson I also got to learn how to re-assemble some brass models. After that I still used Mrs. Switzer's oven,

John, The Monon had 100 of them, built by GATX in the late 1940's. I believe as built the trucks were black. Generally, when repainting freight cars the Monon did not repaint the trucks. They were ste

The narrow front axle arrangement were called “row crop” axles. The wider axles were just wide axles according to the John Deere service rep in this area. Mont Montford L. Switzer President Switzer Ta

Bud, I don’t think there was any specific pattern that was required for loading tractors or implements. I suppose the various manufacturers may have developed diagrams to help their loaders get the ma

All Monon steel gondolas, built in the late 1940's, were painted a freight car red color with white lettering EXCEPT a few 40 ft. gondolas which received black paint and yellow lettering about 1958. M

Back when I had more time than money I built my own spray painting booth. That was over 40 years ago. I took an end from a wooden wire reel abut 24 inches in diameter and cut it in half so I had a sem