I think that you will find out that -all- lettering on all factory models is pad-printed in terms of the way the lettering is applied to the model. The difference between the models we see today with

I also have Jan 1958 as the date when cast wheels could not be installed on new or rebuilt cars. And also that Jan 1970 is when they could no longer be used in interchange service. Relative to the gen

I have in my hands right now a GN Station Agent's Manual. It is dated 1957 and includes updates thru 1963. It is full of stuff about all of the day-to-day operation of the RR - including a sample form

The recent(sort of) releases of the Atlas Hart ballast gons have me asking the following: 1) Isn't it true that cars of this type were, for the most part, in captive/MOW service on their home roads? I

One of the best adhesives available is MicroScale's Krystal Klear. Yeah, they sell it to be used for making windows. But it is a great adhesive. Has anyone tried "Gorilla Glue" on styrene? Does it out

... as in this -model- might have been around when steam was still running ... *W* I have a really old, all metal, Mantua flat car that actually has pretty fair detail and well done paint and decals.

First - thanks to all of you for your posts on this topic! Your help makes it easy to go forward. 1) The trucks and wheels are fairly new plastic and plastic. I'll be changing those out to something m

Since I got such great answers on my prior question ... thanks again ... I have another car I "don't know what it is" and based upon the prior posts am certain that one of you can tell me ... This car

My historical refs have it that AB brakes were required on all -new- cars in 1933 (don't have a more specific date but perhaps it was Jan. 1?) and that K brakes were banned from interchange service on

1) When were the first covered hoppers and what service were they in? I know they first started showing up on the GN in '48 and were in cement service. Grain hoppers started showing up fairly soon aft

Try MicroScale's Krystal Klear - it takes a long time to set but is very effective and will -not- attack the plastic (Goo will!). It has a very long 'working time'. I'd use some kind of light weights

The short answer is "any relatively small product that needed to go from one end of the RR to the other without the risk of being worked in a yard". If it was in a freight car it was at risk of being

I was using the term "LCL" in a less than precise meaning. I was referring to the fact that often what was shipped in REA cars was not "full loads" ... and not to the precise, industry standard meanin

I model the Hill Lines - primarily GN and SP&S ... and have about 200 RR books that are primarily NorthWest topics but also a lot of West Coast. I've looked at a lot of pics of trains and although you

Ben, My 40-40-20 is a "perception" rather than a number arrived at thru actual counting. That said I -have- gone thru my books more than once and looked at freight cars in the pics in a form of non-em

Tony, You can't possibly be suggesting that we actually -read- the text as well as drool over the pictures and captions? ;-)

We see guys selling stuff on eBay that have rust blowouts, repaint bleed thrus (especially after an ownership change), paint patches, spray can grafitti, etc. ... what I'd call "heavy weathering". And

I'm going to 'weigh in' on an -entirely- different scale ... Modeling "scale weight" serves no purpose. It sounds good on the surface but you have to ask your self the question "why"? I suggest you we

I think many railroaders referred to solid/friction bearings simply as the 'brasses' ... as in "oiling the brasses".

Yes, contact me directly off list since this is "off topic" ...