These boxcars were ubiquitous, but seldom photographed. These were the boxcars that were largely replaced by the large orders of SS cars in the late twenties, and they were to be completely retired by

Tim writes- Great story, and Tim, great effort on Google! So, North Bay was not really the destination! It was instead another large lake, Lake Temigami, about 60 miles north of North Bay- reached onl

Much ado..... North Bay is only about 50 miles east the Quebec border, about 200 or so miles from the nearest practical navigable water (Hull, QUE/Ottawa), and about 300+ miles to Montreal. It could h

Bruce, what you say about the traditional custom of laying wood boats on to their sides ("careening") for maintenance is true, but it almost always is for short lengths of time, and most of the time w

That is a very interesting set of photos, interesting on multiple levels, not the least of which is the noted ATSF flat. Placing a wood boat like this on its side (as depicted) places a huge strain on

I will second the opinions favoring the MicroLux drill press. I have found it to be one of most reliable and useful tools in my benchtop armamentarium, and although one has to be very selective, I use

Of peripheral interest in this discussion was the observed fact that in two month 2006 test of couplers holding together a fully operating 131 car train of freight cars of mixed ancestry pulled by a s

I didn't mention that *&%$### subatomic-sized cylindrical filler piece that has to be placed inside the spring sunokt because I felt I was already pushing the envelope already in attempting to describ

Yes, this is the coupler that I am talking about; and yes, it is also a seamless continuation of an original pre-magnetic Kadee coupler shank design. As an aside, I would suspect that this design has

I will second that. Just don't try to use carbide bits this way, however. You (meaning me, of course) cannot hold the tool steady enough to avoid bit breakage. The battery-powered Dremel tools are a g

Yes, and they are still available, and reportedly are still chosen by a small set of modelers that very much like the "slack action" that the #4's internal longitudinal springs allow. They are conside

Jon Cagle's tank cars do not use the Kadee "whisker" couplers. They use a standard #78 centered by a coil spring aligned with the shank that is inset into a notch in the back end of the shank (this ap

The difficulty that I reported with the #78 Kadee coupler was NOT related to the coupler per se, but how with its relatively-long shank this coupler has a much reduced pivoting radius when it is proto

The Achilles Heel of prototypically narrow coupler boxes is that they inherently limit coupler swing, more if the shank pivot point is long, less if the pivot point is short. IMHO, this fundamental fa

Manfred, as usual, certainly hits a common nerve. It is not only a third hand that we need, we need to have that hand tiny enough to get in between our existing two ham-handed fingers. Jack Burgess me

This has been a very interesting discussion, not the least reason being the obvious authoritative expertise, and the impressive empirical data that has come forth. If I can summarize what I think I ha

Well, Mike inquires, and yes, as we speak, I am on the verge of finishing the frame of the single dome tank. In my experience with cast resin car kits, this is a most sophisticated and complete kit, o

Tim O' C. writes- I am certain that Tim's solution works just fine, but it is more cumbersome IMHO (I used the same method before purchasing the Rolltester) . In my experience, the rolltester results

I unearthed my cache of these handsome trucks and tested their rollability on the Reboxx Rolltester as follows: (0-5 Not Acceptable. 6-10 Poor. Good/Acceptable 11-15. Very Good 16-20. Superior 21 and

There was so much to like, and even more to savour from this year's Meet, that I am unable to truly line up specific favorites. However, the overall best feature of this gathering of prototype railroa