The Tichy kit, in details, is a compromise between the three largest fleets: PRR, NYC, and ATSF. It has a brake stand like the ATSF cars, ends like the PRR and NYC cars, and towing staples like the PR

I assume you're building kit 41.5, for the 13500 series? Wider, RP CYC 13 pp 1-75, has several pictures of this series. Although he doesn't state what the trucks are, they look to me like Tahoe #209,

Hi Fenton, I don't know of a source for replacement handrails made specifically for the P2K tank. But in general, I find that plastic tank-car handrails (like plastic sill steps) don't long survive co

Thanks for the mention Tom! Frank's kitbash is neater than mine. AL B.

There's a photo of the blank being delivered to Pasadena, in Judith R. Goodstein's book "Millikan's School" (a history of Caltech); the photos are grouped separately from the text, and it's in the sec

I'm scratchbuilding a Seaboard Air Line class AF 50' double-door steel boxcar (SAL 10000-10199: Pullman, 1938) in HO scale. Can anyone direct me to information on its underframe details? I'm most inte

The DT&I gondola, some later sold to the GM&O, is the prototype for the 2010 Cocoa Beach Shake & Take project. A handout with photos is in the files of the Shake_N_Take group, and some members of that

Mm ... the RP CYC 4 article covers only the phosphate hoppers built after 1935, i.e. not the "Ambroid" cars. AL B.

There's a Larry Goolsby article in Lines South, 3rd/1994 pp 4-11, on ACL and SAL freight cars from the Standard Steel Car Company. He identifies the Ambroid model as ACL 8075-8174, class U-4 (SSC, 192

I'd sooner not mask, so I vote for separate parts. Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.

The prototype of the Red Caboose tank car was built for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps between 1949 and '52. See Hendrickson, RMJ 4/96 pp 52-56, and Kaminski, "AC&F" p 105. Al Brown, Melbourne, Fl

Is that perhaps a clerk's abbreviation for "SFRD"? Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.

Apologies: I was sloppy. Of the cars shown in the RP CYC article, one belongs to lot 563-B: NYC S-95499 (later NYC 123499), shown on pp 55-56. The ends are 4/4 Dreadnaught. This lot comprised NYC 9450

There are several photos of the Dreadnaught-end versions in RP CYC 21, pp 50-56. Hth, Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.

Gotta love the flared top on the smokestack, the better for Santa to deliver STMFCs to the model railroaders inside the building. Merry Christmas, everybody! (Can anyone identify the other freight car

Two different wrecks -- yipe -- confusion. AL B.

The engine is 2-8-4 #4005, which was built in 1928-'29 (per Drury, "Guide to North American Steam Locomotives", revised edition): so the picture can be dated to 1928-34. Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.

Gondolas built for copper concentrate service, mostly for SP and Santa Fe. I agree that it's a fine article, although most of its subjects were built after 1960. Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.

While the USRA tank car (as Tony notes) wasn't built, the WWII-era USG-A cars had four horizontal courses like the Tichy kit; some underframe modifications are needed, but one can get pretty close. A

There's a Speedwitch kit of these cars (K121). Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.