I've never heard that before but can someone confirm this about the AHM PS-1... ?? Where did the Walthers PS-1 come from? (I think Accurail acquired that tooling.)

70 ton loads of coal or limestone on 4 percent grades. Yeah, the Rio Grande thought they might need some extra braking power! :-P Remember back in those days box cars rarely weighed more than 50 tons

Brian and all, I'm getting a pretty good scolding on this one so I won’t repeat any more transporter humor. I'll stick to the endless posts all of which are full of useful facts. Mont

Mont, In 50 years someone is going to find your message and think you’re speaking fact. Lol. We have a hard enough time convincing folks N&W hoppers went over Sherman Hill. Now this. Oi! Brian J. Carl

Oh, I wish you hadn’t done this, Mont. I am so tired of the associated foolishness that the humor is long gone. Tony Thompson

However, after loading the helium cars became lighter and therefore less need for the clasp brakes. One professional railroader told me they had a helium car on the PRR that was overloaded and it actu

Larry, it is very likely that the gray cars you saw in your early years were painted with car cement and had weathered. Car cement turn to a flat shade of dark gray fairly quickly. Ed Mims

Hi Jeff, I had seen the helium cars before, but never really noticed the trucks were outside clasp. I've actually got two different versions of the outside clasp trucks; the CBC / B&LE that have the "

In one of Kip Harrington’s stories he wrote of ancient east coast HM hoppers being sold “out west” where they showed up hauling coal over Soldier Summit. These were B&LE cars built before WWI. They ha

I understand there were some offset side two bay B&LE hoppers that had these trucks, too. At least there was an article, I think in MRG, that showed how to model such.

This was the type of truck used by the DRGW on some gondolas that W&R imported in brass. Gary Laakso Northwest of Mike Brock

Thank you, Ben. One of my favorite models from the olden days. Ed Edward Sutorik

Ben and Tim, IIRC the old AHM body with the separate ladders and a 7' door was 10' IH. I think this car was reissued by Model Power or somebody with the ladders and grabs cast in place. There was an a

Ed Sutorik wrote: "I got it into my head the the B&LE car was the prototype for the Ulrich triple. Comparing photos, I see that it is not. Does anyone happen to know what the prototype was for this mo

Dennis, Helium tank cars are another example. They tip the scales at 100 tons, empty. Not only did the early cars have clasp brake rigging, they had two complete air brakes systems - one for each truc

Corey, Nice work on those trucks. I wonder how much additional work would be involved in tweaking them to replicate the trucks used under the helium cars. Attached is Jay Miller's handout that has vie

Tim O' Connor wrote: "But I think the Kurtz Kraft body was 10-6." It is...but because it's a flat kit, it's easier to take 6 inches off the height. Ben Hom

I got it into my head the the B&LE car was the prototype for the Ulrich triple. Comparing photos, I see that it is not. Does anyone happen to know what the prototype was for this model? Ed Edward Suto

Here is the builder's photo of the B&LE hopper with those massive trucks. Also a close-up of the truck. Keith.

But I think the Kurtz Kraft body was 10-6