I made a 3" square of 1" thick hard plastic foam and made a hole in the center for the bottle, and I save old bottles without the safety caps. I transfer about 1/4" of cement from the new bottle to th

Hi Fred, Plano makes roof walks specifically for the R-40-23 cars, and I'll bet they fit the R-40-10 just as well. Some are on eBay right now - just search on "Intermountain refrigerator" in the "HO S

And Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Company (CCBX reporting marks) had large operations in South Charleston, Clendenin and Institute, WV, and in Texas City and Seadrift, TX. They produced a lot of indust

Ben, That's interesting, because their web site still lists a whole bunch of resin parts. Todd Sullivan

Bill, There's an undec RC GS gon kit on eBay right now - see auction 252406335824. I have several of these models in kit form. Do you need some pix of the parts? (Probably can't take them until Saturd

There are a lot of cabooses available in kit form from American Model Builders at LASERkit Splash Page LASERkit Splash Page American Model Builders, Inc. View on www.laserkit.com Preview by Yahoo If y

Hi Paul, In the 1960s, at the Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon, we stapled a computer-generated Car Label to every car that came into our possession as soon as it was checked in a transfer

Maybe. At the NPTCo in Portland when I worked there in 1961-62 (which may be at the tail end of the STMFC era), the Car Distributor clerk was responsible for sending empties back home. We had a manage

I agree with Jim, especially when it comes to turnouts. I find that adjustments need to be made after the initial build of a turnout as different pieces of rolling stock pass through it (e.g., Sunset

If you load a car with bulk feed, it becomes contaminated by the feed. Feed is a protein, and it decays or rots with a strong smell that contaminates other lading. Most RRs had cars assigned to bulk f

Jason, The best HO Union Pacific boxcars (40', single door) IMO are from Trix/Marklin. Their UP 40' double door is a very accurate model, but has the wrong lettering for this class of car - see Speedw

Like many of you, I've had bad experiences with the PO on most of the points made in the previous posts. I now mark every package I send "FRAGILE" in big red letters and circled with a black marker on

I've used Hob-e-Tak by Woodland Scenics, and there are probably other similar products out there. I dab small amounts with a toothpick on the floor and especially at the floor/side seam. It dries very

Hi Mike, I emailed Jeff Aley several times about presenting at this RPM meet, and haven't received a reply. Is it still possible to be added as a clinician/presenter? I have a presentation on the SP a

Oooops. Just shoot me. Apologies for this going out the list instead of just Mike Brock. Todd Sullivan

Hi Eric, I agree with previous comments - nice modeling, great write-up and excellent illustrative photos. I have a few of the Westerfield 36' Canadian Fowlers and one D&RGW Fowler to build, so this w

Hi Elden, Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, PA shipped large steel plates in the 1960s-70s that had to be loaded diagonally on edge in gondolas to fit in the clearance diagram. I have some slides somewher

Hi Scott, I researched this model years ago, and the only prototype I could find is the B&LE hopper. Someone else may have unearthed another prototype. Todd Sullivan

What Pierre mentions is part of the 5S discipline used in industry. The concept of the Visual Workshop is also part of it. There's a good explanation of 5S in Wikipedia - ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Nice work, Bill. Nothing like close-up photos to put a model under the microscope! The Archer weld lines are a bit wavy, which you have recognized in previous posts. Many years ago, Jim Eager taught m