Rich, Great model. In case people don't know ... it was not unheard of for a car to have two different trucks under it. Didn't happen "often" and, perhaps, was temporary ... but it did happen. Of cour

Steve Hile, Yes, Rich did a great job with the background/drop ... the depth of field in the second picture definitely helps make that transition more acceptable. Isn't it amazing that our eyes have s

Hi, I don't know if it is true - or simply a persistent and often repeated rumor - but I've heard many times from many different sources (model RRs) that one of the reasons for the GN doing double-she

Charles, There is one "this is how it worked" relative to paint ... before ... color film. And that is that many (dare I say "most"?) RRs mixed their own "box car red", a batch at a time, in the paint

Rob Kirkham, For -many- people in this hobby - if the paint says "CPR" then it looks like a CPR car. They simply can't see/don't know the difference. I said "many" but I should have said "most". Soooo

Guys, I did not say "don't criticize" ... I said: "Should we be pointing out the inaccuracies of the releases? Of course we should! I'm just saying that we should do so - without the editorializing an

Guys, Here's the thing (from where I stand) ... Our priorities - primarily prototypical accuracy - are ... let's face it ... out there on the outer fringe of the modeling community. The mfgrs are, for

Hi, Everyone is saying "innie/concave". Take another look and especially at the upper edge of the tack board ... seems to argue for convex? - Jim in the PNW

Dave Smith/anyone ... I have a USB CD/DVD drive. Works fine for my laptop on the rare occasions I need it. Also works on a desktop. Does not seem to be platform specific (drivers available for either

Trust Plates ... I model the GN in the decade after WW-II. So I can use trust plates for my GN and other - cars. I would prefer that they be simple decals on a rectangle of styrene glued to the upper

Merry Christmas - ALL, I was reading Lester Breuer's excellent blog and came across a model of a gon with a lumber load. The load was "3 groups tall" with each group being 'about the height of the sid

Doug/all, Yes, there were can plants distributed all over the U.S. They took in steel (or other) and put out cans and the lids to go on them. There was one in Seattle (Continental Can) and another in

Clarence, Some of those early models had comes that you attached yourself using a nut on a screw imbedded in the dome thru a hole in the boiler. If this is one of those the builder may have placed the

Eric, Nice job! I'm surprised how 'dense' the information is on this '24 car. I've always associated such verbose lettering with later cars - and yet here we have an early car (I model the late 40's)

Phil, Is that "murk" or simply "fog"? Perhaps a humidifier? I model the PNW so I could certainly use fog - more than occasionally - of course if I lay it in heavy enough that you can't see the far end

Hi, For the small holes we are wanting to counter sink ... wouldn't it be nice if (WIBNI) we had a tool that was based on an abrasive technology rather than cutting. I'm thinking that a diamond coated

Hi, Let's not forget than as the years pass - there is a lot less need/occurence of anyone going up on the top of the cars. Back in the days when the brakemen went on top to help control the trains it

Chuck (Cover) and all, I agree. My personal approach is to have variations - this car has this much weathering, that one another amount. This car has toe marks - that one has mud streaks from rain. Th

Charlie/all, Magazine was a common term for a "large clip of ammo" such as the round ones that were used for Tommy Guns. Magazine was also used for "the place where you store ammunition". Both of thes

... and a different number series - so I'm thinking it was painted a different base color. And appears to be much cleaner - as in probably painted more recently than the car in the middle? - Jim in th