ALL these solvent based contact cements we've been discussing work the same way. They are a synthetic rubber (Weldwood says neoprene, Pliobond says nitrile, can't find what's in Barge) dissolved in a

This link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-05-22-8502010663-story.html says that before the use of polyethylene, milk cartons were coated with wax. 1923 much predates polyethylene, so

Nelson, I see your "engineering drawing" is a Pullman drawing. If it came from IRM, it is a scan of the original. Since Pullman treated their drawing archives as a record of work done to fulfill contr

Nelson, There would be no reason to remove this early high power brake unless the replaced it with a more modern vertical wheel style. They certainly wouldn't remove it and replace it with a non-geare

As I recall, it was a couple decades ago. The difference between the K&S line and what they offered under the Special Shapes label was the K&S line was all formed sheet metal, and always had rounded o

That's what I found the one time I used it. It foams, just like casting resin when it's contaminated with water. That, I think, is it's claim to fame, when you have a poor fitting joint, like the worn

Yep, it's the real deal, still in its last paint scheme and proper number. It does seem to be missing its running board. Built by AC&F in 1907, the last of 25 cars in lot 4592. The Soo cars were disti

I grew up along one of the C&NW suburban lines in Chicago during the fifties and sixties, and remember seeing the yellow and green reefers, sometimes seeing them with a suburban train passing on an ad

Larry, The fact that the South was largely agrarian during the period that these shipments were made by rail misses the point, which is the originators were packing house stockyards and racetracks dee

From the Carroll Schmitt collection I think everyone is missing my point. The B&W photos of the State of Maine cars establish the problem facing the photographer; Without a filter, both the red and bl

I'm going to rock the boat a bit more. First, a photo to illustrate the problem, courtesy of the Protocraft web site: Which stripe is red, and which is blue? If you said the top stripe is red, color p

Wow, what a can of worms. Knowing how some older B&W film rendered colors, my first thought was that the bottom color was red, while the upper color was blue and the lettering yellow. But WWII seems t

Which means someone would have to maintain it. These cranes were most often on public team tracks for the convenience of consignees receiving occasional heavy freight, which means they were used by pe

This very sharp photo should answer the question posed a week or so ago, as to what was included in the light weight stenciled on these container cars. Note that each container is stenciled with its o

In the interest of completing this discussion of tarps on trailers, the chain gates, covered with a canvas curtain to keep out the weather, were typically used on "city trucks", those that made local

Hi, The East Broad Top Foundation, owners of the East Broad Top narrow gauge railroad in Pennsylvania has acquired a PRR X29 boxcar to use as a interpretive display showing how the EBT hauled standard

I didn't want to detract from the "Leveling the Grain" discussion, but the most interesting thing to me in the photo presented: https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/20210730.jpg Is the ro

Right you are, Doug. We tend to forget how little concern there was for employee welfare sixty years ago. However, I have seen photos of short ladders with hooks on one end that hooked over the top gr

Unfortunately I was wrong, I do not have builder information. All I have is BAR 9000 - 10999, 549 cars in 1930, 188 in 1957, all gone by 1959. I suspect the USATC cars in Mt. Union were part of the re

I was in a couple of them years ago and they had BAR and the number stenciled on the inside, too. Not that I bothered to note the numbers. I MIGHT have builder info at work... Monday. Dennis Storzek