Thanks for all the really specific replies. I'm comfortable with doing the X28A in SK, probably well-weathered, if I decide to do it at all. I'm also working on an X26C, an X29B and an X29D, all F&C.

I started on an F&C kit for a PRR X28A, with AB brake and Youngstown doors. There's actually one photo on rr-picturearchives, showing PRR 121861 in what might be the SK scheme, can't see the side clea

Not only was it repainted (sometime between 1949 and 1961), but the car also has had its wooden running board and laterals replaced with Morton. This photo is the first documented evidence that this e

Ron Merrick

Detouring back to the the Santa Fe, since I'm almost finished with a Bx-11 and have a couple Bx-12s on the bench, I will note that Westerfield indeed got that little curve modeled right on the Bx-11,

Nate: I checked the Occhiello "Listing of cars by class" and it shows that 1500 or so of the Bx-11 were rebuilt in 1959/60, and the rebuilds became 16700-16899 and 19000-20550. I remember a few of the

Do you have a picture, or some other way we can see what you're describing? As a total shot in the dark, there was a class of SP gons at about 48' that I think were straight sides. I built a model of

My answer: nothing. I've only recently started to encounter one-piece bodies due to my backlog, and frankly I welcome them. I've actually sold some flat kits when a different manufacturer made a one-p

I can attest to the Westerfield ladders -- as a MoPac modeler, I'm now on my second order of them. Ron Merrick

Replying to my own post, I'd be happy to see a steel-side rebuild of any of these Santa Fe cars, I'd be happier yet to see a decal with an actual 8' circle-cross and the three-line 'ship and travel'.

Considering that I recently finished a RI 141000. have a raised-roof Bx-11 in the decaling stage, and have two raised-roof Bx-12 with bodies assembled and underframe mostly finished, I have mixed feel

And that small angle retaining piece is significantly bent, as are the tie rods attached to it, making it appear that the girder probably had a significant shift forward, assuming that the leading edg

The Santa Fe boxcar book (Boxcars of the Santa Fe 1869-1953) sheds no light on the Bx-48 roofwalk manufacturer. But I have on occasion used a plastic roofwalk made by Intermountain, which is in the 10

The Bx-44 had five panels per side, making it not right for the CB&T model. The Branchline car is much closer. Interestingly enough, although this class came with those intermediate Youngstown doors w

Speaking of molded ends, I'm looking for unbuilt reefer kits or molded resin ends, roofs and doors made by Stan Rydarowicz. If you have any you're willing to part with, please contact me off-list (cli

Those four brackets attached to the car fascia at each end are attached to the ends of the four pieces of lumber that support the ice hatch platform, which surrounds the ice hatch proper. Ron Merrick

Interesting that the truck on RI 40921 is a style in which the lower truss members join the journal box near its bottom edge rather than higher up as on later double truss cast sideframes. There is an

The only thing 'wrong' with the decals that come with the kit is that they're for the original build. More often than not, that's the situation I find myself in, as a late 50s modeler. I will no doubt

I have a RI 264000 series single-sheathed double door box (Rocket Express) almost ready to paint. I'm looking for the lettering style from the mid-late 50s, either as a general service car or as a hid

Doesn't that welded flatcar look familiar? I saw the note about it being built by Thrall, and it's probably not significantly different from a 70 ton car. This is one that would be nice as a model. Ro