I think this is another case of Intermountain quality going to hell in a handbasket. It seems to me that the key factor was the closing of the Hong Kong factory a year or so ago. I just got 6 PFE reef

I bought a full set of 4 Starrett (166Z) pin vises through Amazon for $109 including tax, so will see when they get here. I think I will like the cushioned grip, since my arthritis is getting worse th

Sometimes it works and other times, it makes things worse. Instead of yellow, it turns the decal brown. This is an attempted fix of last resort. Probably has to do with the formula of the lacquer in t

Steve: Excellent! I ordered a half dozen CalScale brake sets, then, like you, found that I could do the corrections with just a little bit of brass wire. I'll just add them to my brake parts drawer fo

Actually, if you convert the color of these to a yellow, you can use them on just about any UPRR freight cars. I made them up in three sizes to best fit the scale. In HO they work out to roughly 2", 3

Here's a master I made for UP stock cars, because the Microscale set is (or was - they may have added it) missing the end markings -- or was it thew Athearn decorated cars -- its been so long I forgot

Just a thought, but is this their first batch of cars out of the new factory in China? -- John

UPS just dropped them off. Ditto here on the twin logo ones. Y'a know I wouldn't be upset if these were $12 Tyco cars, but at $42.95 each??????? I think we've been robbed. -- John

Fenton: We’re going to be in trouble here. Originally the LNE cars were painted a red very similar to PRR freight car color of the early 1940’s. However, this weathered rapidly and was not helped by t

I use a modified Hoxie method. Clean with lacquer thinner, Spray with Scalecoat I using Xylenes to thin and put in a 200 degree oven, then turn it off. Here in Florida, one time, I painted the roof of

The Valley Forge RPM has been cancelled due to Corona virus. -- John

I use the same technique as Ron. A few things. First, get the low-tack painters' tape. It is green or purple (I forget which) and comes off very easily. Second, I use either Floquil Rust, Rust #2 or S

If you think the plastic is ABS, methylene chloride should work fine. If it is a plastic more like delrin, I would suggest the primer-glue combination of LocTite 770 primer and 401 cyanoacrylic cement

I have. It works well, however, the glue must be visible to the UV laser LED or it won't bond. Also you must hold the parts in alignment while you zap it, an extra hand would be helpful, but I only ha

Groups IO won't let me upload this file to the files section so lets try it this way. -- John

As a follow-up, I model c-1955 so I have a detailed NYS&W freight roster for that time period (1954-1958) with notes. The notes indicate that Suzy Q originally had 500 Fowler box cars listed as manufa

In January 1948 NYS&W had 49 - 36' IL boxcars. The number series they were in was 1500 to 1563, so they probably had 64 or more cars originally. My understanding was that Erie bought over 1,000 of the

C'mon Tony, tell us what you really think. -- John

UP 4-8-8-4 4014 made its first mainline run on Wednesday pm and Thursday am from Cheyenne, WY to Ogden, UT for the sesquicentennial of the Transcontinental Railroad. As a UPRR aficionado and stockhold

Scott: Maybe or maybe not. Several of the car builders had proprietary parts such as doors, ends and roofs. ACF and Pullman Standard come to mind. Also, some of the smaller builders got more than just