Hi Eric, What is the difference between the old and the new Barge cement? Thanks, Ralph Brown Portland, Maine PRRT&HS No. 3966 NMRA No. L2532 rbrown51[at]maine[dot]rr[dot]com

Hi Claus, et al., Claus - Thanks for a couple of interesting photos. I still have at least one PGCCo. cars on my project list, but I’ve to determine what color they were. I’ve seen photos of model pai

Hi Chuck, The use of “white lead” and “red lead” was not limited to railroads. White lead was a major paint component. Oil, typically boiled linseed oil, pigments, driers, and solvents, typically mine

Hi Dan, Interesting stuff. Thanks, Ralph Brown Portland, Maine PRRT&HS No. 3966 NMRA No. L2532 rbrown51[at]maine[dot]rr[dot]com

Hi Gerald, I just checked the website again, and the numbers have been changed. This morning, I misspoke when I said last night, the two sets of numbers were the same, and were all four digits startin

Hi Gerald, Thanks for the info. I'll check it out. I sent them a "Contact" message last night when I noticed the numbers. Thus far I've gotten only an automated response, but maybe that was the impetu

Yes, a typo. Ugh. Thanks for the clarification. Ralph Brown Portland, Maine PRRT&HS No. 3966 NMRA No. L2532 rbrown51[at]maine[dot]rr[dot]com

Hi Gerald, et al., Rapido is offering the PRR X36, aka USRA single sheathed boxcar, with both Youngstown and Creco doors. The website, however, shows the six car sets of both versions will have the sa

Hi Bob, I lived on Long Island (NY) in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. When we lived in the Bellerose section of Queens, wen could look out our back windows onto a farm that grew, among other things, potatoe

Schuyler, Bruce, et al., I knew exactly what Bruce meant, and I’d have said it the same way. I’ve lived in Portland, Maine, for about forty-five years, and don’t recall a Winter with continuous snow c

Hi Irv, Curious that the seller says it’s “Forged Iron.” I would expect it to be, and suspect it is, cast iron or steel. Anyone know how they were produced? Either way, the photos are interesting. Pax

Well, obviously I was trying to make numbers out of ink blots, and looking at the wrong blots as well. Now that I’m looking at the right “ink blots,” I concur with those who see “76918.” Pax, Ralph Br

Hi Schuyler, Looks like 2012113 to me, although the last digit is really iffy. Maybe someone else can confirm or do better. Pax, Ralph Brown Portland, Maine PRRT&HS No. 3966 NMRA No. L2532 rbrown51[at

Hi Ben, All true, particularly with regard to waterfront security assignments. Those assigned to places like New York’s Times Square typically word dress uniforms. Additionally, depending on location

Hi Paul, Given the “MP” brassard, he is much more likely to be Army than Coast Guard. If he were a Coast Guard officer, he would have a CG officer’s device on his hat. Also, if he were Coast Guard, he

Hi Brian, At that time, and up until the seventies when the Coast Guard adopted new uniforms, it was very difficult the tell Coast Guard “rag hat” enlisted from Navy “rag hat” enlisted. Given the sour

Hi John, Let me start be saying that I started sailing and operating power boats in high school, and subsequently spent sixteen years in the Navy and then the Coast Guard. I was quite proficient in ma

Yes, John, except it would called “line,” and it’s probably manila line. What sea-going folks call “rope” is actually steel cable. Pax, Ralph Brown Portland, Maine PRRT&HS No. 3966 NMRA No. L2532 rbro

Garth, et al., Could motor surf boats, which in my day were 25 or 26 feet or so. The USCG motor lifeboats used in my time, 1960s and ‘70s, were 44 footers (and a pair of 52 footers that were used in t

Hi Keith, Very nice photo. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve seen a wood sheathed boxcar with end doors, or any boxcar with end doors as early as 1914. Thanks, Ralph Brown Portland, Maine PRR