I have not seen this new issue mentioned on the list, unless I completely missed it, but I received my copy of RPCyc 35 today. It is everything you wanted to know about the 1937 boxcar including 180 p

These cars were built as gons by Thrall in 1952 and, except for the covers and wood sides replaced by steel, looked pretty much as you see it in the photo. IIRC, there is a builders photo in the '53 C

Thanks for posting this, Brian. Somebody at the model railroad club was showing this around some 40 years ago, so long ago that I could not remember what the document was. Anyway, I remembered seeing

Thank you, Jeff. That is more information than I had before and it narrows it down. The instructions have only one photo of a 49500 series car and the handbrake is in profile. Clearly not Ajax but I a

Does anybody on the list know the breakdown of handbrake type on these cars? The photos available to me show some Ajax but I see others that I cannot make out. Thanks, Bill Darnaby

I forgot to mention...cause it was late...resin gons get .020 lead sheet, hammered from .040 from McMaster-Carr, between the floor and underbody. Years ago I standardized on Intermountain wheel sets,

I have never paid any attention to the NMRA weighting recommendations and couldn't begin to say what they are. For styrene cars I use what I am given. For resin cars of any kind I use I use six of the

This car was offered by Sunshine. I have one running on the railroad…someplace. Bill Darnaby

A looong time ago, when I was still working, EMD used old box cars as mobile warehouses and these kind of floated around the plant as needed. I do not remember the exterior reporting marks…some second

Some 40 years ago at an NMRA regional convention clinic Tony Koester remarked that “there is a prototype for everything but I reserve the right to laugh”. For some reason that has stuck with me. Bill

Yes, Don, that’s the one. Doug has replied that the short RC models are likely foobies so it appears the Sunshine model is the only option. I have also built one and the kit was typical of Martin’s ea

There are 5 photos of Morrell 40ft Mather reefers in the Refrigerator Car Color Guide by Morning Sun. If you model reefers you really need this book. Bill Darnaby

The rear cover photo on Morning Sun’s Refrigerator Car Color Guide shows two Swift red cars, one of which has only 4 hinges. It’s number is 6544. Bill Darnaby

Because of the number of Yarmouth kits I acquired I eventually broke down a got one the fret bending tools for the stiles so now I had to assemble ladders. I went with soldering. Years ago I bought on

I seem to remember that there was a height issue as in too short. I built one of these years ago and it just looked too short to me. I must have compared it to published drawings and concluded that wa

There is an article on these cars in the 6/84 Mainline Modeler on page 55 with drawings and photos. Bill Darnaby

To facilitate moving freight cars on my railroad I replaced a pair of failed P2K 0-8-0 tender trucks with those from Bethlehem Car Works equipped with home made wipers to create 8 wheel pickup. Bill D

This is very likely one of the cars that for years sat along the back of the Alcoa Aluminum plant in Lafayette, Indiana and that I saw on my trips to and from Purdue 50 years ago. They got scattered i

As a final…or,maybe not…comment on one piece bodies, I have not found them to be a great time saver over flat kits because of issues that I run across. Your mileage may vary but I have found that it t

Yes, it is. The one I photoed was on a storage track in the B&O’s Indianapolis Belmont Street yard in late 1969 (I was home from college and on my way to a nearby hobby shop). It was in much better sh