This month's RMJ has a lengthy article on the FGEX reefers and a description
of the forthcoming IM model. No mention is made on the IM website of this
car. Does anyone know anything about it beyond what is said in RMJ?


regards,

Andy Miller

I was somewhat surprized that RMJ elected to run this article before
IM issues the kit, and I have not seen my article in print yet. The
HO model will more or less be the same they have issued in "N" scale,
i.e. the postwar rebuilds w/taller steel trussed superstructure. Cars
w/both six and eight inch side sills were rebuilt, and IM is offering
only those w/the 8 inch sill, but will be open to doing the other
version if sales go well, I think. The cars were owned by both Fruit
Growers Express and Western Fruit Express and some were used by FGE's
subsiderary National Car, where they would have carried NX reporting
marks as well as those of companies leasing cars from National.

I have written two other articles about the different groups of cars
own by FGE, WFE, and Burlington Refigerator Express, which will be
appearing in RP CYC and in a new modeling journal (published by
Speedwitch Media), and others are in formation.

Bill Welch


--- In STMFC@..., "Andy Miller" <asmiller@m...> wrote:

This month's RMJ has a lengthy article on the FGEX reefers and a

description

of the forthcoming IM model. No mention is made on the IM website

of this

car. Does anyone know anything about it beyond what is said in RMJ?


regards,

Andy Miller

Bill's text refers to two builders photos of FGEX cars, which do not appear in the magazine. I suppose if the editor had to leave some photos out, these should be the ones, considering the original appearance of the cars is just "background" as far as the IM models go.
And the article states both the 6" and 8" side sill versions will be made; I'm guessing IM has backed off a little since it was written?
The pitfalls of an editor publishing something without running it by the author one last time...
Scott Pitzer
=======

Although a newby to this modeling authorship gig, having been a
newsphotographer for 13 years many years ago, I know that there can
be a wide varience between what I submit and what gets used. However
being on the staff and in the newsroom, it was easier in my newspaper
days to influence decisions.

One of my fears in submitting the article, which had a lot of photos
to support and enhance the text, was that in either in editing copy
or photos, that something would get left out that refered to
something that got left in. I have yet to see the article but it
sounds like that happened. Also, there is the issue that IM's
engineering plans changed, which I knew, but I was loath to change
the article until I knew what they were actually doing. Now the
article is out and I still do not know what they are actually doing.

I do plan to write an article on the cars designed by FGE and built
for WFE and FGE that will go further than the RMJ article and it will
allow me to correct any errors or misconceptions.

Bill welch


--- In STMFC@..., Scott Pitzer <scottp459@e...> wrote:

Bill's text refers to two builders photos of FGEX cars, which do

not appear in the magazine. I suppose if the editor had to leave
some photos out, these should be the ones, considering the original
appearance of the cars is just "background" as far as the IM models
go.

And the article states both the 6" and 8" side sill versions will

be made; I'm guessing IM has backed off a little since it was written?

The pitfalls of an editor publishing something without running it

by the author one last time...

Scott Pitzer
=======

-----Original Message-----
From: lnbill <bwelch@u...>

Subject: [STMFC] Re: I/M FGEX Reefer



I was somewhat surprized that RMJ elected to run this article

before

IM issues the kit, and I have not seen my article in print yet.

Also, there is the issue that IM's

engineering plans changed, which I knew, but I was loath to change
the article until I knew what they were actually doing. Now the
article is out and I still do not know what they are actually doing.

The original plan was indeed to tool a "high" and "low" side sill as a sort of
insert plug that the modeler could glue in place to represent one or the other
cars. That was indeed the first version of the plans Bill reviewed, as it was my
intention to do the car that way. We found a number of issues with the car,
including trying to figure out how to get the molds to work and allow us to
have that sidesill as a separate piece. We also redesigned the entire car to
take advantage of some new, better information, and reworking the original
design to run on our faster milliing machines.

Why RMJ ran the article I don't know, as the last I heard Bill S told me he
would let me know before the piece went to press so we could offer some
sample parts (if available, they're not yet) and deal with any of the kit
engineering issues.

By way of update, the design is completed and has been reviewed in house
here. We still have one issue re: the bolts used on the roof rib ends. We can
mold the top or bottom, but not both, easily. Once we have that figured out,
and a higher priority project comes out of the milling machines, the reefer will
be next. (With two HO steam era cars completed in the last six months, the
GPEX milk car and the ATSF stock car, it was decided by the powers that be
to pursue a different project before the FGEX car)

As of next week none of this is my day to day problem of course, but since
these things were frequently seen in trains in New England I really want these
cars for myself. I'll have to make sure to bug Matt about them . . .

Marty