Date
1 - 20 of 23
Suggestions for decaling a spare IM USRA Composite gon?
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oliver
I've found one of these in undecorated in my pile of stuff. Does
anyone have a suggestion for a good set of prototypical decals I could use for this orphan? I'd like to decal (or dry transfer)it for a smaller road if possible, but any road would do if the decals are correct. Thanks in advance Stefan Lerché Duncan BC Canada |
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benjaminfrank_hom <b.hom@...>
Stefan Lerché asked:
"I've found one of these in undecorated in my pile of stuff. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good set of prototypical decals I could use for this orphan? I'd like to decal (or dry transfer) it for a smaller road if possible, but any road would do if the decals are correct." The following are possibilities depending on your era and your willingness to do minor kitbashing to model the steel side rebuilds that retained the trusses: KCS: Oddballs 87-625, steel side conversion http://mopac1.tripod.com/625.gif SL-SF: Oddballs 87-637, steel side conversion with side doors http://mopac1.tripod.com/637.gif Also, check out the following articles by Mont Switzer for more ideas: "Intermountain's USRA Composite Gondola", Mainline Modeler, March 2000 [PRR] "Class G24 USRA Gondola Rebuild," Mainline Modeler, February 2001 "Monon USRA Composite Gondola," Model Railroader, March 2001 page 94 "Monon Steel Gondola - Kitbashing from an InterMountain Kit," Mainline Modeler, March 2002 "USRA Clone Composite Gondola," Mainline Modeler, September 2004 Ben Hom |
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Paul Lyons
In a message dated 3/15/2005 7:29:42 PM Pacific Standard Time,
steamera@... writes: stefanelaine wrote: Stefan-If you want to do the SL-SF car with the doors added why don't you just buy one from Sunshine. They just re-released them last year and Martin even had one one his CA swing. Paul Lyons Laguna Niguel, CA |
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oliver
Ben,
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Hmmm, some great choices. I wonder where I could find a protoype photo of that SL-SF car with the doors added and how much rivet detail would be required for a car with steel sides? Good stuff. Thanks Ben! --- In STMFC@..., "benjaminfrank_hom" <b.hom@w...> wrote:
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Rob Adams
Stefan;
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Railroad Model Craftsman ran a Martin Lofton article in their October, 1990 issue that featured the Frisco's rebuilt USRA gons. I don't have access to it right now, but I recall that there were both prototype and modeling photos. Obviously with the Intermountain kit and the Life Like Proto 1000 model, there are now more options for a starting point than 15 years ago. Kind regards, Rob Adams stefanelaine wrote:
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Benjamin Hom <b.hom@...>
Stefan Lerch� wrote:
"I wonder where I could find a prototype photo of that SL-SF car with the doors added and how much rivet detail would be required for a car with steel sides?" Rob Adams replied: "Railroad Model Craftsman ran a Martin Lofton article in their October, 1990 issue that featured the Frisco's rebuilt USRA gons. I don't have access to it right now, but I recall that there were both prototype and modeling photos." Just pulled the article. To answer Stefan's question, there's a photo of SL-SF 85885, a car retaining the original truss members with side doors. Interestingly, the car retains wood boards for part of the car side. The panels where the discharge doors were installed lost their diagonals and were replaced with steel sheet. The Intermountain kit, with its separate side boards, makes this conversion much easier. Typical of the Frisco, they rebuilt their USRA composite gons in five major variations, including panel steel sides, panel steel sides with side doors, composite cars with discharge doors, composite cars with replacement boards, Dreadnaught ends, and steel lettering boards, and 10 experimental car with panel sides reusing the original side stakes. See the article for more details. Ben Hom |
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Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton <smokeandsteam@...>
Stefan
What timeframe are you thinking of? Many USRA gons were rebuilt or retired by the late thirties or early forties so there may not be quite so many choices if you are working to a later date. One road that IM never offered as a kit was the Frisco. They had several thousand built to the same design during the twenties and many survived into the post war period, though there were detail variations between batches and many underwent rebuilding to a greater or lesser degree. The biggest changes were the use of dreadnaught ends on the last couple of batches and the rebuilding which added steel sides and side doors in various combinations. You can use the Oddballs set for the version with side doors to cobble together enough decal an unrebuilt car. Cars painted before 1943 were red oxide and those repainted later were black - Yesteryear models offered a RTR version in the latter scheme. Another easy scheme is the old AB&C which can easily be cobbled together from data sets and Roman lettering. Be aware that this road was absorbed into the ACL in 1946 and the cars were very quickly retired, or rebuilt and re-lettered into the new owner's standard scheme. Aidrian -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.3 - Release Date: 3/15/2005 |
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oliver
Aidrian,
Well, I was thinking about the MP cars that Ben Hom mentioned, but now I am intrigued by the Frisco cars as these seem to offer much more potential for conversion with the IM kit. I model the late 1940s to mid 1950s era on the SP so that would work. Stefan --- In STMFC@..., "Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton" <smokeandsteam@s...> wrote: Stefanretired by the late thirties or early forties so there may not be quite so manysurvived into the post war period, though there were detail variations betweenbatches and many underwent rebuilding to a greater or lesser degree. The biggestbatches and the rebuilding which added steel sides and side doors in variouswere black - Yesteryear models offered a RTR version in the latter scheme.rebuilt and re-lettered into the new owner's standard scheme. |
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oliver
Paul,
Thanks for the heads up about the Sunshine kit. I didn't realize that he offered these cars. However, my original query was more with respect to what I could do with this spare undecorated IM kit I found in my pile of unbuilt cars, and whether there were any good decals available for a suitable prototype to add some off road flavor to my fleet. thanks again, Stefan .--- In STMFC@..., cobrapsl@a... wrote: In a message dated 3/15/2005 7:29:42 PM Pacific Standard Time,don't you just buy one from Sunshine. They just re-released them last year andMartin even had one one his CA swing. |
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oliver
Ben,
I guess the other question is, how realistic is it for my late 1940s to mid 1950s era SP California layout to feature such a car? Would Frisco gons have been seen off line much by this time? Or at anytime for that matter? regards Stefan Typical of the Frisco, they rebuilt their USRA composite gons infive major variations, including panel steel sides, panel steel sides with sidedoors, composite cars with discharge doors, composite cars with replacementboards, Dreadnaught ends, and steel lettering boards, and 10 experimentalcar with panel sides reusing the original side stakes. See the article for more |
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Rob Adams wrote:
"Railroad Model Craftsman ran a Martin Lofton article in their October, 1990 issue that featured the Frisco's rebuilt USRA gons. I don't have access to it right now, but I recall that there were both prototype and modeling photos. Obviously with the Intermountain kit and the Life Like Proto 1000 model, there are now more options for a starting point than 15 years ago." What happened to the Proto1000 car? Are they still available? I can't find them even mentioned on Life-Like's website. Eric Petersson ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag |
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Tim Gilbert <tgilbert@...>
stefanelaine wrote:
I guess the other question is, how realistic is it for my late 1940sAssume for a minute that the SLSF gon would appear on the SP in California only if there was some commodity could be loaded on the Frisco that somebody in California wanted. Who would be the consignee and what would be the commodity? Tim Gilbert |
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Larry Kline
Stefan Laine wrote:
I guess the other question is, how realistic is it for my late 1940s to mid 1950s era SP California layout to feature such a car? Would Frisco gons have been seen off line much by this time? Or at anytime for that matter. There is a photo showing part of an as-built Frisco USRA composite gon on p84 of the Polaritz P&LE 2-8-2 book. The location is Blacks Run on the P&LE near Pittsburgh, PA. The photo is undated, but its main subject is P&LE H-10-A 2-8-2 #198, which was taken off the books in April, 1953. The Jan 53 ORER lists 385 of the 1000 Frisco USRA gons (85000-85999) as _steel frame_. (I have an IM O scale kit to decal and plan to make a Frisco gon) Larry Kline Pittsburgh, PA |
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benjaminfrank_hom <b.hom@...>
Eric Petersson asked:
"What happened to the Proto 1000 car? Are they still available? I can't find them even mentioned on Life-Like's website." This model looks like it has come and gone, though the Life-Like insiders on this list probably have the full story on this. M.B. Klein (aka the Life-Like outlet in Baltimore) was moving deeply discounted P1K USRA composite gons out the door last year and no longer lists them in stock. For some reason, Life-Like never went all in on this model. Only two paint schemes were offered - CB&Q and C&O. Speculation - the model represents these cars as built (with the exception of the trucks, which need to be swapped out with Andrews trucks). Perhaps Life-Like realized the limited commercial potential of this model and pulled it from the market, especially in light of the Intermountain model. Like the other P1K freight cars, this model had molded on grabs, a molded on lever action handbrake, and simplified underbody detail. One nice thing about this model is that it's weighed vice being too light. Ben Hom |
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pullmanboss <tgmadden@...>
Ben Hom:
????? Tom Madden |
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rwitt_2000 <rmwitt@...>
larry kline wrote:
<snip> "There is a photo showing part of an as-built Frisco USRA composite gon on p84 of the Polaritz P&LE 2-8-2 book. The Jan 53 ORER lists 385 of the 1000 Frisco USRA gons (85000-85999) as _steel frame_." I have uploaded a photo of SL-SF 85954 to STMFPH that still has its original wood sides. Unfortunately, I have lost the origins of the photo. Bob Witt http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/stmfph/vwp?.d ir=/Gondolas&.src=gr&.dnm=USRA+comp+gondola.jpg&.v iew=t&.done=http%3a//photos.groups.yahoo.com/group /stmfph/lst%3f%26.dir=/Gondolas%26.src=gr%26.view=t |
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benjaminfrank_hom <b.hom@...>
I wrote:
"One nice thing about this model is that it's weighed vice being too light." Tom Madden replied: ????? Out of the box, the model is within NMRA RP-20.1 for car weight, which is more than I can say for most open-top freight cars on the market. http://www.nmra.org/standards/pdf/rp-20_1.pdf In fact, it may exceed RP-20.1, but I'm at work now and cannot confirm this until I go home and weigh the car. Ben Hom |
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Rob Adams
I'd agree with Ben's conclusions about the P1K model. I picked one up for comparison with the Intermountain model. To be sure, the weight of the cast underframe is great, but detailing it is more difficult, and the effort required to correct the molded on brake platform, etc, caused me to abandon any ideas of building a fleet with that as a starting point.
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I have several of the Intermountain kits, some built, some not, and my impressions of it are mixed. The separate wood components do enable easy weathering of the interior (as well as replacement of the sides and floor with "steel" sheets, but I find the flange thickness of the truss members to be visually problematic. It also causes issues when the stenciling crosses over the truss member from the adjacent wood. To me, any benefits of the separate wood components are more than offset by the visual problems oversize truss member flange dimensions. In my opinion, the grabs and some of the other detail parts that come in the IM USRA gon kit are abominable, which I don't understand when set in the context of parts in some of Intermountains other (and earlier) kits, namely the R40-23 reefer and PS-1 box car. The IM gons I've built all received wire grabs and other upgrades, and overall, they are nice models, but far from what I'd hope for. I've long hoped that Tichy would come through with an accurate kit that had a level of detail and fit at least on a par with their tank, USRA box or hopper. While we're better off than ten years ago, the perfect USRA gon kit in HO still does not exist. My opinion anyway. Rob Adams benjaminfrank_hom wrote:
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Benjamin Hom <b.hom@...>
I wrote regarding the Proto 1000 USRA composite gon:
"In fact, it may exceed RP-20.1, but I'm at work now and cannot confirm this until I go home and weigh the car." The P1K USRA composite gon weighs in at 4.5 ounces, exceeding the RP-20.1 weight of 4 ounces (rounded up to the nearest 1/4 oz). (1 oz + 1/2 oz per inch of car length; car length = 5.75 in) Ben Hom |
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Benjamin Hom <b.hom@...>
Bob Witt wrote:
"I have uploaded a photo of SL-SF 85954 to STMFPH that still has its original wood sides." Bob, could you repost it to the files section of STMFPH? Yahoo Groups reduces files posted to the photos section to save bandwidth, allowing only moderators and the photo owner to view the full size photo. As a result, posting large files to the photos section is a waste of space and time as the majority of the membership can't access the full size photo. There is no such restriction in the files section. Thanks. Ben Hom |
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