The unusual roof, the three-lever brake arrangement, the (possibly) unique hybrid AB brakes… The first installment in the Prototype Railroad Profiles series has all that and more. Learn everything you didn’t already know about the L&N’s numerous ARA single sheathed box cars as well as how to model them in HO. Click here. Get yours now before they’re all gone in the Black Friday madness… ok, they’re digital so they’ll be around for awhile
The American Railway Association Standard Box Car of 1932 is available again, but now as an e-book or Acrobat file (screen or print versions). Click here for information and to download.
People have inquired regularly about when they would see new articles, a la the “Essential Freight Cars” series from RMC. It has taken awhile, but I have finally managed to get things organized! I am happy to announce the Prototype Railroad Profile series. These are in-depth publications about specific prototypes along with detailed modeling information. They go beyond what I could do in RMC as I am not constrained by page counts, image sizes and the other considerations of a magazine. The first to be released (and second in the series… more about the out-of-sequence release below) is the Milwaukee Road’s 22188-series Ribbed-Side Box Cars with their unusual brake arrangement, among other details. I am excited about having this new vehicle to continue writing about something I enjoy so much. I hope you find it to be as rewarding as I do and can use it to inspire your efforts.
Why release no. 2 in the series first? Well, I had completely finished no. 1 before discovering a rather amazing error in the model I had built. It turned out to be a good error as it will let me highlight an interesting modeling obstacle as well as provide some insightful prototype information about the L&N’s ARA single sheathed box cars that to date has been missed by most (if not all ) of us. I’ll have this one completed and posted soon. Stay tuned!
We have created our first e-book: Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Co. 1921 Catalog
PLEASE NOTE: We are manually sending the link to the file (more info at the link above). We will be unable to send the link to the file between August 22 and 25 and may be sporadic between August 22 through September 2 as I will be traveling. Thanks for your patience.
To get you motivated to build and letter something and maybe acquire the reference material to do it, we are having a 20% off sale between now and September 8th. No restrictions! Use the coupon code “20off” at checkout. Get something ready to bring to one of the prototype modelers’ meets that are coming up fast!
NOTE: I will be unable to ship items again until September 4. Please be aware of this and do not be alarmed if you do to receive an update before that time.
The reprint of the relaunch decals are finally here. If you want them, get ’em now as this is it for them. Once they’re gone, they won’t be back again.
The parts sets for the Maine Central rebuilt ARA box cars are available in either Murphy rectangular panel roof (P111) or diagonal panel roof (P112).
Some additional Southern gon kits have surfaced. We are running low and they may not be re-run in future.
The Central of Georgia 18001-series gondola decals are improved and back in stock.
Lastly, there is a new set of decals for Great Northern Goat emblems with a handful or two of chalk marks added for good measure.
Many prototype modelers have a Missouri attitude, e.g., they might know something to be true, but until they are shown proof, they still harbor some doubts. I knew logically that the Georgia Railroad’s USRA rebuilds, even those with the Murphy radial roof, were painted in the silver and black (Oakland Raiders?) scheme, but all the photos I had of the silver and black scheme were of the flat welded roof versions. All of the Murphy radial roof rebuild shots I had were in the freight car red scheme. Until now…..
The subject of the photo is actually the C&S reefer to the left, but my wandering eye is always looking at all the cars in a photo.
In honor of this find of Georgia 19708, there is a sale on the first 10 of these sold at a price of $40.00 (regular price – $45.00). If you were one of the doubters who was holding off from buying the kit because you wanted to model the “Raiders” scheme, time to put up! Link here for K127 – Georgia rebuilt USRA single sheathed box cars
Finally, here is a bit of an update or an update and a reply to some musings. The reprint of the relaunch decals was a bit of a mess. However, they should be in my hands within a couple weeks. I apologize for the delay as I expected to have them a long time ago. Now for the reply to musings. Many of you have noticed that I am selling a lot of images on eBay. The rumor mill got cranked up, assuming I was selling everything and leaving town under cover of darkness, never to be heard from again. The real story is as follows. My girlfriend (partner, I guess, since it is 2015) live together. Her admonition since I moved in has been that she wants the house to be move ready at all times. Model railroaders, particularly those who have large collections of kits and photos, drawings, research material, books, etc., find such proclamations to be difficult to follow. Well, a situation with her daughter has made that move ready state closer to a reality that will be acted upon. That has meant that I have been furiously doing what I should have done long ago, which is to better organize my files. Within the last year, I discovered an incredible tool for digitally managing my large collection of railroad materials. So, as I make myself move ready (I do not want to cart around any more reference material than I have to), I have been scanning and digitally archiving my materials, with the ability to retrieve anything within a matter of seconds. To provide an answer, no, I am not getting out of this business again. I am becoming more efficient. For those curious souls out there, I will be giving a clinic at Naperville (or Lisle… what are we calling it?) this year about how you can digitally archive your materials and will do a thorough writeup about this in a coming PRM.
When they were released many years ago, I purchased a large number of the Milwaukee Rib-side box car kits from Intermountain, optimistically thinking I’d have the accompanying decals completed soon thereafter. Of course, life intervened and my temporary exile to the real world meant that the kits sat idly by, waiting until the day I’d finish the decal artwork. That happened and now, it seems to me that the cost of those kits has been fully amortized (and then some). With that in mind, I am having a big sale on the IM Milwaukee Rib-side box car kits with decals for $12 each. The decal set alone goes for $5, so that’s like getting a top-notch kit for $7! While supplies last…. Link above or here.
Two new decal sets are in stock plus some restocks/new intro of “old” decals:
Model and parts restocks:
I have received a lot of queries about the decals that were printed for the Speedwitch relaunch. So many queries, that I have decided to do a one-time reprinting of them, with the proceeds to be donated to the California State Railroad Museum Library to help with the costs associated with cataloging Richard Hendrickson’s collection. The decal set letters over 20 cars with excess material to partially augment lettering for many, many additional cars plus reweigh and repack data. Click here for more information.
