A couple of years ago, I announced that I would be able to produce custom decals in small runs of as few as a single set. Unfortunately, the printing source I had planned to use employed a process that resulted in many parts of the decals being too thick to settle over surface details, no matter how glossy the surface and no matter how strong the setting solution (up to undiluted darkroom acetic acid).

I am happy to report that I have found and tested a source and can again entertain custom decals. The process is as follows:

1. Send a message using the “CONTACT SPEEDWITCH” form at the top of the page.
2. Provide very specific details about what you are seeking, including scale, quantity, etc.
3. We will likely ask about additional details, via email.
4. Once details have been settled, we will furnish a quotation.
5. If the quotation is approved, then we will generate the artwork.
6. A preview of the artwork will be sent for approval.
7. Payment will be requested at the time of printing.
8. Delivery will be approximately 7-10 days after printing for US customers. Customers outside the US will take approximately one additional week.

ALL EXISTING HO SCALE SETS CAN BE PRINTED IN OTHER SCALES, e.g. N, S, O, etc. at prices comparable to the HO sets (larger sets will require a commensurate upcharge to compensate for the larger size).

For projects that can leverage existing artwork from our library of freight cars (see Decals page), turnaround to generate artwork will be approximately two (2) weeks. Custom artwork will require longer and will also incur a fee to create the artwork. Some freight car subjects, while not in our library, will not incur a custom fee based upon our ability to use it for future projects. This will be noted during upfront discussions.

The Events Page has been updated with the events that Speedwitch plans to attend… hope to see you at one or many

The current orders have exhausted the initial shipment of the UTLX Steam Era Tank Cars book from the printer. More will arrive soon, but I will be unable to ship any new orders until the week of August 27, as I will not have the follow-on shipment of books for a week and will be traveling as well. If you understand and accept this, you are welcome to place an order. Thank you for your understanding.

If you have already placed an order before reading this message, you may disregard this message, as your book is on its way or will be shortly if you ordered recently.

… but P119 for the DT&I gon is on the Models page now and in stock.

Pre-orders are now being accepted for UTLX Steam Era Freight Cars by Stephen Hile. There is a discount for orders placed by 07/10/2018. Books ship the week of July 23, 2018.

As promised, here are the links for the clinic sign up at the 2018 St. Louis RPM. These links will go live on Monday June 18, 2018 at 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. Please do not ask me about issues with the links before that time!

• 2018 St. Louis RPM – Clinic signup link
• 2018 St. Louis RPM – Clinic signup ALTERNATE link

To keep the winter creative efforts flowing (or to stimulate frozen good intentions to do something), everything on the site is 15% off until the end of the month! Use code “february” at checkout.

New stuff:

• P120 – New York Central 8′ 7-panel Superior doors
• P121 – New York Central 8′ 3-panel pre-war Youngstown doors
• D201 – Erie 95000-series 40′ Automobile car

Restocks:

• P110.1 – Southern Postwar AAR Box Car Parts Set – Superior Door
• P110.2 – Southern Postwar AAR Box Car Parts Set – Improved Youngstown Door
• P113.1 – Louisville & Nashville Postwar AAR box car, Youngstown door
• P113.2 – Louisville & Nashville Postwar AAR box car, Superior 7-panel door
• P113.3 – Louisville & Nashville Postwar AAR box car, Improved Youngstown door
• P115 – Pittsburgh & West Virginia Postwar AAR Box Car
• P117.2  – Wabash Postwar AAR Box Car, bolster-to-bolster side sill, Superior 7-panel door
• P117.3 – Ann Arbor Postwar AAR Box Car, bolster-to-bolster side sill, Youngstown door

Available model kits:

• K102 – New Haven 17200-series Flat Cars
• K111 – Pere Marquette (later C&O) 88000-series Automobile Cars
• K119 – NP 52′ Straight Side Sill Flat Car
• K127 – Georgia Railroad Rebuilt USRA 50-ton Box Car
• K128 – Great Northern 53000-series Stock Car

All kits and parts may be accessed via this link.

You can also order our books to help with research or to find a new subject for your modeling efforts

There have been some (not a ton, but enough to warrant a formal response here) questions about the forthcoming book, UTLX Steam Era Tank Cars by Stephen Hile. The book is in the final editing phase and all signs point to it being available at the end of January. As soon as everything is finalized, details will be posted here. It will be a hardcover work, approximately 200 pages in length, with many drawings, numerous color photos, a number of tables, as well as tons of black and white photos.

In addition to the book news, there are a few new decals sets (and if you haven’t seen them, there have been many others released in recent months – see older posts below).

• D197 – Chicago and North Western Flat Cars
• D199 – Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac USRA 50-ton Box Car
• D200 – Bangor & Aroostook ‘1954’ AC&F Carbuilder’s-end State of Maine Box Cars

We are running a reprint of Prototype Railroad Modeling, Volume Four. Pre-orders are now being accepted. More details may be found by clicking the link above. Some images of the subject matter may be seen here: Images from PRM Vol. 4

Lost in the RPM Chicagoland preparations and the work to get the FOFC reprints in the works, I have kind of ignored the new decal sets. So, here they are (all HO scale):

• D165 – Southern Pacific O-50-13 12,500 gallon GATC Tank Cars
• D190 – Missouri Pacific Lines 52’6″ Gondolas (MP/I-GN/St.LB&M, blt. 1949 & 1951)
• D191 – New York Central 70-ton AAR Flat Cars (Lots 712-F/721-F/793-F)
• D192 – West India Fruit ‘Carbuilders’ End Box Cars
• D193 – Chicago and North Western Riveted PS-1 Auto Car
• D194 – Seaboard Air Line ‘1948’ B-10 and AF-4 PS-1 Box & Auto Cars
• D195 – Chicago and North Western Riveted PS-1 Box Cars
• D196 – Chicago and North Western AAR Recommended Practice 41’6″ Gondolas