Railmodel Journal Index

Railmodel Journal was, in my opinion, one of the best railroad modeling magazines published. 

The primary interest for me are the Freight Cars of the '50s series of articles, a feature in most issues. These focused on a specific model and the prototypes that match it and are great articles by a who's who of prototype modeling pioneers. While many of these articles have been expanded upon in other publications (such as Railway Prototype Cyclopedia), they are still full of useful information and are the best place to start to identify the accuracy of models released through 2008 when RMJ ceased publication. I note plastic models that have been released since. I only mention other resin kits if the article is about a kitbash, since the resin kit would be the easier (and often more accurate) option.

This is simply a re-organized and reformatted list primarily copied from the RMJ site which can be accessed at the Internet Archive. Like the RMJ site, you can search this page with the search function in your browser. I've only included HO scale info (because that's what I compiled), and only those articles that cover prototype info and specific models. 

I list individual entries by road name, provided that info was in RMJ's index. 

All of these articles are available at Train Life online for free. I've listed them in the following format:

Prototype. Model. Author. Issue.

40-FOOT BOX CARS

• 40-foot all-steel box cars. Accurail/Des Plaines/Sylvan. Swain. 10/00, 1, 3/01.
• 1937 AAR box cars. IMWX. Hendrickson. 7/94.
• 1937 AAR ACF box cars. IMWX/Red Caboose. Hawkins/Wider/Long, 7/91.
• 1937 AAR ACF box cars. IMWX/Red Caboose. Hendrickson. 11/92.
• 1937 AAR ACF double-door box cars. Red Caboose. Hendrickson. 1/98.
• 1937 AAR wood-side box cars with 5/4 Dreadnaught ends. Athearn/Sunshine. Lofton. 2/94.
• 1941 Modified AAR box cars. Athearn/Intermountain/Sunshine. Hawkins, 8, 10, 12 /96, 3/97.
• 1944 AAR box cars. C&BT. Hawkins/Wider/Long. 10, 11/89, 2, 7, 10, 11/90, 6/92.
• 1944 AAR box cars. C&BT. Hendrickson. 12/89.
• 1944 AAR box cars. Branchline/C&BT. Hawkins. 10, 11/99, 1/00.
• 1944 AAR box cars. Kitbash. Accurail/McKean. Hawkins. 4/94.
• 1944 AAR single- and double-door box cars. Branchline. Hawkins. 11/99, 1/00.
• 1944 AAR double-door box cars. C&BT. Hawkins 6/92.
• 1944 AAR double-door box cars. C&BT. Hawkins/Wider/Long. 1/90.
• 1944 welded double-door box car. Kitbash. Accurail. 4/94.
• The term "Interim" applied to the ends in these articles is a misnomer. Improved Dreadnaught End was the manufacturer's (SREM) trademarked name, no "interim."
• 1955-1961 AAR box car. Branchline/Red Caboose. Hawkins. 7/99.
• ATSF 1890-1900 era box and stock cars. 12/02
• ATSF 1944 AAR box cars. C&BT. Hendrickson. 9/89.
• ATSF Bx-11/12/13 box cars. Westerfield. Hendrickson. 5/95.
• B&O M-26 single-door box car clones Red Caboose/Westerfield. Hendrickson. 6/98, 11, 12/01.
• C&O 1937 AAR Rebuilt 40-foot box cars. Pitzer. 5/96.
• CN 1-1/2-door single-sheathed 40-foot box car. Accurail. Hendrickson. 4/93.
• CN 1916-1917 40-foot single-sheathed box cars from Accurail/Sunshine. Hendrickson. 2/93.
• CN 1929 40-foot single-sheathed box cars. Steam Shack. Swain. 6/94.
• CN 40' box cars. Kitbash. C&BT/Intermountain/McKean. Swain. 12/92, 3/93.
• CNJ 40-foot single-sheathed box cars. Accurail/Tichy. Roseman, 2/03.
• CNJ box cars. Red Caboose/Walthers. Roseman. 11/02.
• DT&I X29 box car clones. Red Caboose/Westerfield. Hendrickson. 6/98, 11, 12/01.
• GN 12-panel box cars. Intermountain. Buck. 10/98.
• GTW 1-1/2-door single-sheathed 40-foot box car. Accurail. Hendrickson. 4/93.
• ITC 1944 AAR box cars. Kitbash. C&BT. Hawkins. 2/91.
• LS&I PS-1 box cars. Accurail. Switzer. 9/03.
• Mather box car. Proto 2000. Hendrickson, 8/03
• M&StL 6-foot door car kitbash. Intermountain. Freeman. 1/02.
• MILW 40' roof-hatch box cars. MDC. Rydarowicz. 6/01.
• MILW rib-side box cars. Rib Side Models. Hendrickson. 12/04
• MP AAR box cars. Branchline. Freeman. 2/03.
• NKP X29 box car clones. Red Caboose/Westerfield. Hendrickson. 6/98, 11, 12/01.
• NYC USRA single-sheathed box car. Tichy. Switzer. 6/02.
• Forthcoming Rapido car.
• PRR X26C box cars. Athearn/Sunshine. Lofton/Meacham. 8/92.
• F&C and forthcoming Rapido cars.
• PRR X28 1-1/2-door box cars. Intermountain. Roseman. 8/04.
• PRR X29 box cars. Red Caboose/Sunshine/Walthers. Lofton, 9/93, Hendrickson. 8/97.
• PRR X29B box cars. Front Range. Davis. 3/91.
• PRR X29B box cars. C&BT/Sunshine. Lofton. 1/94.
• PRR X29G box cars. Kitbash. Details West. Bley. 2/91.
• PRR X43 box cars. C&BT. Davis. 9/91.PRR X31 round-roof box cars. Burg. 3/95.
• PRR X37 1937 AAR box car. Athearn. LaRue. 9/90.
• PRR X37B double-door box car kitbash. Athearn/Front Range. LaRue. 11/92.
• PRR X54 box cars. Kitbash. Details West. Bley. 1/91.
• Pullman Standard "PS-0" box cars. Intermountain/Red Caboose. Rydarowicz. 3/01.
• Pullman Standard PS-1 box cars. Accurail/Cannonball/Con-Cor/Intermountain/Kadee/McKean/Model Power/Walthers. 6/89, 3/93, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11/93, 1, 6, 11, 12/94, 5, 6, 7, 12/97.
• SOO PS-1 box car. McKean. Holbrook. 12/90.
• Linde 40' box/tank cars. McKean. Rydarowicz. 7/93.
• T&P box cars. Intermountain. Freeman. 9/01.
• UP B-50-24, -27 box cars. Trix. Hendrickson. 6/03.
• USRA 40-foot double-sheathed box cars. Ertl/Westerfield. Hendrickson 5/98.
• Rapido model
• USRA rebuilt single-sheathed box cars. Tichy. Lofton and Hendrickson. 4, 5, 6/92, 7/93
• W&LE X29 box car clones. Red Caboose/Westerfield. Hendrickson. 6/98, 11, 12/01.
• WAB 1944 AAR box cars. C&BT. Hawkins. 5/91.
• War Emergency single-sheathed box cars. Sunshine. Culotta, 4/03.

50-FOOT BOX CARS

• 1941 AAR 50' box cars. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 4/98.
• 1941 AAR 50' double-door box cars. Athearn/Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 10/95, 3, 9/96.
• 1944 AAR 50' box cars. Branchline. 8/89, 3, 4, 6, 9/90, 10/92.
• 50' composite box cars. MDC/Westerfield. Burg/Hendrickson. 7, 10, 11/89,
• 50' single-sheathed box cars. MDC/Walthers/Westerfield. Hendrickson. 7/95, 7/96.
• GAEX 50' single-door "DF" box cars. Branchline/C&BT (Kitbash). 3, 4, 9/90, 4/91, 2/92.
• GN 50' single-sheathed box cars. Westerfield. Nehrich. 7/95.
• NP 50' double-door box cars. Kitbash. Details West. Pitzer. 3/00.
• PRR 50' single door box cars. Details West. Davis. 4/91.
• PRR X31B 50' round-roof box cars. Bowser. Davis. 8/91.
• PRR X32, 33 50' double-door box cars. Bowser. Burg. 2/96.
• Pullman Standard 50' "PS-0" box cars. Intermountain/Red Caboose. Rydarowicz. 3/01.
• Pullman Standard 50' PS-1 double-door box cars. Intermountain. Hawkins. 6, 7/95, 1/96.
• Pullman Standard 50' PS-1 single-door box cars. Intermountain. Hawkins. 12/95.

COVERED HOPPERS

• ACF two-bay covered hoppers. Bowser/ECW/Kato. Hawkins/Wider/Long. 4, 8, 10, 12/91.
• ACF two-bay covered hoppers. Bowser/ECW/Kato. Eager. 3, 5/94.
• ACF two-bay covered hoppers. Bowser/ECW/Kato. Hendrickson. 9/97.
• ACF two-bay covered hoppers. Bowser/ECW/Kato. Mende. 3/94.
• ACF two-bay covered hoppers. Kitbash. Con-Cor. Charles. 8/90.
• Intermountain model.
• Airslide covered hoppers. Con-Cor/ECW/Walthers. 12/90, 2/91, 10/92.
• PRR H21D covered hopper. Kitbash. Westerfield. Bossler. 2/04.
• PRR H34 PS-2 covered hopper. Atlas/MDC. Burg. 12/93, 1/94.
• Pullman Standard PS-2 covered hoppers. Atlas/MDC. Gher. 7/90.
• Pullman Standard PS-2 covered hoppers. Atlas/MDC. Hawkins. 4, 6, 9, 11/95.
• Pullman Standard PS-2 covered hoppers. Kadee. Hawkins. 12/03.

FLAT CARS

• AAR 50', 50-ton flat cars. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 6, 8/99.
• A&WP pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• ACL pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• ATSF pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• B&O 50' piggyback (TOFC) flats and trailers. Kitbash. Athearn. 10/89.
• Bethlehem 75' piggyback (TOFC) flat cars. Walthers. Vaughan. 4/90.
• C&G pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• CSXT pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• GA pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• GM&O pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• GSI Commonwealth 53' flat cars. Walthers. Eager. 12/92.
• Midwest pulpwood flat cars. Holbrook. 10/89, 1, 5/90, 9/91.
• MP pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• NKP 42-foot piggyback flat cars. Kitbash. Athearn. Rydarowicz. 7/98.
• Northeastern pulpwood and wood chip cars. Lancaster. 8/97.
• Pulpwood flat car. Kitbash. Walthers. Schleicher. 4/94.
• PRR F30 piggyback flat cars. Walthers. Rydarowicz. 9/04.
• PRR F30A 40-foot flat cars. Bowser. Hendrickson. 4/99.
• Forthcoming Rapido model.
• RF&P pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.
• SAL 40'/50' pulpwood flat cars. Kitbash. Athearn. Denton. 10/93.
• Tichy 40' flat cars. Hendrickson. 6/93.
• USRA-design 42' flat cars. Red Caboose. Hendrickson. 1/97.
• WofA pulpwood flat cars. Coates. 9/93.

GONDOLAS

• 40' General Service (GS) gondolas. Detail Associates/Red Caboose. Hendrickson. 3/00.
• 50' War Emergency gondolas. Tichy. Hendrickson. 5, 6/02.
• C&O 100-ton gondolas. Kitbash. Athearn. Westerfield. 12/89.
• CN 141000-142749 48-foot gondolas. Westerfield. Swain. 9/96.
• CNW 43' gondolas. Model Power/Tyco. Preussler. 10/03.
• EJ&E 50' gondola. AHM. Nehrich. 10/94.
• Erie-Lackawanna 52-foot gondola. Proto 2000. Sanicky. 9/98.
• Greenville-design 52-foot mill gondolas. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 11/96.
• PRR G-31 54' gondola. Con-Cor. Bley. 12/90.
• PRR Gs gondolas. Bowser. Hendrickson. 4/99.
• USRA 41'6" 50-ton composite gondolas. Intermountain/Proto 1000. Hendrickson. 2/00.
• USRA 46' mill gondolas. Westerfield/Walthers. Hendrickson. 7/02.

HOPPERS

• AAR 50-ton offset twin hoppers. Athearn/Atlas. Hawkins. 3/98.
• Intermountain and Kadee models.
• AAR 70-ton offset-side triple hoppers. Con-Cor/Stewart. Hendrickson. 4, 8/95, 5/96.
• AAR Emergency 50-Ton composite hoppers. Athearn/Proto 2000. Hawkins. 12/00, 4/01.
• ACF three-bay hoppers. MDC/Roundhouse. Hawkins. 12/91, 2/94.
• B&O fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Nehrich. 2/92.
• B&O W-1 hoppers. Kitbash. Bowser. Roseman. 11/00.
• Berwind USRA 55-ton twin hoppers. Accurail/Life-Like/Tichy/Westerfield. 7/89.
• Also MTH, acquired by Scaletrains.
• C&O fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. 4/93.
• C&S USRA 55-ton twin hoppers. Accurail/Life-Like/Tichy/Westerfield. 7/89.
• Also MTH, acquired by Scaletrains.
• CN H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• CNJ/CRP fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Nehrich. 2/92.
• CNJ/CRP fishbelly hoppers. Kitbash. Stewart. Mende. 6/94.
• CR H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• D&H fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Nehrich. 2/92.
• DRGW H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• E-L H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• LV 34' offset-side hoppers. Kitbash. Athearn/Atlas. Roseman. 10/02.
• LV fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Nehrich. 2/92.
• MILW H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• N&W fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Nehrich. 2/92.
• P&LE H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• PC H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• PRR GLa hoppers. Bowser/Westerfield. Burg. 2/02.
• Forthcoming Rapido model.
• PRR H21 hoppers. Bowser. Burg. 5/93.
• PRR H22A hoppers. Bowser. Burg. 5/94.
• PRR H31 hoppers. Athearn. Bley. 7/91.
• PRR H35, 37 hoppers. Stewart. Burg.1/96.
• PRR H39 triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• RDG fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Nehrich. 2/92.
• RDG fishbelly hoppers. Kitbash. Stewart. Mende. 6/94.
• RDG War Emergency hoppers. Kitbash. Roseman. 4/02.
• F&C.
• Roger-Hart 70-ton Convertible Ballast Cars. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 1/04.
• Roger-Hart Selective ballast. Challenger/Hi-Tech. Hendrickson. 8/01, 3/02.
• Atlas.
• USRA twin hopper. Accurail. Hendrickson. 5/95.
• Also Tichy and MTH, acquired by Scaletrains.
• WM fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Nehrich. 2/92.
• WM fishbelly hoppers. Stewart. Pitzer. 6/94.
• WM H-39 clone triple hoppers. Stewart. Eager. 4/93.
• WM Channel-side two-bay hoppers. Stewart. Hawkins. 5/97.

REEFERS

• ART reefers. Intermountain. Hawkins. 2/01.
• ART steel reefers. Intermountain/Walthers. Rydarowicz. 7/00.
• ART, MDT, PFE combination-door reefers. Intermountain/Walthers. Rydarowicz. 8/00.
• BREX reefers. Accurail. Wagner. 6/99.
• MDC and Red Caboose reefers. Hendrickson. 2, 10/96, 7/97.
• MDT reefers. Kitbash. Intermountain. Rydarwicz. 5/99.
• NP reefers. Intermountain. Hawkins. 9/00.
• PFE R-40-10 reefers. Intermountain. Hawkins. 2/01.
• PFE R-40-23 reefers. Intermountain. Hendrickson. 10/94.
• PFE R-40-23 reefers. Intermountain. Hendrickson. 3/95.
• PFE R-40-23 reefers. Intermountain. Kohlmann. 9/98.
• PFE R-40-25 reefers. Intermountain. Hawkins. 9/00.
• PFE wood reefers. Red Caboose/Tichy/Westerfield. Hendrickson. 4/97.
• SFRD Rr-5 through Rr-11 reefers. Sunshine. Hendrickson. 1/92.
• SFRD Rr-19 through Rr-32 reefers. C&BT. Hendrickson.11/94.
• SFRD Rr-19 through Rr-32 reefers. Upgrade. C&BT. Hendrickson. 11/94.
• SFRD Rr-19 through Rr-32 reefers. Intermountain. Hendrickson. 12/96.
• Swift reefers. MDC/Sunshine/Tichy. Lofton, 2/93.
• URTX reefers. Branchline Trains. Hawkins 5/00.
• URTX reefers. Kitbash. Mantua/Red Caboose. Rydarowicz. 9/01.
• URTX reefers. Tichy/Westerfield. Westerfield. 6/89, 7/92.

STOCK CARS

• ATSF sk-Q through Sk-U stock cars. Intermountain. Hendrickson. 8/04
• CGW stock car. Proto 2000. Probst. 5/01.
• Mather double-deck stock cars. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 5/97.
• Mather single-deck stock cars. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 2/97.
• NP stock cars. Central Valley Model Works. Hendrickson. 9/91.
• Swift stock cars. Lofton. 2/93.

TANK CARS

• 6,000-gallon insulated high-pressure tank cars. Trix. Hendrickson. 9/04.
• ACF ICC-103W 10,000-gallon welded tank cars. Red Caboose. Hendrickson. 4/96.
• AFC Type 21 8,000 gallon tank cars. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 2/98.
• ACF Type 21 10,000 gallon tank cars. Proto 2000. Hendrickson. 1/00.
• ACF Type 27 8,000-gallon tank cars. Intermountain. Hendrickson. 10/97.
• ACF Type 27 10,000-gallon tank cars. Intermountain. Hendrickson/ 7/97.
• GATC 10,000 and 12,500-gallon tank cars. Kitbash. Athearn. Hendrickson. 8/96.
• ICC 105, 11,000 gallon tank cars. Atlas. Hendrickson. 7/03.
• For more accurate Kadee model see Ed Hawkins clinic and roster.
• Linde 40-foot box/tank cars. McKean. Ryczkowski. 7/93.
• LPG 40-foot tank cars. Athearn. 9/89.
• SOO Pickle tank car. Scratchbuiling. Leider. 2/02.
• Skelgas LP tank car. Kitbash. Athearn. Hodina. 7/89.
• Tichy HO scale small-dome tank car. Hendrickson. 10/90, 4/91.

DETAILS

• Prototype brake wheels c1930-1960. Hawkins. 9/96.
• HO scale freight trucks. Hendrickson.2, 4/90, 12/93, 2/95.
• Richard also published a much more current document online available here.

PAINTING

• Authentic railroad color chips. Box car red. Floquil/SMP/Scalecoat. Hawkins/Wider/Long. 8/89, 6/90
• B&O box car colors. Hawkins/Wider/Long. 8/89.
• PRR Freight car red. LaRue/Gutowski/McGuire/PRRT&HS. 11/90.
• Repack data markings. Switzer. 9/90.
• Reweigh, station, weight and service stencils, placards and truck details. Hendrickson.6/97.
• Weathering freight cars to match the steam era. Hendrickson. 12/95.
• Weathering Kadee box cars. Switzer. 8/01.
• Weathering tank cars. Schleicher. 5/97.

Two More Flat Cars

More projects I started quite a while ago. These are two interesting models that are only available as kits, produced decades apart, but are both very accurate models of their prototypes. This post has been sitting in my drafts for well over a year, but as I've been reorganizing things in the basement, I've pulled these cars to add to the growing number of flat cars to finish...

Owl Mountain Models

The first is the Owl Mountain Models SP F-50-10/12 (Kit #2003).

A very well designed model, mostly styrene except the brake wheel (yet to be added), sill steps, and roping staples which are cast brass. The car is well weighted beneath a thin piece of styrene, and the brake appliances and crossties are designed to take this loss of depth into account. While there are holes drilled for piping between the AB valve and the center sill, it's very close to the false floor/bottom of the side sills and won't be easily visible from the side, so I've decided not to add them at this time. 

I still need to add uncoupling levers, the brake wheel, and then paint and decal it. 

My only tips on constructing the model is to read the instructions carefully - it instructs you to not glue the center portion (over the weights) of the center sill until you install the crossties. I had already done that, so the crossties are slightly short. However, there are spacers that connect the two halves of the side sill together, and at least the lower ones would not reach each other had I done that and spread the center sill to accommodate them.

Also, the picture wasn't entirely clear on which slots on the underframe to use to install the center sill. It's the inner two slots, although in the instructions it appears to be the outer ones.

There's little point in me detailing the process more, since Jason Hill has covered the model and it's uses many times over on his blog here, here, and here, among others. (Jason is the designer and producer of this excellent model, so he knows it inside and out).

Central Valley Model Works

The second is a Central Valley Model Works NP flat car. The kit is very well detailed and well designed, but does not include a weight, or any accommodation for one. The brake gear is quite complete, if largely one-dimensional since it's all molded into the underframe. That's OK, though, because it's also completely invisible when on the track due to the deep fishbelly side sills. This is probably the only real "issue" with the model.

This is a really unique looking flat car, apparently constructed using old box car underframes c1931. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any additional information about these cars online. While a great number of plans are on the NPRHA website, this isn't one of them. I really like the deep fishbelly side sill, which angle slightly inward, and the uneven stake pocket arrangement.

The instructions were a bit vague, and it took some work to understand the placement of the triangular gussets. The gussets themselves don't always line up properly with the slots on the side sill and the crossbearers and crossties if you install them square, although that might have just been me. Again, not really a problem since it's only visible if you turn the car over.

Wire grab irons are provided with the kit, with two short and 4 long straight grabs, but it wasn't clear where they should be installed.

What I needed to find was a better picture of the arrangement of the end - grab irons, uncoupling levers, etc. Craig Bass has a great site of railroad photos he has taken from the '70s to today, and happened to have come across one of these cars. Both of these photos are extremely helpful.

This photo shows the B-end arrangement, with simple uncoupling lever and drop grab irons on the right of the end. I can't make out the one on the left side, nor can I determine where the retainer valve is. Despite this photo being from the '70s(?) or later is the condition of the deck. It's worn, but it's not falling apart.

The other end is similar, but even more interesting is that the grab iron at the right end of the side is a hybrid drop/straight grab iron. Also note the release rod extended out of the side right about at the middle of the car.

There's another photo taken by John Hill in 1976, and it is still in use, although perhaps in MOW service. It's clear that both grab irons are drop grabs in this photo.

Here's the half-drop grab.

Fabricating it was pretty easy.

I started with a straight bend at the end of a piece of .010" phosphor bronze wire:

After measuring it next to another grab iron I marked it with a Sharpie

and bent it on a perpendicular plane to make the vertical ("drop") portion:

Then I bent it parallel with the original leg:

The height of the vertical leg was eyeballed, after a while you get a feel for what looks right.

The model looks great, and is a bargain too. Two cars for $12.95, so I gave one to Chris to build.

Pratt & Whitney Loads

My plan was to keep up my posts through vacation (and usually I have some done ahead of time), but that didn't happen. Things got hectic, Emily had a medical emergency, Laura lost her wedding rings in the ocean, and yet somehow we still had a great vacation. 

Fortunately, Chris has been posting again, including some very helpful ones for when I get my ProtoThrottles.

In the meantime, here are three related photos, all flat cars loaded with engines at Pratt & Whitney. 3D printing folks, here's a new load for you to make!

Based on the notations on the shipping containers, it would appear they are these types of engines, built between 1944 and 1955.

The photos aren't dated, and two of them are of the same car.

Those two are labeled Exhibit E and Exhibit F, so probably part of a claim of some sort. Sure enough, in Exhibit E, NH 17259 is missing a coupler knuckle. This flat car is the Speedwitch kit.

The B&O car was reweighed in 1-50. Most cars had to be reweighed after repairs, but no later than 30 months. However, starting in 1949 this was extended to 48 months. So this could be any time between 1-50 and 1-54. No road number (well, it includes "90"). But closer inspection reveals a double door car. Since the left door looks like it may be the same size as the right, it would be an M-27A class car, once produced by Sunshine, although their model has Youngstown doors instead of the Creco doors seen in the photo. I don't know if the kit comes with Creco doors as an option.

We can also see NKP 22212. This is a steel double-door auto car. I'm not aware of any available models for these cars.

Exhibit F shows us that Southern 75346 (assigned to New Orleans Terminal, I think. Note the "NOT" in the upper left corner) was reweighed 12-48. So now the date of these two photos is between 1-50 and 12-52. In addition, we can see the missing knuckle on the deck. I believe that the road number is actually 375346, part of the 375000-375499 series, originally assigned to the NO&NE subsidiary (still lettered "Southern"). Sunshine produced the models (although I've never seen the "NOT" lettering). I still love the way these cars look.

So it's interesting to note that in the Wikipedia article it says these engines were the first product produced at the P&W Kansas City, MO plant. It doesn't indicate whether they were only produced there, but it's quite possible the two related photos were photographed there, and the photos sent to NH to document the need to replace the coupler (since they would likely charge the NH for the repair made to their car). 

The other photo is an SP flat car, but the car number isn't visible. This seems to be unrelated to the other two photos, other than it is also a P&W Wasp Major engine load.

Note the handwritten "this piece isn't necessary" on the end of the center board. I think this photo was taken for a different purpose, to update their process for securing these loads. There isn't anything in this photo to identify the date (unless somebody has S/N production records for the engines, which is clearly visible). The diagonal bracing behind the flat car resembles that in the other photos, although the markings on the loading dock don't match.

The other thing that I find useful is the general condition of the decks. They aren't heavily damaged or weathered. We can't see the color of course, but if you examine the SP car closely, you can see the tongue and groove in the end of the deck boards. The New Haven car doesn't seem to have this feature.

More Flat Car Stuff

I've actually been working on other things besides flat cars, or at least working on working on other things such as getting prepped for installing the layout lighting. (It's gotten more complicated than anticipated. Which I should have anticipated).

But I have found a few other prototypes that would be easy to make from the Tichy car. 

NYO&W built fifteen 39' foot, 40-ton flat cars in 1911, which looks like the deeper center sill.

Here's an obscure one - LOP&G RR - the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf Railroad received 30-ton flat cars in 1914. It has the shallower center sill. 

The US Navy also received some 30-ton flat cars in 1914, and were 35'6" over the end sills. 

What I find interesting is that these were built in the same year, both by Magor, but the Navy cars had straight center sills of 15" steel channel (the side sills were 12" channel) and the LOP&G car had 10" channel side sills with a fishbelly underframe. 

The Seaboard F-5 46000-46931 class is another one, I don't have a photo available for that class, though.

There were a whole bunch of truss rod flat cars that could also be done that I haven't really explored as none would be in service in my era. 

These are also 50'-52' flat cars that resemble extended versions of the Tichy model. Jason Hill has some photos of a couple of kitbashes he's been working on with for SP 50'-ish flat cars, including the F-50-10,-11, -12 and -13 classes, and the F-50-14. He hasn't covered how he made the models yet, but his modeling is excellent so I'll be keeping an eye on that as another potential project.

More Flat Car Decks

Weathering flat car decks has turned out to be something very easy to do with 5-10 minutes of free time here or there. So I've continued to experiment with different mediums. The techniques are pretty much the same as what I've been doing, although the order often varies. In many cases this is because I get to a point, don't like what I see yet, so just keep adding more layers.

I did several Proto 2000 50-ton AAR Flat Cars:

I continue to make a point to take a picture when I complete each step with the materials I used so I can go back to them if I'd like. For something like this it's an imprecise process, so this isn't a "one drop of this, three of that" thing.

Here are the three P2k cars along with the original two experimental decks outside:

The three P2k decks, also outside:

Although I used a different number of steps, and different colors for these, the general approach was the same, and the final effect is quite similar for all of them. On one hand I'd like a bit more variation, but the reality is that only a few flat cars will be on the layout at a given time, and typically not side-by-side, so I don't think it will be that noticeable.

I'm also still on the fence about how much I should distress the decks. Based on photos from the era, it seems that the railroads maintained them better than they did in later years. I also have very, very few color photos from my era. The bottom line is, I'm still undecided on how much I think these decks should vary. They do look more uniform in the photos than in person.

Wood Decks

I've also weathered a laser cut wood deck. This is for a Chad Boas kit for an L&N flat car. This kit consists only of the main casting, the laser cut deck, and a piece of paper with few sentences on how to build it, in this case with Tichy stake pockets. I'm not aware of any decals for these, however. In the many levels of resin kits available, this is as basic as it gets. Having said that, they are very workable castings for prototypes you otherwise cannot get. So I have quite a few of Chad's castings and would recommend them.

I used the scalpel to rough things up and dig out some chunks, and started with washes of the Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color. The basic process is really one of staining rather than painting. I did also use the Vallejo Black Wash (75.518). I found that sandwiching the deck between two kit boxes while wet was sufficient to keep it flat.

Here's the deck in progress between the two original tests I did to compare:

The main difference is that when it looked like things were a bit dark, I sanded the deck using variable pressure so it wasn't uniform, but overall quite lightly. I repeated this process, staining, sanding, distressing, until it's gotten to this point:

The staining/sanding approach worked out a lot of the natural brown tone of the wood, which I like. The look is subtly different than the other approach. Because the wash works more as a stain, the grain (from the scalpel) is more visible. It's also easier to distress than the plastic.

The only real "challenge" with working with wood is that it does have a variable reaction to the stain. For example, where I had dug into the deck, the inner (or lower? Might by a plywood) layer didn't accept the stain much at all. As the wash dried, I added more to it several times to overcome the reddish-brown that was showing through in those large gashes.

There are also often sections or grain that is harder than the surrounding wood and doesn't accept the stain well. The imperfection spans several "boards" because the deck is a single piece, and partially cut to look like separate boards. You can see two diagonal lines across several of the boards. I was able to address most of the places this was evident with distressing, sanding, etc. But not entirely. Imperfections are good, because that's normal, but these look unnatural the way to cut across several boards, especially as two parallel lines. In the photos above you can pick up a "U" shaped imperfection as well.

The picture is a little blurry because I had to take it at an angle to accentuate the effect. I think it is more pronounced in person because it's not just that they didn't accept the stain as well, but they reflect the light differently. Picky perhaps, but it's noticeable to me and I'll try to minimize the issue.

I can't say that I really prefer working with one over the other as I've been quite happy with the finished effect in either case. They just require a slightly different approach.

Improving Intermountain AAR 70-ton Flat Cars

I started this post in June of 2019...Yep. Another flat car project.

The Intermountain AAR 70-ton flat cars are really well done models of an important prototype (including a New Haven one), and I have several of them. The only issue I have with them is that the laser-cut wood decking is a bit too thick, and tends to delaminate and curl. One option is to thin out the deck and glue it better. But I also wanted to experiment with doing a board by board deck, which should be a simple enough project with this model.

Despite the decking curling at the ends, it takes a bit of work to remove. It's installed using double-sided tape. I peeled them off, then scraped off any tape that was left.

I didn't have any 2" x 6" styrene strips at the time, so I started with the wood strips I had handy. I used my always on-hand Aileen's Tacky Glue to glue them in place. 

This process was working OK, but I have found that I really prefer working with styrene. In addition, the laser cut deck has boards of several different widths. I tried to find some prototype diagrams or information that would verify this, but I haven't been able to do so. So I decided to go with Intermountain's research and replicate that.

I built a simple jig to help keep things aligned using a couple of pieces of Masonite glued to a Masonite base. I have some passenger cars to scratchbuild/kitbash and this was built to prepare for that (coming soon!). 

I found that I needed to do a few pieces then glue them, otherwise they wouldn't stay in position for long. As you can see, I built them alongside the Intermountain deck after cutting all of the pieces using the Chopper.

I also ended up building it in two halves (unintentionally, actually, but found that it let me file to fit around the bolster and figure out what width the final piece needed to be). I also installed stakes in the stake pockets on one side, to help in alignment and trimming the stake pocket slots.

It's a good fit. 

I did finish the wood deck as well, even though I may not use it. I also made the end pieces, but I haven't cut out the curved area for the drop brake wheel or the deck stake pockets yet. I also didn't make nail holes yet. Instead, I'm going to have a friend make some castings. I'll modify the castings to make a final master to make several, since I'll need a few. If they come out well, In the meantime, I have a few more that need to have their decks removed.

More Potential Flat Cars

I've exhausted my stash of Tichy flats, so I just need to finish the ones I've started. In the meantime, I have come across a few additional prototypes if you're inclined. Most of these cars on any road were retired quickly post WWII, but I'm sure a lot ended up in MOW service. For those modeling the depression era and earlier, they would be worth considering.

NYC Lot 208-F

• NYC&HR 32500-33499, reassigned to NYC 49700-49799 starting in 1916;
• CI&S 74557-74856, reassigned to NYC 496557-496856 starting in 1916;
• CCC&StL 50000-50249
• MCRR 33000-33499

Most of the NYC flat cars are similar to the USRA design, with fishbelly side sills and a straight center sill. But this series of 41' cars closely resemble the Tichy cars. They have 11 stake pockets. Here's a picture that looks like it's one of these cars. 

NYC Lot 209-F

• NYC&HR 31900-31999, reassigned to NYC 476900-476999 starting 1916. 

I don't have a picture, but the diagram is quite similar. The biggest difference is that it's listed as a wooden flat car. Some received steel underframes c1924-6. I believe the originally had truss rods, but that would be doable.

BAR 71700-72099

Ray Breyer recently posted this on the Pre-Depression Era modeling group on Facebook. Like the NYC car it has 11 stake pockets per side. I think this is the 71700-72099 series of cars. Best I can tell, this was the only class with a steel underframe. The deck was 40', over the end 41'.

The others had steel center sills and truss rods. For example this one, also from Ray:

I don't have the dimensions, but it would be just as easy to scratch build these side and end sills with a straight center sill and the addition of truss rods. The slight "fishbelly" side sill is interesting on this prototype.

I won't be digging up the many truss rod cars, as they would almost certainly be out of service by my era, but essentially this design appears to have largely been a transitional one. It starts with shorter flat cars with straight center sills and truss rods. The next evolution was steel underframes with deep fishbelly center sills (even at the high angle, the center sill is visible in the photo of the NYC one). They appear to have been largely supplanted by the USRA design, but a few more were built into the mid-20's and had less substantial center sills. 

More Flat Car Decks

I wanted to try doing a deck that was less distressed, as it seems like the railroads maintained them better in my era. I also hadn't tried the AK Interactive paints that I had received for Christmas - Old and Weathered Wood Vol 2.

Although it's not evident in the photos, the first deck I did still has a slight sheen in person. A matte clearcoat might resolve this, but when looking at it, part of it seems to be the smooth finish of the plastic itself. So I lightly sanded the entire deck with a sanding stick to start. This process also highlighted the very subtle differences in board heights on the Tichy model that weren't evident to the naked eye. Nice touch!

Since this is lightly distressed, I simply used the razor saw to work on the board ends a little bit. Even that probably isn't that necessary. If I decide the light sanding isn't enough, it will be very easy to go back and distress it some more and refinish those parts.

The base coat again is a thinned light gray, with as many coats as looks "right" to me.

For the wash, this is the same German Camouflage Black-Brown as last time, but it's the regular paint instead of the wash. In other words, it's the same color, but thicker. This time I used a flow aid instead of just water and you can see it flows into the crevices better and more consistently. It doesn't have the mottled look that the tap water had.

Here it is after it has mostly dried. You'll get a feel over time for how it will change while drying. By working in thin layers, if it's not a strong enough effect, I can just add another layer.

I then did a thin coat of a very light brownish gray thinned and applied as a filter to alter the color of the entire deck towards a sandy brown.

Then, using several colors, I highlighted individual boards. It was applied wet, but quite lightly and then basically dry brushed across the board and off. This is to provide some of the variation in colors. I probably should have started with the gray and then mixed in a little of another color to shift it slightly, instead of it being so dramatic.

I mentioned in the last post that the amount of paint used is very little. Here's a look at my palette for both cars. I haven't bothered to clean it yet. In the center are the four colors above, wet because that's what I was working on when I took this picture. You can see that I used a very, very small amount of paint on both decks.

The next step is to blend it in with a filter.

Then the application of a buff filter, fairly heavy to alter the color and blend it more.

After that dried, the variations still seemed to severe.

So I took three grey and brown colors and did a much heavier coat, blending the colors to provide some variation, but less evident. The coat is thin enough that the more severe variation just bleeds through.

That looks much better. Although there is a subtle effect from the earlier highlighting, next time I'll probably just blend them when applying them. Then another wash of a blend of the light grey and black-brown.

To tie it together, I applied a coat of the light sienna pigment while it was just a little damp. The idea being that the paint will hold the pigment and I won't have to apply a binder.

At that point I checked it out next to the other deck, and on the layout.

I like it, but decided to do one more wash, using the flow aid, to highlight the details a little more.

I could have done better with distressing the edge of the deck in this location. Something to be cognizant of when working on actual models. That's why I'm practicing!

So here they are side-by-side. One thing I should point out is that the lighting, the camera, and the device you are looking at a picture alters the colors. While I'm very happy with how these are photographing, it isn't quite the same color as what I see in person. The pictures above are under the Barrina lights on the desk.

This is taken on the layout. Lighting is just the daylight fluorescent ceiling fixtures that aren't directly over the layout. 

This is in staging, with the Barrina led lights at 6500k. The lights are fairly close to the layout. As you can see, they look far more gray. 

Here they are outside in late afternoon sunlight.

Anyway, I'm very happy with how these are coming out, so I need to finish up those flat cars so I can get to work on the decks. It also may look like this is a long process, but the reality is that acrylics dry pretty quickly. So it's a quick coat, which takes maybe a couple of minutes tops, then wait 15 minutes or so. In the meantime I was working on other things. 

Storing Paint

As a side note, I got a storage case for Christmas designed for Vallejo style bottles. There are removable racks designed to hold the bottles upside down. However, several of my paints have been much thicker than they should be, even the washes as I've noted in the last couple of posts. While I've had this issue with other paints (especially Tru-Color), it has never been a problem with Vallejo, at least not for me in the past.

I noticed that a number of them still sounded very liquid, but didn't come out that way. I've come to the conclusion that while the "traditional" method of storing Floquil/Pollyscale paints upside down works well for those, it does not work well for these. I think the problem isn't that they are getting too thick. Like other paints, it separates over time, with the heavier parts (the pigment and acrylic binder?) settles out. But with the dropper bottles, this settles into the throat and is very hard to mix out once it does. 

So while I love the dropper bottles, I had never stored them upside down until the last year or so. It doesn't seem to be a good idea, and it's something that I won't be doing any more.