Sometimes the doors don't fit perfectly out of the box, but if you slide them a few times, they usually settle in. I'll definitely be keeping my L&N boxcar as it is. I've never weathered any of my cars, other than ones I painted and most of those are done lightly or not at all. I want my road to look bright, cheerful and prosperous.
Oh, wow, you have one of those Phoebe Snow cars. I saw it and had to find out what that meant because the only Phoebe Snow I've ever known was the singer in the '70s lol. I love it, tho. All your stuff looks nice. I agree, though, I'm not touching any of my rolling Stock, all weathering and painting will be the layout. I want my stuff to remain in the condition I got it in case anything were to happen to me, so it can be sold for whatever it's future worth is.
...but I've already forgotten what Phoebe Snow meant, lol. I tell ya, I got it bad. Short term memory loss.
These are some of my very first purchases from late 90s, 2000. Hobbytown USA was a shop in Boone, NC going out of business. On a trip to the mountains, I cleaned them out of their Woodland Scenics risers, which I still have new in the box. Most of what I have has never been run, including these. Never been in a hot attic, either.
@Hardcoaler, I meant to ask, did you like that last MT weathered Seaboard car I posted? You think all that white makes it look less realistic? Just looking for another opinion. Personally, I think it's gloriously dirty.
I grew up here in North Carolina and for that reason really enjoyed reading earlier posts about the different railroads from the Carolinas. I remember years ago the old rail line that ran from New Bern to Wilmington. At one time the engines were Atlantic Coastline and at another time they were Seaboard Coastline for awhile. My CRS has gotten bad enough that I no longer remember which was first but do remember both being in the area at different times before the tracks were abandoned. Never thought of taking any pictures of any of the engines or rolling stock but on the rare occasion that I happened to see a train moving about it always fascinated me. Wish now that I had taken pictures or even video before it all went away. Too late now though.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but they're not my thing. These are much too derelict for my taste, like they've been spotted at a cement plant and forgotten. Rust and faded paint are more credible to my eyes as seen in these old SAL cars I found in Waycross, GA [08/1983], Greenville, SC [06/1985] and Montgomery, AL [02/1986]. I love that swaybacked gon.
I know what you mean. I've taken tons of video from the days of VHS camcorders, just never anything beyond kids n family, which is most important, for sure. But, I missed opportunities, such as riding thru the old closed and dilapidated drive-in theater with my camera right beside me and not capturing it. I was planning to come back soon and film it. Within a year it was demolished and a shopping center was there. Glad to hear you're a fellow NCer. ACL came first 1900-1967. Seaboard only lived 4 yrs, December '82-1986, but you likely saw the old Seaboard engines with their original paint schemes for years after CSX took over. As for Seaboard Coastline that took over ACL and SAL from 1967-1982, I can't say. I don't know that I've ever seen a SCL engine painted up.
Man, you have some great photos. How did you transfer them from slide to digital, and what is that slogan in the 2nd photo, "route of the orange..."?
These are a couple of kits I built in the 90s. They are filthy with dust and need some attention. Can anyone help me identify the one on the left? I kept documentation on all my structures for years, but unsure what became of it. I know the one on the right is a DPM "Goodnight Mattress" kit. I've used Google Lens to identify all my unknowns except this one, it doesn't recognize it. Idk, it could be a Walthers kit.. or maybe Lifelike.
Thank you. I bought a 35mm slide/negative scanner and did the work myself. The Seaboard Air Line was the Route of The Orange Blossom Special which ran between New York and Miami. They even wrote a song about it in the 1930s. She's the fastest train on the line It's that Orange Blossom Special rollin' down the Seaboard Line
They were black with yellow stripes, like this SW-7 switcher [Savannah, GA 12/1981] and SD-45-2 road unit [Knoxville, TN 01/1978].
Yes, very familiar with the song, but played bluegrass style. Never knew the lyrics. Wow, so cool. It's got that unmistakable fiddle part everyone is probably familiar with. Thanks for the info, that's a classic tune played at every decent bluegrass festival. If I ever see a boxcar with that slogan I'm getting it. I'm glad I asked about it
Thank you. Yes, they have gotten quite pricey. I don't remember what I paid for these 3 old Cornerstone kits (yellow box), but surely cheaper than the newer kits. I shopped for best prices, but still not cheap.
Yes, I've seen that paint style, but only in pics, that I can remember. They're beautiful, tho. Sporting a slogan, too. Great photos, again!
I found these online. Taken in the old missle plant parking lot. These are the same rails that extend down to the mainline, where I was at. It looks like 85lb rail, from the inscription. I have photos from this site in 2016, but the rails were removed.
Atlas, Micro-Trains and Red Caboose have made them, so you'll probably come across one at some point. Oh, there's a great N Scale database on line at https://www.trovestar.com/generic/group.php?Collection=4 . It'll help you find what's been made over the last 50+ years, rolling stock, locomotives and almost everything else.
The SCL basically adopted the ACL's then-current paint scheme. Long before, the ACL's diesels were painted in a lovely purple and silver, like this E-3 No. 501 at Spencer, NC. [06/05/1999]