It's been a rough month on the credit card (so far). The ARR 6 passenger car set finally arrived. Well, one can't have a set of sweet passenger cars without some power to haul em' around the layout right? So the E-8 and P-30 HAD to be purchased as well. ha ha. The wifeal unit even gave an "ooh" when she saw them all hooked up on the tracks. Seems like everything on my wish list is coming to market all at once. The 3 pack of Athearn bombardier cars in Coaster colors also was a necessary pick up. My F59ph isn't lonely any more. Now if IM actually holds true to their March delivery date of their FP-7s in ARR colors (not holding my breath ((again))) my multi-year wish list will be filled. Time to save up for a dozen plus decoders now. ugh... Brian
Keith, the set I just received was set #7. Sorry, I'm a little behind !!! I just learned about the AFT cars 2 months ago !!! Did you see another set will be released in June ???
Went to swap at Nappanee IN presented by Elkhart Model Railroad Club.Picked up a set of Life Like Proto N split frame E8A E8B for $40 Micr-Trains B&O NP BREX 50 ft boxcars for $10 a piece. Also had two offers for North East Indiana N Scale club to show door layout. Meet and new and old friends also. Dan Brown
Got a Kato CSX for my current layout... Very good looking and a smooth runner. And I got a Union Mills G2 0-8-0 for my future layout... Great, strong runners. Pull a ton for such tiny locos. Very happy!
I need to double check and get ready to place my order for the next set. Set #9, Car 106(Human Resources) and Car 201(The Sleeper) arrived a couple days ago. I'm currently up to date on AFT cars! I'm hoping I can complete the series!! Just hope SSDI kicks in pretty quick!! I'm swearing at them, under my breath, for taking so @#$$%^ long getting me my benefits! Oh well....... Nice series to date! Having the GS-4, Conrail GG-1 and BN U30C bicentennial units doesn't hurt!
My postal carrier just brought me an MTL stock car, painted and lettered for CB&Q #52145, which I bought from “that online auction” as a result of my recent inventory of freight cars. I checked and rechecked my cars against possible prototypes. I had believed only Intermountain made the only stock cars that were prototype Santa Fe except for some expensive and hard to find bra$$. I even questioned MicroTrains model, although I generally appreciate their fine quality. The strange green color of the alleged “Santa Fe” stock car turned me off. From leafing through “Stock Cars of the Santa Fe Railway” by Frank M. Ellington, John Berry, and Loren Martens (second printing, 1986), I believed all Santa Fe stockcars were 40 feet long, and had 8 panels each side with diagonal trusses sloping toward the middle of the car at the top like the sides of the block letter “A”, similar to the Intermountain models. I didn’t have an MTL stockcar, but I saw from their pictures quite some time ago that while MTL’s have 8 panels, their diagonals slope toward the outside at the top, like the sides of letter “W”. I didn’t think that would be “Santa Fe.” However, while re-studying both my N scale fleet and prototype information, I discovered that the last five classes of Santa Fe stockcars, SK-Z-, -2, -3, -4 and -5 had the W sloping diagonals. These classes were rebuilds from old panel side single-sheathed BX-3 and BX-6 boxcars and FE-P and FE-T furniture cars. The upright posts on these cars were U-channels and the diagonals were flat-iron strips, while the outside frame on the models was made up of L-angles. That’s a pretty fine distinction in N scale. I thought the MTL car might be close enough. I bid on a car lettered “Santa Fe” in that green I just can’t believe. When the bidding went over what I was willing to pay, I dropped out, bid on a brown CB&Q model and won it. The MTL model that just came has sides and doors that represent a double-deck convertible car which can be used as a single deck car for cattle. (I want cars for cattle traffic and this will work for me.) Prototype classes SK-Z and SK-4 were double-deck convertible cars. SK-Z and SK-4 had steel ends with a 7-5-5 corrugation pattern. The MTL model has 5-5-5 corrugations and is slightly lower than the SK-Z and SK-4 prototypes. The prototypes had deep fish-belly center sills similar to USRA cars, while the MTL had a straight center sill. I maybe be able to get a replacement fishbelly underframe- they are used on some MTL 40’ cars- or I may be able to scratchbuild the modification. The SK-4 had a flexible steel radial roof, while the SK-Z had flexible type 2 steel roof somewhat similar to the MTL model. The SK-Z also had a wood roofwalk like the MTL model. It looks like my model is closest to the SK-Z so I guess that’s how I will paint and redetail it. I discover I have an old Atlas model, 30 or 40 years old, not quite as finely crafted as the more recent MTL model, has with the same general outline. In fact, its roof is closer to the SK-Z roof, although it has an metal grid type roofwalk, for which a wood roofwalk would be an easy swap. I may build two fairly similar “more or less SK-Zs.”
Today, I bought a new wheel bearing and carrier, a new 13" eight-lug front brake rotor, eight new studs, a passenger-side CV axle and a new sway bar mount. To go along with all of that, I also bought a new Craftsman 1/2" 25-250 ft/lb digital torque wrench, a medium sized Craftsman pry bar, and a 3/4" drive 1-7/16" socket for the axle nut. These will go into my Chevy Suburban which is used to haul a trailer full of my modular and sectional layout to various shows here in the Intermountain West. Yup, definitely model train related.... Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
I feel your pain, Bob. About a decade ago, broke a stud on my Dodge. The part was cheap, but the extent of the tools I had to work with (living the temporary away from home Army thing at the time) was a claw hammer and a really big screwdriver. Not the best solution, but it ended up working, and putting the wheel back on finished seating the stud. Just hoping you're better equipped for the work than I was!
CP markings on Trainman gondolas with those ridiculous 'containers'. Arrrrg, I don't even know why I bought them. I'm sure I have lots of gondolas.
This beauty came in the mail today: Differing lights depending on direction of travel, runs nearly silently and very forgiving of my track. Atlas H16-44.
Finally after a long search I found someone who carries Sylvan kits and actually had them in stock, or at least the web site seemed to indicate such. So I ordered both the tugboat and the car float, which will be cut down to a shorter version. Now just the waiting for the actual shipping and hopefully not an out of stock notice and don't know if we ever get them again E-mail.
As a postscript to the above ordered both at high non today and shipped at about 4 PM today. Has to be the fastest service I have ever experienced. Now if the 500 pound gorilla in the post office doesn't play full tackle football with it I should have them by either this weekend or first of next week.
Oh Ye of little faith....LOL If your e-tailer provided you with a USPS tracking #, you may be able to track your package on the USPS site, upper left corner.
I just received the Downtown Deco long warehouse kit I ordered. This should make a narrow section look much better. I've not assembled a hydrocal kit before, so this will be a new experience. John
Due to arrive, via UPS, from Denver, are 6 Trainworx 28' trailers. The final set of trailers, for now, for my intermodal train. Ordered on 8/13/2013, so I've been waiting a while!! Should look pretty sharp once added to flatcars.
Some items that have the words "Rio" and "Grande" on them. A couple of other items that have the words "Santa" and "Fe" on them. Still waiting for other items that have the words "Northern" and "Pacific" on them.
They are, just odd that all the trailers come with convertor dollies, not sure what I am going to do with all of these. And actual UPS licensed trailers!!
