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Post by marknycfan on Jul 18, 2019 14:25:41 GMT -8
It's a shame for some they only have model railroading to worry about, I recall comments being made about those of us with children don't have money for all of the things we want and it sucks, my son was 4 y/o at the time and I said out loud that I had all I needed and the wants would come to me later
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Post by carrman on Jul 18, 2019 15:40:35 GMT -8
And your point is?
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Jul 25, 2019 0:30:39 GMT -8
Especially for guys with f/t jobs. Thankless is right. Here is one thankless comment in response to the email at TO: "If you can't dazzle with brilliance, you baffle with BS. We are never going to see those DODX cars. Some other "reliable" manufacture should move on this project!" And another gem in response to the same email: "The saddest thing about this hobby are empty promises." In the past I have thought about trying TO at some point. Not going to do that now.
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randyb
Junior Member
Posts: 85
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Post by randyb on Jan 11, 2020 8:08:30 GMT -8
For those also on Trainorders SMD has test shots of the DODX cars currently on display at the Cocoa Beach RPM. They will be at West Springfield and of course Timonium in the weeks to come.
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Post by railmodeltroy14 on Jan 11, 2020 8:42:40 GMT -8
I e-mailed them several times to pre-order this DODX flat car with no response.
I have the M1A1 Abrams models waiting on flat cars.
Hopefully this year?
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randyb
Junior Member
Posts: 85
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Post by randyb on Jan 11, 2020 8:59:28 GMT -8
The flyer I saw on the other website hints at delivery sometime in the spring.
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Post by riogrande on Jan 11, 2020 11:55:50 GMT -8
I saw the post on TrainOrders; good news!
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cklx
Full Member
Posts: 123
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Post by cklx on Oct 1, 2020 11:24:08 GMT -8
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Post by TBird1958 on Oct 1, 2020 12:18:56 GMT -8
Those look really nice! I'm going to bend my time line rules a little and get a U.S. Navy materials version, just too cool too pass up.
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Post by riogrande on Oct 1, 2020 12:54:18 GMT -8
I admit, I don't know much about these. What are the time frames?
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Post by fcixdarrell on Oct 1, 2020 13:07:13 GMT -8
They look great! I love the detail of the deck cutouts for the tie-downs and the raised deck numbers. Very cool. I totally understand their production issues. It's a mess with a lot of the factories in China with not enough capacity post-AFFA and then the Covid issues and now another national holiday where hundreds of millions of people are travelling and I sure hope another wave doesn't come up and push delivery dates further out! Great looking cars for pre-production and the production cars should be even finer looking.
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Post by drolsen on Oct 1, 2020 13:10:00 GMT -8
Jim, SMD's ordering page gives you a great overview of the timeframe for each paint scheme, because they all list the year that they were painted. Bottom line is that in the as-delivered olive green paint scheme, the FGE cars are good for 1981+, Thrall is 1983+, Ortner 1985+, and GRE 1987+. SMD Ordering FormThe other paint schemes are repaints or specialty schemes that appeared later. Dave
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Post by riogrande on Oct 1, 2020 13:17:32 GMT -8
Thanks Dave. The SMD website isn't what it used to be, but I should have checked it first.
Looks like the earliest version squeezes into my time frame.
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Post by fishbelly on Oct 1, 2020 17:28:36 GMT -8
Those are the best looking pre-production samples I have ever seen. Though I do not know anything about the prototype of these cars. The detail level is as good as any high end car I have seen on the market today.
I'll be the first to say. My wallet is safe. Boy oh boy though. The cars look so nice!!
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Post by talltim on Oct 2, 2020 1:16:40 GMT -8
What are buffer cars? Ones marshalled outside cars loaded with hazardous loads?
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Post by jonklein611 on Oct 2, 2020 4:47:34 GMT -8
What are buffer cars? Ones marshalled outside cars loaded with hazardous loads? Yes. You'll see this on oil trains, there will be a covered hopper between the crew and the string of oil cars.
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Post by stevewagner on Oct 2, 2020 5:08:39 GMT -8
Great news re Spring Mills Depot. They produce first class models; I have a few and am very happy with them.
For those who want older heavy-duty flatcars for military cargos and later uses, Mont Switzer had a fine article, I think in Mainline Modeler years ago, on detailing a Roco 50'model with six-wheel trucks that's a good representation of cars the US Army used and both the MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak did later. I saw a solid train including some heading under the "railfan" bridge at the west of of East Deerfield Yard en route from Fort Devens in Mass. to Camp Drum in northern New York for summer time National Guard or Reserves training hauled by ex-ATSF SD26's in Guilford Paint sometime in the 1980s. I plan to do just one car, staring with one decorated for the C&O that I bought years ago.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Oct 2, 2020 5:55:02 GMT -8
The older flats (54' with 6-wheel Buckeye trucks) were built by Magor in 1953. There were about 650. The bodies were steel castings, and extremely durable. There are examples scattered all over the country. The last ones I saw were on a tourist short line up in the PNW.
Roco made an HO model. The article Steve referenced is in the March 1993 "Mainline Modeler". Mostly, it's the trucks and coupler mounts that need work.
Roco also made a depressed center flat with 6-wheel Buckeyes. There is no evidence that these cars operated in the US. They were designed for foreign service.
Ed
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Post by stevewagner on Oct 2, 2020 6:15:06 GMT -8
I do have one of the Roco depressed center cars, prelettered for New York Central. I thought it looked reasonably plasible, at least as a stand-in. Also two Bachmann depressed center flats, one which I decaled for the Erie and another I may letter for my own railroad. I'd welcome comments on how close they are to real Erie cars. That line, like the Delaware & Hudson's Susquehanna Division, was originally built to a broad gauge, giving excellent clearances, which is why GE built and still builds a lot of heavy electric equipment in Schenectady. There certainly are some fine kits RTR models for other depressed-center and heavy-duty flatcars.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Oct 2, 2020 7:02:34 GMT -8
The Roco depressed center flatcar is a model of this, I believe: Note that it's only a 70 ton car, and it's for "foreign service". That said, it does look pretty "American". If you're interested in what Erie had in depressed center cars, first you need a date: When? Then you get yourself an Official Railway Equipment Register for a date nearby, and look up what Erie had. There's a separate section for heavy duty cars, which MAY contain all of your cars of interest. Then you find photos of each and compare. As far as I can recall, the only accurate (American) plastic depressed center car is the Walthers TTX 4-truck. Oh, yeah. There's also the Walthers 2-truck depressed center car. It's a model of SOO 54003, 5, 7--built July 1968. 90 tons. If I had one of the Roco or maybe the Bachmann cars, I'd spend some time lowering it on the trucks, and cleaning up the coupler mount. My impression is that these cars sit too high, but that's ONLY an impression, and could be wrong. Very few people are going to be able to point out that these cars are not accurate for a particular railroad, especially if you fix them up and do some weathering. Ed
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Post by fishbelly on Oct 2, 2020 15:57:42 GMT -8
I have me one of those Bachmann depressed center flats and I like it. It needs to be lowered a little on the trucks, but Bachmann built in some meat so there is room for cutting. I bought one with the rocket on it. Not for the rocket of course. It was cheap and undecorated.
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Post by railmodeltroy14 on Oct 3, 2020 1:07:31 GMT -8
The Roco M1 Abrams tanks have been waiting on these flat cars for 5 years now.
There was another company out west that had been planning to release this flat car with M1 Abrams tanks, complete with tie-down chains, but I never ever received order confirmation.
I used to see these cars with tanks coming from the Lima plant heading south on the CSX mainline through Dayton, Ohio on a regular basis.
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Post by TBird1958 on Oct 3, 2020 6:16:24 GMT -8
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Post by talltim on Oct 5, 2020 1:02:56 GMT -8
What are buffer cars? Ones marshalled outside cars loaded with hazardous loads? Yes. You'll see this on oil trains, there will be a covered hopper between the crew and the string of oil cars. Why havespecific cars for it?
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Post by fr8kar on Oct 5, 2020 2:05:12 GMT -8
Yes. You'll see this on oil trains, there will be a covered hopper between the crew and the string of oil cars. Why havespecific cars for it? It would cause considerable delay to have to round up available loaded cars to use as buffers on a unit train. The shipper of cars randomly selected would incur delay as their cars make an unnecessary trip. It is simpler to have dedicated cars loaded with sand to use as buffers. Also, since the cars are part of the unit train and not intended for interchange, cars classified as MOW cars are commonly used for buffers. Buffers are required in trains other than unit trains including intermodal. The applicable rules depend on the commodity carried, the type of vehicle carrying it and the type of railcars or locomotives adjacent to it. Information can be found for American railroads in US Hazmat Instructions for Rail. This publication includes a position in train chart and a position in switching chart that are both helpful and easy to use.
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Post by jonklein611 on Oct 5, 2020 6:07:51 GMT -8
Why havespecific cars for it? It would cause considerable delay to have to round up available loaded cars to use as buffers on a unit train. The shipper of cars randomly selected would incur delay as their cars make an unnecessary trip. It is simpler to have dedicated cars loaded with sand to use as buffers. Also, since the cars are part of the unit train and not intended for interchange, cars classified as MOW cars are commonly used for buffers. Buffers are required in trains other than unit trains including intermodal. The applicable rules depend on the commodity carried, the type of vehicle carrying it and the type of railcars or locomotives adjacent to it. Information can be found for American railroads in US Hazmat Instructions for Rail. This publication includes a position in train chart and a position in switching chart that are both helpful and easy to use. Link for those that are curious: www.aar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/US-HMI-for-Rail-2015-FINAL.pdf
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randy
Junior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by randy on Oct 6, 2020 10:28:13 GMT -8
The 4180/4566 Airslides have to a large degree been rendered redundant by 5650's and the like but still had plenty of their 50 year interchange life remaining. They were a logical choice for buffer service.
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Post by fr8kar on Oct 6, 2020 13:25:42 GMT -8
The 4180/4566 Airslides have to a large degree been rendered redundant by 5650's and the like but still had plenty of their 50 year interchange life remaining. They were a logical choice for buffer service. We used to get them paired in fly ash service all the time, but I never see them anymore unless they're buffer cars.
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Post by TBird1958 on Oct 6, 2020 13:36:35 GMT -8
Saw this FMC 4700 from work yesterday.....There were 2 DPU's on the train.
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cklx
Full Member
Posts: 123
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Post by cklx on Jan 24, 2021 3:35:46 GMT -8
Guys, SMD now has pictures of preproduction samples. www.springmillsdepot.com/DODXmain.htmThe car looks fantastic. Too bad the former Roco Minitanks / Herpa Abrams M1 tank is no longer available. The molds are owned by a German company now. I asked them about the rerun of the tanks, but according to the owner the model will be rerun over one or two years at the earliest. Cornelius.
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