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Post by bn7023 on Mar 24, 2021 10:53:00 GMT -8
The reason why the price of Tyco's 3-dome tank car has risen is probably because it was featured in the 3rd quarter, 2020 issue of "HO Collector" magazine. My Coca-Cola car has only one 6-wheel truck. By the way, what brand is the decal for the inkjet printer used by thejadefog?
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Post by thejadefog on Mar 24, 2021 11:17:01 GMT -8
Or it could be this... Once you buy one, there's no stopping!
I'll apologize in advance for showing that photo.
BN7023- Now I have to subscribe to that magazine! That has been on my radar for a while and that photo just might be the tipping point.
I have had a hot and cold relationship with inkjet decal media. The best media was an unnamed brand that a friend had given to me. It was the last of his stock and it worked real well. From there I tried Testor's but found that really lacking. Even with the clear overcoat, some of the media seems to turn gelatinous and it wants to roll under itself. So I am all ears if others have better luck with other brands.
I have not ventured into laser printer decals yet, but that would sidestep any clear coating issues.
So since I'm new here, let me know if I have derailed this thread and maybe we need a decal thread if there isn't one already somewhere here.
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Post by fishbelly on Mar 24, 2021 13:46:06 GMT -8
I just submitted an article to HO Collector. It should be published in the May edition I think.
That is quite a collection yo got going there of Tyco 3 Dome tank cars. There is a train show here in May and will look for one or two. Lots of junk dealers at the shows here in Raleigh that have some really decent train show prices.
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Post by stevewagner on Mar 24, 2021 15:38:55 GMT -8
thejadefrog's Guernsey Queen tank car is indeed "udderly" delightful. It reminds me of two things. One was a big billboard that decades ago touted one farm's or dairy's use of Golden Guernseys that was very much a landmark along the New Jersey Turnpike. The second was the December train show that used to be put on by a group called the Bedford Boomers in their namesake town near Manchester, NH. There was no selling of anything allowed there, just a big sectional layout or layouts. Among other trains that ran there was a fanciful one with, for example, gondolas in which cows were skiing! Yes, model railroading can be fun!
I'll want to try to find room on my small layout for a tavern I built many decades ago from a Holgate & Reynolds kit which I named Froggy's, with a hand-drawn sign patterned after Froggy the Gremlin [?] on the old Smilin' Ed's Gang kids' show on TV, which later became Andy's Gang with Andy Devine as the new host. When I was in junior high school ca. 1958-1961 some of made snarky comments to our fellow students quoting the "Nice!" exclamation used by Midnight the black cat on those shows.
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Post by lvrr325 on Mar 24, 2021 19:56:26 GMT -8
dang I didn't even catch that dome on the bottom the first time I looked at it. That's funny.
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Post by keystonefarm on Mar 24, 2021 20:05:50 GMT -8
I cheated. By trade I am a graphic designer and work in t-shirts and all the promotional swag that companies like to toss out. So after work I come home plop in front of a creaky old Mac and dive back designing my own creations. It comes in as a handy skill to make my own looney cars such as this or this, at least a little more believable... I've tinkered with DIY inkjet decals but they are always an iffy proposition and very fiddly to work with. I usually wait till I have a few projects that I can jam onto a commercially printed decal sheet to keep the per car cost low. Great job kitbashing the AHM cars . --Thanks, Ken
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Post by bn7023 on Mar 25, 2021 7:20:06 GMT -8
Inspired by thejadefog, I also started to extend the stock car. First, I converted the body shell from three to one. The main theme is that the composition of the braces is Pratt truss as same as the SP prototype. Compared to the body shell of Athearn 86-ft hi-cube boxcar (rear SP), this 16-panel shell (not 14-panel) is 4'-3" (15 mm) shorter, and 7" (2 mm) lower without stirrups. The width is almost the same. Certainly the Diagonal panels are a mirror image of both. It is unusual for Athearn to make no mistake on the left and right. :-)
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Post by slowfreight on Mar 25, 2021 8:27:05 GMT -8
I was fortunate as a kid to see the prototype cars one time on the south side of Chicago, at the head of a departing TV train. Even then I knew how unusual stock cars had become.
These seem to me like they would sell as well as the Vert-A-Pack models from Exactrail...very rare in reality, but people would find them fun.
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Post by grabirons on Mar 25, 2021 11:57:37 GMT -8
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Post by fishbelly on Mar 25, 2021 13:15:08 GMT -8
That etsy.co site is not to bad. I was able to find a set of WP Bicentennial decals there. I needed two sets and this site had one and a shop in Germany had the other.
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Post by bn7023 on Mar 27, 2021 6:51:12 GMT -8
Even with my skill, I could cut a 0.040" (1-mm) wide vertical member in half, so I decided to convert from two to one body shell. 1620
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Post by keystonefarm on Mar 27, 2021 9:18:00 GMT -8
I just picked up two more stock cars on ebay for my project ! Watch there will now be a shortage and a huge price increase on this old AHM car !! I took a look in my 73 car register. CBPX is the Cattle Car Leasing company. They had 16 cars 3600-3615 . Cars to be operated carrying cattle between Chicago and Philadelphia Pa. Home point Philly. Inside dimensions 85'4'' length, 8' 6'' width and 5'6'' height per deck. Outside dimensions 91' long, 10'2'' width and 15'6'' extreme height. Capacity of 135,000 lbs. Cu Ft 8415. --------Ken
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Post by edwardsutorik on Mar 27, 2021 11:49:47 GMT -8
These seem to me like they would sell as well as the Vert-A-Pack models from Exactrail...very rare in reality, but people would find them fun. It seems that AHM agreed. They did several specialty cars that were visually interesting, but not all that common: helium, vinegar, two stock cars, the Southern all-door (I think), at least two flat cars with special racking on them........ And then there's that big ole Army flat. I've got several in Project Land that will be carrying M103's from here to there. I would hate to guarantee big bucks to a model manufacturer who went that route today. Well, there's the Vert-A-Pack, of course. I would have bought one/some, except for the cast on ladders/grabs. Ed
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Post by slowfreight on Mar 27, 2021 11:53:14 GMT -8
Well, there's the Vert-A-Pack, of course. I would have bought one/some, except for the cast on ladders/grabs. Ed A little OT, but as short as the lifespan was on the Vert-A-Pack rack, I always found it curious when people weathered the crap out of them. But I guess if you're having fun, no harm done.
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Post by bn7023 on Mar 28, 2021 23:27:07 GMT -8
The big issue with this product is the car height, which is only 15'-1" (52.8 mm) equivalent to plate B. The stencils of "Excess Height Car" is ruined. The Bachmann's 40' High-Cube box car is 2.360" (60 mm) , which is almost scale. In this photo, the car body shell is lifted 0.200" (5 mm) from the floor and the total height is 2.280" (58 mm). I think it is a little too high. And I have to block the lower parts of both car ends. By the way, I plan to finish the remaining 3 cars at 50 feet. The floors were converted as body-mount coupler. The simple extension pockets were homemade from Athearn BB 86' box cars'. 1870
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Post by bn7023 on Mar 29, 2021 20:03:12 GMT -8
I think the reason why the body of the product tends to tilt is that the width of the center plate is as small as 0.220" (5.5 mm). I was instructed by my senior Hiroyasu Nishio to make it 0.320" (8 mm). If it is larger than this, there is a possibility of derailment. I have realized that with 50 years of experience. It is important that both are set to 0.320" (8 mm) in the same way. In the IHC product on the right, only the A-end has been changed to 0.550" (14 mm). The trucks attached to the product are roller bearing type. The reason for this adoption would be to increase the bogie-rotation angle of the trucks, I think. Because the side plates of the body shell hang down, the axle box hits the inside. I have diverted this roller bearing type to another, so I will use the plain bearing type. The purpose of lifting up the body shell is also to prevent the protruding part of the axle boxes from interfering with the side plates. (The AHM truck is equipped with 36” wheels to be diverted.) In my belongings.I have confirmed three types of roller bearing trucks. The left is the AHM product, and the middle and right are the IHC products. There were also two types of axle lengths. FYI: This is an advertisement for Atlas N-scale on page 103 of the Dec. 1970 issue of MR magazine. The product introduction was on page 22 of the Nov. 1970 issue, and it said that two road names were released, Consolidated Dressed Beef Co., Inc. (CDBX 100-109) and Allen Packing Co. Division of Food Fair Stores, Inc. (ALPX 81-115). 1996
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Post by lvrr325 on Mar 30, 2021 10:33:11 GMT -8
For a while those Atlas N cars were bringing decent money on eBay, so I bought a box of them cheap ... must have been fall 2019. They cooled off a bunch so they're still here somewhere.
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Post by keystonefarm on Mar 30, 2021 18:54:11 GMT -8
I looked through my Trackside around Rochester NY Morning Sun book and found a picture that I remembered. Rochester Independent Packer INC. Had 5 85' long double deck cattle cars almost twins to the Cross Brothers cars. Cars were RIPX reporting marks numbers 1100-1104 85'3'' inside 15'6'' high 8055 cu ft and 143,000 lbs. Picture on page 21 of the Morning Sun book. Need to find a better side shot to see what the company herald is on the side. -- Ken
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Post by lvrr325 on Mar 30, 2021 21:53:44 GMT -8
RIP-X is an ironic reporting mark.
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Post by keystonefarm on Apr 6, 2021 20:52:12 GMT -8
RIP-X is an ironic reporting mark. Yes it is !! I've only found one picture of the Rochester Independent Packers car and cannot make out the image used on the circular plate on the side of the car almost like the Cross Brothers car. I include the PRR line to Rochester NY in my operations and would like to see if it would be possible to get a set of decals made for this car. Has anyone found a good side shot of one of the RIPX cars ? They were around in the PRR/PC/CR era. --- Thanks, Ken
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Post by lvrr325 on Apr 6, 2021 21:00:27 GMT -8
What years did these cars run again? The PRR gave up most of that line to Rochester in 1962 in favor of running a train over the LV from Buffalo, before the PC merger made that redundant.
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Post by The Ferro Kid on Apr 6, 2021 22:08:31 GMT -8
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Post by fishbelly on Apr 7, 2021 6:08:52 GMT -8
I have that FOOD FAIR car. Actually I have all three of those N-Scale cars.
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Post by bn7023 on Apr 7, 2021 6:29:40 GMT -8
The distance between the bogie centers was increased to 8.000" (203 mm). The body shell was lifted 0.140" (3.5 mm) above the floor. I used Kadee #451 Extended Swing Gearbox and #118 SF coupler. The red car is the Athearn 86-ft hi-cube box car. The painting and lettering that I am not good at remain.
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Post by riogrande on Apr 7, 2021 8:54:48 GMT -8
Is that a Details West part for the draft gear on the red Athearn hi-cube?
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Post by keystonefarm on Apr 7, 2021 9:08:14 GMT -8
I found that picture. It does look like a steers head and it looks like Quality Meats underneath other than that no idea. As far as my operations go I know the PRR stopped through service to Rochester in 62. I still have the line from the Buffalo line to Rochester in service and thought it would be neat to have one of the RIPX cars in that traffic lane. Hoping there is a better side shot of that emblem ! --- Ken
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Post by bn7023 on Apr 7, 2021 9:18:49 GMT -8
Is that a Details West part for the draft gear on the red Athearn hi-cube? The red SP car is equipped with modified Walthers conversion kit #933-997. I would like to use this if possible, but it is currently difficult to obtain. Please see the MR forum. The green BN P-S car is Walthers R-T-R product.
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Post by riogrande on Apr 7, 2021 10:05:32 GMT -8
Ah, and now that I see it better here, it's not the flared draft gear that DW makes. I bought a couple of the DW kits for my Athearn 86' Auto Parts box cars but Tangent came along and made them redundant!
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Apr 9, 2021 1:42:39 GMT -8
I bought a couple of the DW kits for my Athearn 86' Auto Parts box cars but Tangent came along and made them redundant! Ditto. Yet more cars that have gone to the must-list-on-eBay-sometime-soon pile which just seems to keep on growing.
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Post by stevewagner on Apr 9, 2021 10:31:51 GMT -8
FWIW, Food Fair most definitely had big supermarkets in Philadelphia and in some of its suburbs, including in what I think was called Westgate Hills in Havertown near the intersection of West Chester Pike and Manoa Road.
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