Last November I painted three resin models I made using my own masters and molds. This week I lettered one for the Lehigh Valley "Traders Despatch" 28' box car. Scalecoat paint, Clover House dry transfers. I consulted late 19th Century equipment registers for an appropriate car number and dimensions.



I have two more to letter, but they will have to wait for when I get the right lettering.

Mike

______________________________________________

Mike;

That is a great looking house car!

Horse

Very sharp Mike.

Horse, Bob,

Thanks guys!

Mike

Here's a picture of several LV Traders Despatch cars I've built over the years. They represent three series of TD cars owned or being built by that railroad in 1888:

nos. 50001-50362, which were 33' in length and 6' 5.5" high internally;

nos. 50363-50600, which were 28' in length and 4.5" high; and

nos. 50601-50800, which were 34' in length and 6' 8" high.



I have tried to be as accurate as possible in modeliing them with the right dimensions for each series and the right designs from the few pictures available. A big help are Official Railroad Equipment Registers, photos available from Art Griffin, and dry transfers from Clover House and Art.

Several railroads had cars in the Traders Despatch fast freight line, including the New York, Lake Erie & Western (Erie RR). I built two models of their 28' TD cars using a photo and decals from Art Griffin. Here they are with my Lehigh Valley cars.



I am getting to the point where I have about all the freight cars I need to run on my layout, so I can afford to be a little picky and try to model with as much prototype fidelity as possible. I'd like to do more of these stand-out cars with their distinctive lettering but I don't have photos to work from.

Mike

Mike, How splendid they look. Good Job!

How will you use these cars on your layout? In through trains?

And where are the clouds :-D

Bob,

Thank you.

My layout depicts a small city near the end of a branchline so I don't know how much through traffic there will be. However I can use the TD fast freight cars for shipments from online industry to distant places. I suspect railroads pressed any car into service if it is the closest empty available.

As for clouds, I painted a rather gloomy overcast sky.

Mike

Works for me Mike.

With the nicer weather, the fortress commander (my wife) has shifted my priorities, whether I wanted to or not. Garden, and yard work, although I admit I take great pride in my garden, and yard. It isn't big, but I work hard to keep it really nice.

I also began re-restoring my 1972 AM General M-151A2 1/4 ton utility vehicle. It got pushed to the side/back of the barn in 2004 when I was in a bad accident, and I only began to work on it again recently. She is almost up and running again.

Horse

My M151A2 was made by Ford, if I remember right :-)

dave

Ford made the 1970, and 71 A2s, starting in 1972 AM General (then a subsidiary of AMC, now an independent company) made them, and continued until the series was ended in 1986.

Kaiser, and Ford made the straight M-151 beginning in 1958 through 1962. Starting in 63 the upgrades to the suspension, and improved lights (IE electrical turn signals) were added, generating the M-151A1 series. The A1 is the most common variant that went to Viet Nam, although a few 1970, and 71 A2s were shipped, but to the best of my knowledge, none of the AM General A2s went to Nam, as by 72 we were in the draw down period

The A2 was the most heavily produced 1/4 ton utility vehicle since the MB/GPW of WWII fame. At my peek, I owned seven A2s, including two with hard tops. Of the seven, all but two had the ROPS installed. After my accident in March of 2004, I had to sell all but my 72 AMG, and a 71 Ford M-718A1 frontline ambulance, neither of which has ROPS. The M-718A1 has been modified to serve as a frontline commo center, carrying four RT-524 receiver/transmitters, six R-442 receivers, and four dismountable PRC-77. Two of the RT-524s have the crypto system installed (unfortunately they were gutted by the government, but I rewired them to simply pass the signal through). I also have two of the XRT-896, which is one of the experimental pre SINGAR systems that was tested by the Army to meet the requirements for what became SINGAR. The company that produced these was located in my county, and many of the engineers that worked on it were HAMs (Amateur Radio Operators), as is my father, so they had access to all these. When their employer lost the contract, they chucked all the radios, batteries, battery chargers, etc, etc. The HAM buddies of my dad knew I was Army, and was into such things, so they got permission to take them, and gave them all to me.

So for S&Gs, I install one in both of my mutts. They work great off vehicle power. The batteries are all long dead, and will not hold a charge at all, but I use them vehicle mounted anyway, so who cares!

Horse

I'm on the road right now visiting family in Michigan and brought a project for quiet moments. I have two of Craig Bisgeier 's kits of the PRR GA gondola .



I am thinking of using them as a start to the PRR GE gondola as shown here: http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/PRRd...=gon&sz=sm&fr=

My only excuse for not building the kits as sold is that I have trouble following instructions.

Mike

__________________________________

Mike;

I look forward to your progress!

I would love to see Craig do the GB class gondola some day.

Horse

I bet you could 'bash' a GB by using the hopper from a Tichy Ore Car kit.

dave

I thought about that a long time ago, but you reminded me here, and maybe I will pursue that idea.

I do use the Tichy ore car for one of my (proposed) online iron ore mines.

There is an old iron ore mine pit, now a local park/lake that was indirectly served by the Columbia, and Reading RR, later renamed the Reading, and Columbia, then wholly absorbed into the Reading Lines. The RR brought ore cars, and gondolas to a siding in Silver Springs, PA, where a ramp had been built, and wagon loads of ore were dumped/shoveled into the cars. When a car was full, it was moved by horse teams to bring in the next empty, and the process continued. About 1880/85 the Chestnut Hill Iron Ore Co. bought a small steam locomotive, and with permission from the C&R, they moved their own cars, then even hauled them down to Columbia to interchange with the PRR.

This would be one of the interest points on my future layout. The co-operation between the C&R, PRR and CHIX (Chestnut Hill Iron). Even though the Reading, and PRR became great rivals, early on, and in small local instances, the RR men themselves cooperated.

Gotta love history!

Horse