Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Wow, where did 2023 get off to?  Seems like it just got started and now its only a few days from being history. 

Not much is going on right now, things here in Simi Valley are wet, and mostly miserable. They say things should be a little bit less rainy on Christmas day.

Well, guess its time to get things ready for the big day, and I hope all of you are doing well and have things under control, both on the holiday front and the personal health front as well. 

As always, have a blessed day and please, Enjoy Your Trains.  Write or comment if the mood strikes.

John Huey

Fuel Needs of the Arizona Southern

 

Well it's that time of year again, here come the holidays, ready or not! Seems like when one set of issues end another jump right in to take their place. That aside, thinking of things on the railroad is maybe the only easy, fun, cool, or pleasant tasks as of late. Too many model items came at once this year and choices had to be made so we missed a few things that will hopefully be around again in a year or so.

One thing that became a consolation prize of sorts is Arizona Southern getting one of those American Limited Models GATC Welded Tank Cars lettered for Santa Fe. It will be seen around engine service from time to time when more fuel is needed. A great looking model, and I even have some images of how they looked in mid 1970's so my attempt at weathering will have some direction.

A friend of the railroad sent a photo showing how the cars looked in service circa 1975ish. Perfect example of what we hope our model may look like at some point.

Charlie Slater Photograph © 2023

Probably won't re-letter the one just purchased, but will try and get some of that aged grime showing on ours. We will add the ACI label and a consolidation stencil of some sort to the model as well.  This will be it for buying models for a while, seems some other items needing funds have cropped up unexpectedly and they can't really wait.

That is all for now, write if the mood strikes, or even just say hello.

Best wishes,

John Huey

Freight Cars Beyond The Roads We Connect With.

Collecting freight cars, whether painted at home or purchased from the many builders out in the hobby world, can be quite addictive. Trying to choose between what one likes and what one needs can also be quite difficult at times; there are many wonderful choices these days and the variety keeps growing.

Most of the time choices seem few and far between. We order and then wait until the cars arrive from the factory. That fact alone can cause issues as the money set aside can get used by an emergency; life goes ever on after all. Then as luck would have it, several builders all have the cars wished for arrive within days of each other. Being on a fixed income can really limit the funds available when this happens. Choices have to be made. 

Case in point are some more excellent 40' cars from Rapido, the GN cars that just dropped are gorgeous, models remembered from being trackside back in the day.

Of course these are like potato chips, can't get by with just one and well, they do look great and work well into your operations, so you order two to help cost average the shipping charges.

And then Intermountain, who is running late forever it seems, ships something ordered two years ago, well, what is a mother to do?

So out goes the cash and in comes the cars. The costs have gone up, but so has the quality and detail of the builds. Took some soul searching to justify the higher costs, but then life is short and the time to duplicate the modern build quality is just not on ones side any more.

Thanks for reading along, drop a message if the mood strikes or just say hello.

Best wishes,

John Huey

The New Tangent Order Has Shipped!

 Howdy friends,

Just got an email from the good folks at Tangent Scale Models. It was great news too. The message said:  "Thank you for your order from Tangent Scale Models! We wanted to let you know that your order was shipped via USPS Priority Mail on 10/10/2023."  Heck just placed the order Saturday October 7th and here we are on the 10th at noon and they are shipping my cars already.

 

How Nice!

Why am I excited? Well in my modeling sphere there a few items considered as "grail" type bits of equipment. The first is the Alco S6, the second is the 100 ton 40' cars SP used in Copper Service, next an Alco C415, and number four is the once common 40' Yellow Stripe Door boxcars which Tangent just released in HO Scale.

Not only is this style car good for plywood, lumber, and such, but in a slightly different lettering version, it was also used in copper bar service according to what I am reading online. Looks like there will be several more of these 40' cars finding a home on the Arizona Southern in the not so distant future. Below is a shot I took on the Tehachapi loop late in 1979, it was moving and it was a surprise, so it is what it is. 

SP Copper Service XM back in regular service circa 1979.

Well, all the above is not written in stone yet depending on current events, and assuming things in the news don't get too much more insane or intense. Watching terrible things takes the fun out most things for me; even this hobby is no exception.

We at the Arizona Southern hope you are doing well and all is happy in your world. If I had a wish, I'd wish for calmer heads to prevail on the planet. Thanks for reading this, feel free to comment if the mood strikes you. Really, even just say hello, we'd appreciate it.

Best wishes,

John Huey

Kadee Drops an ATSF 50' Box Car

 

    How about a HO Scale Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF) RTR 50' PS-1 Boxcar 50' PS-1 Boxcar?  Painted in the mineral red or brown paint, the lettering looks amazing. I only post this because of memories of seeing such cars in the mid 1970's, weathered almost to a point of being illegible at times, still in service. So far I've only done a couple of 40' XM's to represent this, but a 50 footer would be a nice addition.

   

   

   These cars were the backbone of most shipping from the late steam era up until the mid to late 1970's. The model features good looking roller bearing trucks, and other very scale details. Would make a good addition to any freight car roster that is within the dates mentioned.

   

   Well, that is all for now, thanks for reading thus far. Write or respond if the mood strikes. As always, enjoy your trains!

Best wishes,

John Huey

P.S. This car just arrived on our door step a few days ago, it looked so good we could not say no. Now to gather up the courage to weather the thing properly. JH

Apache Railway Wood Chip Gon

 

A little known secret about AZSO, we do interchange with the Apache Railway.

Well at least we do a few times a year, and that is about 99% woodchips if the truth was to be told.  We have a producer of wood furniture on the line, and they make a lot of sawdust in the process of making their products.  A few times each year they ship it out and we haul it out for them, much of it goes via the Apache Railway.

Usually SP supplies the chip gons for this service, but every once in a while a bright blue Apache car puts in an appearance. Well, one was planned, but never got painted and then InterMountain came out with their version of the car and that project went out the window and one car was purchased from my dealer. Truth be told, 2 were ordered, but Intermountain, in their race to "Out Walthers" Walthers, they only shipped the one car and not one of the ones we ordered; que sera sera.

Well, thought an image of the InterMountain model might be of interest to somebody somewhere, so here it is in all of brightness and blue-ness.

Thanks for reading along with us, and we hope all are doing well during these warmer months, stay cool and enjoy your hobby. Write back if the mood strikes you.

Best Wishes, 

John Huey

Athearn Genesis Just Announced Three SP GP9E's Due in Late 2024

Hello friends,

Much of the time, when we hear about a manufacturers upcoming release of product, getting excited does not seem to happen the way it used to. Its my own fault, I seem to model a narrow window of time and there has not been a lot of product available for that period in the recent past.  Add that fact to Arizona Southern being a niche style project and one can see that our interests are far from what most consider main stream. Enter Athearn Genesis who just advertised the forthcoming release of more of their wonderful SP GP9 models with DCC and Tsunami 2 Sound; that got my full attention. I already have a few of these from earlier runs, but one version that is always welcome are those that feature the long hood paper air filter box. SP GP9E 3777 features this detail, not to mention dual snow plows, so of course it just had to be pre-ordered; let the waiting begin.

This is the factory drawing of said locomotive GP9E 3777, just to help any of those unfamiliar with SP's GRIP Program see what it is that I've touched upon. The other two versions that they're offering are another Phase II high short hood model and a low nose Phase III version, of which we already have each style. Seems the venerable GP9's are regulars on the branchline that connects AZSO with the SP; they are reliable and not too hard on the rails.

Well, that's about all I have for now. Just trying to keep folks posted about what's going on in the world of the Arizona Southern and its connections. Thanks for reading this far, drop us a note if the mood strikes you.

Best wishes,

John Huey

A Few More Goodies Find A New Home.

 Greetings From Arizona Southern Country,

I'm just dropping a quick message to keep in touch.  Seems too much time has passed and very little conversation has been happening. Other than the monsoons, not much to report really. We did acquire a few things of interests though and following are a few pics snapped during the unboxings.

This first image is of an Atlas 50' Post War boxcar, decorated for the mid 1970's forward. A nice car to be sure and one that was on backorder for ages; glad it finally arrived.

The next image is of the Digby's Golden Arrow trailer from Athearn; they did a nice job on this one. Even including the nose reefer painted to match.

Lastly is a Rapido brand Navajo trailer, very nice as well and the graphics are spot on too. You can tell this trailer dates from the late 1960's as the spare is mounted under the floor and its still in place. A very welcome trailer to the fleet.

Well, thanks for reading and the visit, we hope you are well and that the enjoyment of our hobby is still a happy part of your life. See you next time; write back if the mood strikes.

Best wishes,

John Huey

CEO AZSO RR

SP PC&F B-100-40 Box Car On Roster.

 

Just ordered one of the Rapido SP B-100-40 box cars that they made a couple of years back.  Not sure why I passed them by except that they are only within my railroads era for about a year or less. Still, a very nice looking car and I just had to get one or forever kick myself; I already do enough of that. Besides, it gives one an excuse to have the odd occasional "clean" car running about.

  

Good looking car, I do miss the 'For Fragile Freight' bit, but trying to be a little prototypical has its price to pay. From what I remember, the car seems to mimic the real thing fairly well; good enough for these old eyes least ways. I'm pleased with the purchase.

Well, that is about it for this rainy night in Old California, things are starting to flood and I have a water incursion to deal with thanks to the way things work in my world. Then again, its like the real thing having issues with the monsoons that befall this region every few years.

Best wishes, write if the mood strikes you,

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR