Thoughts On Weathering Basic Gondolas

 Exactrail turned out some shorter 42'-6" gondolas with corrugated sides a few years back, These are faithful models of the Southern Pacific G-100-7 class, 900 were built by Gunderson starting in March of 1965. In or around 1984, SP started a rebuilding program on these cars, they became class G-100-7R, and many saw service into the 1990's.

 Of course, unless one is modeling a car fresh from the paint shop, a little grunge is in order. Gondolas are not immune to a filthy rusty lifestyle as they get all sorts of loads. Just using dusty shades of weathering powders add depth and thus realism to such equipment. Any model will benefit from such treatment, the plainer models most of all. Below is an as built G-100-7 from Exactrail in HO Scale. This model features some judicious applications of flat coat, weathering powders and pastels. This leads to a subtle 'used' look without things looking like they need an overhaul.

The same model type shown below, less the placards, demonstrates painting circa 1984, it's the G-100-7R class. They were assigned a different number class of SP 800000 after rebuilding. There is little to go on, but images taken in the early 1970's have no placards showing, so I doubt many had that feature by that time. Any info on this group of cars is most welcome. Reply below if you have anything worth sharing; that's how the hobby grows.

Gondolas are an incredibly versatile freight hauler; lumber of all types, scrap metal, rocks, canisters, rolls of wire fencing, pipe, large machine parts, coiled steel rolls, copper ingots; basically any commodity can ride in a gondola.

I'd be surprised to find any common carrier railroad that did not use gondolas in regular service. Here is another sample of a model made by Mark Ala, its from his favorite road, the Rio Grande.

The interior has been weathered along with the exterior, which makes for a good look, also the load is low enough to show off the work that has been done. Compare Mark's model to a photo of the same class car on the prototype, pretty decent I think. Subtle weathering is best.

I hope this tiny bit of rambling train chat was of some use to the readers. It's good to talk trains. It's also good to share them with our fellow modelers. So why not share on here as well? Just a thought.

Thanks for reading this far, write back if the mood strikes. Most of all, Enjoy Your Trains!

Best Wishes,

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR

Bored vs. Board

What is one to do when their love of the hobby exceeds their disposable funds by many levels of magnitude? Well it seems like the right time to detail some of the equipment already on hand. I mean if ya got em, then go ahead and detail em. This brings us to the title, Bored vs. Board, as in lets detail a bulkhead flat car's wood to make it look a little more used and abused. Messing with the cars boards will keep yours truly from getting too bored. There are several bulkhead cars waiting similar attention in my back stock.

The ends seem to be the most noticeable as far as obvious damage goes. They can be seen easier loaded or empty least ways while the car is in motion.

The deck is at the mercy of several factors, loading and unloading methods, dunnage, stains, and broken or crushed boards, not to mention the weather.

Over all, the car, once completed, should look well used, but not so much so that it's next logical stop is the scrap yard. Someplace in between seems best. Oh and thanks to Mark Ala for today's subject BN flat car; it looks good.

Thanks for reading this far, write back should the mood strike you.

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR

 

The First Post Tariff Items Are Ariving!

 A while back, and that translates into, I have no real idea as to when, I pre-ordered some Rapido 1970's era repainted 40' PFE reefers. Well when all was said and done the price per car only went up about $5.00. Not nearly as bad as I'd been led to believe by some of the online reporting. Is this a rerun of Y2K?

 

Then I got an email from Lombard Hobbies saying a trailer and and a Ford stake bed had also arrived from Athearn. I guess when it rains it can really pour at times; even a little hail too. But again I'm glad this vendor offers 'no up front payment' reservations.

 

Both Ford truck and Cotton Belt trailer were not much more than originally quoted, so again, all is well, and so far, the hobby sky remains solidly intact. 

All this is just a quick update that perhaps may help some of us not fear the direction the hobby is going. Manufacturers are trying, at least so far, to keep pricing in the ball park of where it was, and that is a good thing. This bodes well for the future, or so I hope.

 

Thanks for reading this far, and as always, enjoy your trains!

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR

 

A Brave New Hobby?

It's amazing the changes a few months can introduce.  A life long hobby can be thrown into chaos by current events; purchasing, special orders, and such go from a 'just in time' waiting game to a maybe never game with the writing on a piece of paper somewhere. Like most things in life, an average individual has little chance of influencing things that they are subject to. This is nothing new.

I've sent a couple letters to our betters, contacted a friend or two to perhaps do the same, and so far it's a wait and see game. 

I understand that the powers that be want more manufacturing to return to the USA, but honestly, MADE IN USA says two things to me: Overpriced and Lesser Quality. Sorry, but that observation comes from decades of personal retail experience. Not just in model trains either, this ugly situation seems all too common.

Destroying the previous "flow" of the model train hobby will only hurt the poorer members of society, both here and abroad, while perhaps increasing the profits of certain manufacturers and placing products out of reach for many.

I have some special orders out there, and I have no intent to cancel them as long as the pricing stays within reason. Hopefully calmer heads will prevail and things can return to something at least slightly recognizable.

We need to support our vendors, makers, and the hobby in general if we are to come through this mess together.

Thanks for reading this far, write back if the mood strikes you.

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR

 

Friends, Family, Trains, and The Ties That Bind Us.

Life is a series of connections for most of us. We all connect with other people from our birth to the end of life; this seems constant. We connect with family first usually, and as we grow that circle of people expands to our extended family, like aunts, our uncles, great-grandparents, grandparents and a sea of cousins.

By the time we enter school, we start making friends and explore other types of connections. We also begin to experience things, like sports and competition, bike riding, flying kites, music, model building, bullies and authority figures outside the home, pets, and all sorts of wonderful (or not) new things.

Understanding life really does not begin until one has their first loved individual pass away. That is when some inkling of what is up in life starts to coalesce in the youthful noggin, at least it was that way for me. As the years fly by, the list of the dear departed has grown in leaps and bounds. Such was my case last week, I lost a dear friend I'd made back in the mid 1970's.  He just dropped dead with, as far as I know, no real warning. This happened just a week before we were going to get together, and I'm still in some form of denial, but his absence at our meeting place was noticed by all that attended. Rest In Peace Charlie, thank you for your service, and thank you for many years of friendship.

 The Annual Pilgrimage To GEHAMS 

We at the Arizona Southern do not travel to many model train swaps these days. We do attend the G.E.H.A.M.S. show in Bakersfield CA whenever the dates and the weather align (meaning I-5 was open over Ft. Tejon pass).  This show, though a smaller show, is well attended and has many vendors and layouts on display. I was taken aback by the Z Scale layout, the level of detail on their equipment was amazing to me. Maybe the pricing of several vendors was a tad high, like retail plus, but if one shopped, there were some real bargains to be had. I picked up one ATSF car from Moloco for a very fair price, saving on shipping and such in the process. Checking my cars when I arrived home, I was joyful to see this was NOT a repeat in the road number department; beautiful car.

As delivered Topeka built Bx-94 50' XMLI offset doors.

I also won a cool 'door prize' and that never happens to me, well almost never. It was a RAPIDO model, a UP 40' boxcar in the "Be Specific" scheme from the early 1960's and into the mid 1970's plus.  Perfect for my era.  Of course 'free' comes with its own set of issues, the metal roofwalk was damaged, crushed a little bit at one end, causing the roofwalk to dislodge from its supports.  I could fix it, but it probably would never lay perfectly flat again without major surgery.  Bummer to say the least. 

Click on this stock Rapido image for a larger view.

Doing some research on the "Fallen Flags" website, I spied a few of this type of car with their roofwalks removed, "A" end ladders shortened, and the "B" end brake still mounted high.  Honestly that is one of my more favorite (early-mid 1970's era) configurations, even if the real 'RAILS' were not all that fond of it. Case in point is this car shown below:

Click on image for a larger view of this 1979 era photo.

I also came across some 1960's thru 1970's reweigh stencil decals for 40' and 50' cars and shaped paint patches in several colors from Smokebox Graphics to go along with them. All in all this should be a fun project. I may need to find some 50T Roller Bearing trucks, maybe Tangent?

Thanks for reading this far, feel free to respond, just say hi, or tell me to go pound sand if the mood strikes you.  

Best Wishes and Enjoy Your Trains,

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR

More On Freight Car Addiction

 

When does enough ever become too much?  I think I am there, or so close I can smell and taste it.  In fact I have so many freight cars now that I really need to part with some of the ones that no longer fit my needs. No more long trains with helpers, clubs are a thing of the past for me.  I no longer possess the patience to deal with the intricacies of club politics.

Even my former layout is too large for what I'm comfortable with. Its coming down. I've been rearranging all our storage and have the SAWZALL charged up and ready to begin the trimming of things.

Of course, my blindly being the consummate addict, I keep ordering cars when I can. I mean now a days, you either buy or you cry, as nothing lasts for long on store shelves, well, at least nothing I'd want to buy.

This brings us to the "why" I've added another page to this blog, we got another box on the way. Two cars are coming, an ADM covered hopper and a PC boxcar.

Tangent HO Model - Click On For Full Size

Tangent HO Model Patched PC Boxcar

Cars keep getting nicer and the cycle never seems to end; in with the NEW and out with some of the OLD.

TANGENT is addictive. Great models, pricing within reason if you shop around, and enough variety for almost anybody.

Thanks for reading this far, write back if the mood strikes,

Best Wishes,

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR

SP Assigned A Different Switch Engine To The AZSO Interchange.

Well a new year is underway. It did not get off to a great start, but at least it's underway and hopefully things will change for the better in some way.

It seems that the powers that be over at Southern Pacific pulled the SW1500 that had become so familiar on the interchange job and replaced it with a SW1200.

We're quite enamored with this throwback power, the older lines of this locomotive remind us of our youth, back when SP had a little more variety. 

Overall the model looks better than the previous Rapido version we sampled. The paint of the grab irons and railings on the Rapido were too thick for our taste; it was the first thing noted when looking at that unit, so it had to go.  We like the P2k Walthers power, as it has always performed well for us. Even the problematic first units with the split gears were an easy fix and we have several still in service.

Thanks for reading this far, write back or leave us a note if the mood strikes you.

Best Wishes,

John Huey

CEO Arizona Southern RR