What happened to January and February?

It's been a little bit busy here these past few months. A good friend has been ill and I've been helping him with his business to keep things afloat. Things are looking up now and the crisis is past, all that remains is the healing, which seems to be going well.

Most of the hobby projects are scattered to the winds right now, mostly in boxes awaiting their eventual call to action. It seems that my interest has turned to truck models lately and those have been a fun break from boxcars and such. 

Whilst digging for some parts I came across a relic from my days as a transition era through 1965 SP modeler.  It's a PIE rig powered by an International R-190 tractor made by Classic Metal Works. The rig features a bunch of add on parts from makers like Alloy Forms and such, plus some paint and a decal or two. I'll post a few images to show some earlier work. I really like trucks of all era's, they are a weakness of mine to be sure. Pretty sure I need a display case just for them now.

A little thing like a license plate helps out more than one might think.

A Mini Metals 32' trailer and International tractor.

A little nostalgia never hurt anybody that I know of, and seeing this rig reminded me of some good times now in the rear view mirror.

I felt the need to check in here just to say we're still alive and well, and needed a subject to fill in for the lack of useful information these posts are famous for; it's all just fun and games really.

Thanks for reading this far, drop us a line if the mood strikes and let us know whats going on with you. 

Enjoy Your Trains,

John Huey

The End of 2019 is Upon Us!

Well 2019 is almost over and it's damn cold outside, the ding-dang wind is howling and somebody shared their blasted head-cold with yours truly. Thanks for that kindness!

Only reason I'm even writing this is that the USPS person brought a box from New York City for the Arizona Southern to fondle. In it were 2 InterMountain peaked roof high cube boxcars, one SP and one SSW. They were ordered many months ago and slated for year end delivery, so at least the manufacturing sectors deliveries are mostly back on track it seems after the big snafu of months past.

Click on image for larger version.

Click on image for larger version.

The only other new freight car to come our way came from a friend's private collection, something he was thinning out and I figured it would be a good fit on the AZSO. This one is an Athearn Genesis car.

None of the 3 new cars have been to our shops yet, I can see some tweaks are in order.

Thanks for reading this far, have a safe and happy 2020! 

Enjoy Your Trains!

John Huey

70 Ton 2 Bay Covered Hoppers

One thing I've been accused of many times is not knowing when to stop. Such is the case with arguably my favorite freight car, the 70 ton capacity 2 bay covered hopper commonly found in cement service all over the USA. SP ran unit trains of these cars, or at least sizable blocks of them in and amongst other manifest train consists. Having one customer who'd regularly receive a dozen or more of these little cars just a few blocks from home helped pique my interest in these, and the place being closed on weekends allowed my curios self unobstructed access to check these cars out and take notes.

All the cars were lettered either Southern Pacific or Cotton Belt and this made my decision to model this service an easy one. That and the fact that the SP could never decide on a single lettering scheme until late in the life of this equipment, made for an even more interesting situation to model. As the fleet of these cars aged more and more, variations due to abuse, neglect, and their ever present contact with cement powder caused a situation where barely any two cars ever looked the same, perfect for my needs; like the train was tailor made for my eclectic tastes.

An example of one style of this lettering, the billboard style, is presented here. Definitely the giant bold letters caught my eye from first sight. It seemed that even when the cars lettered thusly were quite dirty, reading the name and data was still reasonably easy to accomplish compared to some of the other lettering schemes.

The weathering of these cars was quite enjoyable, most offering a unique challenge.

Both sides have been treated similarly, but the differences are obvious, just as on the prototype.

A slightly elevated view gives one a better shot of the roof treatment, no two ever being the same.

Probably one of the most interesting services on the Southern Pacific so it naturally came over with me when my modeling prototype switched to the all Alco, Arizona Southern. AZSO even mimicked SP's lettering on their own 70 ton cars for the most part, sure a few got unique treatments but most were fairly plain black lettering on a mundane gray car. 

The car variety here on the AZSO is even more varied than on the SP. We not only get cars from SP/SSW as always, but Santa Fe, NdeM, FCP, not to mention a few private owner cement companies which are also regular visitors as well.

That's all for now, thanks for dropping by. Leave a comment or just say hi if the mood strikes.

Enjoy Your Trains,

John Huey

Arizona Southern RR

Just In Case We're All Still Here Next Year...

Wow, it's November 1st and things are still in chaos. There were power outages and fires all around Simi Valley in October and a few still are active but burning away from town. We all hope and pray that these winds and dry conditions will go away soon. 

Throwing caution to the wind the AZSO just ordered a few cars from Moloco. I know, not our usual fare, but these cars are a specific SP car that is way beyond my ability (or desire) to build. Factoring the amount of work involved in making one of these, let alone a few, the cost seems almost reasonable and Moloco cars look like artwork. The car style in question is shown here:

Click on image to see it larger.

SP classed these cars as B-70-10 and they began to appear in the early to mid 1960's and are still in use on the Arizona Southern's time line here in the mid to late 1970's. Sure they look like any other plug door car until you see them beside a car with centered doors; and since I'm not getting any younger I feel that treating the roster to a few nice cars is not a problem. I can't recommend Moloco cars enough, basically they are ready to run for the rivet counter crowd yet have a sturdy nature compared to some other products on the market.

You can see what's available now and what's coming in 2020 here: 

https://www.molocotrains.com/

On The Modeling Front

The only other news is that we got to dust off and photograph some of our truck models in case we had to flee the fires. Thankfully that never happened here, but it pains us to think of those who lost so much. A few images of some of the truck fleet follow. All were taken behind a local motel while the drivers were keeping up with hours of service rules, or so we like to think.

That's all for now, thanks for dropping by. Leave a comment or just say hi if the mood strikes.

Enjoy Your Trains,

John Huey

Arizona Southern RR