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