ID these senior citizens?

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De Bruin
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby De Bruin » Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:49 pm

They did, my subsequent searches based on Dave and Rufus's comments have brought me to the following ID's
The shorty is indeed an Ambroid, based on the hardware, detail of the window sash etc.and roof layout.
The second one with the offset coop is an All Nation, the real "tell" for it over the very similar Walther's version is the cast frame and specific shape and height of the cupola.
The last one with the center coop with the single side window indeed is most likely a Traincraft kit (damn impressive there Martin)
I spent a considerable amount with the google searches and eventually found a shot of the TC kit with a photo of the finished model, and its a dead nuts match.
Thanks to all who helped with this, I will have a master list of the pile completed shortly.
Last edited by De Bruin on Tue Aug 18, 2020 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Rufus T. Firefly
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:47 am

De Bruin wrote:The last one with the center coop with the single side window indeed is most likely a Traincraft kit (damn impressive their Martin)
I spent a considerable amount with the google searches and eventually found a shot of the TC kit with a photo of the finished model, and its a dead nuts match.


I've built a few TC caboose kits and have 2-3 on the shelf. They are surprisingly nice although that scribed plywood siding does tend to be a bit "brittle" and lightly scribed.
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De Bruin
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby De Bruin » Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:00 pm

Yes, to your point the very thin roof sheet was splitting badly enough over the end platforms that I form-fitted two curved sheets from thin basswood and clamp/cemented them to the undersides to keep them from breaking off entirely, you can barely see the edge of one of them on the right.

Now that I'm done with the sorting and count, here are some of the more interesting (not getting scrapped) pieces found therein. If anybody thinks misidentified the manufacturer please let us know.
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Jim tells me this 17/64 PFE reefer is a Lobaugh
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One of the better builds in the pile albeit the brake wheel is mounted backwards. Like that Lobaugh tank, the car is impressive in its heft and details.

Image Here’s an interesting single sheathed 40’ that Jim id’d in the 1941 Walthers catalog as a #3880 kit with a #C423 cast panel end.
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Definitely would be benefit from a thorough cleaning and re-coat, also note bulging side ladders, a common assembly error on many of these.

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Next, an X41a 50’ automobile car, believe this a Walthers kit based on its bolsters and the castings.
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Really like the end-door casting here in particular, though the sides definitely need some refurbishment.

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Finally, this distinctive 60’ X40b wearing the original LCL service scheme, thinking another Walthers. I’m thinking the sides might be printed/silk-screened or perhaps are unusually well applied decals. I’ll post more as I get to them and think they warrant attention, at around 380 pieces it is a huge lot and has only been sorted and cursorily id' for now.
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R.K. Maroon
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby R.K. Maroon » Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:33 pm

Hmm...I might have been well into a third martini if I said that PFE reefer was a Lobaugh. What does the underside look like?

I want to return to the trucks on this tank car, posted several posts above:

Image

I had not recalled seeing anything quite like those, but by complete chance this mill gon arrived a few days ago sporting very similar trucks:

Image
Image

The model was originally introduced by Hines, but wound up with F.A. Simon (home of Kansas City Kits) when they bought out Hines. This is only the second one I have seen (and I own the other), so they don't seem to be very common. Here are close-ups of the trucks:'

Image
Image
Image

The sideframes are different than the ones on the tank car, but the bolster and overall quality (not great) are the same. Hines had a large line of trucks but the bolsters on the many I have are different (Specifically, they have a slight taper from sideframe to kingpin) and better detailed. They could, I suppose, be very early Hines, or they could be Kansas City Kit (don't know that they offered their own line), or something else. Another mystery!

Jim
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bob turner
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby bob turner » Tue Aug 18, 2020 7:06 pm

I have some similar sideframes and bolsters. I will try to get a photo.

Looking at these older cars is fun! Someone will have almost that much fun with mine. A couple of the ice cars have spikes in them for weight - dropping them would make a toothpick factory.

J. S. Bach
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby J. S. Bach » Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:30 am

De Bruin wrote: ...snip,,,
Image
Finally, this distinctive 60’ X40b wearing the original LCL service scheme, thinking another Walthers. I’m thinking the sides might be printed/silk-screened or perhaps are unusually well applied decals. I’ll post more as I get to them and think they warrant attention, at around 380 pieces it is a huge lot and has only been sorted and cursorily id' for now.

I have two of these and was thinking about posting the same query. Anyway they are decals; the film is obvious on mine. How someone can lay really long arrow-straight decals is beyond me! One is Road number 37000 and the other is #37001. #37000 appears to be the supplied number as the decal is one piece and on the other the #1 is substituted for the #0. I do believe that they are a kit as both cars have a lot of identical parts. One is built with KD couplers/fixed doors and the other with dummy couplers/opening doors and are slightly different shades of Tuscan.. Also both have different brands of trucks.
Edit: They were built by two different people as far as I can tell.

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De Bruin
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby De Bruin » Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:38 pm

J. S. Bach wrote:How someone can lay really long arrow-straight decals is beyond me!

I cheat and pre-draw a line on the car body side with a #6mp for the long stripes and edges, minor fluctuations in the line generally doesn't ruin the effect as the mind "tells" the eye what it expects to see. Your results my vary. :wink:

Some more from the donation pile, name the manufacturer/source kit?
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I cleaned the above up considerably albeit well short of rebuilding , though it has a major construction flaw, I still like it.

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This beauty arrived in a subsequent lot, I believe originally finished by the late Arthur Hambrick, very nice aluminum casting.

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A definite grade above most of the earlier examples at least quality wise. I was later surprised to find the same model on one of the clubs interchange tracks albeit painted black and lettered Reading.

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This final one came in the same lot as the gon, very "X31-ish" looking though I seem to think PRR had a specific class for these.
hint- it's not a ScaleCraft either.
disclaimer- don't know what it actually is, guessing Walthers?
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Dennis Holler
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby Dennis Holler » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:09 am

Does that last one have cast ends or stamped Brass ends? I was liking too many of those cars really lol. I was thinking I had also seen a 65 foot mill gon in the Alexander catalog that I have but upon further review no dice. I must have been thinking of the one in the Lobaugh catalog. The only long gondolas I have are the straight sided Scale Craft and a couple of the MP offset panel sided Rail-Craft. Oh I guess I have one of those wood fabbed kits of the MP panel sided as well who ever made those kits.

I got tired of bidding on an Alexander tank car the other day. It looked like it was just the baseball bat tank and distinctive Alexander frame but was a nice looking tank to me.
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De Bruin
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby De Bruin » Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:41 pm

Dennis Holler wrote:Does that last one have cast ends or stamped Brass ends?

It's got stamped ends, though white metal instead of brass and also notably different shape then the SP SC Dbl Door posted on OGR (made this comparison shot for Maroon before renovating the SC box ) Also has a stout set of cast side doors and a cast underframe. Really nice car.
Image
Now thinking it's an Alexander? Anybody?

Dennis Holler wrote:I must have been thinking of the one in the Lobaugh catalog.

That previous gon is way shorter than a 65', though those Lobaughs mil-gons are GREAT models which I covet.

Dennis Holler wrote:The only long gondolas I have are the straight sided Scale Craft and a couple of the MP offset panel sided Rail-Craft.
Oh I guess I have one of those wood fabbed kits of the MP panel sided as well who ever made those kits.

Stay tuned, I will be posting a bunch of old gons in the list, some of which sound like what you're describing.

Dennis Holler wrote:I got tired of bidding on an Alexander tank car the other day. It looked like it was just the baseball bat tank and distinctive Alexander frame but was a nice looking tank to me.

Did it look like this?
Image
This is a brute, as heavy as that tank with the single Lobaugh J&L style posted earlier. Nice car, but yeah heavy as hell.
Image

Sorry, but you don't really seem like that much of a "Doorstop Rookie" anymore :wink:
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ScaleCraft
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby ScaleCraft » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:00 am

Tank has SC trucks with a home made truck span bolster in bottom photo, right. I do those out of square acrylic rod.
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Dennis Holler
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby Dennis Holler » Sun Sep 27, 2020 9:43 am

Yes, the tank was the Alexander underframe. That is very distinctive with the ends angled back from center. Was a Texaco in Silver. really nice car, I stopped bidding at $25 and I think it went on a bit above that. It was mis labled so only the keen probably caught it but it only takes two lol. I have one in a box somewhere lol.. I missed the Walthers 60ft LCL, I have one of those as well. really a pretty cool car although darned long!!. I was confused the first Scale craft auto box car I got with those brass stamped ends. I was used to the more standard SC cars lol. But they definitely are nice cars and freaking big, have to be 17/64 in wide and tall as big as they are. I'll have to dig some cars out for comparison lol.
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Rufus T. Firefly
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Sun Sep 27, 2020 9:47 am

De Bruin wrote:This beauty arrived in a subsequent lot, I believe originally finished by the late Arthur Hambrick, very nice aluminum casting.

Image
A definite grade above most of the earlier examples at least quality wise. I was later surprised to find the same model on one of the clubs interchange tracks albeit painted black and lettered Reading.


Nice looking gon :!:
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De Bruin
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby De Bruin » Wed Oct 14, 2020 9:54 pm

The donation pile continues to yield beaucoup repair and clean-up prior to listing on "da'bay."
Once again in the interest of "truth in advertising" (remember that?) I'll run this by the brain-trust here in the hope that I can be as definitive as possible when these go on the block.
Image
The pile has a good 9 to 10 NP cars in various states of disrepair. These two were originally the most decrepit as in missing doors, mismatched trucks, crappy decals, car body filth etc. as well apparently the oldest prototypes, albeit sans truss-rods.
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I'm not down with re-decaling or dry-transfers for them but did address some of their additional issues at least part-ways.
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So, a cursory survey has the general consensus is as follows, Westbrook top ends (recall Westbrook's as two-part "top" and "bottom" kits) and Walthers truck and under-body bolsters. Note the ends are sheathed wood just like the sides.
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De Bruin
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby De Bruin » Sun Oct 18, 2020 12:41 am

The deeper I go into this donation pile the more I learn about the original owner/builder’s perspective based on his collection. Living in Butte, he got to see a snoot full of long freight trains on the Milw and NP likely loaded with home road cars, yet though Butte was at the end of a branch line of the GN’s his focus was primarily on that road with 15 plus locomotives and 20 plus freight cars, 30 HW and LW passenger cars passenger cars. Oddly only one Milw car is in the entire pile too.
Here’s the set of his NP boxcars of which the previous two are a part of.
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I thought most of these were junkers but a good washing and some basic repair and they shape up pretty well for old kit builds, again decals notwithstanding.
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I'll post the mug shots of the rest of these as I get to them and work up their listing.
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Another significant aspect about his approach is the glut of Atlas-Roco, I guess based on its affordability “Montana Guy” went through the F9’s like they were popcorn, harnessing them into hard wired multiple three and four unit sets with a single Astrac receiver between them, albeit leaving most of them in the factory BN scheme with altered road #’s. There may be 20 plus of these “mutants“ here in various states of decomp, disintegration etc. , the scope of the entire collection is a little staggering.
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bob turner
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Re: ID these senior citizens?

Postby bob turner » Sun Oct 18, 2020 11:23 am

Can't wait for the close-ups.
A bit incongrous - old and rare, pulled by junk plastic?


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