More resources!

The Car Builders’ Cyclopedia of American Practice has been published through the years by Simmons-Boardman Publishing. Early volumes were published by Railway Age and the Railway Gazette. These have become valuable modeling resources to understand early rolling stock designs and the many assorted hardware elements that were applied. Later editions had a title adjustment to Car Builders’ Dictionary and Cyclopedia, as seen in the 1919 title page above.

Recent messages on some discussion lists included links to several volumes that are in the public domain. I created a blog resource page here to help modelers find these PDF versions.

I’ve often referred to volumes when building and detailing freight car models. Many of the freight cars and hardware details published between 1905 and 1925 remained pertinent in later years. I hope these publications inspire your modeling efforts.


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