freight cars – Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads

Catching up

A month can disappear quickly. I’ve been keeping busy, just not posting updates. A few models have moved forward and I attended the St. Louis Railroad Prototype Modeler (RPM) meet since the last post. Time to catch up.

A blurred year

Like many modelers, I enjoy taking a moment in January to review the projects of the previous year. It often gives me comfort to know that I’m actually moving models toward completion. 2020 was a very strange year as the Covid-19 pandemic upset our lives and routines. I also completed several models that had sat idle for months and years. It makes it harder to define what was actually started and finished in 2020, making it all seem like a blurred year.

Truss Rod end freight cars

It’s time for another freight car resource file. Ray Breyer has compiled information on truss rod end freight cars. We think of truss rods supporting freight car underframes but they were also used in other applications. Ray presents lots of photos and data covering these uses in a handy document.

Ray’s resource PDF is available on the Freight Car Fleets page. We hope modelers find it useful to build early wood boxcars for their fleets. We have more railroad fleet data and details coming soon.

Many thanks to Ray for pulling the data and images into one document.

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Virtual RPM – April 2020

A small band of Pre-Depression Era railroad modelers has been busy during this time of social distancing. We encourage each other and assist with prototype and model questions. This blog post is a virtual RPM with photos and details of their latest works. All models here are HO scale.

Looking forward

As a new year opens, sometimes I look at my workbench and am disappointed with the unfinished projects. I was hoping to decal three boxcars in November and only finished one. It’s been a busy time of year with a couple trips to visit kids and grand kids, and prepping articles for Model Railroad Hobbyist. I must remind myself that it’s about balance and perspective as I review a busy 2019 and look forward to another trip around the sun.