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

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.

Time out!

I can’t believe it is almost mid-October. It seemed like August was just a week ago. The last several weeks have flown right by as several projects have kept me busy.

Photography

I use a camera to document lots of model work. My iPhone is typically used at the workbench to capture details during a build but I also like to snap photos with my DSLR to document stages of construction. It’s more of an official company photographer act. This post leads with a photo of my studio set up in the garage. I keep it simple.