Eric Hansmann

Housecleaning

Vachon, John, photographer. Yardman polishing light on railroad switch. Elkins, West Virginia, 1939, June. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/20177180 91/.

A couple blog features have been updated with new information. This happens periodically and it’s important to keep these resources up to date.

Detailing an Accurail Fowler boxcar

Manny Jacob sent along his techniques to upgrade the Accurail Fowler boxcar kit. Here’s Manny with the details.

I was excited when Accurail added a Fowler boxcar to their product lineup as this famous Canadian boxcar design can be quickly added to a freight car fleet at an affordable price. I purchased a couple kits to add to my fleet. One car was factory painted and lettered and the other was undecorated.

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.

Tidbits

It’s been hot and humid in middle Tennessee, plus I’ve been in and out of town. I haven’t done much modeling but a couple of tasks were completed. The lead photo shows the M-15 boxcar trucks. Of course, the B&O couldn’t use the same type of trucks on different car sub-classes. It’s just another detail to work through as the models await a decent day for the spray booth.

Data

Prototype modelers love data. Sifting through the details of an Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER) can offer insight to many different in-service freight cars. A few months ago, I went through a 1926 ORER and tabulated data on car types for each railroad. It wasn’t as difficult as it sounds.