Have been at it for hours. Can't seem to locate a source for Espee rosters, particularly for MoW and snow equipment that is specific for the earlty to mid-50s. I need to nail down the numbering schemes that existed during that restricted period. There are a number of lists out there that display the progression of numbers and changes - but they don't give the dates when each new series became effective. Regrettably, photos aren't being helpful; those that are dated don't coincide with that period, or the proper period shots that are available are at angles where numbers are invisible or otherwise obscured. Arrgghh!
Is there any help for this growing sense that I'm becoming a prototype slave?
John
RR_Mel I’m assuming you have checked the ESPEE site. http://espee.railfan.net/sp_rotaries.html http://search.freefind.com/find.html?id=9628440&pid=r&mode=ALL&query=roster&t=s Mel Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951 My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Thanks, Mel. Yes, I've pretty well exhausted this tremendous site. Though I did find a shot of spreader #4006 that must be one of the earliest versions of SP units with a definitive photo. It's the only one that comes close to the Walthers kit. It has the shorter cab, and still has the smaller main strut cylinder without the dogleg horizontal extender back from the upper main frame. All that's required is the Custom Finishing low front mod, extending the cab platform to the back, figuring out what to model on the rear deck and resizing the air tank underneath. Then the remaining railing and hangar work. Adding the rust will be easy for us Oregon folks.
But I still can't date either the car number or the color as being good for the early 50s.
May have to hit the archives at the CSRM to find what I need - but don't want to have to wait until my next trip to CA, or to leave my sweetie bored to death while I scrounge through their stacks
John!
Attuvian May have to hit the archives at the CSRM to find what I need - but don't want to have to wait until my next trip to CA, or to leave my sweetie bored to death while I scrounge through their stacks John!
Why, Old Town is just steps away; and it is full of emporiums of retail delight!
Ed
Come on, Ed. My mother warned me years ago to stay out of "emporiums". Perhaps she associated them with other types of old businesses . . . . .
The day has not gone totally to waste: I finally nailed down the extant number series for SP rotaries for the early 50s. Found them on p.103 of A. M. Best's "Snowplows". I think their dedicated tenders carried the same numbers with "-B" suffixes.
This page has some information you might be interested including dates for SD9E units and other snow fighting equipment.
http://www.trainweb.org/rrsnowfighting/
SPH&TS seems to focus mainly on this era. You might try looking at back issues.
https://sphts.myshopify.com/collections/trainline-back-issues?page=1
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Thanks, Eric.
I'd forgotten about Trainline. I might spring for a copy of the DVD of their first 41 issues. But that's only slightly less than a third of them. Perhaps I can come across a master index.
Perhaps I can get in touch with Tony Thompson, who may be the master key to unlocking the three (currently) remaining snow removal questions I have. Tried once to get a response through his blog.
Perhaps persistence is in order.