Mine starts with a 61' centerbeam flat. Noone makes them in HO. Yet they are far from rare, perhaps not as ubiquitous as 73' centerbeams...but BNSF has 500 61` footers, for instance. There are plenty of examples in the prototype, hauling green lumber, ties and drywall, and many in use with shortlines for all lumber products.
And those 73' cars just would look hideous rounding my 26" radius. Why can't a manufacturer make a 61' centerbeam for those of us under a 30+" radius?
I suggested it to Walthers in a mail with some good justification regarding eras and prototype inventories, but I'm sure it that will go nowhere. My kitbashing skills with cars are utterly untested, so I don't think i'm going with that...
A modern Great Lakes iron ore / taconite car, like BNSF has used the last 10 years or so.
These aren't revenue freight cars, but I would like to see some runs of road specific MOW equipment in plastic. I have seen plenty of good stuff in brass, but that can get costly quick. I know that you can get some decent modern stuff from companies like Custom Finishing, but I would like to see some transition era cars.
I am aware that Walther's and a couple of other companies have released generic cars and sets in the past, but I want some new releases.
shawnee wrote: Mine starts with a 61' centerbeam flat. Noone makes them in HO. Yet they are far from rare, perhaps not as ubiquitous as 73' centerbeams...but BNSF has 500 61` footers, for instance. There are plenty of examples in the prototype, hauling green lumber, ties and drywall, and many in use with shortlines for all lumber products.And those 73' cars just would look hideous rounding my 26" radius. Why can't a manufacturer make a 61' centerbeam for those of us under a 30+" radius? I suggested it to Walthers in a mail with some good justification regarding eras and prototype inventories, but I'm sure it that will go nowhere. My kitbashing skills with cars are utterly untested, so I don't think i'm going with that...
I would also like to see some of the shorter, early center beams produced. McKean, now long gone, did this particular version, however they were a horrible kit to build. I still try to locate them usually under years of dust on the shelves. Jaeger makes some real nice loads for them.
As it is know, you're propably stuck to using bulkhead flats for a shorter lumber car.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Since none of the major plastic car manufacturers have made a new HO wood underframe truss rod car in over 30 years, I'd vote for that.
I would say a 30 or 34' hopper bottom gondola. Probably 30 or 40,000 of them used used between 1880 and 1910. Modeling before WW1 without these cars is like modeling the 1950's without twin hoppers. Has never been made in plastic and only one model in resin.
A 34' wooden truss rod boxcar. Once again modeling before WW1 without these cars is like modeling the 1950's without 40 foot boxcars. Has never been made accurately in plastic (except for some train set quality models), only in craftsman wood.
A 30 ft wood truss hopper car. THE coal car of the 1860-1890 era. Versions were used by every major coal hauling railroad in that era. Has never been modeled commercially.
A 4 wheel wooden coal jimmy. THE coal car of the 1840-1870 era. Used by virtually every American railroad of the era. Has never been modeled in plastic. May have been one metal model made in the 1950's and there is a wood craftsman kit.
A Union tank car from the 1890's, basically a 5-8000 gal iron tank on a wood flatcar. Has never been modeled in plastic, only as a wood craftsman kit.
All of the above models were built in the thousands during their era and were used by many roads.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
csmith9474 wrote: These aren't revenue freight cars, but I would like to see some runs of road specific MOW equipment in plastic.
Maybe somebody could release a "generic" set of MOW equipment with a lot of decals for different road names.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Some BNSF taconite cars would be nice, but what I really want is modern intermodal equipment like a 53' spine car, and a wider varaitey of well cars but I see kato is comeing out with some so that is good. Also modern mechanical reefers with the fridge units hanging off the end like a semi refer. And for passenger some pacific surfliner equipment, "modern" cascades talg equipment and the bi-levels the metra curentley uses.
I know that in those listed the spine car has been made but only in a brass kit, and so has the surfliner but only in brass, and so has the talgo but it is the old style which would need new paint and fins on the end cars.
Joe
Well, I was going to add trash train equipment, but I see Atlas is planning to release HO scale 'EPIC' (or at least hi-cube) trash containers.
However, weren't there also smooth-sided gondolas covered with tarps that the railroads also use (or used)? Have some pictures somewhere, thought they were purpose-built.Oh well, some coverted stuff would be great for trash train haulage also.
bogp40 wrote: shawnee wrote: Mine starts with a 61' centerbeam flat. Noone makes them in HO. Yet they are far from rare, perhaps not as ubiquitous as 73' centerbeams...but BNSF has 500 61` footers, for instance. There are plenty of examples in the prototype, hauling green lumber, ties and drywall, and many in use with shortlines for all lumber products.And those 73' cars just would look hideous rounding my 26" radius. Why can't a manufacturer make a 61' centerbeam for those of us under a 30+" radius? I suggested it to Walthers in a mail with some good justification regarding eras and prototype inventories, but I'm sure it that will go nowhere. My kitbashing skills with cars are utterly untested, so I don't think i'm going with that...I would also like to see some of the shorter, early center beams produced. McKean, now long gone, did this particular version, however they were a horrible kit to build. I still try to locate them usually under years of dust on the shelves. Jaeger makes some real nice loads for them.As it is know, you're propably stuck to using bulkhead flats for a shorter lumber car.
It is indeed also true that those early centerbeam flats were 60 footers, and the 70+ footers didn't come out until the mid/late 80s. So theoretically, a model of a 60 footer would find more modelers interested because the era is a bit longer for them, not just last twenty years of so.
Well, 60 foot centerbeam flats. This was my manufacturers rant for the day.
NB...I think Athearn produces MOW unit trains, don't they? Funny thing about Athearn, they don't get listed on the Walthers site, at least they don't seem to show up in my search. Maybe there is bad blood there?
TwinZephyr wrote:For the most part I agree with Dave H. But I would put a 34' or 36' HO scale wood truss rod flat car at the top of the list. It would be so easy for Athearn to add a truss rod flat car to the Roundhouse line.
I seem to remember that MDC/Roundhouse did make plastic 36' truss-rod boxcars.
Dan
Any of the PRR X29 rebuilds (i.e., X29A, X29B, X29D, etc.) in N scale.
Red Caboose and Micro Trains have made the basic X29... but thousands were rebuilt after WWII to increase their height and width. Several manufacturers take standard 40' boxcars and call 'em X29A, X29B, etc. (like Micro Trains), but none have the narrow side-sills typical of these rebuilds.
The closest match is the Atlas 40' USRA rebuild, which they offer as a Pennsy "X26C," and it does have the inset side sills. It has a height appropriate for the X26 rebuilds, but the X29 rebuilds were taller.
Why does this matter? There were literally tens of thousands of these cars in interchange service across the country and into Canada from WWII until the early 70s.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
If one tiptoes through the latest issue of "Railway Prototype Cyclopedia", there's an article on the USRA double-sheathed boxcars. There were 31,979 of them owned by 31 railroads. I'd like to see a FINE quality version--separate ladders, grabs, etc--something like the Kadee boxcar.
The centerbeam cars sound good too, though.
Ed
shawnee wrote: Mine starts with a 61' centerbeam flat. Noone makes them in HO. Yet they are far from rare, perhaps not as ubiquitous as 73' centerbeams...but BNSF has 500 61` footers, for instance. There are plenty of examples in the prototype, hauling green lumber, ties and drywall, and many in use with shortlines for all lumber products.
Actually some one did make the 61' centerbeam in HO. They just aren't currently in production but you can certainly find them at train shows and on fleabay. I have one of each. Were you not aware that Front Range and later McKean made the 61 foot centerbeam? Granted, they are not the best kits in the world, but with some effort you can get them built up. I have a Front Range Western Pacific 61 foot centerbeam and I did have to re-paint it black because it erroneously came in dark blue. I also have a McKean Burlington Northern 61' centerbeam. Have these models exactly because I need them to have a representative fleet of western freight cars for 70's and 80's modeling. I'd like to see an improved version/all new version of the 61' centerbeam, but the point is, they were produced and you can still find them out there.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Stilwell oyster car in S.
Some pre WWI cars in S. Especially with truss rods.
Pickle cars in S.
Enjoy
Paul
One of the kits I would like to see the most is a good model of a bowl deck 89' flat car (PS, Bethlehem or ACF)- these cars were used in droves in the 60s and 70s (and some survived into the 80s) not only in piggyback service, but many were retrofitted with autoracks. Since Atlas and Walthers have released other 89' flats (channel side, flush deck flats) I hope one of these cars is in the works for us 1970s modelers- we deperately need one! Here are some examples courtesy of George Elwoods Fallen Flags site:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ttx/ttx601395wba.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ttx/ttx601276akg.jpg
7j43k wrote: If one tiptoes through the latest issue of "Railway Prototype Cyclopedia", there's an article on the USRA double-sheathed boxcars. There were 31,979 of them owned by 31 railroads. I'd like to see a FINE quality version--separate ladders, grabs, etc--something like the Kadee boxcar.
They already exist: Westerfield and Funaro & Carmelengo. Sunshine has over a dozen versions of the cars as rebuilt, and Tichy has one as well.
And sign me up for some quality plastic 30' to 36', pre-WWI freight cars as well; I'm getting tired of scratchbuilding all of mine.
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
How about some of those Conrail Ore jennys
Chris
Lancaster, CA
Check out my railroad at: Buffalo and Southwestern
Photos at:Flicker account
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mj5890 wrote: Some BNSF taconite cars would be nice, but what I really want is modern intermodal equipment like a 53' spine car, and a wider varaitey of well cars but I see kato is comeing out with some so that is good. Also modern mechanical reefers with the fridge units hanging off the end like a semi refer. And for passenger some pacific surfliner equipment, "modern" cascades talg equipment and the bi-levels the metra curentley uses.I know that in those listed the spine car has been made but only in a brass kit, and so has the surfliner but only in brass, and so has the talgo but it is the old style which would need new paint and fins on the end cars.Joe
I am sure I saw an announcement by Athearn that they will be producing 57' platform, 3 unit spine cars. However, I cannot find it in my e-mail or on Athearn's website.
I would like to see models of FGE built reefers, FGE built 60' RBLs, Trinity Industries built LPG tank cars. Also, I would like to more accurate models of PCF built reefers, specifically with SPFE details. There are several more.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
dehusman wrote:Since none of the major plastic car manufacturers have made a new HO wood underframe truss rod car in over 30 years, I'd vote for that.I would say a 30 or 34' hopper bottom gondola. Probably 30 or 40,000 of them used used between 1880 and 1910. Modeling before WW1 without these cars is like modeling the 1950's without twin hoppers. Has never been made in plastic and only one model in resin.A 34' wooden truss rod boxcar. Once again modeling before WW1 without these cars is like modeling the 1950's without 40 foot boxcars. Has never been made accurately in plastic (except for some train set quality models), only in craftsman wood.A 30 ft wood truss hopper car. THE coal car of the 1860-1890 era. Versions were used by every major coal hauling railroad in that era. Has never been modeled commercially.A 4 wheel wooden coal jimmy. THE coal car of the 1840-1870 era. Used by virtually every American railroad of the era. Has never been modeled in plastic. May have been one metal model made in the 1950's and there is a wood craftsman kit.A Union tank car from the 1890's, basically a 5-8000 gal iron tank on a wood flatcar. Has never been modeled in plastic, only as a wood craftsman kit.All of the above models were built in the thousands during their era and were used by many roads.Dave H.
shawnee wrote: NB...I think Athearn produces MOW unit trains, don't they? Funny thing about Athearn, they don't get listed on the Walthers site, at least they don't seem to show up in my search. Maybe there is bad blood there?
It's not really bad blood, it's just that Athearn and Roundhouse/MDC were bought by a competing distributor; Horizons Inc. So you'll have to go to Horizon's site.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
riogrande5761 wrote: shawnee wrote: Mine starts with a 61' centerbeam flat. Noone makes them in HO. Yet they are far from rare, perhaps not as ubiquitous as 73' centerbeams...but BNSF has 500 61` footers, for instance. There are plenty of examples in the prototype, hauling green lumber, ties and drywall, and many in use with shortlines for all lumber products.Actually some one did make the 61' centerbeam in HO. They just aren't currently in production but you can certainly find them at train shows and on fleabay. I have one of each. Were you not aware that Front Range and later McKean made the 61 foot centerbeam? Granted, they are not the best kits in the world, but with some effort you can get them built up. I have a Front Range Western Pacific 61 foot centerbeam and I did have to re-paint it black because it erroneously came in dark blue. I also have a McKean Burlington Northern 61' centerbeam. Have these models exactly because I need them to have a representative fleet of western freight cars for 70's and 80's modeling. I'd like to see an improved version/all new version of the 61' centerbeam, but the point is, they were produced and you can still find them out there.
Rio, no I wasn't aware of that, but because of the post, I am now. I was just thinking current models, since finding them on E-Bay is a bit of a crap shoot, and the end quality will be up to whoever built it, though I'll try to search a few out. Well, still goes to the point however, that a model maker oughta make an excellent current 61' centerbeam again! Dropped a note to Huberts and Atlas yesterday about it too.
stilson4283 wrote:How about some of those Conrail Ore jennys Chris Lancaster, CA
Are you talking about the Ex-PRR G39's, if so they are made by Bowser (Ex-Stewart). Although I would like to see some G38's and not the foobie version that is currently offered by Athearn.
Rick
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
Well...even though these don't necessarily fall under the catagory of "models no one makes", I sured would like to see a few more NYC cabooses made.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
bogp40 wrote: As it is know, you're propably stuck to using bulkhead flats for a shorter lumber car.
Bob...well my solution is that my freelance shortline cornered the market on a few remaining Thrall All-door boxcars. Y'know, there are still about a hundred of them out there roaming the roads. 56 foot the All-Doors fit well on my curves. My excuse for the rare car, the lumber mill is a hardwood sawmill, and that's a special wood that needs the added protection. Well you gotta do what you gotta do...
Guess the shortline will have to hire a maintenance wizard to keep those doors operating. Until such time as a manufacturer comes out with a 61 foot centerbeam.
Hi,
Thanks for the opportunity to voice my opinion on this!
- I want a depressed center flatcar that fits the transition era - preferrably in ATSF, IC, or C&NW logo.
- I want a silver bodied Western Pacific boxcar with the full side orange feather (yes, I know some are available from yesteryear, but I want a Bev-Bel, or Proto or KD or ???
- I want some transition era 3 bay hoppers for the ATSF with multiple road numbers.
And as long as I'm here, let me speak up on passenger cars.........
- I want some Walthers or Rapido Illinois Central streamline baggage, RPO, and tail end passenger cars!!!
Thanks again,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
If there are no dogs in heaven,then I want to go where they go.
mobilman44 wrote: - I want a silver bodied Western Pacific boxcar with the full side orange feather (yes, I know some are available from yesteryear, but I want a Bev-Bel, or Proto or KD or ???
Done: Kadee PS-1 + Detail Associates #9002 decals.
Kurn wrote:Plastic kits of B&O wagontops.
Seconded, both M-53 and M-15, as well as N-34 covered hoppers.
Also: 40ft, 10'6" IH 12-panel boxcars 40ft RBLs