Elliot's Trackside Diner 26

[Cederstrand]

Extra strong coffee in a  UNION PACIFIC  mug, please. 

***Sue, good to see you here. How about posting some pics of your latest work? Did you finish that creek? And what was the "stuff" you used to make the water? Sorry, short memory here.

Collected a small box of weeds/twigs to make more trees, but it's windy and wet out, so won't be able make any today. Kinda need a day of rest anyway.

Have a good day y'all.

Rob

[tstage]

Greetings everyone,

I've noted that the "50 pg. limit" is quickly approaching us again.  With that said, I have an idea that I'd like to bounce off of you all.

I believe that the page limit once stipulated by Erik is now not as much a factor as it used to be.  May I therefore suggest that the beginning of every month now become the new designated time for diner moves rather than it being based purely on sheer page count.

I see an advantage to this in two ways.  Diner moves:

• Are easy to remember - e.g. The current diner closes and the next diner opens when the first patron walks in on...April 1st.  (Really! - No foolin'! )
  
• Can (but don't have to) be differentiated by month/year - e.g. Elliot's Diner - April 2010.  This makes time references to and tracking of previous conversations easier for patrons.
  

 

Anyhow, let me know what you think.  You don't need to PM me.  Just make your comments in this thread.  Thanks.

Tom

[LSWrr]

Afternoon,

Sue, how is everything, see no long time.

Tom, I think that’s a good idea.  OBTW; I picked up a Lake & Geauga Northern box car at the show and a few RR signs for the train room.  I also won the door prize, been going to that show for almost 10 years now and never won anything before.

 

[ns3010]

Evening all. Flo, I'll take a RBF, thanks.

Been working on my chem lab for a while. It'd be really nice to get a good grade on this. I usually get an 80 on them, but can never seem to figure out why. But this time, I did a lot of research, and hopefully it'll pay off. It's taking forever, since I have to write the chemical equations...
AgNO₃+Na₃PO₄ à Ag₃PO₄+3NaNO₃
I'm almost done, but I have to eat before I finish.

I see that Sue has dropped in. Good to see you again!

Tom, that would be a good idea. I believe someone brought that up when the 50 pg. rule was set, but Erik said it would still probably be a problem. Sounds good to me, as long as it won't be a problem for the rest of our users (as in making the entire forum really slow like it used to be).

Well, my food's here, then I gotta finish my lab, but I'll be back in later.

[JimRCGMO]

Afternoon, Janie - just a Rio Grande mug of hot cocoa, please. Thanks!

Sheesh, a LOT of pages to catch up with (and I likely won't before we have to move again, as talky as you other Diners are)!

And speaking of catching up - TStage, I like THAT idea of just a monthly move for the Diner, as well as the other one for naming each by the month (so we can find back posts more easily...). Thanks for suggesting that! (Hey, how's your layout coming? Website looked like you've been too busy with other stuff, but I like your wood fence tutorial (what you have so far for it, anyway).

Sue, good to see you stopping by the Diner - and as others asked, how's that creek and the mine (or was that logging camp?) coming along? Any pics?

Good to hear your grandson's doing better, Todd. Now, we need to get Jeff, Barry and Ulrich (and then there's Sawyer's arm/shoulder...) on the mend, too. (Or should I be talking about health-related stuff today...? )

Chris - one way to tell the ladies apart is that Flo is taller than either of the twins (Zoe and Chloe), and Janie doesn't look like either of the twins, either. Hope that helps! And heck, even I knew NOT to use a 100' extension cord for a 10' run! Somebody was not very smart with doing THAT (and running it under a rug or mattress...) As for THAT McKean boxcar, that's one more reason why my 'close enough' rule keeps me from getting a gen-u-whine RC card.

As for Cape G.'s weather today, we're having one of Barry's 'DULL' days, with some of that 80 percent coming down, even heavy enough to use the car's wipers on continuous. Oh joy! Good day to stay inside, but I wanted to come by here before the Diner got moved on me. ('Course, now I find out that TStage says we can wait until the end of the month for the move, but heck, I get to catch up some here.)

Sam, that sounds about right on your 'almost had my camera' railfanning events. THAT was one long tanker train - about 100? Hate to think of the crud all over if they had an accident or derailment.

Jerry, those ore cars look good - how long of a string will you be going for? I have some that I need to get painted and lettered (have the decals for them, I think...), but I'll probably only run about 5-8 at a time (have 12 kits I got off the Bay or at train shows).

Lee, I think I have a couple of the bottle stoppers (the ones that fit over the outside of the bottle's opening, rather than the ones that fit inside of the opening). I think the style I have is a later style than the 'inner' ones. How's Dorothy mending so far, by the way?

Todd, for the more ignorant among us (about wood grades, etc. - uh, that would be me...!), what is OSB? Is that what they are calling plywood now, or just certain versions of it?  Of course, the most recent time I bought wood, it was at a local builders' supply (where I think I wound up paying more because I didn't know better), but they cut the wood to size for me (I don't have any saw other than my saber saw and a hand/crosscut saw).

Keith, best wishes on getting the El Camino tuned up and running well again (once you get some decent weather there).

Jeff, Rob, Sawyer, Bama and our other Southern Diners (Ryan, too!), better expect some wet stuff over the next couple of days or so. I think this front hitting us today is the front end of a front that's just south of the SW Missouri-NW Arkansas line, and doesn't seem to be moving very quickly through. So you may get a good soaking this week. (Hey, I didn't pick this weather!)

Anyone heard from Calif. Tom lately? I'm wondering what happened to him...

I'll be sitting at the front window with my D&RGW mug a while and see who else joins us.

 

Blessings and prayers,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Trainman Sam]

Hello again my friends!

Just stopping in for a quick beverage, then I gotta run.  Chloe, may I please have an extra large RBF in a to go jug?  Thanks!

Sue- As they have said to Cotter "Welcome Back"!!!

Tstage- I definitely like THAT idea!  Would make finding the place so much easier and less time wandering the yard searching for the switcher crew to ask them where they put us "this" time!

Well, I had best gets a runnin' along!

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: I thought I'd better get in here as I hear that Milw Rd H-10-44 heading our way.

Not much going on here. One of the heifers had a baby last night. I figured she'd have it then as the weather was very cold and windy and wet. It seems that they will have them during the worst weather possible.

It's still very windy but it did get up to about 45f and sunny. Tomorrow is supposed to be close to 70f and not windy, I hope.

I must get back to my CCUs for my electrical liciense.

Good Night All

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening--

TStage: I like the idea of it being a monthly diner--it would be much easier to search then---

Whew---got that stuff done ---now it'll be a somewhat quiet next coupla days--I'll get some MR time in yet!!-------

I'm going to try and get some things done in the trainroom tonight---

Chloe---I'se be hungry--I's wants about 6 giant humongous quadruplex greaseburgers and a giant bowl of poutine as well as a tub of RBF please----I'll be at the corner booth for now

 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

It's a good idea bout the monthly move. We should decide ahead of time about who does it. That way we don't have two switchers tugging in opposite directions again.

JimCG .... I'm wondering what happened to Cal Tom, too.... Perhaps he was tired of chow hounds taking his portion before he could get to it.Look at Barry. Now  the diner is out of ground beef.  .... Step outside and scream: "YELLOWSTONE!" and see what happens. .... Next, scream "BERKSHIRE!" and hopefully Duke will wake up and talk with us.

Sue .... Goos to see you. You and Larry must be busy lately.

 

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

    Sebring went well finishing 1st and 2nd in class on our enduro and 1st 2nd and 3rd in class in the sprint race One DNF in the enduro but we were able to fix the car for the next day). I didn't get on with the computer because the wireless connection was ridiculously slow and overage minutes are quite dear.

   I'm going to try catching up posts before we move, but don't we exceed the 50pg limit some months? Just a thought.  Catch y'all later. J.R.

[der5997]

Good Sunday evening people:

Jerry:

Der John...Any photo up dates on your layout?..

...Not in a while, I've been too busy on maintenance. The running that #2 grandson and his friend did over their March Break visit showed up a few spots that needed tweaking - and one in particular at the freight yard lead is proving hard to fix because it's right under the mid-level loop. There's not a lot of clearance. This wasn't a problem before I re-designed the freight yard - but the re-design put the yard lead turnout under the mid level, and also introduced a slight grade up into the yard throat.  There's both horizontal and vertical miss-alignment that the 4 axel units can cope with. The 6 axel locos and some cars are not so happy.

(by Todd ) But I did, lay some more track, found a bad spot where in the curve the joint had shifted and made a too sharp bend for the triple axle to navigate.

That's what I'm talkin' about! I'm trying to fix this, and have even cut out a small section of the mid-level's foam to give a bit more clearance for getting a pin-vise in for spiking the rail.

Nice ore cars, BTW, and the street scene that goes back for ever!

Sawyer: As I see it, being macho about that injured shoulder, going back in before it's fully functional, is asking for a more serious condition that could side-line you for the rest of the season. ...and get fit soon!

For all the automobile enthusiasts here today, Luc sent us this ad  for Cadillac in China. - not your Granddaddy's Caddy!

(by Ray) Jeffrey you got the Big Bertha there!

...I was looking at that thing, and I wondered how it would be aimed. It doesn't seem to swivel, just control elevation. So, was it on a circular or arc of track? Anyone know?

Sue: Good to see you dropped in. Looking forward to the progress pics. (hint, hint)

Joe: Does Homeland Security know of your interest in Sodium Nitrate?

About the "Month Designated" Diner idea - sure sounds good to me; so long as a bread crumb trail is left for those of us who always use the "bookmark" door. Thanks.

Paul:

I figured she'd have it then as the weather was very cold and windy and wet. It seems that they will have them during the worst weather possible.

....you're quite sure you don't have a sheep there?

JR: on the Sebring Victories!

Well, sent an email to our Nova Scotia Minister of Finance as a follow-up to the public meeting Saturday. It was well run and informative (the meeting that is, can't speak for my mail!) and there was plenty of time to talk with him afterwards. I just wanted to re-state some points that were made which I think are worth noting. Nice to get a chance to directly with a cabinet minister.

A bit early yet for bed, but I'll say Goodnight anyway. So, God Bless, and I hope y'all sleep well. Prayers continuing for all in need of Healing, Comfort, Prosperity and Peace.

Did this escape from some-one's mug the other day?

[jeffrey-wimberly]

der5997

(by Ray) Jeffrey you got the Big Bertha there!

...I was looking at that thing, and I wondered how it would be aimed. It doesn't seem to swivel, just control elevation. So, was it on a circular or arc of track? Anyone know?

The traversing of the gun (moving the bore laterally) was controlled literally by changing the direction of the track. This could be done most easily by having it on a curved track that allowed the bore to point in any one direction in a given range. Since the gun had to be lowered after each shot to be reloaded then raised and re-aimed there was no way to keep it on any one target anyway.

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!

Nothing for me tonight Flo, I just walked in the door from dinner with a couple of High School friends of mine.  We get together every too many years or so just to keep in touch and talk about what out families are doing and old times as well.  We went to Belhurst Castle for dinner.  A bit pricey, but worth it!  I had a glass of their in house winery Pinot Noir wine to go along with "Charbroiled Cold Water Atlantic Salmon Fillet Garnished with Sweet and Spicy Honey Chili Glace and Served with Steamed Basmati Rice." Finished off with a cup of decafe and some of their decadent German Chocolate Cheesecake for dessert.  Goooooooooooooddddd!!!  I am stuffed. 

One of the guys is a retired History teacher who happens to be our County Historian.  I mentioned to him THAT among the things I got from my Father when he died was a book of attendance records for some of the one room schoolhouses in the Town of Hopewell dating from the early 1900s.  I told him I had contacted the County Hysterical Society twice and they never got back to me.  Then said I would think someone would them, aren't they legal documents?  He got wide eyed and said, yes, they are legal documents and belong in the county archives!  I have to find them and get them to him.....

Yes, I like the idea of a monthly move for the diner.  makes it more a regular thing THAT will be easy to remember and hopefully find when we move.  Makes sense to me!  I don't care what you call it as long as you don't call me late for dinner....

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 While studying the two railguns today I noticed that one has a warped barrel. No matter. I can part it out and use the trucks and their platforms to rebuild a large Tyco tank car I have. It should be an interesting project.

[TMarsh]

Good evening, Dr Pepper please.

Got to Menard's and got my sheet of plywood. Cut it and now have one more cut out for it to be ready to attach. So far so good. Still need to clean up a bit (ha ha that's an understatement) before ready for a progress picture.

Sue- Long time no hear. Yes please show us what you've been doing.

Jim- OSB is Oriented Strand Board. It is the stuff that looks like it is a bunch of wood shavings glued together. In fact, that's pretty much what it is. It has become very popular in the construction business as a substitute for plywood because it is less expensive than plywood which, as you know, is a couple (maybe three or four depending on the thickness) sheets of wood with filler sandwich. It is arguably as strong or stronger or not as strong as plywood depending on who you talk to and what tests you choose to believe. Personally, for the uses I use plywood for, unless you are looking for the single sheet of wood look, I have noticed no difference in functionality ( hey, that is a word).

J.R. - Congrats on the placings!

DerJohn- Aggravating isn't it. What happened to me was, I didn't notice that I had not cut the right rail square enough with the track. When I applied the next section the right rail, being the inside rail of the curve, and the movable rail of the flex track. The joiner of course was there but I did not notice the rail shifted to compensate, and that the new section of rail was not in the joiner but just barely before it came in contact with the tie. Because I am reusing flex track, the tie with the spike hole did not exist on the new section so it was not attached well enough until the caulk dried allowing it to shift and cause a sharp bend. I did not notice any of this as I was laying the track, even though I'm taking way longer than I did the first few times I've tried to build a layout. Luckily it only required a loosening of the track from the road bed, some fresh caulk squished under and a push, with some spikes driven around to secure until the caulk, once again, dried. So far so good.

As for the move. I don't have any problem finding the place even with the fifty page rule. I see no need to change. OK, so I just wanted to be different.

Actually, I do agree with the once a month change. Sounds very convenient and of course there can be a sort of agreement as to who starts the next one instead of uncertainty as to if someone has, or is at the same time, someone else is. I must admit, I thought about it a few times in the past, but wasn't sure if it needed to be done quite yet or if someone had already done it while I was trying. Naturally it doesn't matter to me if I start one or not, I'm just grateful we are allowed to be here at all. Thanks Mods!!!!!!!!!

Pryers for those in need

[Cederstrand]

Decaf coffee and a plate of papaya slices, please.

***Paul, you're not kidding about heifers picking the worst weather. We've lost two over the years, both extremely cold nights. Hope the new calf is doing well. Sure are cute little critters when they're finding their feet.

Storm came through this evening and is long gone now.

Rob

[switch7frg]

Anzio Annie sure coulddo a good job of rearranging the terra scape. But there too, she was limited. Annie was pushed out and back in a cave after a shot.  WOW what a hoot. ~~~  My model railroad was put on hold for a bit.  The computer went into a nosedive and crashed ~ into blue screen. $$$$$ for new puter . Saved cracked & chipped N&W mug , now for refill.

                                                  Jim

[ns3010]

Evening again.

Well, I got back in later than I was hoping to. So, since we're not moving tonight, I'll catch up tomorrow (ish).

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

 

Hi Gang,

We got home about 8:40 this evening and all went well, good roads and great weather. Poor Oklahoma & Kansas. You guys south of KC had better get your winter gear out again.  

Picked up some goodies at Sunset Junction in Spokane.

1.  A great looking Bank building by DPM called "First Bank", I am really impressed by the details on it.

 2.   Athern R2R  50 ft. FMC Boxcar for the NAR that runs through My oldest son's home town of Grande Prairie, Alberta.   I know, I know,  The Road name  doesn't fit my era, but the box does and I wanted it anyway.  

3.  Four various packages of Walthers Building accessories to add some detail to some buildings.

4.  A Kaydee, speedi driver cleaner for loco wheels.

5. A package of corragated sheet metal to redo the roof of my snow shed.

6. and some other odds and ends.

Pretty good haul for a short stay.

TMarsh

OSB is Oriented Strand Board. It is the stuff that looks like it is a bunch of wood shavings glued together. In fact, that's pretty much what it is. It has become very popular in the construction business as a substitute for plywood because it is less expensive than plywood which, as you know, is a couple (maybe three or four depending on the thickness) sheets of wood with filler sandwich. It is arguably as strong or stronger or not as strong as plywood depending on who you talk to and what tests you choose to believe. Personally, for the uses I use plywood for, unless you are looking for the single sheet of wood look, I have noticed no difference in functionality

 

There is nothing wrong with strand board Tom, you are right.  I used it in building my helix and it worked fine.

I hope all the AILS that have been bothering some friends here have made good progress in making themselves scarce. Prayers are with those in need.

Rob, is your wife going to hire you out as a tree maker ?.  Those are some fine examples you have shown us.  

Ulrich,  That last track plan you have shown looks like it will work fine for you and lots of possibilities of extending it when things improve for you.  Lets get at her >>>>>>

Jeff,  my goodness are you sure the Health Care system down there isn't using you as some sort of a Guinie Pig.   Hope these troubles that have slowed you up get solved quickly.

GR.  Congrats on the wins.  That is some accomplishment.  

Jerry,  was really glad to hear the you and Sallie have been getting out more.       Cabin Fever really starts to set in this time of the year if winter holds on longer than expected.

Has anyone heard from BlueHills lately?   Seems like a long time since he has popped into the Diner.   He only lives about 50 miles from me.

Well I'm off to bed. Been driving since 9:00 am today. Used to do it for a living and didn't think anything about it.   But have been off the road for about 7 years and just not use to the long hours on the asphalt any more.

Take care all,  sleep well.

Johnboy out................for now.

[LSWrr]

Good morning all,

Jim, I pushed Dorothy around all day yesterday….. Ok so she was in a wheel chair, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  She can hobble around on crutches but the blood flows into her foot and causes some pretty bad pain/swelling.  The wheel chair was great, allowing her to get out of the house and keep the foot elevated. She can do the bottom slide up the stairs but elects to sleep in the living room still.  Dorothy “finished her Master’s degree, but now she has to pick one of three specialized medical classes to finish it off so she has decided to take all three.


I remember the bottle stoppers that you pushed into the bottle and it had a plunger to keep the pop from going flat.  That was a few years ago…


I picked up the following items this weekend; B&O Sentinel service 40’ boxcar, Lake & Geauga Northern 40’ Boxcar (freelance layout), Yellow derrick car, four 12” x 13.5” wall signs (TP&W, DMIR, ERIE, and DT&I), some interior items for the roundhouse, six scrap metal gondola loads, yellow pre 1958 stop signs, pictorial history book on the Cleveland Flats, a few tee shirts for Dorothy, three heat sink tweezers, I beam tank car.


I did manage to get some layout time.  I installed some of the interior items for the roundhouse, installed all but 3 outside storage tracks around the turntable and fired up the new F3’s I bought 2 weeks ago.

The wall signs I bought are from “The Locomotive Works” out of Wilson, NY.  I’m going to scan the catalog into a PDF today.  They are made of heavy Plexiglas and they have 174 designs in stock.  If anyone wants a copy of the PDF send me a plain email and I’ll reply with the pdf.

[blownout cylinder]

LSWrr

I remember the bottle stoppers that you pushed into the bottle and it had a plunger to keep the pop from going flat.  That was a few years ago…

We have a few of those here in our house. And they still work---oddly enough

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And a Good Morning to you all--

We are just plain ol' dull with a 30% dribble bit currently doing its thing right now. Currently we are at 3C going to a high of 9C in the dull---

I got some MR time in last night and managed to get another of the loader/unloaders done for the new life mill. I've got to do some more hunting for the right diameter ABS piping for a couple of 60' wide and 110' tall silos to complete the complex. This ought to be a trick----

I'm also seriously considering a project to build up a GMD1 with A1A wheelsets. This, I have started by doing some poking around on google to get some illustrations of said beastie and now I need to find a locomotive that fits the body form of this. Gonna be interestin'!

Flo---I;ll have a large coffee and a breakfast bagel please---no not the 15lb one!!---just the regular one!--sheesh!!----I'm gonna sit at the RC and examine my drawings here----

[Robby P.]

 Good RAINY morning.  Yep its raining, and I believe all day!! 

  It doesn't matter to me about when moving the diner.  Maybe each month would be good, but we are a bunch of talkers.  Hopefully we don't get past 50+ pages each month, and slow down the servers.

 That's another thing.   We have a small leak in the roof around the chimney and another small one somewhere in the roof.  We need to get it fixed.  So when the weather people are calling for rain, you get this "here we go" feeling.  

 I finished up the police station.  Its not the best looking thing right now, but once I get some scenery going it might look better.   I'm also working on a small convenience store.  That will be beside the police station. 

 I wanted to the cement company I talked about a few months ago, but I got two buildings for the price of it.

 Todays plan............Who knows.  I was suppose to go to the car wash this morning, but I might get off due to the rain.  Maybe get some more MRR done.

[Blazzin]

  Robby... that has to be the best police station I've ever seen.  I like the side walks.

  Ulrich.. you and me bud.. today.. we celebrate.. yes.. First Day of Spring.

  52 degrees this morning.. and the past 3 days have been everything from foggy.. windy.. extreme hot... with hot winds blowing.

to fairly cold and chilly winds. 

  My dad and I were in Mo... and went to a resturant.. basically.. if it rained.. your meal was free.. with a sign that read.. "If you don't like the weather..

wait a spell"  Now how could anyone make a profit like that~

[Anonymous]

 Good Afternoon,

this will be only a short visit. My health is playing bad tricks on me again, so I have not been up to much in the last days. Just stay put and survive...

For those who dare to take a look on the other side of the big pond, here are some nice videos about European/Indian railroading.

1. Steam in Germany - 1960´s style

2. A visit to Norway

3. Gotthard Railway in Switzerland

4. Nilgiri Mountain Railway in India

These videos are taken from German TV, thus narration is in German. The pictures are really breathtaking, so it is still worth watching, despite the language.

Out again - back to the sofa.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Good morning. It's 38 and sunny. The high will be about 60 and it will be mostly sunny.

Nothing special going on today. I may start on the tear down of the railgun that has the warped barrel. The trucks and their platforms look like they can be adapted to fit a large tank car that I have. I also have to go through the stuff that came with the railguns and determine what I'll keep and what I'll be trading off or giving away. There's a lot to go through, much of it in the form of unassembled Athearn blue box kits.

[Cederstrand]

Coffee in a  UNION PACIFIC  mug, please.

Busy day ahead here. Have a good one y'all.

Rob

[howmus]

Mornin',  well it WAS morning when I started this. Been several interruptions.

Zoe, might as well see the lunch menu as long as it is noon time.  I will have my usual cup of dark roast though.  Put it in my R&GV Mug please.

"It's another rainy day, just a rainy, rainy day....."  Currently 38°F under rainy skies here in the Finger Lakes.  May get up into the low 50's later this afternoon.  Next couple of days appear to be forecast as "More of the same."

Oh well, more time to spend down cellar in the train rooms.  I have to get a flier ready for mailing to NMRA Division members announcing the May 1st. meet in Oakfield, NY, and write a welcome letter to a few new members.

Jeffrey, be careful!  Don't shoot yourself with "Big Bertha...."   Make sure it isn't loaded....  "I didn't know the gun was loaded...."

Best get a move on and get something accomplished!

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 I cut the gun carriage away from the base of the railgun frame. Maybe I can make some kind of heavy duty flat car from this.

[tcwright973]

It was a beautiful day in the "Burgh" yesterday. Too nice not to get out and do a little railfanning. Once again, in a little more than an hour, we caught a trash train, 2 mixed freights, and 3 intermodals. Watching those Norfolk Southern Dash 9's, I got to thinking about how much I would be willing to pay for a cab ride from Conway Yard to Altoona. What a trip that would be. I think NS could bleed my check book pretty good.

Today has been another good one so far. The mailman just delivered an ExactRail Gunderson boxcar in a Chessie System blue and yellow paint scheme. This is the first ExactRail car I've gotten, and it's a very nice product.

Ray, is that hotel and restaurant the one on the left hand side of Route 14 when leaving Geneva and heading south? We were thinking about stopping there sometime.

 Everyone have a good day and enjoy it.

Tom

[Packer]

Hey guys, long time no see

I've been making a bit of headway on my car. Still have to go over some spots with putty and do the final sanding before the trip to the paint booth.

Sawyer, I'll have to get that one. The area around Marias pass is really nice.

Jeff, There was a german gun that actually did have a warped barrel to shoot around corners, if I remember right it was based of of the STG-44. I don't think it was very popular though. Looks like you got a good chunk of pre-merger cars there., I especially like the NP grain box.

Chris, rivit counting is kind of fun. I had a pair of P2K GP30s that I added the DW detail kit too. Turned out those GP30s were ex-CB&Q, not ex-GN...