Wayne and Rob,
Very nice work as usual.
Thanks for sharing
Sheldon
Good-lookin' cars, Rob. As soon as i saw the WP car, the first thing which sprang to mind was PS-1, so you've done a credible job. I like the paint job on the flatcar's deck, too.
Sheldon, thanks for your kind words. I like your home road trailers, and the fact that there's more than one lettering scheme for them - a good way to simulate the passage of time from the earlier style to the current-day one.
Wayne
doctorwayne Good-lookin' cars, Rob. As soon as i saw the WP car, the first thing which sprang to mind was PS-1, so you've done a credible job. I like the paint job on the flatcar's deck, too. Sheldon, thanks for your kind words. I like your home road trailers, and the fact that there's more than one lettering scheme for them - a good way to simulate the passage of time from the earlier style to the current-day one. Wayne
Wayne, thank you. that was the plan, and actually there is a third scheme on the 25' vans and several others on 32' vans - all with a family look. Piggy back service is a focal point on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL.
I was inspired by the history of the B&O and wide range of paint schemes that coexisted for decades on that line. They began painting passenger cars in the blue/gray/gold scheme in the late thirties, it was made standard for all passenger cars in the early forties, in 1965 when the C&O took over, there were still solid blue and Pullman green passenger cars floating around the system.
My loco fleet is similar with several different schemes in play.
I need your photo skills so I can take some better pictures of all the stuff I have built.
Nothing wrong with your photo skills at all, Sheldon. The pictures are clear (not out-of-focus or suffering from shaky-camera syndrome) well-lit, and show what you wished to show. When you get some scenery in place, it'll show off the trains even better.
Following prototype practices is a good way to make a free-lanced layout look convincing, and the best part is, we can cherry-pick those practices which appeal most to our individual tastes. Your heavy Mikes are a good example of that.
first a question. i have noticed that the bowser flat car and the red caboose flat car both have the stake pockets outside past the end of the flooring. are these models also incorrect? were some flat cars built this way and some were not? seems like most of the real ones i have seen had the extended floor boards.
second and observation. i don't think i really appreciated fine, correct details on cars until i got my cataracts fixed a few years ago. since then i have really enjoyed the more detailed car kits. i did not pop for the extended focus implants because i was too cheap to pay the extra $$$ so anything within about 18 inches of my face requires the use of my 10 dollar, walgreens, off the rack cheaters. even so, i always knew there were bugs in my basement, i just didn't realize how many of them were cross eyed until now.
improved lighting and eyesight changes your entire perspective.
Charlie
charlie9 first a question. i have noticed that the bowser flat car and the red caboose flat car both have the stake pockets outside past the end of the flooring. are these models also incorrect? were some flat cars built this way and some were not? seems like most of the real ones i have seen had the extended floor boards. second and observation. i don't think i really appreciated fine, correct details on cars until i got my cataracts fixed a few years ago. since then i have really enjoyed the more detailed car kits. i did not pop for the extended focus implants because i was too cheap to pay the extra $$$ so anything within about 18 inches of my face requires the use of my 10 dollar, walgreens, off the rack cheaters. even so, i always knew there were bugs in my basement, i just didn't realize how many of them were cross eyed until now. improved lighting and eyesight changes your entire perspective. Charlie
Charlie, look closely at the photo I posted that shows the WESTERN MARYLAND car. While the WESTERN MARYLAND car does have the decking out to the ends of the stake pockets, the other three appear to only have decking to the car sides.
I have seen actual cars both ways over the years. Remember, the wood decking on a flat car takes a lot of abuse and gets replaced a number of times in the life of the car. I suspect many may have been built with decking only to the car sides, then had it extended out as that became more common practice.
Also remember, those photos I posted were taken in the late 1930's, what was common then may have been no longer common by 1950 or 1960.
As for detail, a few thoughts. I am 55 and only recently needed reading glasses for stuff close up. I still have generally very good vision overall. I like detail, but the fact is our models are 1/87 scale, and when you are two actual feet from the model, you are 174 scale feet away.
It is my view that our models need only give a realistic impression base on how the real thing looks at similar distances, and that if detail is over sized, it is sometimes better left off.
I have lots of high detail models, and I have lots of Athearn BB level models, and as trains roll around the layout, and viewers and operators observe them at two or three feet, or even greater distances, there is little or no difference in visual impression.
Sure, if you get 10" away and examine them you can see the differences - I'm building a layout that fills an 880 sq ft room, has 900 freight cars and has an 8 scale mile long mainline - I'm not building a three foot section of diorama for a museum.
And as for all this obsessive stuff like the number ribs on the end of a car, or "this car is 6" too short", well I use to be into that and got bored with rivet counting.............
I find that things like working, touching diaphragms on passenger cars, and proper close coupling distances on all cars, make way more difference in the overall scale appearance/proportion of the TRAIN, as opposed to obsessing about the details on each car.
Just my view,