Category Archives: My Thoughts

Reading NW-2 #102 – The Cutting Starts

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One walkway still to cut

One walkway still to cut - Bottom View of the All-Nation Shell

I started by cutting the ends platforms off the shell. Since the cab was not going to stay it was also cut off the body through the doors.

The Cab, and walkways have been removed.

The Cab, and walkways have been removed.

This photo is from the same time as the last. You can see the opposite fuel tank still below the walkway. Also you can see where I rough cut through the walkway floor and the cab walls. The finish cuts will be just inside those walls.

Here is the Mock-up with half of the engineer's side finish cut made.

Here is the Mock-up with half of the engineer

I stopped an put the cab and shell on the Atlas frame. I was checking to see if I needed to shorten the fram at the cab wall area. It did need that cut also. You can see that about half of the rough-cut material has been removed from this side.

NW2 hood with two of the three finish cut made.

NW2 hood with two of the three finish cut made.

This view shows the finish cut on the engineer’s side and along the cab wall. I still have to make the Fireman’s side cut. This view also show the roof line clean up that has been done so far.

Reading NW-2 #102

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The beginning of the project.

The beginning of the project.

As with any project you build at some point you lay out the parts and see if they can be made into what you are thinking. Here we see the All-Nation NW-2 body. I bought this shell second hand at a meet. It shows signs of being striped of paint at least two different layers. Yet, if you look closely at this photo, the modelers never bothered to clean up the center seem on the body casting.

I had disassembled the NW-2 into its parts, the main body, cab front, cab rear and grill front. Before I could just start cutting, I had to see if I wanted to keep the All-Nation Cab that was on the shell. The All-Nation Cab has the correct windows for an NW-2 but it is crude compaired to teh Atlas cab. I’d rather cut the window arch into the Atlas cab than try to bring the All-Nation Cab up to the Atlas level of detail.

Cab Fronts showing what changes will need to be made to the Atlas cab.

Cab Fronts showing what changes will need to be made to the Atlas cab.

Rear Cab Walls

Rear Cab Walls

Rear Deck Details

Rear Deck Details

Reading 103

Reading 103

So I think I will use the Atlas cab in this project. Also I want to reuse the rear deck area of the Atlas model as it more closely represents the prototype.

Layout Visit: Steve Staffieri, 2009, Elmira Branch in HO

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Buzz Burnley, John Dunn and Steve Staffieri

Buzz Burnley, John Dunn and Steve Staffieri

Last Thursday night, I had the pleasure of visiting Steve Staffieri’s HO scale Elmira Branch layout. John Dunn and Buzz Burnley had been invited to see the layout and they were kind enough to extend me an invitation.

It’s a nicely done railroad in a wonderful environment. The basement is nice and comfortable. The railroad has a finished feel to it even in areas that are still a work-in-progress.

The layout is based on the branch from Williamsport to Sodus Point, although it focuses on the run from Williamsport to Southport Yard in Elmira, NY.

Steve Staffieri's layout

An I1sa working in Williamsport Yard.

Steve Staffieri's layout

The Wye at Ralston.

Steve Staffieri's layout

Southport Yard

Steve Staffieri's layout

Engine Facility at Southport Yard

Steve Staffieri's layout

Sodus Point

Steve Staffieri's layout

Closeup of the I1sa working Sodus Point.

RMC 06-2009 – PRR H49 and H50 Covered Hoppers

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My brother Bobb has an article and scale drawings of the PRR class H49 and H50 covered hoppers published in the June 2009 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. Congrats to him.

I was just looking at the site and saw it listed in the table of contents. I hope the article looks good in print, I scanned the photos that went with the article.

This is the second set of drawings that he has published with RMC. He also had some LV passenger car drawings published to go with another author’s modeling article last winter.

Since the publication some SPF”s have writen some harsh comments about the drawings. I know exactly how that feels seeing that in print. That is one of the big reasons I stopped drawing for RMC back in the late 80’s. Too many experts sitting in their chairs doing nothing, but very quick to put down someone elses work.

This is very common for “PRR Modelers” Which also happens to be one of the best reasons to model the Reading Company!

Lets Talk About Freight Cars

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The area that I have chosen to model is rich with open hopper cars. But it also has a few scheduled symbol freights moving through also.

So what does that mean really to my layout? It means I need a lot of open hopper cars. They will make up at least 60% of the traffic on the line.

Next question, how many cars are going to be home road cars? Looking at the photos and reading different accounts of the traffic on the line, you begin to understand that not all the cars are going to be Reading. What percentage are the off-road cars and what roads should be modeled is a topic in and of itself. But let hold that off until another time. Lets talk about what RDG open hoppers were on the roster in 1952.

Going back to the bible (January 1952 ORER) I was able to compile the following list of Reading open hoppers classes and their totals.

ClassNo. of
Cars		% of
Total		Model Roster
based on 50 cars
HTf3342%
1
HTh421424%
12
HTj183110%
5
HTl/HTn350420%
10
HTo9956%
3
HTp3392%
1
HTr9966%
3
HTs165410%
5
HTs (steel)20%
0
HTt10006%
3
HTu7494%
2
HTv200011%
5
Totals17618100.0%50

Look closely at the total number, 17618 open hoppers. Of the 17618 hoppers, only 2 HTs steel rebuilds have been built so far. What do you really think the chances of ever seeing one in a typical train? Not very high.

If you look at the percentage number that will give you an idea of how many cars of that class you might see on average for every 100 RDG hopper cars that run past you.

This is one of the best arguments I know of to NOT model one of a kind cars, unless you know they served s specific customer on your line. An example of modeling a one-of-a-kind car that ran on your line was the PRR X30 which ran out of Elmira, NY where it serviced the LaFrance Fire Engine Company. So when I was going to model the Elmira branch of the PRR I planned to build one.

References:
January 1952 Official Railway Equipment Register
October 1953 Official Railway Equipment Register
April 1956 Official Railway Equipment Register

Why and What?

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The models of Reading open Hoppers that I displayed at the meet.
A few of my Reading open hoppers models on display at a local Prototype Modelers Meet. This was the year I presented a clinic at the RPM on Modeling the Reading Open Hopper Cars in the 1950’s

Why do I model?

I’m a Rail-fan
I know that seems obvious but it’s also the driving force in a lot of the questions that follow. I enjoy seeing trains run in real-life and I enjoy recreating that in the models.

Details Are Important to Me
I am not easily satisfied with good-enough modeling or research. I have drawn prototype locomotives and freight cars for Railroad Model Craftsman in the past. I have crawled all over a piece of equipment to take the notes needed for the drawings. I have also done the research at the museums and with private collections to find the answers needed for projects, that to me is a big part of the fun of this hobby.

What do I want to model?

Model Availability
O scale does not have the same wide-selection of models that HO enjoys. That selection is made even smaller by not choosing to model either the PRR, SP, UP or NYC. Very few of the unique Reading Company prototypes have been produced over the years. I do not want to “have to” scratch build my whole locomotive fleet in order to realistically enjoy a modeled location. I’d like to build a layout and the models I want in this lifetime, not the next three lifetimes.

Small Town Switching
I have a lot of early memories of watching a switcher working in the small town I grew up in. I would ride my bicycle into town to watch and photograph the local freight switch the town.

Open Hopper Cars
My favorite type of freight car. I want to model an area that would have a lots of open hopper car traffic. Turns out that is a large part of the Reading, not just the mine runs themselves.

Sincere Track Design
One where a train only goes through a scene or town once on its trip through the layout. This is a more modern approach to layout design instead of the “spaghetti bowl” layouts of the past that still dominate the O scale community.