7mm American O scale Southern Pacific Motive Power and Rolling Stock
- Thread starter Stephen
- Start date
Stephen
Western Thunderer
Funnily enough some respected gent gave me a load of IM spares, and there are a few sets in there which will come into play!
I am however still on the look out for another pair of Athearn Andrews trucks, and maybe a few pairs of Athearn Bettendorf trucks as well…..let me know if you find any in your inventory!
cheers,
Stephen
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Before anyone points out none of my boxcars have roofwalks, my covered hoppers do.
Depends on the period you're modelling
- boxcar roofwalks started to be removed and ladders shortened except those at the high-mounted brakewheel end.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Well duhh, even at the Back of the Class I know that!! But from 1980s onward, roofwalk-fitted boxcars would be, I suspect, extremely rare??!!Depends on the period you're modelling
Now waits quietly for someone to post evidence to the contrary....
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Now waits quietly for someone to post evidence to the contrary....
You wouldn't expect anything else. Would you?
Stephen
Western Thunderer
I've had a bash at two of the Des Plaines Apex Walkway roof conversions. Whilst they are very fine, they don't include any wire for handrails compared to the offerings from Protocraft, which additonally come assembled. Alas I missed out on the Protocraft Apex walkways, but did purchase a few of the morton varieties which made for good comparison, especially price wise.
A photo of what you get in the pack:
One of the challenges is that I don't use a soldering iron, nor really know how to use one.....so I had a go at these with Roket cyano glue. So far its held up, and taken the primer well.
I also had a crack at getting a few other box cars primed, including the Atlas AAR Double door car which was stripped back with Precision decal remover. I was near the end of the primer can, so the finish was a bit 'sandy' thus has been rubbed down - not much evidence of any of the previous decals, hopefully top coat will cover, although might put another thin layer of primer on.
Finally an overall view of the box cars primed during the good weather yesterday.
Cheers,
Stephen
A photo of what you get in the pack:
One of the challenges is that I don't use a soldering iron, nor really know how to use one.....so I had a go at these with Roket cyano glue. So far its held up, and taken the primer well.
I also had a crack at getting a few other box cars primed, including the Atlas AAR Double door car which was stripped back with Precision decal remover. I was near the end of the primer can, so the finish was a bit 'sandy' thus has been rubbed down - not much evidence of any of the previous decals, hopefully top coat will cover, although might put another thin layer of primer on.
Finally an overall view of the box cars primed during the good weather yesterday.
Cheers,
Stephen
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WM183
Western Thunderer
Oh those etched walkways are gorgeous stuff! I may have to grab some of those. I have a back burner US 0 project based on 1930s steam-era "Ohio/Pennsylvania Industrial Area" somewhere, and a few cars by then would have metal roofwalks I think. All scratchbuilt so far, but fun - cheap, too, as all one needs purchase is trucks and couplings, and a few odd bits like brake wheels.
Wow those are really sharp... how much are they roughly?
Wow those are really sharp... how much are they roughly?
Stephen
Western Thunderer
Here is the link to the DP site: O 40' Apex Boxcar Walkway - Des Plaines Hobbies
I managed to get a load of them when they had a sale on recently, which helped take a chip off the postage to the UK.
Protocraft still have some of the morton ‘ready made’ versions available: Protocraft
I have three of these, which I may not use, so let me know if interested and I might part company within one or two!
The other place which sells apex walkways, although I’ve not seen these in the flesh are: BRASS O American Scale Models Freight Car Apex Tri-Lock Roofwalk Assembly #803
Des Plaines and American Scale models have a lot of other items as well, so you might find all the parts required from one of those two companies.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Big Train James
Western Thunderer
I can't remember for certain, but I seem to recall that Des Plaines often has a sale around our Memorial Day holiday, which is coming up at the end of May. And probably again around our Labor Day, which will be in early September. So it may make sense to get on their mailing list to receive the announcement emails. I think they normally offer something like a 25% discount.
Jim
Jim
Stephen
Western Thunderer
I think I am on the Des Plaines mail list. What I find frustrating with their website is lack of pictures, especially of detail parts.
Knowing what a part looks like is one thing, knowing what it's called - or even what it does!! - can be quite another!!
I know what you mean, however they have been pretty good at supplying photos of their products when asked - infact I actually sent them a photo of a door latch I was looking for, and they (George) sent me photos of items they had which were similar.
Cheers,
Stephen
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Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Photos please!!
Big Train James
Western Thunderer
Des Plaines is pointless for photos, always have been and most likely always will be. However, there are ways to see images of items that they list, it's just not as simple as a single click.
For vendors besides Des Plaines themselves, images can usually be found on websites associated with the manufacturers. PSC has catalogs on it's site, Grandt Line can be found on the San Juan Models website, Tichy on the Tichy site, etc etc. Generally the manufactures part number is the same as the Des Plaines item number, with the addition of an abbreviated prefix representing the manufacturer's name.
For Des Plaines, most items in their O Scale America line are from tooling purchased from Custom Finishing years ago. I have posted pages from the Custom Finishing catalog on WT before, probably in the US Dabblings thread. I also believe that Yorkshire Dave posted that pdf again in the thread about resources for Red Caboose gp9's.
Found one of my posts, this is in the Red Caboose thread. The post includes the attached Custom Finishing parts list at the bottom.
Not all OSA parts are in the Custom Finishing catalog, as they originated elsewhere or were developed by Des Plaines themselves. But most of the OSA range is shown in the catalog pages.
Also, P&D carries OSA parts, which include the old Custom Finishing items. They will be listed on the P&D website under Custom Finishing though, not O Scale America. The P&D item number prefix is "CUF" rather than "OSA". Also, P&D now has photos of most items they stock, so often one can find images of parts there even if purchasing from Des Plaines. They both carry many of the same parts.
Hope that helps.
Jim
For vendors besides Des Plaines themselves, images can usually be found on websites associated with the manufacturers. PSC has catalogs on it's site, Grandt Line can be found on the San Juan Models website, Tichy on the Tichy site, etc etc. Generally the manufactures part number is the same as the Des Plaines item number, with the addition of an abbreviated prefix representing the manufacturer's name.
For Des Plaines, most items in their O Scale America line are from tooling purchased from Custom Finishing years ago. I have posted pages from the Custom Finishing catalog on WT before, probably in the US Dabblings thread. I also believe that Yorkshire Dave posted that pdf again in the thread about resources for Red Caboose gp9's.
Found one of my posts, this is in the Red Caboose thread. The post includes the attached Custom Finishing parts list at the bottom.
Not all OSA parts are in the Custom Finishing catalog, as they originated elsewhere or were developed by Des Plaines themselves. But most of the OSA range is shown in the catalog pages.
Also, P&D carries OSA parts, which include the old Custom Finishing items. They will be listed on the P&D website under Custom Finishing though, not O Scale America. The P&D item number prefix is "CUF" rather than "OSA". Also, P&D now has photos of most items they stock, so often one can find images of parts there even if purchasing from Des Plaines. They both carry many of the same parts.
Hope that helps.
Jim
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Stephen
Western Thunderer
Does anyone else spend far too much time ‘inventing’ a process quickening device that probably take more time than actually dealing with the problem?!?
Well my desire for batch priming box car trucks, resulted in the all new ‘Truck Priming’ Stack (patent nowhere near pending).
Evidently inspired by any Brazilian barbecue restaurant, it actually works a treat, and could even be improved to allow for hanging outside…..but that’s tomorrows problem.
Anyway, five pairs of IM Trucks/Wheels masked, mounted and primed. Could have gone to the gym with the lass, but this was clearly far more productive.
Cheers,
Stephen
Well my desire for batch priming box car trucks, resulted in the all new ‘Truck Priming’ Stack (patent nowhere near pending).
Evidently inspired by any Brazilian barbecue restaurant, it actually works a treat, and could even be improved to allow for hanging outside…..but that’s tomorrows problem.
Anyway, five pairs of IM Trucks/Wheels masked, mounted and primed. Could have gone to the gym with the lass, but this was clearly far more productive.
Cheers,
Stephen
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Brian T
Western Thunderer
Good idea that Stephen, may have to 'borrow' that one for myself at some stage....
but the gym.....hummm sounds too much like hard work to me..
Brian.
Stephen
Western Thunderer
Good idea that Stephen, may have to 'borrow' that one for myself at some stage....
but the gym.....hummm sounds too much like hard work to me..
Brian.
The high tech design involves a meter length of Peco Code 100 rail and some hippo tape to support each of the trucks. Such is the ingenuity of the design, once painted, you can either remove the trucks from the bottom or the top of the length of rail…….30 years ago, I’m sure ‘Tomorrow’s World’ would have been faxing me for a exclusive interview!
Indeed there is a time and a place for the gym, and that’s generally not on a Sunday morning when the weather is just right for rattle can spraying.
Cheers,
Stephen