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Post by iomalley on Jan 6, 2015 21:16:47 GMT -5
So I finally found a P&LE 'breadbox' gondola at a local trainshow on Sunday, it was in the scheme I wanted and the pesky lids were missing and I got the thing for the price of a cup of coffee. It needs 'updating' (P&LE removed the lids, added ladders and put 'er back in service) and I'm excited to get at it. The thing is, There must've been someone at AHM and Lifelike in the late 70s, early 80s that was their tool and die designer that must have been a prolific modeler...think about it; Highly accurate X72 boxcar...Lifelike toy Highly accurate Flexi-flo...AHM toy Highly accurate PLE breadbox gon....AHM toy Anyway, just thought I throw this out...is there any other 'toys' with merit??
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Post by Canadian Atlantic Railway on Jan 6, 2015 22:14:10 GMT -5
Interesting looking car. What was the reasoning behind the design?
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Post by iomalley on Jan 6, 2015 22:42:19 GMT -5
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Post by acsoosub on Jan 13, 2015 11:58:25 GMT -5
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Post by iomalley on Jan 13, 2015 12:32:42 GMT -5
Oh my, fantastic photos!
Looks like I have to get another car to build a Bessemer with those cool hoods!
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Kurt
Road Foreman
Posts: 56
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Post by Kurt on Jan 16, 2015 1:56:32 GMT -5
I would add the Life-Like Thrall all-door boxcar and F40PH to the list of "toys" that actually had decent tooling we could work with. Has anyone seen what Bob Zenk did with his F40PH models back in the early 80's? He couldn't have done what he did if the tooling wasn't good but under the super thick paint the molds were decent!
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Post by iomalley on Jan 16, 2015 9:48:29 GMT -5
Agreed, forgot about the Thralldoor!
I did start building an Amtrak Phase 1 using the LL body. The tooling is actually better than the walthers, especially around the airbrake equip doors under the cab. Walthers has a deep groove around the doors for some reason.
I've also started looking for a pair (or 3) good stock cars for my CN 1980 era, at which time they were being phased out but still relevant. CN always ran them right behind the units, so there's plenty of pictures. Anyway, AHM also has some decent stock cars too. What makes them better than the Athearn stock car, is that the placard plates on the sides pop off, so you're not hemmed into a particular prototype car. Both CN and CP put their dimensional data along the roofline to keep it out of the lime disinfectant, and most cars didn't use the plates.
Update on the coil gon, I've got all the toy stuff removed, plugged the bolsters and redrilled for 36" barber trucks. I'm seriously considering changing this car to a BLE version with coil hoods, but I can't get over how good the PLE pad printing looks on a green car! The PLEs were open top (after those infernal clamshell doors were removed) and the interior needs some fairly detailed coil cradles built.
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URR566
Probationary Member
Posts: 5
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Post by URR566 on Jan 17, 2015 21:11:04 GMT -5
If you ever do a B&LE car know that there were three cover variations and three basic paint scheme variations over time. Some are easier than others to model. You can read more about the Bessemer cars here: bessemerandlakeerie.proboards.com/thread/159/evans-integral-cover-31000-seriesI started one of the Bessemer cars about two years ago but never finished it. I’m looking forward to seeing this P&LE one take shape and can’t wait to see some photos.
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Post by iomalley on Jan 30, 2015 21:52:39 GMT -5
Here's a prog pic...retrucked with 2-56 screws, cushion draft gear added, ends cleaned up, grabs removed...still contemplating BLE....
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Post by CP_8530 on Jan 31, 2015 2:54:26 GMT -5
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Post by iomalley on Jan 31, 2015 9:53:32 GMT -5
Yeah, I remember shoving half a dozen of those things into Zubicks scrap metal back in 2009(?) along with a couple very rare DT&I yellow coil cars. Very neat. What would be the starting point for a coil coach? Trainman?
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Post by CP_8530 on Jan 31, 2015 10:41:31 GMT -5
Yeah, I remember shoving half a dozen of those things into Zubicks scrap metal back in 2009(?) along with a couple very rare DT&I yellow coil cars. Very neat. What would be the starting point for a coil coach? Trainman? I'm not exactly sure on that one. The Atlas one looks like a not-half-bad starting point, but it has one less rib (Atlas gon ribs appear to be spaced further apart?). I'll have to ask my freight car mole what he thinks. Speaking of neat gondolas, a train hauling a load of train: canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=wc62104&o=wc
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