I bought a Con Car passenger car at a train swap for $1.00 but it doesn't have any  trucks.  Does anyone know what 4 wheeled trucks from other manufacturers may fit it?

Thanks, Bill

Amazing footage.  Sure beats the old Gandy Dancers.   

Bingo!  Thanks Rich, that's exactly what I was looking for.  Not to be a bragger, but the guy had two Lionel steamers, one in O gauge, the other in O27, two Erie Built diesel A units, 5 Freight cars, 3 Lionel stream lined passenger cars and 3 pre WW2 passenger cars all for $100.00.  I think I hit a glory hole!

Yesterday I ran across a yard sale where a guy was sellling a mixture of O scale trains and O 27 scale.  His track was primarily O27.  Can an O gauge engine run on O 27 track?  Also is it possible to mix the two different gauge tracks together?

J3,
Thanks for sending the links for the Rock Island Pacifics.  Just what I was looking for.  I've printed out the pictures and now have them in my scrap book.

Bill

J3, Sorry I'm so late in responding, I was out of town. 

I model the Rock Island in the late 40's.  I honestly don't know enough about the various Pacifics to tell one from another unless there are major differences like the boiler or running gear.  I've looked on the Rock Island Technical Society site (RITS) but can't identify what Pacifics they used.  Also, their tenders were rebuilt in their shops and they are of a very unique design.  I've tried to kitbash one of their tenders from a Vanderbilt, but it was a catastrophe.

Good pictures, Jonathan.  Is that an Atlas turn table you modified?

Wonderful pictures guys.  I used styrene sheets from Evergreen which I cut and sanded to fit along side and in between the rails.  It took quite a bit of time to get the appropriate dimensions, but the effort was worth it.  I, too, used DAP for my joints and painted them after taping my rails.

My layout is in a shed in my back yard and even though I have heat and airconditioning in it, I have no way to control the humidity.  My question is this:  will humidity affect cardboard or sand paper over a period of time?

Great links.  Thanks for sending.

So I assume each state has its own statutes to which they must follow.  This makes sense since the railroads are chartered within the states they operate.

Is there any legal difference when a railroad abandons its lines as compared with its right-of-way? In particular is a railroad under any obligation to remove the rails or can they be left in place?  I thought they were one and the same.  This question arose when a friend of mine was over for an operation session and I mentioned that I had a short section of abandoned line in which the rails were still present but was inoperable.  He said the rails had been abandoned but the right-of-way was still under the jurisdiction of the creditors of the bankrupt railroad.

Mercy me...I'd hate to be operating illegally.

Thanks, Bill

My road represents the Rock Island as it was in the mid to late 50's.  Some steam and some diesels.  In particularly I have tried to replicate the Choctaw Division as it ran from Memphis, thru Little Rock and on to Oklahoma City.  I hope someone who is a Rock Island fan would respond to this post.  I'm beginning to think I'm the only one in the whole world who is a RI fan.

Old Timer,

Thanks for the history lesson on John Allen.  I never knew John super detailed his engines. Wow, what an artist!  I remember the card board flex track.  I tried to lay sand ballast with water dilluted white glue....and you can imagine the warping and mess that it made.  This was about in the mid fifties. I must say that our hobby has come a long, long way. 

I know DCC wasn't even dreamed about back then, but do you know of any electrical block diagrams John made for the G&D?

J3 - I didn't mean to hijack your thread, but the subject of John Allen came up and I just had to ask a few question about him.

Bill

J3,

Thanks for the wonderful link to John Allen's G & D.  I've looked at some of it, but not all.  What impresses me most is the fact that most, if not all, of his locomotives are brass imports.  I didn't know that these highly detailed engines were manufactured back in the late 40's and 50's.  Also, what caught my eye was the track he used.  It appears all was hand laid.  I'm pretty sure they didn't have flex track back in those days and doesn't appear to be any sectional track used.  The turn outs, were they hand laid? I would appreciate a comment from one of our G & D historians to comment if they know.

Bill

J3,

Thanks for the link to Labelle.  I bought their 1905 Combine and Coach a few years ago. I run them with my Bachmann 10 wheeler.  One thing I would like to add is the finishing out of the roofs.  I bought some model airplane tissue to place on the roofs and spray painted them black.  It gives a great texture a thousand times better than just painting the roofs.  I also stained the car bodies with mahogany wood stain and sprayed them with a clear coat to give them a shine.  They both look great.

Bill