Yesterday, while driving around, I stopped into a Barnes & Noble to see if the last issue of RMC was on their shelf. It was, so a copy came home with me.
I read through the issue when I got home. There is a very nice article on Great Northern’s Plywood boxcars in there and some good coverage of the Spring Prototype Modelers meet in Malvern, PA.
It is with regret that Carstens Publicatons, Inc. will be closing permanently at close of business on Friday, August 22, 2014. Carstens Publications, Inc. has been a leading publisher of leading hobby magazines for over 50 years. Unfortunately the current economic climate has placed us in this position. Discussion is continuing with several parties who expressed desire to take on the continuance of the magazines. At this point there is still hope that all three titles will remain in existence. But I can offer no guarantees. We thank you for your patronage over the years, and wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
Henry R. Carstens, President Carstens Publications, Inc.
The cover above is from the February 1983 issue of RMC. It was the first time my name appeared inside an issue. I supplied photos for Eric Neubauer’s article on the PRR G32c gondolas. That started my relationship with RMC. They later published multiple modeling articles and prototype drawings of mine. I also drew illustrations for other people’s articles over the next few years. They really helped me when I was fresh out of art school.
One of the things I liked most when doing the illustrations was taking the ride up to Newton, NJ to drop off some drawings. I’d meet and have lunch with Bill Schaumburg. He would talk about all kinds of stuff, not just what was happening in the hobby but that always came up. When I first read the news, those visits is what first came to my mind.
I will miss the magazine, but I will miss the people and the conversations more.
Mother nature provided a spectacular day for a train show and it turned out to be one of EOS’s best Strasburg train shows. They had 65 different dealers filling 105 tables full of O scale models and materials. They had 115 attendees (a new record for the show) walk through the doors looking at the merchandise.
Now what about the stuff on the tables? There was a nice selection of older brass models out of personal collections, as well as new brass models on a couple of the dealer tables. The parts and decal supplies were enlarged over earlier shows with a couple of new returning dealers. We also had two magazines in attendance, The O Scale Resource and O Scale Trains.
On Bob Heil’s table he had a sample of the new Golden Gate PRR P70 FAR’s modernized coaches which looks very nice. He also had a model of a B&O Baggage car, with a sign asking who would like to see that model made in brass by Sunset. I’d like to see it made, but it would be another slip towards modeling the Trenton-Bound Brook line.
The Berkshire Car Shops also had a nice display of trolley cars and parts on the tables. I really like the Pacific Electric cars on their shelf. I have a soft spot for the Pacific Electric since my dad’s uncle worked for them.
Fran Pfeil’s table had a nice selection of models for sale.
I had the chance today to take a drive up into the Schuylkill Haven area today. It was a nice day for a drive and I wanted to get some first hand information about what would be visible in the backgrounds for the two “town walls” for the layout.
Coming back from West Cressona I found this beauty today. I wish I had my tape measure with me, next time I will.
Joe Giannovario and Larry Kline talking at the 2012 RPM Meet in Malvern, PA. Sadly they are both gone now.
Sadly, I received an email this morning announcing the passing of Larry Kline.
I only met Larry a few times at the RPM Meets. I had seen his name often on the prototype modelers boards and in print many times with modeling articles about the P&LE, WM and the PRR. He was always willing to share knowledge and information.
Larry modeled the Pittsburg area on his home layout which had been featured in a number of articles. He was also the co-chair of the recent series of RPM-East meetings, held in alternate years in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas.
John Dunn and Rich Yoder hosted another great O Scale Show today in Strasburg, PA. No it’s not as big as Chicago, but you know almost everybody in the show. There were a few faces missing at this show but the attendance was very good. And the tables were down into the firetruck area again.
The bargains were there to be had, a number of folks had Intermountain kits at price that were two thirds what they are asking on ebay. There was a nice brass Perry PRR G22 that went early at the show. I saw big ticket brass models and lower priced models moving off the tables.
There were a couple of new models in the room. Bob Heil had the new Sunset PRR L1’s and he had a sample model of the new Sunset B&O P-7e on display. My trying to find new homes for models from my shelves kept me from taking many photographs today.
One of the key things for me today was diging up a lead on a former Reading Company employee that worked and photographed Reading steam in Schuylkill Haven, PA. More on that front as it develops.
Bruce Mohn’s little girl Sam was enjoying the day with her dad.
RY Models WM Channel Side Hopper with Protocraft Couplers and magnetic air lines
I’ve been quiet lately here. I have been working on stuff, just not writing much. I’ve recently received and started to install the New Protocraft Symington-Gould “E” Type couplers some of my freight car models.
Most of the instalations have been easy. As simple as changing out the Kadee couple and box with the new Protocraft coupler box. Some have needed a little trimming of the coupler box.
They operate well, stay closed when they need to and open when you pass the magnetic wand over the top. They look fantastic!
The second photo shows them connected to a car with the Kadee couplers still. They did connect and stay coupled in my simple tests on the work bench.
The biggest issue I see so far is one that the prototype also has. They have to be manually aligned to couple properly. On a small switching layout where everything is easy to see, that will just add another layer of realism. On a larger layout with staging tracks in remote places that could prove to be a problem.
Imagine backing into a staging yard with close overhead clearances. You have to pick up a string of cars on track three of six, all adjacent tracks filled with cars. You can barely fit a hand over the cars, let alone see over them. And your couplers need to be aligned, you can’t see to connect to the cars.
As pretty and well functioning as these new couplers are, they do present some problems that the current bench mark of the Kadee coupler does not.
The issue of their cost is also something to consider. At $59.95 for five par of couplers, that is $11.99 per car for those that didn’t do the math. I can hear some of the guys with 200 cars on a model railroad saying they would not spend to $2398 to change out all the cars on their railroad. But for the modeler with 40 cars, it would come in at $479.60. That is not bad at all.
The jury is out for me on these couplers, they do operate well and look great. What is holding me back right now is coupling in spaces with bad access to the cars. Kadee couplers just work better in those places. Maybe the real solution to coupling in remote inaccessible locations is to not have those layout issues in the first place.
My first impression is good. I do see a couple of things that I will want to improve.
For now, I just want to look at them and enjoy them.
Follow-up to this post. About two years after this was posted. I was approached by a friend who was regretting not buying a pair of these. I ended up selling these models to him. He did not mind the things I saw wrong with the models at all. These have since been replaced with Overland FP-7’s working their way through the paint shop.
San Juan Car Company has been working on a new automatic coupler based upon the prototype Type-E coupler. Work was started on the standard gauge Evolution coupler shortly after finishing the narrow gauge Evolution automatic coupler. After several tries with their Chinese die maker, the coupler is done and in the country. The coupler is very similar to their working AAR Type-E coupler. The dimensions are nearly identical except for a scale inch and a half shorter in height. The shank has the same mounting hole and spring-plastic centering. It will fit in the same draft gear as the old San Juan coupler.
I can’t wait to try these out!
The new couplers look as good as the operating couplers and they do not have to be assembled. I also like the way they will remove the coupler slack if used in Kadee compatible coupler boxes.
Gene also mentions at the end of his post that there will be one more new assembled operating coupler in the states in the coming months. Coupler choices, that’s something to look forward to.
Seems like every few months we hear of another modeling product or company being discontinued or going out of business. It was nice to go into the hobby shop yesterday morning and see Tenax-7R back on the shelves. There were stories that the company had been sold last winter and the new company did not want to continue production, all I really know is the supply dried up.
Seeing it back on the shelf was like seeing an old friend at a train show. Can’t wait to use some of the new bottle today and kind of catch up on the time since I saw it last.
