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I think the first step in making an interesting model or layout is to look closely at the real world, "nature", or "the prototype". Some writers talk about using your camera as a notebook. This section will cover prototype photos that are currently influencing projects on my layout, a current modeling notebook. Somebody once said that, where modeling is concerned, film is cheap. The Internet is cheaper still.
 UP 9595 West Colton, CA, Fall 2003 |
Notice the trucks on this UP 9-44CW. UP 9595 is ex-SP 8131. The truck nearest the camera has outrigger-style snubbers like C44AC trucks. The absence of snubbers on the far truck on this side suggests that it has outrigger snubbers like an AC on the other side. You can't, I assume, just swap trucks between a 9-44CW and a C44AC, since the traction motors aren't compatible. Does anyone know why this was done?
UPDATE: On March 26, 2004 I saw UP 9706 at Mojave with trucks that also had the AC style outrigger snubbers on alternating sides. 9706 is a native UP unit, so whatever is happening here seems to be a UP phenomenon.
 Former California Western RS12 56 Los Angeles, CA November 2003 |
The Los Angeles Travel Town museum acquired the former California Western Baldwin RS12 56 in 1992 as part of a complex trade that sent an Oahu Railroad narrow-gauge 4-6-0 back to Hawaii. The whole exhibit has been undergoing an upgrade that will soon put much of the equipment under cover (on the other hand, it still won't be much of a place for photography). At the moment the Baldwin diesel is spotted where it's not possible to get a good overall shot, but I was able to get some detail shots that should help me and anyone else who's working on Stewart HO units.
This first shot shows the short hood end, MU connections, dynamic brake screen (unfortunately, not modeled on any HO plastic unit), and cab. The two knob-like items on top of the short hood appear to be sand fillers. It isn't clearly visible in this photo, but the short hood is taller than the long hood, like late-style SD9s.
 Former California Western RS12 56 Los Angeles, CA November 2003 |
This view shows the pilot with MU, coupler pocket, and lift lever details.
 Former California Western RS12 56 Los Angeles, CA November 2003 |
This view shows what's in front of the cab on the engineer's side of the unit (it's set up to run long hood forward). Note the windshield wiper mounted to the side of the window, not the top (a detail picked up on the Stewart Baldwin switchers, but not on their earlier RS or AS units). The grabs on the side of the hood appear only on this side of the unit.
 Former California Western RS12 56 Los Angeles, CA November 2003 |
 QTTX 131120 Acton, CA July 17, 2003 |
I've already said that I think I've had a good day of railfanning if I see unusual cars like heavy-duty flat cars, and seeing this one made July 17 a good day of railfanning indeed. RMC published a drawing of cars very similar to these, with a construction article by Jim Panza, in March, 1999. However, the cars in this class, DSH45A, didn't reach 131120 in the roster with those articles.
There's a box to the right of the deck in the main
photo that looks as though it is part of the car.
However, it's in the background.
 QTTX 131120 "A" End Acton, CA July 17, 2003 |
I always pass by this spur on the way to Tehachapi, but this is the first time I've ever seen a car spotted here. There's a large electric utility switchyard a couple of miles south down the Angeles Forest Highway, and I assume the car delivered a large piece of equipment for that customer.
I've started working on a model of this car for my layout, based on the drawings in RMC. However, Jim Panza used the span bolsters from an Athearn heavy-duty flat car and Walthers Buckeye roller-bearing trucks. Eastern Car Works now makes span bolsters and equivalent trucks, which I've found easier to get. I'll probably also use brass for at least the sub-body and end platforms, for weight and durability.
 QTTX 131120 "B" End Acton, CA July 17, 2003 |
 West Colton, CA, August 21, 2003 |
I've always liked the simplified Railbox paint that was introduced in the early 1990s, but it's only been recently that I began to notice the roofs have a lot more paint on them than the early-scheme Railbox roofs -- or in fact, most boxcar roofs since about 1970, when the usual practice began to leave boxcar roofs unpainted galvanized metal.
The yellow paint on the roof is most visible in the car on the right in the first shot, RBOX 20690. The car on the left has some galvanized metal visible on the roof.
I've heard that exact painting practices differ among TTX shops, including the exact color of the yellow paint used, so these photos and observations may not cover all cases -- but it's something to keep in mind.
 West Colton, CA, August 21, 2003 |
The left hand car in the second photo, RBOX 40950, is still in the original paint for comparison. Note that the roof is all bare metal. Also note the clearly visible patch for painting out the CAPY line in the data, a practice that dates from the early 1980s (the car's paint here is about 30 years old).
Oddly enough, only one car of the Railboxes in this sequence has graffiti on it -- they are normally graffiti magnets. This is the kind of prototype observation I like to use in weathering my freight car fleet. The equipment I see modeled on many contemporary-era layouts seems much too clean and uniform to me.
 Monolith, CA, August 28, 2003 |
 West Colton, CA, Fall 2003 |
