FYI, I just finished two great HO kits - neat, unusual freight cars, excellent kits, well finished, went together well, good instructions, fine detail, lots to do but fun to build, educational, good looking, don't need to add anything (except I swapped out the couplers and wheelsets for Kadee's). In fact, I enjoyed building these two about as much as any other HO kit I have ever built. I just wanted to pass the word along because I had such a good time with them! They are: - Red Caboose PRR X-29 boxcar, #RC-7066-2 - Red Caboose SP GS steel-side drop-bottom gondola, #RC-5001-3 Unfortunately , they are both out-of-stock at Red Caboose. But, very, very nice! Ken
I thought I should get at least one X-29 for my layout, as there were thousands of them in service, but I've never been able to find a PRR model that is correct for the 1950 timeframe. They always seem to be out of stock. Granted, I haven't looked really hard, and the number of paint schemes and heralds is confusing, but I've never turned one up. Let's see the pictures!
Mike - The answer is yes. I have a need to take several model pictures in the near future, so I will add the Red Caboose PRR X-29 box and the SP GS gon to them, and will post the pics on Frisco.org. I exaggerated a little bit in my posting above - the SP GS gon is not quite yet done; I need to add the brake rigging to it. So, give me a little time to get the pics. The X-29 is done. It is true, it seems many of Red Caboose's neatest kits are out of stock. I have no idea why they are not producing any more of them, as they are very well done, and very accurate for the most part. Ken
Arrrrrgh! Last night, I put the brake rigging on the Red Caboose SP GS drop-bottom gondola model. This afternoon, I took a look and realized I got the rods on backwards ..... A-end had B-end rods and vice-versa. Darn! - gotta stop doing complex model work in concert with a glass, or two, of Dewars. Repair surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. The prognosis looks good. Ken
Hey, I did that backward brake rigging once but was able to turn the underframe around before the solvent was totally dry. So far I have only done that once. My 1950 time period is seriously lacking 40' box cars so I have been looking for old Red Caboose and Intermountain kits that might still be around. Specifically, I am looking for Pennsy X-29s or others constructed before 1950. My Pennsy expert buds tell me that it needs to have the circle keystone herald. The shadow keystone was a 1950s paint scheme. I think I have exactly one PRR X-29 on the layout and one CGW X-29 on the layout. Need more so let me know if you know of anyone willing to sell theirs. I was lucky enough to land six Red Caboose/IMWX box cars last weekend in NKP, SP, SOU, LN, TP and SAL paint. Three are completed so far. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Rick--Nothing to do with HO boxcars, but what do you know about the KC Union Station mural with the colorful diesels? The artist? Size etc? I'd like to buy a poster of it if there is such a thing. And if there isn't, there should be! Thanks, Tom
Surgery successful on the SP gon brake rigging! I even had to operate in the dark as AmerenUE had us off this morning because they were installing a new service line to our area. Nothing stops a dedicated Frisco car shop! FYI, both my Red Caboose PRR X-29's are in the "Circle Keystone" decor, one built (Dreadnaught ends), one still in the box (flat panel ends). I certainly wish I had a couple more of them as well. As you said - neat car, neat kit, correct "PRR freight car color", and at home on most any layout as there were a bunch of them and they ran nationwide. Ken
Tom, Not sure if there is a print available for the Union Station mural but I will see what I can find out. Ken, Send us your photos of your recent work. Here are a few kits I put together this week. NOTE: The GN car was preassembled by Intermountain. The other three cars are Red Caboose and IMWX kits. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Will do, plus a couple of others of interest. Need to wait until I get back to StL (in Olathe now). Plus, I didn't quite get the SP gon finished before we hit the road. Ken
Re: KC Union Station print Tom, The original art was done by Gil Reid. 525 prints were reproduced, I believe for the NMRA's Mid-Continent Region some years ago. It's called Kansas City Union Station - The Glory Days. It measures roughly 14 x 28. Mine is double matted and framed so the picture is just slightly smaller. I have no idea where one might be found now. Ron Williams
Thanks Ron--It's sort of done in the Thomas Hart Benton style--kind of cartoonish. I thought it might be a tribute to him (But I've since read the man in the smoke is actually the architect of the building). Might have known it was a Gil Reid. Thanks for the info. Tom
Ron is correct about the print. Just to add a couple of thoughts, I believe he is correct that he was commissioned to do the print for the NMRA National which was held in Kansas City in 1984. Gil was actrually there at the National Train Show and signed the prints individually if one so so desired. Mine says "Frisco Forever Bob" and was signed and dated August 10, 1984. It is a prize possession. If you would like one, my suggestion would be to do a saved search on Ebay under both Gil Reid and Kansas City Union Station. Also, a current KC artist by the name of Constance Legler Smith has done a very impressive print of Union Station. You can view it at: http://www.j-store.net/clsmith/Image3.jpg Bob Hoover FriscoFriend
I don't know what it is about Red Caboose HO kits and me, but I sure do love building them. P2K, Intermountain, Branchline and others are very good also, but the RC's always seem to go together so well for me and are always a fun assembly. I still have not finished the bottom detail on the Red Caboose SP steel-side drop bottom gondola kit I mentioned in the above postings. In fact, I have not touched it since before we went to Kansas over a week ago - except to remove my incorrect installation of the brake rods. But, here are quick photos I took tonight of the last four Red Caboose kits I have built over the past couple of months - three SLSF cars and the PRR X-29 boxcar mentioned above. Sorry I'm not a better photographer. The cars are: - SLSF 145554, 1937 AAR 10' boxcar, kit RC-8027-3 - PRR 100025, X-29 boxcar, correct PRR "freight car color", "circle keystone" decor, kit RC-7066-2 - SLSF 95305, 42' flatcar, kit RC-2210a (with a LASERkit wood deck on it) - SLSF 191083, 10k gal Type 103W diesel fuel tankcar, kit RC-3043-1 Had fun with all of 'em! Too bad I don't have a decent layout setting to use for photo shoots! Ken
Tom - Thanks. They each turned out well. The SP gon is going to be neat also. There are two good decal sets available for the Frisco diesel fuel tank cars, Herald King set T-460, and OddBalls set 87-699. I've used both, and both are very good. This Red Caboose t/c had a full set of markings as part of the kit decoration, except for the lettering on the yellow dome "DIESEL FUEL LOADING ONLY". That was the code for the yellow dome. The dome on the kit was without lettering, so I added it from the OddBalls set. I'll always use OddBalls when I can, as they are my favorite decal system. These SLSF tank cars with the yellow dome looked real good when clean, but most quickly got very dirty. I have yet to decide if I want to muck this car up or not. I did another years ago, using the Herald King set, and I weathered it up heavily. I have pretty much given up weathering models since. As I don't have much of a layout, I like the new, clean look. Ken
Thanks Ken--I'll get some from Oddballs (I need N scale). The two (later, just one) huge fuel storage tanks here at the Springfield Diesel Shop used to have a string of those cars lined up along side. Also, around 1968, I lived beside the RR at Brookline, MO (first CTC siding west of Nichols on the Oklahoma line) and nearly every freight going by had a few of thise cars. Tom
Ken, Nice work on the cars. Like you, I enjoy assembling these kits and I like the results. Hard to imagine it getting any better than this. Looks like your could run a late 40s or 50s train with those cars. Keep going. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Here are three recently completed HO kits. Each was fun to build. I took the pics under fluorescent lighting, so they look a little washed out. The two GARX cars are more orange than the pics show; the pics look yellow. I guess the lighting caused a bit of a color shift. Even a Nikon can be crossed up by yours truly! - I finally finished the Red Caboose SP GS steel side drop-bottom gondola. This kit was a joy to build, and it is a great looking car. I also have the Red Caboose SP kit in the composite side version, and I am looking forward to building it. I like how high this car rides on its trucks - the ends and bottom are full of detail and much of it can be seen while the car rolls by. - GARX 50580, an insulated plug door "RB" box car in the QA&P decor was built in 1955. This model is built from the Branchline kit. This GARX car series came equipped with Symington-Gould/Chrysler trucks. The kit truck was all wrong (Barber S2). Nobody I know of makes an HO version of the Chrysler truck, so, just to make it look different, I have it running on a pair of National B1 trucks. I may try to scratch-build the Chrysler truck as I have a good pic of it from Richard Hendrickson's excellent truck article in RP Cyc. - GARX 54009 in the SLSF decor was a follow-up order, built in 1959. It is essentially the same car as the QA&P version, except that it correctly rides on the Barber S2 trucks supplied with the kit, also by Branchline. These big RB's were painted with reefer orange sides, black ends, black trucks and a silver roof. Note the interesting horizontal rivet seam running down the length of the car sides, mid-level. The Chrysler truck proved to be a maintenance headache, so ultimately they may indeed have been replaced with a Barber S2's like the SLSF cars rode on. The Barber S2 was a preferred truck for the SLSF, though it was a definite #2 to their first love - the ASF A-3 "Ride Control" truck. Ken
