I´m certain that Andre Ming hasn´t had a good laugh lately so this seems to be a good place to get him to slap his knee and tap his toe with glee! Having made the decision to construct my pike in S scale when I obtain the financing through the sale of my non-Frisco (and Katy) books, I have been window shopping the likes of SHS´s Showcase Line and American Models´ sites for Frisco models. Freight cars seem to fair pretty good. Since I am no Master Builder like Andre, I will have to resort to the RTR models available even if they don´t provide the prototypical rivet counts or board by board detail afforded scratch built equipment. Locomotives seem to need an S scale boost. The SHS diesel switcher and AM U25B are both painted in the red/white scheme. I hope they will consider running some black and yellow. I´d love to have the AM GP35 custom detailed with the roof mounted air tanks and in black and yellow. The lack of dynamic brake blisters on their Mopac "Screamin´ Eagle" 35 means there might be a trio of Texas Pacific units to interchange with the Frisco when the layout gets up and running. My main regret is Andre doesn´t have time to crank out a few fantastic super detailed models of Mr. D´s Machines. He was blessed with magic fingers. I got cheated with ten thumbs. Even with this handicap and lack of totally prototypical Frisco freight cars, between SHS and AM, I can still run a train that captures the spirit of the Frisco. I will still have as much fun as I did when I received my first Lionel 027 electric train for Christmas 1951! That´s what the second childhood is all about, right? Joe Toth
I understand that the SHS scale 40 foot rebuilt steel USRA boxcar is based on a Frisco design. They have released it in several Frisco variations. They also claim that their stockcar is based on a UP prototype car too. Can anyone confirm? Both should look good on a Kansas City interchange! Andre Ming, are you there? Joe Toth