KADEE METAL PRODUCTS We received a sample of the proposed Kadee P48 version of their O scale trucks.  Jay Criswell was contacted by Kadee and he volunteered to organize testing of a few pairs of their newest version of the freight car truck line. The trucks are diecast metal including the wheels and weigh 1.5 oz per truck.  The truck is similar to the Protocraft in terms of weight.  The truck is patterned after a 50-ton Barber S-2 truck.  This truck design was widely used from the early 1940s well into the early 1950s. Kadee has designed a unique way of equalizing the tru ..read more

Each year the March O Meet conducts a model contest according to NMRA rules. I had initially reported that this as the last year for the contest. Dan Dawdy corrected my error. The contest will continue as part of the event. I did learn that our friend Jime Zwernemann did it again with a winning scratchbuilt caboose.  This year he picked a real classic wooden car from the Chicago Great Western.  The plan appeared in the Model Railroader magazine many years ago. The end platforms remind me of an old Niles interurban with their arched windows. Jim’s caboose is made from styrene which ..read more

The annual gathering of O scale modelers and collectors was just completed in Lombard, IL.   The crowds looked  good and there seemed to be a lot of enthusiastic attendees.  The show managed survive the great COVID mess.  It is now under the capable stewardship of Bradley Kowal after the Hill family decided to not to continue.         The great selling floor is where most of the action happens.  It is sort of model railroadings “Field of Dreams”. There are vendors and manufacturers arrayed throughout the floor.  The show was thoughtful in ..read more

New new supplier of 3D printed vehicles was discovered by Ross Dando.  They are Custom Model Depot located in Washington State.  Visit their website to see the range of cars and trucks available. I selected a 1951 Studebaker Commander sedan.   They were unique looking cars and had some interesting features like suiside doors when most other US carmakers had discontinued them. The model design captures the essense of the actual car.  Printing is decent but there are some artifacts evident from the process.  Automobiles have a lot of curves and whatnot that confoun ..read more

Bill Yancey (MMR) came up with an interesting approach to impart subtle ripples in steel freight cars.  Steel car construction has a noticble irregularity to the side surfaces.  The effect is more pronounced with the right light reflecting bouncing off the side sheets.  The name of “oil can” has been attached to this effect.  Modeling this effect has been a challenge and so few attempted to recreate it. Bill was constructing an modern exterior post boxcar. He decided to add a little texture to the flat side sheets. His approach was simple.  It involves impressing sligh ..read more

The Frisco Russian Decapod were remarkable machines built for Imperial Russia in 1917.  They were constructed with the Russian standard of five-foot gauge rather than the standard of four-foot eight and half inches (4’8.5″).  They were not delivered due the Russian Revolution.  The builders were stuck with the 200 locomotives.  The locomotives were regauge and used wider tires.  The Decapods were designed for operation on light rail and found a following of railroads that were looking for a new locomotive with light axle loading.   Major railroads like the W ..read more

I have been puttering around with a Northern Pacific wood caboose built.  Like many projects it has stretched over a number of years.  I decided to finish it before doing anything else.  As with any scratchbuilding project, there are challenges that come up in the process of building.  Here are a few thoughts on how I solved a few of these bumps in the road. REMOVABLE ROOF: I have struggled with keeping roofs from warping and creating uneven reveals.  The caboose I am building happen to have a wide letterboard and fascia on the car.  This feature might help with ..read more

  Mike George has completed his scratchbuilt three-truck Shay.  Proto48 three-truck Shay are exceptionally rare.  The subject for this locomotive was native to Mike’s home state of Tennessee.  It apparently operated near Chatanooga for a stone quarry. The model is made from brass with commercial and custom casting to match the prototype locomotive which was displayed for years. Mike fabricated the classic wagon top boiler used by Lima on most of their Shays.   He was able to get his son to do a CAD drawing of the boiler which created a cutting pattern for the se ..read more

  We have shared pictures of the three-truck Shay that Mike George has been building.  He is now finished the model.  It has been an incredible journey to build a locomotive like this ancient machine.  The prototype locomotive was preserved in Tennessee not far from Mike’s home.  It was a working locomotive devoid of headlight and generator.  The lack of appliances projected the image of an industrial machine owned by a company that rejected the expense of ornaments like a headlight. We will be posting more complete coverage of the finished model and some of the ..read more

After building many models, we sometimes get bored and look for a project that gets the creative part of your brain to work.  Lee is trying something big for a change. Here are Lee’s own words regarding this project:  Here is a current project, a 1:22.3 “F” scale caboose. A lot of fun working outside my O scale comfort zone. My “scale vision” has developed and O scale seems small to me these days. Note the size difference to the Atlas X29 in the one image. Like yourself I model mostly in styrene and the switch to an all wood construction made me remember how unstable wood is! What ..read more