Page 17 - May June 1998

RAILROAD REVIEW
PRODUCT REVIEW by Paul Doggett
HO Scale AAR 50 ton, 53'6" WW Emergency Flat Car by Pittsburgh Scale Models
Based on UP’s F50-11 53’6” flat car this pro- totype, or very close variations of it, was used by 21 railroads. Twelve of these are available and they cover the US very well. There is also an undec. version.
Kits available include UP, SOO, NKP, CNW, ACL, L&N, IGN (Mopac), NP, WM (different type of brake mount, at side), C&O, DRGW, and Chessie System. Cars are priced at $20 each except undec. at $19, UP $21 (white and yellow decals) and WM $25. ADD $6 for air- mail p&p if ordered direct.*
This product is a great introduction to crafts- man type cast kits. I’ve built many kits over the years including white metal, brass, plas- tic, and urethane. This is definitely among the best, if not THE best.
26 pages of instructions include prototype photos of part placement, and sketches. Richard Hendricksen provides a history of the cars including all the owner railroads, the numbers and liveries.
The instructions are long, but VERY SIMPLE to follow, and very comprehensive. Follow them to the letter and you cannot go wrong - they are well written, with a sense of humour! E.g.-
Instruction #1.
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
Instruction #2
If all else fails, read Instruction #1.
In another part “Now with your third hand apply pressure!”
To complete the kit you need superglue, trucks (I used Atlas Bettendorfs), paint and couplers. They even supply chain for brake rigging. I can’t say I had any trouble building the kit, ticking off the instructions as I com- pleted them. Building time was 5 hours, as opposed to Westerfield at 8 hours. As the car was very light, I decided to load it. The decals come from varying sources to complete the set - very thoughtful. For the DRGW car I built, decals were Champ, Herald King, and one other make I believe.
I painted my car grimy black, then glossed it for decalling. Kadee #5’s were fitted then flat varnish applied, plus various weathering colours.
I cannot recommend this kit too highly - I even sent for another, available from:
Pittsburgh Scale Models, PO Box 11805, Pittsburgh PA 15228.
PRODUCT INFO from John Wright
Alexander Models
HO 0-6-0T USA/TC
Dave Alexander is now producing an all- inclusive kit for the wartime USA/TC 0-6-0T used in Britain and in industrial applications in the USA. One is preserved in the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
This kit is in HO, as opposed to the 4mm ver- sion from another maker. Knowing Dave for nearly 30 years, I can vouch for the high standard of his products. We have been test- ing a sample on the Franklinsburg layout and it easily handles the precise control needed for Kadee coupler operations, and has ample power and weight, being mainly white metal.
Dave has prospective buyers on the Continent, and some model railroad maga- zines have agreed to run reviews. If sales go well, especially in the USA, his next kit will be a USRA 0-8-0. We are helping in this pro- ject and preliminary work is under way. This is an exciting prospect and we hope things go well enough for Dave to consider it viable. The Kit has a white metal body which fits on a “fold-up” nickel silver chassis complete with Mashima 5 pole motor on a lost wax brass motor mount. Wheels, gears, axles, crankpins, an ingot of low-melt solder and 40+ lost wax cast details are provided. The smoke box door and cab are fully detailed. Shortly, a detail kit of parts will be offered to build the American version. This includes 2 freight pilots, two headlamps, bell and bracket, steam generator, Westinghouse pump and Kadee couplers.
The complete, motorised chassis will be available as a separate item to power “free- lance” bodies.
The kit will retail at about £120, available direct from Dave Alexander, 37 Glanton
Rd., North Shields, Tyne & Wear NE29 8LJ. Tel: 0191 257 6716
PRODUCT REVIEW by The Editor
Pikestuff/Rix Products Kits (new for 1998)...
1) Atkinson Engine Facility
HO #541-5007 £15.95
2) Cross bucks & Mileposts
HO #628-0660 £4.10
3) Guthrie Grain
N #628-0708 £16.90
Nigel supplied these kits for me to review. “Modern Structures in Miniature” imports the Pikestuff/Rix range and are at PO Box 3119, Ferndown BH22 8XY. The catalogue is £1.75 post-free. P&p on orders is £2 for orders up to £12, free over £12.
1) Atkinson Engine Facility
...is one of the Kitbasher Series. The parts look like a simple shake-the-box kit but are really the product of a modeller’s ingenuity. He worked at the prototype facility, ex-L&N, now CSX, and used various Pikestuff kits to produce his model. Pikestuff issued this kit utilising the necessary parts, instructions and several “cut lines” moulded in. The instructions are brilliant. If you can read, and handle a hobby knife, you can make these kits easily. Options are offered to pro- duce, for example, different arrangements of doors and windows.
The styrene is self-coloured a dull French blue for the main wall and roof panels (which look like aluminium siding) and white for the window, door and piping details. The struc- ture goes together easily and, as described, forms this modern single track facility, a cov- ered shed but open at the side. Along the rear is a substantial office building. Made thus the structure is about 40ft. x 80ft. and the track can accommodate a single large road engine or maybe a couple of switchers.
Because of the flexibility of the design, you can leave it, as I did, ‘full-width’ with two tracks, have openings at one end only (or two entrances one end and one at the other) and have the office part various dimensions. I opened the long side for only about half its length and put some windows in the other half. Cold climate areas would use fully enclosed designs.
If you want to paint the building, do so before adding the windows and other details. None of the openings are pre-cut but all are deeply marked on the inner surfaces. Choose which details you want.
If left as bare plastic, one could easily spray the finished shed with a mix of flat finish and a little weathering dust and grime.
Good quality value for a very useful building, and possibly enough bits left over to make a 3 bedroom semi!
(Modelling tips: Don’t use “score and break” technique - the siding pattern can be dam- aged. Also, the window cutting grooves are very wide, which leaves doubt as to how big to make the opening. I found the largest pos- sible cut size is needed, then ease out with a file. Fit the window frames loosely as they are easily distorted under pressure.)
2) The crossbuck kit
...provides a lot of items in white styrene. Each unit works out at about 17p.! Four crossing signs are each built up of a lower
JUNE 1998
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