S I- I� .(� I l\. I.. () Ii" Ii" I� II. MODEL RAILROADING'S GUIDE TO MODELING AND DETAILING DIESELS BUY BOTH VOLUMES OF MRG'S GUIDE TO MODELING AND DETAILING DIESELS $21.00, VOLUME I FOR JUST A SAVINGS OF VOLUME II 88 pages 15% 144 pages $9.95 OFF THE TOTAL RETAIL PRICE!! $14.95 OR RECEIVE BOTH BOOKS FREE WITH A 3-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO MODEL RAILROADING MAGAZINE! SHIPPING AND HANDLING: PLACE YOUR ORDER DIRECT: 1·5 Pieces ... $4.00 6·12 pieces ... $6.00 13 or more pieces...$8.00 1-800-736-0427 (Visa and MasterCard) (Add $5.00 surcharge for each foreign order) 303-292-0124 (out of country) Denver residents odd 7.3% sales tax Colorado residents add 3.8% sales tax ROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLISHING, INC., 2929 Blake Street, Denver, Colorado 80205 HOSCALECRITIC'S CHOICE Also offsrod in Erie snd Pennsylvania �stern Maryland#304 (One A Unit only) And consumers' choice, too! Life-like's PROTO 2000 FA2 New YorkCentr.' #1049, #1050 In features the proven performance and prototypical detail that Av.llable lwo Units � A raUrcna, today's modelers demand. At a surprisingly affordable price. plus finUnpowered It's no wonder that model railroad reviewers have written that BUnil, the PROTO 2000 FA2 "redefines the standards by which all engines are judged:' For more information about PROTO 2000 locomotives, visit your favorite hobby store today. life-Like Products, Inc., 1600 Union Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21211 In Canada: 140 Applewood Crescent, Concord, Ontario l4K 4E2 MarchVOLUME 24 NUMBER 1994 3 Photo by Doug Geiger FEATURES 13 A SPECIAL EXPANDED PRODUCT REVIEW SECTION: WALTHERS 48' STOUGHTON TRAILER by David A. BOnlrager EEL RIVER MODELS INSULATED BEER CAR by Doug Geiger · E&C SHOPS WOODCHIP GONDOLAS by David G. Casdorph 19 ON TRACK: CONTROL AND POWER PLANNING FOR OPERATION - PART TWO THE BASICS OF CONTROL PANELS AND POWER DISTRIBUTION by Jim Mansfield 21 DIESEL DETAIL CLOSE·UP: SOUTHERN PACIFIC EMD SW I500 by Rich Picaricllo 24 KITBASHING A BAR GP7U (OR, GO EAST. OLD LOCO) by R. B. Mitchell 26 MODELING MODERN INTERMODAL: WALTHERS ALL·PURPOSE SPINE CAR - AN IN·DEPTH REVIEW by David A. BOnlrager 34 A BRIDGE TO CROSS - SCRATCHBUILDING A COVERED BRIDGE by Bob Beaty. MMR 38 BEHIND THE SCENES: A WINDOW TO THE "IRON HORSE" by Margaret Mansfield 40 ROLLING THE FREIGHT ON THE WINCHESTER, FREDERICKSBURG AND PETERSBURG by Bob Warren and Larry Puckett 46 PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD STEEL OPEN HOPPERS: H43 AND SUBCLASSES - PART I by John G. Teichmoeller 53 NORFOLK SOUTHERN CABOOSES by Jim Six 58 MODELING MODERN INTERMODAL: SCRATCHBUILDING A MI·JACK TRA SLiFT STRADDLE CRANE - PART II by Doug Gciger DEPARTMENTS 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 10 YOUR TREK PLAN 65 DEALER DIRECTORY 5 EDITORIAL 12 COMPUTER APPLICATIONS 69 SHOPPING GUIDE 6 NEW PRODUCTS 13 PRODUCT REVIEWS 78 CLASSIFIEDS 9 SOCIETY PAGE 31 VIDEO REVIEW 78 ADVERTISER INDEX ABOUT THE COVER Doug Geiger continues his series on scratchbuilding a Mi-Jack Translift straddle crane on page 58. Whether you plan on sCfalchbuilding your own or upgrading the new kit from Wahhcrs. this series will help you build a more prototypical model. PhOlo by DOllg Gl'(�er. INSET: Bob Warren likes keep the freight rolling 10 his Winchester. Fredericksburg & Petersburg layout. Here a coal drag is forced into a team-track lead so the Alpha NO/folk Cumberlolld can gel by. Pllolo by Larry Pueke/(. all leI TO THE ED ITO R Good Balance articles. Keep up the good work - you're the only magazine that deals with the NYC and PRR and especially the Pc. I wanted to say a comment Dear Mr. Lee. though about the F7 article of PC F7s (July The more correct-looking Congratulations on the Jan. '94 issue. For an N&W modeler it was great, '93). passenger pilot would be Dewil Associates' passenger pilot (DA2214). of course, with the Jim Teese G-2 gondola kilbash and the Jim Six NS Second Jim said he never saw a photo of an F7 with tank skirts still intact; diesel article. But best of all was the balance struck between the various well me neither until I bought PCPower. On page 21 the bottom photo scales. prototype vs. model, different eras and levels of modelers' skill. shows at least one last unit with it on; well keep up the good work AND PC Well clone! articles! The G-2 gon, along with John Teichmoeller's excellent Pennsy hopper series arc a welcome relief, since open-top cars have been somewhat Nick Longshore ignored. Fairfield,OH Several points about the NS diesels and slugs: Bob Bowers of Ken's Trains in Roanoke, VA (listed in the Model Railroading Dealers Directory), offers an HO scale GP9 slug (RP-E4D) as shown on page 57, either sepa­ A Few Thoughts rately or with a GP40 master, both painted and with the correct road num­ Mr. Lee, bers: the Trainmaster slug (RP-F6) prototype and HO model article by Tom A few thoughts on your magazine: and Doug Dressler in the Dec. 1980 Model Railroader is excellent; and No. I - take real good care of Dave Bontrager! He knows how to "tell finally. an SD9 article will appear in an upcoming issue of Tlte Arrow, the it like it is"! He hits the nail on the head 100% of the time. magazine of the N&W Historical Society, discussing both the No. 2 - nice job on the "Grand" Road in the January '94 issue - need NKP/N& W /NS prototype and how to model it. more "around the walls" simple layouts that don't look like a can of Thanks again for your fine efforts. worms! John Snidow Hardy. VA Rule I: "Keep It Simple, Stupid! KISS!" Rule 2: "When in doubt, look to the prototype!" AppreCiates NS Coverage Keep up the good work. Dear Jim Six, Russ Rettig To day's mail brought Illy January issue of Model Railmoding. I've just LaPorte, IN finished reading your Norfolk Southern article. I've enjoyed each article over the past three years ... .I love the pictures of the Norfolk Southern engines. Thank you. Since you can't be all over the Norfolk Southern line, Misaligned Table maybe some of us readers could help get pictures for you. I know I'd be Dear Randy, glad help. Spending time taking pictures in the Meridian, MS, yard is my 10 You probably will nOl remember me from the various conventions at favorite pastime, along with modeling of course. Just tell us what you're in which we have visited - no problem. need of. Again. thank you for the Norfolk Southern articles. Keep them I'm inveterate "nit-picker" - so no offense meant. BUT it seems to coming and not so far in between. Thank you, thank you, thank you. an me thai the elements of Table 2 on page 63 of the January '94 MRG would John D. Morgan make more sense if both rows of column heildings were moved onecolumn Quitman, MS to the right! C. A. "Zeke" Forter, Jr. Power for Refrigerafor Containers Roswell, MN Dear Randy, (Yes, I remember YOIl Zeke, alld YO Il are,,'t lIitpicking; the heads are mis­ After reading "Modeling Modem Inlermodal, Thrall Five-Unit Double­ I/O Stack Car - Series APLX 5000" (Nov '93) by Jim Mansfield. I was left aligned and should be ollecolt/mil ol'er to the right. -Randy) with a queslion not answered in the article. Jim Mansfield stated,"It should be noted,however, that the cars in this article arc no longer in service as electrical cars and actually would not be Personal Standards present in a train of the early '90s." If this is the case my question is what do Dear Randy, the railroads or cHrriers lise for refrigerated containers in service in the '90s? I've often thought about writing 10 you, but never felt the compulsion to Since Walthers is producing new refrigerated containers, this infonna­ actually do it llntil reading the December 1993 issue, First, let me com­ tion would be helpful to me since I model intennodal trains in the '90s .. mend you on a fine magazine, and for having the courage to define a niche Thank you and Jim Mansfield for this infonnation. By the way, the arti­ and sticking 10 it. Yours is one of four trade magazines I read, and often cle was excellent. and I look forward to each issue of Model Railroading (not always - but often) it is my first choice. and the series on "Modeling Modern Intemlodal." Keep up the good work. I believe I've ;'grown" as a model railroader since starting to read your Bruce A. Hochberger magazine two years ago - about a year after re-entering the hobby. I was Northglcnn. CO intimidated at first by the Icvel of detail your articles reach, but now find myself slowly accepting it. and I look fo rward 10 applying it to my layout. I (Power fo r refrig er(lfed cOllwillers is /lOW supplied from a Kellerator am not a fonner or current railroad employee, and I did not grow up with housed in a 20' cOlltailler chassis. We ' ll take a doser look at olle of these railroad tracks anywhere ncar my hometown. My memories are based on ill afut ure issue. -Rat/dy) my American Flyer and HO trains I ran as a kid (back when running trains was fun). Therefore my attention to prototype is limiled. Ignorance is bliss PC F7s since "I don't know what I don't know." One of the many reasons for selecting N scale as my scale was that I'm Model Railroading ..