Wl<ly risk derailing your railroad project? Your perfectly crafted models deserve the perfect paints from the Floquil line of enamels and Polly Scale acrylics. Each color is authentically matched to actual railroad line paint chips. They are completely plastic compatible and specially formulatea of "to scale" pigments so they won't hide even the smallest details. Choose from original formula Floquil enamels or Polly Scale acrylics t'natwasn up with water. Both will keep your railroading hobby on track. Available at your favorite hobby shop. www. W.. com Model by Armour Pe�erson 1-800 rESTORS © 1999 The Testor Corporation, an RPM Company March 2000· Volume 11, Number 10 ON THE COVER: - One of the obvious ele­ HO SCALE: Power Products, Athearn, Cannon and ments of "Modeling From The Prototype" is to OMI parts, by Steven Orth . .. ... .... .. .. 24 recreate the locomotives exactly as they were Freight Cars of the Fifties: Modern Freight Car Modeling: for the era you are modeling. Steven Orth Northern Pacific 50-foot Box Car from the ACF 50-Foot IPO, Railbox and Others used dozens of photographs of specific Proto 2000 kit, by Scott Pitzer ........ ... .. 8 from Walthers Kits, Part IV, SD90MAC-H prototype diesels to get the . General Service Gondolas from Red byJim Eager ............ ..................... 41 detailing on his Rail Power Products body shell Caboose or Detail Associates Kits, by Layout Tour: exactly right and powered the model with an Richard Hendrickson ................ ... ..13 Modeling lodi, California on the Southern Overland Models, Inc. chassis. He has made Modeling From The Prototype: Pacific Railroad in HO Scale, by Gene the upgrade easy enough for you to follow "Want List:" Scale Operating Couplers, Martin . ..... ....... ...... ... ........ ..... 48 Modeling Steam: beginning on page 24. -Steven Orth photo by Dave Davis ..................... ........... 9 on the late Terry Metcalfe's HO Sherman Hill Western Prototype Modelers Meet, by USRA 2-8-8-2 steam locomotives, from layout Brian KreimendahL .. .. ... .. .... .......... 34 the Heritage, by Proto 2000, HO Scale Diesels, One-Detail-At-A-Time: Models, by H.K. Vollrath..... .... .. .... .. 56 Burlington Northern (CfrS) EMD SD9, Locomotive Performance: Phase IV, from Proto 2000 or Railpower Overland Models, Inc. (OMI) EMO GP15- Models, by Louis Marre .................... 21 1 diesel Test Report, by Guy Thrams ... 62 Diesel Modeling: Summary of all previous locomotive Union Pacific SD90MAC-H from Rail Performance Test Reports ................. 66 . 4 RAILMODELjOURNAL MARCH 2000 Modeling From The Prototype: Western Prototype Modelers Meet, page 34 N SCALE: Freight Cars of the Fifties: General Service Gondolas from Dimi-Trains Kits, by Richard Hendrickson ..... ........ 13 Passenger Car Modeling: Streamlined Passenger Cars from American Models and Brass Car Sides parts, by Bill Pearce ..................... ....38 Locomotive Performance: Summary of all previous locomotive Performance Test Reports .................66 DEPARTMENTS: Calendar ............................................ 64 What's New................ .........6, 7 and 67 RAILMODELjOURNAL il published 12 timel a year by Golden BeU Prell, 2403 Champa Sl, Denver, CO80205. Price per lingle copy is $4.50, or $36.00 peryear in the U. S.A. Individualcopy prices higher in Canada and other countries.Foreign sublcriptions$48.00 for12 illUes, payable in U.S.funds. RAILMODELjOURNAL, ISsN 1043·5441, copy· right 2000 by Golden Ben Prell. All rights reserved. Periodicals Postage paid at Denver,CO. PO STMASTER: Send addresl changes to Railmodel journal,2403 Champa Sl, Denver, CO 80205 MODELING from the PROTOTYPE RAILMODELjOURNAL . MARCH 2000 5 [NEW N] --------- , Kato is now shipping this double-track replica of steel truss bridge. The bridge includes built-in pieces of Kato's own Uni-Track which can be mated to other Kato track or to any convention­ al N scale track. The kit includes braces so two or more of the bridges can be connected at the ends for longer spans. See your dealer. Overland Models, Inc. 3808 W. Kilgore Ave, Muncie, IN 47304 is importing brass replicas of the General Electric AC4400 diesels painted and lettered for CPR. See your dealer. Centralia Car Shops, P.O. Box 2686, Des Plaines, IL 60018-2686 is producing a series of CNW 400 passenger cars with laser-cut plastic sides to fit injection-molded plastic floors, ends and roofs and American Limited trucks. The cars include a baggage/tap lounge, deluxe coach, coach class/stewardess room, parlor car, dine and observation. Each kit is $23.95 unpainted. Microscale 60-859 decals are correct for this series of cars. This cast-pewter John Deere Model 70 tractor ($7.95) and 12-A Grain Harvester ($24.95) are the latest in a series of kits from GHQ, 28100 Woodside Rd. Shorewood, MN 55331. See your dealer or order direct. 6 RAILMODELjOURNAL · MARCH 2000 Grandt Line Products, 1040B Sharry Ct., Concord, CA 94518 is now producing some of their kits in N scale, including a kit to build these three "Reese Street" houses that are replicas of actual homes in Silverton, Colorado. The kit is $19.95. Blair Line, P.O.Box 1136, Carthage, MO 64836 is offering a series of "Graffiti decals. Most are about the shape and size of the ones in the pho­ tographs, but with a variety of colors and styles. The decals are $3.00 per set. Downtown Deco, 43 19 Rainbow Dr., Missoula, MT 59803 is producing cast-Hydrocal kits, with Grandt Line doors and windows, to build this "Addams Ave. Part 2" with full-color signs. The kit is $29.95. Micro-Trains is expanding their series of 60-foot N scale modern era box cars to include double­ sliding door cars like this GT model. See your dealer. Deluxe Innovations, P.O. Box 4213, Burbank, CA 91503-1667 is shipping injection-molded plas­ tic replicas of the "shallow rib" woodchip cars. The paint and lettering schemes include this Southern Pacific car with trucks and couplers ior $10.95 each or $65.70 for a six-pack of differ­ ent car numbers. RAILMODELjOURNAL . MARCH 2000 7 ------------ [PAINT & DECALS] ------------ NORTHERN PACIFIC 50-FOOT BOX CAR FROM PROTO 2000'S HO SCALE MODEL By Scott Pitzer Prototype photo from the Jay Williams Collection 8 RAILMODELjOURNAL' MARCH 2000 [ ] ------- MODELING FROM THE PROTOTYPE ------- COUPLERS, SCALE OR OPERATING? SOMETHING NEW FOR YOUR "WANT LIST" Photo and models by Dave Davis RAILMODELjOURNAL . MARCH 2000 9 COUPLERS, SCALE OR OPERATING? MEG�ORP. COUPLERS Virtually all of the wood and card freight car kits of the thirties and forties included cast zamac dummy couplers. The couplers are scale but they do not operate. It's hard to identify each of these by brand, but the manufac­ Megow had an operating coupler that resembled a prototype knuckle. The turers include Comet, Globe, Silver Streak, Megow, Ulrich, Varney, thumb portion of the knuckle was wire to allow automatic coupling. Walthers, Selley, Kemtron and others. If you want a scale coupler, you can drop the Cary 302 (far left) into must coupler pockets designed for Kadees or Kadee clones. Precision Scale's 292 has the same coupler but with a straight shank. The two couplers and parts on the left are Precision Scale's 32048 AAR common operating knuckle coupler. So far, the PSC 32048 is the only operating scale coupler. To p and end views of the Precision Scale operating coupler in brass and two out-of-production zinc cast couplers. All three are shown without the knuckles or operating pins. The scale dummy coupler was included in kits into the plastic era. These are (upper left) Lindberg (out of production) and the new Walthers 1045 to fit a standard draft gear box, (upper right) Revell, (lower left) Varney, and (lower right) Globe couplers. The old "standard" NMRA X2F coupler (left), with the current series of "standard" couplers (left to right) including Kato, Life-Like, McHenry and the Kadee number 5. Front Range produced an operating knuckle coupler in the early nineties The Devore and Roundhouse operating couplers included three pieces of cast (left), but it was designed to couple with Kadees and was oversize. Accurail zinc; the coupler itself, the knuckle and the operating pin that (in the case of also made a dummy coupler (left) that was included with the freight car the model couplers) included a simulated hanging brake hose that was used kits before their Kadee-clone Accumate. as an uncoupling pin with a retractable ramp placed between the ties. 10 RAILMODELjOURNAL· MARCH 2000 The Kadee automatic coupler became so original design and similar couplers. Kadee, inci­ actually touch either the car or cuupler DUl LIley popular for HO scale model railroads that it dentally, makes an "Old Time" HO coupler num­ will only work if the hose is not cut off. became the defacto standard. The NMRA tried ber 714 dlat is, essentially, their HOn3 coupler to introduce the ungainly X2F or "horn hook" widl a longer uncoupling pin. It will not couple HO Scale Automatic Couplers coupler in the sixties in an attempt to provide a with the standard-size Kadees or any similar cou­ Operating scale couplers are almost as old coupler that was inexpensive to produce pler. These couplers are great for 1900-era equip­ as the hobby. This is not intended to be a his­ (because it had no moving pans except for its ment but are actually too small (and too weak) for tory of HO scale couplers. If you're reading pivot and built-in centering springs). The X2F use on locomotives and rolling stock any newer "The Journal," you are likely trying to recre­ did become the "standard" (actually it was a dlan about 1910. ate what the prototype did in, say, 1958, not "Recommended Practice") for HO train sets There was a penalty that came with the what was happening in the hobby in 1958.