August 1998 $3.95 Higher in Canada The Triple Bay Hopper six packs are shipping now at the suggested retail price lpf .. $90.00 each. Of the eight road names available, all carry coal loads except for Western Maryland, which carries a prototypically-correct limestone load. So go ahead. Pop one open. And refresh yourself with a Bachmann six pack. Suggested Retail Price: $90.00 SHIPPING NOW ITEM # DESCRIPTION • NMRA Conformance Warrant 98-06 18703YY Burlington Northern • HO scale Silver Series® model (billboard) • 30° slope sheet, offset panel design 18706YY Conrail • thin wall construction Southern Pacific • six roadnumbers 18707YY • removable loads • Barber S 2 Roller Bearing Trucks with 18710YY Reading (speed lettering) • separate side sheet supports Celcon® construction 18714YY Pennsylvania (yellow ball) • hidden weights • blackened, non-magnetic metal axles 18737YY Western Maryland (gray) • with needle point bearings for free-rolling performance linely detailed brake wheel 18739YY Denver Rio Grande • installed bOdy-mounted E-Z Mate® couplers • scale 36", blackened-metal wheels & Western (flying Grande) • finely detailed stirrup steps with RP25 contours Norfolk Western • separately applied brake reservoir and brake valve • all parts painted with accurate paint schemes 18742YY & • super-detailed tampo printing on sides and ends of car (round herald) 1400 East Erie Avenue · Philadelphia, PA 19124 MODEL RAILROADING August 1998 VOLUME 28 NUMBER 8 FEATURES 21 T FREIGHTCAROLOGY General American's Other Freight Cars - Part 2: Plastics, Kaolin & Grain Cars and Miscella­ neous Covered Hoppers, Reefers & Hoppers by David G. Casdorph 50 T Modeling Appalachian Streamliners Capturing the Character of Clinchfield F Units 24 T Modeling an Atlantic Coast Line EMD FP7 by John Welther by Jim Six 55 T DIESEL DETAIL CLOSE-UP 30 T MODELING MODERN INTERMODAL Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (GM&O) Alco FA1/FB1 Vans and Cans - Boxcars of the '90s by Rich Picariello REAZ Green Braes, Shades of the BN Modeling with the Accurail 45' Van & 58 T Early Intermodal - The Circus Connection A-Line Universal Floor by Larry E. Smith, MMR by Gary Walton 62 T BEHIND THE SCENES 36 T Keith Mader's Wentworth Valley System A Matter of Proportion by Bob Boudreau by Margaret Mansfield 44 T The Early SD Units - Part 11: 64 T ON TRACK MRL, NKP, N&W and NWP The Other Helix by George Melvin by Jim Mansfield DEPARTMENTS 5 T Editorial 9 T Letters to the Editor 12 T New Products 17 T Product Reviews 20 T Society Page 65 T Dealer Directory 73 T Your Trek Plan 78 T Advertiser Index ABOUT THE COVER John Wei tiler's impressive Clinchfield F7 A number 809 displays its distinctive Clinchfield characteristics. Turn to page 50 for a look at how John modeled this and two other Clinchfield F units. Photo by John Hi tzeman . INSET: A VC&L BL2 eases over an unloading trestle at the pal­ let plant in Beaver River on Keith Mader's Wentworth Valley System. Starting on page 36, Bob Boudreau takes us for a tour of this "island empire" layout with its myriad of scratchbuilt structures. Photo by Bo b Bo udreau. Real blueprints? You bet. Because priate to prototype. Laser quality paint PROTO 2000 does whatever it takes to create schemes and printing complement the the most accurate prototype models. But the effort exquisite detail. And for performance to match is more than worth it. Just take a look at the new the exterior, the GP20 is equipped with a DC motor GP20. EMD's first turbocharged diesel is famous for with superrite anisotropic magnets and 5-pole skew its pulling power-three GP20s could replace four wound balanced armature, all-wheel drive and all­ FTs. The GP20 entered the railroading scene in 1959. wheel electrical pick-up. PROTO 2000 magnetic Each of the 260 units was characterized by the tur­ knuckle couplers are frame-mounted, and X2F cou­ bocharger stack behind the first fan and a rectangular plers are also supplied. There's nothing ordinary bulge in the long hood on both sides just behind the about this model. See all the exceptional features at cab. But they were individualized by road-specific your hobby dealer today. details like the availability of a low nose and dynamic The first release of the PROTO 2000 GP20 is available brakes. PROTO 2000 captures the distinctive look of undecorated and in at least two numbers in each of the every model made, down to the see-through radiator following road names: Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, grilles, four varieties of fans, plus a wealth of other Eleclro Motive Division, Burlington Northern, New York options including functional drop steps, working cab Cenlral and Cotton Belt. doors, sun shades, M.U. boxes and more, as appro- WE BUILD THEM THE WAY THEY USED To. ©1998 Life-Like Products, Inc., 1600 lInionAve., Baltimore MD 21211 In C,nam: 140 ApplewoodCrescent, Concord, Ontario L4K4E2 Visit our websile: lI�vw.lifelikeprodllcts.coll1 MODEL RAILROADING EDITORIAL EDITOR I PUBLISHER Randall B. Lee CONTRIBUTING EDITORS David A. Bontrager David G. Casdorph Doug Geiger, MMR A Penny Patrick Lawson, MMR Jim and Margaret Mansfield on the Track George Melvin Rich Picariello y love for trains began when I was a child. Growing up just a few blocks from Larry J. Puckett M the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's three-track mainline just west of Jim Six Chicago, I frequently managed to sneak down to the tracks to watch the trains. And Larry E. Smith, MMR there were always plenty of trains to watch. Freights, commuter trains, as well as the Zephyrs and other name trains that used CB&Q trackage for their trek into or out of ART DIREC TORS Chicago's Union Station, made train watching a very entertaining, yet relaxing, pas­ Donna Pacheco time ...esp ecially during the long, hot, humid days of a Midwestern summer. My fa­ Michelle Ruffner vorite spot was at a small park on the north side of the tracks near the West Hinsdale station. I could play on a swing or slide until I heard the telltale clang of the bell at the grade crossing, and then head over to the tracks to get a better view and to wave at the CIRCULATION I OFFICE MANAGER engineer. Ahh ...summers were great for train watching in the '50s. Donald R. Strait But being a fairly typical boy, just watching wasn't always enough. I don't remem­ ber if it was my, or my best friend Jimmy's, idea to see what a train would do to a NATIONAL SALES MANAGER penny, but one day we decided we needed to find out. After making sure that no trains Chris Lane were approaching, we dashed out to the closest rail and placed a penny on it, then 1-888-338-1700 dashed back to the safety of the bushes that paralleled the right-of-way... and waited. Before long, our patience paid off. Whether it was a through freight or a commuter Volume 28, Issue 8. MODEL RAILROADING is published train, I really don't recall, but whatever it was, it smashed that penny into a thin, 12 2600 times a year by Highlands Station, Inc., SParker curved, oval piece of copper about 2" long that didn't have the slightest hint of Presi­ Rd., Suite 1-211, Aurora, CO 80014, (303) 338-1700. Price per single copy is $3.95 in U.S.A. Subscriptions are dent Lincoln on it. We were impressed - REALLY impressed! But we couldn't make $31.95 in the U.S.A. or $40.00 in Canada (or fore ign our prize known to our parents, because if they found out we'd been playing on the)­ payable in U.S. funds. Unsolicited manuscripts or photo­ tracks, we'd have been grounded for sure. (I can admil 10 Ih is now, only because Ih e graphs should be accompanied by return postage, and SIalute of limitcllions has expired. DISCLAIMER : I neiIher advocate nor con don e Ih is Highlands Station, Inc., assumes no responsibility for the ' aClivity. Trespassin g on railroa d property is a crime, an d placing ANY objecl on th e loss or damage of such material. No part of this publication rails is illegal as well as dan gero us !) may be reprinted without written permission from the That hot summer day we learned just how powerful a speeding locomotive really publisher. Printed in U.S.A. The information contained in the various articles in this was. (And to think that Superman was even MORE powerfuLWOW!) I think it was magazine is presented in good faith, but no warranty is that tremendous power... and the fact that all those trains were going to places I'd never given, no results guaranteed, nor is any freedom from any been ...that started my love affair with trains. patent or copyright to be inferred. Since we have no con­ Now, more than 40 years later, I still long to go down to the tracks to watch the trol over the physical conditions surrounding the applica­ trains go by. But no longer do I see long strings of F units pulling outside-braced box­ tion of information in this magazine, Highlands Station, cars, nor sleek silver E units zipping by with a gleaming string of corrugated stainless­ Inc., and the various authors and editors disclaim any lia­ steel passenger cars, replete with dome cars. Now it's massive Dash 9s and bility for untoward results and/or for any physical injury in­ curred by using the information herein. SD90MACs with double stacks or a string of coal hoppers ...or AMD-l 03s with hi­ Copyright © 1998 by Highlands Station, Inc.