U25B PHOTOROSTER FREIGHT CARS Journal Little Things Make a Freight Cars Journal is the only magazine devoted exclusively to the study of prototype freight car history and modeling. Big Difference Each issue is packed with data and photos of America's freight cars. High-quality glossy paper. Design and Evolution· Spotter's Guides. Bu ilders' Production· Modeling Details. News. Logos & Li veries • Detailed Rosters • Scale Drawings Reviews. Historical Forum. Intermodal Development . Bibliographies. Publi shed Quarterly. $15 .00 per yea r. Sample copy $5 .00 ppd . FREIGHT CARS JOURNAL P.O. Box 1458 Monrovia, CA 91016 ~'!=!!e~~iof the CALIFORNIA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM 933-822 Diesel Dress-up Kit $3.89 934-702090 Number Board Decals $1.30 Fits HO Scale F7 or F9 units. Includes all grab Features two styles of HO Scale number Over 1000 Titles Mwa~ .. \n Stoel<. \ irons and "glass" for one A and one B unit. boards: white numerals on black background ~ CAll US FIRST! .... Complete instructions and mounting template or black numerals on white background. Milepost 1 and the State Railroad Museum are provided. Your Dealer can get it from Walthers. are open 7 days a week 10 AM - 5 PM 933-429 Diaphragm pkg/2 $1.98 For a list of Dealers near you , send a #10 SASE Includes folded bellows with vinyl striker to the address below. plates. Use on E and F units or heavyweight PHONE ORDERS (9 16) 447-9665 VISAIMC passenger cars. 115 "I" STREET· OLD SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 904-299 Hobsco GOO 1'/.oz $2.29 SEND $1.00 FOR CURRENT CATALOG ••• WALTHERS The perfect adhesive for mounting diaphragms! Joints stay flexible without letting go. 5601 W Floris/Ave. Milwaukee, W/53218 PACifiC COASI CHAPIER RAILWAY &LOCOMOIIV[ HISTORICAL SOCIHY.IN C. © 1987 Wm. K. Walthers. Inc. 2 PROTOTYPE MODELER Probtype ~--- The MODELER'S Magazine of Prototype RAILROADING Vol. X, No.3 MAY-JUNE 1988 F35 Publisher Jim Walker Senior Editor/Art Director features Mike Schafer Editorial Assistant Don Gulbrandsen Art Production Modeling a Union Pacific GP9Bu-the 'Omaha Mark Danneman GP20' .......... ............................. 12 Contributing Editor Stephen R. Heath John Swanson PM Modeler's Notebook: Painting three Typesetting Publishers Studio generations of Texas & Pacific boxcars Waukesha, Wis. for a 1950s-era layout ........................... 18 Image assembly, halftones Jim Ogden and color separations Jim Walter Graphics, A GE U25B photoroster .......................... 20 Beloit, Wis. Warren Calloway and Don Gulbrandsen ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Contact Interurban Press, P.O. Box Erie Lackawanna passenger equipment 6128, Glendale, CA 91205: (818) 240-9130. Or send postcard requesting rate card. prototype and model/Part IV: PROTOTYP' MOD"'R (ISSN: 0734 -1482) is published bimonthly by Sleeping cars ................................... 31 Inlerurbon Press, 1212 S. Brand Boulevard, P.O. Box 6128, Glen­ dale, CA 91205. Second-class postage paid at Glendale, Calil, Joe Lofland and Martin abed and at a dditional o ttice. (USPS 710-590). POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 10 PROTONPE MODElER, P.O. Box 6128, Glendale, CA Prototype Profile: The Belton Railroad ............ 35 91 205. SUBSCRIPTION RATES : In Ihe U.S. and its possessions-$27 for 12 Cyril Durrenberger issues, $48 for 24 issues: Canada and Mexice-$31 (U.S.) for 12 issues, $56 (U.S.) for 24 issues: outside North America-$36 for 12 Culm Coal ..................................... 40 issue s, $66 for 24 issues. Single -cop y cover price $2.75 ($3.50 postpaid). Cover price subject to change without notice. Michael J. Collins CHANGE OF ADDRESS FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS: Please send c hange-of-address nolice atleasl 4-6 weeks prior 10 moving. The Post Of lice does not regularly forward Second Class mail and Inlerurban Press/PROTONPE MODELER is nal responsible for c opies destroyed or not forwarded by the Post Ottice. Re­ placement copies/P.O. notifications will be billed. departments SUBMISSIONS: Fealure and photo submissions are welcome and should be sent to the Wisconsin address. Accepted arti­ cles and pholographs are held on file and paid for upon publication. When submitting material for consideration, in­ clude relurn packaging and postage if you wi sh il relurned. PROTOTY PE MOD ELER assumes no responsibility for the safe return of unsolicited material. Modeler's Newsbox . ...................................... 4 EDITORIAl ADDRESS: Address all ediforial corresp ondence, PM Junction . ............................................. 6 photo and manuscript submissions to: PM Classified ............................................ 7 PROTOTYPE MODELER P.O. BOX 379 Reporting Marks . ......................................... 7 WAUKESHA, WI 53187-0379 Now Arriving . ........................................... 10 \J~ OT '\-e <l em\h'P,~oe\iv e \ie, to the PM editorial ottice must go to Ihe following street a dd ress (UPS and FEDEX do not A Message to Our Readers .................... .......... 11 deliver to posl ottic e boxes): Company Mail . ........................................ 46 PROTOTYPE MODELER 923 FRIEDMAN DRIVE WAUKESHA, WI 53186 BUSINESS ADDRESS : Address a ll corresp ondenc e regarding On the cover: Racing along near Sheffield, III., on a late-summer day in 1966, a Rock subsc ription, including new orders and renewals, and busi­ ness-related matters to: Island U25B is on the point of a westbound merchandiser on its way to the Quad Cities INTERURBAN PRESS and points beyond. Starting on page 20, PM features a photoroster of this noteworthy GE P.O. BOX 6128 locomotive, (Mike Schafer photo) What is culm coal? For more information on this GLENDALE, CA 91205 product, which has spawned lucrative processing and packaging industries, turn to ©19BB Inlerurban Press page 40, Author/p hotographer Mike Collins also explains how he modeled a culm coal Mac Sebree Jim Wa lker packaging plant (seen in the cover photo) on his own layout, PRESIDENT VIC E PRESIDENT MAY-JUNE 1988 3 Chris Mitchell Ex-Santa Fe CF7 583 still wears its former own­ er's colors, but today it's an Amtrak locomotive, as revealed by the logo on its nose. The loco­ motive was photographed on Dec. 13, 1987 at Amtrak's New Haven, Conn., maintenance fa­ cility enjoying a Sunday off from its usual rou­ tine of hauling track maintenance crews be­ tween New Haven and Boston. modelerfs newsbox Have you photographed any new paint schemes lately? New locomotive models (prototype)? New rolling stock? Send your entries to PROTOlYPE MODELER, P.O. Box 379, Waukesha, WI 53187-0379. We might be able to use your photos in Model­ er's Newsbox or in the news section of sister magazines PACIFIC RAILNEWS or PASSENGER TRAIN JOURNAL Color slides are preferred, although high-quality sharp color prints will be considered. Slides will be returned, whether used or not; please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Payment is made promptly following publication. Union Pacific On Feb. 15, 1988 Union Pacific initiated its new "Rail-Rider" service between Chicago and Dallas. The Mark V trailers ride directly on special railroad wheel assemblies (manufactured by Thrall Car Company of Chicago) without the use of flatcars. This fire may have started on a "hot" Wis­ consin Central pulpwood train, but to rail­ road modelers this wasn't the most news­ worthy event pictured in Junction City, Wis., on April 16, 1988. It's hard not to notice the WC gondola in fresh paint- not a colorful scheme (compare with the locomotive in the March-April PM) , but definitely not shy about ownership, either. Most WC rolling stock and locomotives wear the paint of past owners, but the railroad paint shops are rel easing a steady stream of equip­ ment in WC maroon-and-yellow and black-and-white. 4 PROTOTYPE MODELER Can you guess the heritage of this box­ car? No, C&NW has not adopted a new logo for 50-foot insulated boxcars, b ut rather somebody took advantage of the fact tha t a few minutes a nd a can of spraypainl were all that was needed to convert some existing reporting marks. This Fruit Growers Express-owned c ar was p hotographed in front of the old Great Weste rn dep ot in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in March 1988. Robert 5. McGonigol modelerJs newsbox A trio of c risp -looking Oakway SO-60s in EMD paint pull an empty Burlington No rthe rn/Hous­ ton light and Powe r Company coal train northbound through Bellevue, Texa s, on April 2, 1988. BN le ases 100 of the 3,800-h.p . units, deliv­ e red in the last two months of 1986, fro m Oak­ way. THE BIC POWER Norfolk & Western Steam-Then & Now! INTERURBAN Here it is . .. a video to match the power and majesty of Norfolk & Western 's A-class 1218 and J-class passenger engine 611-back in steam! Bill Films/VIDEOS Warrick 's camera captures these locomotives in 1987, the year they were PO Box 6444, Glendale CA 91205 back in action ... PLUS 1958 footage (most in natural sound!) of these two classes, plus the Y6b and other great N&W power when steam was king ! DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED Great color--jJreat action. FR535V Dr B, 30 min . ... .. .. .. .. .. .... ... .. .. .. $39.95 PLEASE INCLUDE $1 .00 PER VIDEO FOR POSTAGE/HANDLING • FREE CATALOG INCLUDED! PROTOTYPE MOOELER welcomes letters that provide interesting information, corrections or your views on railroad modeling or the magazine itself. Mark at the top of your letter "To PM Junction" if it is to be considered for possible publicati on. Your full address will be given ONLY if you so request. Be­ cause of limited staffing, we are not always able to answer all mail (although a self-addressed, stamped envelope will help!J, but we do read all mail. Happy EL modeler want to thank you for the informa­ I tive series (beginning in the No­ vember-December 1987 issue) on the Erie Lackawanna passenger equip­ ment. I have gleaned more useful mod­ eling information from these 11 pages and 30 pictures than from my 10-year membership in the Erie/EL Historical SOCiety.