More Color More Color - O scale trains

Reader FeedbackComments on Paul BerntsenI recently received OST#3 the firstunder my subscription. I’m veryimpressed and will certainly be lookingforward to future issues.I was very interested in John Smith’scomments in Crapola from the Cupolaas I was responsible for his initial introductionto Paul Berntsen of The ModelCompany. I was also interested in hiscomments about the Santa Fe 2-6-2.While Paul may build differentlythan a Japanese or Korean builder hismodels run exceptionally well. While heno longer builds for the U.S. market, hehas gone on to build a number of custommodels for me including aWellsville, Addison & Galeton centercab.All my models run straight from thebox and do not need the coercing thatsome of the more expensive Koreanmodels need.It is unfortunate that Paul did not continuebuilding for the U.S. market. With afavourable exchange rate, a stable builderin a country where there are many modelersof U.S. railroads and a stable lowinflation economy many of the problemsimporters are now facing with Koreacould possibly have been avoided.Ian Munro, Wellington, New ZealandComments on Door and a Half BoxI received OST#3 and am verypleased with your new magazine. Basedupon the quality I’ve seen and yourcommitment to Gene Deimling and hisP:48 modeling as a regular feature inOST, I am enthusiastically sending youa subscription.Besides the subscription, I wanted tosend you a few comments directly onyour magazine. Our hobby includesmany different facets that appeal tomany different tastes. Personally, I enjoybuilding accurate scale models of specificprototypes, especially 1940’sfreight cars. This is why I chose P:48modeling over all the others (N, HO, S).Being relatively new to 1 ⁄4" scalemodeling, I was delighted to find Mr..Deimling’s “Door and a Half Boxcar”article. It is exactly what I am lookingfor in my hobby and should be an inspirationto many others to try O scaleand/or P:48 modeling.The Central of Georgia door and ahalf 40' AAR 1937 boxcars have alwaysinterested me, being among the mostexotic variations of the standardizedworkhorse boxcar design. I know of noother door and a half 40' boxcars. WhyCofGa chose this design is unknown tome, but I’d take a wild guess that CofGagot a good deal on left-over wartimeparts when many other railroads werealready ordering 10' 0" inside height(IH) boxcars with “improved” Dreadnaughtends. Most post-war 10' 0" IHboxcars had more modernized versionsof ends, doors, and roofs than the modelGene chose to build. (See “AAR-Style40' Boxcars” by Richard Hendrickson,Dec. 1989 Railroad Model Craftsman).CofGa had just received an order for350 “War Emergency” outside bracedboxcars that used essentially the sameroofs, ends, doors and underframes asthe 1937 design. These “War Emergency”boxcars were also 10' 0" IHwhich is probably attributed to restrictedclearances on the railroad.Gene’s model is outstanding and Ireally appreciated the “Materials List &Sources” at the end of the article. I dothink you could include the completeBody Shop info in the next one. A“Whodunit” like Buck Dean had withhis RC reefer review would also behelpful on all rolling stock constructionarticles, kit reviews, etc.But, what a really good constructionarticle like Mr. Deimling’s, or a good kitreview like Mr Dean’s, needs is a prototypephoto. As part of my own researchon the CofGa. door and a half 40' boxcars,I found two: page 44 of the October1991 Mainline Modeler, and page42 of the July 1991 Railmodel Journal.Either of these photos would have contributedto the completeness of the article.Noteworthy is the fact that CofGa#6450 shown in Railmodel Journal wasactually built around November 1944 aspart of AC&F’s lot #2700 (CofGA 6300- 6499) and had a different paint style inthe builder’s photo. This is very importantto those of us who are trying to beas accurate as possible in our dates andpaint styles.Perhaps Mr. Deimling’s CofGa#6719 of 1946 was part of a later AC&Flot number or came from a differentbuilder. I suspect the paint style is actuallyearly 1950’s and was changed afterthe original paint style was applied.Maybe Mr. Deimling could clarify?Also, the builder’s photos of CofGa#6450 show rib backed wheels and theMiner brakewheel housing is differentand smaller than the standard Ajax. I amunaware of an accurate 1 ⁄4" scale Minerbrakewheel housing. Again, perhaps Mr.Deimling could help.I sure would like to see him give aRed caboose PFE R-30-9 the full P:48treatment.Thomas D. SangerGene Deimling’s reply:Thank you for your praise of mywork. I am glad that I can share mymodeling with the magazine’s readers.Mr. Sanger is correct in that having aprototype photo is best when one canobtain them. I had used the two articleshe cites as source material for the article.The paint scheme depicted wasapplied to the car in question. Accordingto my sources, it was applied in theearly 1950’s. The Central of GeorgiaHistorical Society website, indicates mymodel is part of a Pullman Standard1945 lot with a number series of 6600 -6999. I understood that this lot hadsmooth-back wheels The Miner brakewheelhousing was scratchbuilt. I haveO Scale Trains • 37