Tag Archives: Etched Metal Details

Building a Western Pacific PFE R-30-9 reefer

Photo from Bob’s Photo collection

George Toman shares his work updating a couple HO scale reefer kits. George has some cool techniques in this post.

In 1923, the Western Pacific joined Pacific Fruit Express (PFE) and added a number of cars to the PFE fleet. The cars were built to current PFE standards and designs. They featured a WP herald on the right side. Although owned by the WP, were part of the general PFE fleet.

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Notes from Bill – 2

Here’s a June 2015 email from Bill Welch. We were discussing blog posts and he sent this along. It wasn’t published because he wanted to finish the tank car.

I will start out with a digression. Apparently, I am becoming a Tool Guy as I seem obsessed with airbrushes. I now own six of them including the Binks Wren I purchased over 50 years ago and the Harbor Freight airbrush I purchased recently with a 20% coupon for $16.49.

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Upgrading Red Caboose M-26 boxcars

It’s time for me, RCW web guy Eric Hansmann, to make a blog post. I’ve had several of these Red Caboose HO scale plastic boxcar kits in my stash for years. I needed more Baltimore & Ohio boxcars for my 1926 fleet, so it was time to build a couple. I started these earlier in 2021 and just finished weathering them, eight months later.

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Workbench Wednesday

Duryea cushion underframe installation

George Toman shared his latest workbench update. He’s upgrading a kit with Duryea underframe parts.

The Duryea underframe is a cushioning device used to reduce damage. The center sill can slide about 12 to 16 inches to cushion impact when coupling. This requires different mounting than the more conventional AAR underframe. National Scale Car has captured the Duryea underframe in great detail using resin castings and photo etched parts in their MK 106 kit that upgrades an Intermountain 1937 Modified AAR boxcar model.

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