Pennsy...B&O...both seem to be leaving a bad taste. (a rant)

[Chris333]

http://www.c2i2.com/~adistel/bulaharborsign.JPG
http://www.familyoldphotos.com/oh/2c/car_ferry_ashtabula_harbor_ohio.htm

Those look like the Huletts.

Iron ore for the steel mill down the street from me comes from Astabula.

[2-8-8-0]

You guys are incredible!

Thanks for the pics of ashtabula, mebbe in my world the B&O will share the harbor here with PRR instead of NYC. Really inspired me to get an ironboat ive been working on finished.

Skip, the decals im looking for are the 13 states herald, primarily for the OS 4 bay W2s and the RS and OS twins, the W7 3 bays are a bit newish for my layout (they started to come on the B&O in 1947, i picked 1948, so some will be present, but nowhere near the numbers of the other types) my equipment register shows 1000 W7 in 1948, no W7A or B yet (compared to about 30k twins and 7k 4 bays).

I can use a number jumble for individual car numbers. The cars i have are a small army of MT OS and RS twins, the RS ones need a smaller herald than the OS, but I can just backdate those and have them with just reporting marks and roadname, no herald. The pic below shows a W2 with the markings i was after;



Thanks so much all, really helped me out; oyeah, I got the issue of RMC i bought, it has an outstanding diagram of an EL3A, complete with DIMENSIONS!

Excited now, Tim

PS. Im now looking for the October 74 Issue of RMC, seems that article is about the EL-5, so if its anywherenear as good as this one, will be worth owning.

[SkipGear]

Athearn has most recent release, 3 bay offset sides, a W-7 close enough, in 13 states logo came in two 5 packs for a total 10 numbers.

Stuff on it's way, Bluford 3 bay in I think 6 numbers although it is a little late for steam, it still fills in a train.

Any opinions out there on the relative merits of the Athearn and Bluford hoppers?

The Bluford car is a later prototype (1938 and later) than the Athearn/MDC car. As for features, see this page: http://www.bluford-shops.com/bluford_1025_002.htm

Craig

Craig,
 My comment was more about the paint scheme than the car itself. The first scheme released is for very late 50's early 60's. I understand you are working on an earlier scheme for a future release. That will get my attention. Everybody seems to start out with the billboard scheme in B&O which pretty much limits the cars use to the 60's and eliminates purchases by us steam nuts. The early schemes cover more ground and lasted into the 70's in some cases.

[Bob Bufkin]

Last week an old B&O hopper was spotted at St Denis.  Wish I was there for photo but alas.

[2-8-8-0]

Last week an old B&O hopper was spotted at St Denis.  Wish I was there for photo but alas.

There is supposedly a W2 in a junkyard in pennsylvania, the B&O historical society was trying to get it moved, im not certain if they ever did though. There was a scrapyard here in Ashtabula until quite recently (like a year ago) who had several 40s boxcars on their siding, and their office is actually in an old (albeit small) roundhouse. Neat where things turn up.

Skip, the idea for the decals for specific car sides is pretty unique, and would make the process of decalling (at least the relatively smooth sided OS cars) pretty easy. I like that approach.

And, an added bonus, I found an extra set of diagrams in the RMC back issue i got, of an I5b wagontop caboose..!

By the way, the article on the EL class(es) according to my Sept 74 issue of RMC was supposed to be "extended next month" which I assume means in Oct 74, can anyone confirm or deny that?

[Mark5]

I might still have Oct 74 RMC. gotta remember to check.

[2-8-8-0]

A great seller on ebay had it, and confirmed that pages 41-44 ran an article on "B&Os west virginia mallets" so that must be the conclusion; however, the pages are missing from her copy!!

The hunt continues!

[DaveB]

Brooklyn Locomotive Works has a special run of three Microtrains hoppers in the early Billboard scheme (1956).  Also, there are the Fine Nscale wagontop boxcar kits.

[Mark5]

To anyone looking for 4 bay offset side hoppers I would advise looking for the ones Rivarossi did for Atlas back in A1G days over the Minitrix/MP versions - the detail seems a bit finer on these.

[artpics]

A great seller on ebay had it, and confirmed that pages 41-44 ran an article on "B&Os west virginia mallets" so that must be the conclusion; however, the pages are missing from her copy!!

The hunt continues!

I've got the Oct 74 article right here. It is still needed by the poster?

[2-8-8-0]

Yes, I still do need the article! Any and all information on the 2-8-8-0s of B&O (there dosent seem to be much I dont have) Is welcome, especially as that article i think specifically examines the EL-5s. Thanks, Tim

[artpics]

Regarding the EL5s the article states "The USRA engines became Class El-5 and were numbered 7145-7170 and were actually constructed as B&O 2-8-8-0's rather than the government 2-8-8-2 design as had been originally specified."

I'll take the article to Staples tomorrow, have the pages scanned, and convert it into a PDF for you. Does that work for you.

Thanks,

Art Wilkinson

[2-8-8-0]

Thank you very very much! That will be a huge help!

The NE Ohio Railfest is in 3 hours...gonna get a scan of this article...life is good!

Tim

[DaveB]

I Googled B&O billboard and I found this on the lettering of B&O hoppers. 

http://www.borhs.org/Logos/CBarkan/BOHopperStenciling1940-60s.pdf

[SkipGear]

I Googled B&O billboard and I found this on the lettering of B&O hoppers. 

http://www.borhs.org/Logos/CBarkan/BOHopperStenciling1940-60s.pdf

Dave,
 I reference that quite a lot. There is also a page like that for boxcar stenciling. The "Billboard" scheme that the manufactures seem to prefer is the small ampersand versions, which puts the hoppers right at the end of steam era. A steam modeler would only need one or two in average train. B&O didn't buy many new hoppers in that time frame so the hoppers that got that scheme were mainly rebuilds/repaints/shopped cars.

There is an excellent series of articles in the B&O modeler and BORHS Sentinel magazines that covers hopper distribution and construction over the years.

The B&O Modeler Articles are:

Vol 2. No 3. May/June 2006 - MODELING B&O OPEN HOPPERS, 1919 TO 1963 –AN OVERVIEW  BY: BEN HOM
Vol 2. No 6. Nov/Dec 2006 - MODELING B&O OPEN HOPPERS, 1919 TO 1963, CLASS W-1 AND SUBCLASSES, PART 1 – PROTOTYPE INFORMATION

I am pretty sure more were planned. The first article covers most of the raw data you need to set up a fleet.