Mark These are actually single ended, with a simple cone on the non-cutting end. I have not tried to shorten one. But I do have one that I mounted, via a short length of brass tube, on wood dowel hand

Lloyd There is also the question of axle length. I believe that I have a half dozen different lengths in stock, with PSCs shortest at a little over 0.61", and the old Central Valley axles longest at 0

Don My guess is that these are inner and outer sections of three counter-flow density separation cones for a milling operation. With a cone's wide end up, a mix of materials having two distinct densit

Mike In general, for any given capacity, the earlier shells have more sheets in them. Early shell designs were limited by the size of plates available and perhaps the size of the bending rolls. So ear

Brian Thanks for the update. You have gone well beyond the limits of my knowledge on this. So keep at it and let us know what you find. John Stutz

Brian Regarding COLX #8, I am going by the photo: Specifically because I find nothing that is incompatible with the 1906 CBD drawing, and others, of the UTLX Class X tanks. The brake wheel placement d

Brian Almost all North American narrow gauge tank cars were either standard gauge tank cars on narrow gauge trucks, or standard tank shells on narrow gauge flat cars or made to order frames. The van D

Thanks Dale About what I expected. John

Re: welding plastic I find that a temperature controlled soldering iron does very well. Mine is industrial surplus, from All Electronics. A wood burning pencil should also work. Key is to do a quick i

Kevin I purchased one of these a few years ago. While I have not put a micrometer to it, I believe it is about as close to scale as the technology allows, especially since the designer states that he

Keven and Robert The MDC old timer tank frame is a very oversize version of that used under the UTLX X-3(?) tanks, successors to the Van Dyke frameless tank cars. A drawing of the 6,000 gallon, center

Robert A few years ago I bought an HO scale frame forfor UTLX prototype of the MDC tank cars form Shapeways. I believe that it is still being offered. However My reading of the Grandt Pictorial is tha

Robert I will second Mike and Dale regarding current shipping delays. I have an order coming from Tramfabrik, shipped from England on 5/18, with delivery estimated at 4-20 days. It is now 42 days and

Actually Dusty, there are several existing DSP&P truss spans that are not much if any lighter, in proportion, than your model: - A ~90' through truss over the South Platt River at Bailey's McGraw Memo

Dusty See Sloan's "A Century + Ten..." in the chapter on stock cars. Looks like pre-1900 cars had doors with vertical bars braced by one centered horizontal cross frame. The 55XX general arrangement d

Thanks Brice These oddballs have have been an interest of mine since I first encountered one on a Trains Unlimited tour about 30 years ago. So I much appreciate your providing this link to a detailed

Mark You might also find the F.C. Machacamarca-Uncia diesels #20 & 24 of interest. This was a private meter gauge mining line of 60 miles, running south of Oruro, Bolivia. These two CC diesels were bu

Regarding 'modern' NG diesel power, the Bachmans 44 ton and 70 ton GEs gave us a good base while the original mechanism was in production, but the shells are still a good start to recognizable power.

About a month ago someone mentioned Tramfabriek <https://www.tramfabriek.nl/#!/~/>, as a supplier of small (6, 7, & 8)mm diameter coreless motors, and associated drive parts. Today I was looking over

Rob The general rules of air brake rigging are fairly simple: The railroad air brake acts by applying pressure to the cylinder, pushing the piston out. The piston rod is hollow with a loose push rod i