We are looking for two HO Walthers Gantry Cranes Part Number 933-3174 or 933-3709 (see attachments). First image is from Walthers' catalog, 2nd is of the crane on a layout on The Atlas Rescue Forum & 3rd is of the actual crane we want to model. Walthers calls them a "LCL Container Terminal Gantry Crane".
My friend Bob Calicchia & myself are both doing Los Angeles Junction Ry layouts that will include the Santa Fe Vernon Team which is located right next to the LAJ Fruitland Team. The crane is used to mostly unload "shapes" as Santa Fe called anything made out of metal like I beams, steel coils, ingots, etc.
Walthers is currently out of stock so we're hoping someone has 1-2 they can spare. They can still be in kit form or assembled. We'll even take any available spare parts.
Please reply directly at lajrmdlr AT gmail DOT com or call me (562-746-8813) with whatever you have available & your asking price. Usually can only get to this site once a day if that. We might even do some trading if we have anything you might need.

Thank you
Andy Jackson
Bellflower CA

   
   
   

I've received good car advice on this forum, so now I have some furnace / water tank questions. There are a lot of techy folk on this site, so I thought why not!

Our furnace in our postwar bungalow will need replacing soon, as it's 21 years old. The furnace is still running fine but it actually could break down anytime due to its age. If we replace it before the end of the year with something more efficient, we are eligible for energy-saving rebates of $1600.00.

I'm in touch with a company / contractor whom I trust very much. He specializes in high-energy efficient solutions. He is strongly advising me to rent a Polaris water tank (I can provide more details re its model number if necessary). This is a combo unit that can be used to heat our small house as well as a water tank. We will also have to pay for and install an Air Handler unit, which is pricey.

However, the company that we rent our furnace and water tank from says this is a crazy, expensive and unreliable idea! But my contractor says just the opposite and that the energy company is just doing what is easy and economical for them.

Instead of the Polaris, our energy company is advising us to go with an on-demand wall unit (for hot water) and a high efficiency Carrier Furnace.

After going back & forth several times, it now seems that our energy company actually will (albeit reluctantly?) install the Polaris unit for us. If we go with the Polaris unit, it seems that our upfront installation fees will be high but that our ongoing rental fees will be low (and just the opposite if we follow our energy company's advice).

Can anyone offer any advice to make this clearer for my wife & I? It's beginning to make a little more sense but our main concerns are now about the Polaris unit. Does anyone have or use one of these and are they reliable?

Feel free to ask any other questions. This situation is very complicated (especially to us) but I've tried to simplify it the best I can.

Thanks in advance!

I was going through and scanning some old photos and found some that a friend took of a Santa Fe Con Cor coach I'd been working on in the late 1970s:

   

   

   

Although it was something I'd "aspired" to operate, at the time, and for some years afterward, I didn't have a place to run it. So it stayed in a box. When I looked at the photos, I saw I'd done a fair amount of work on it, and it had possibilities. The work included frosting the rest room windows, adding wire grabs to the sides and ends, replacing the trucks, body mounting Kadees and sanding the ends flat. A start, but not operable.

I located it and pulled it out. One thing I saw was that although I'd sanded the ends flat to get rid of hokey "details", I hadn't attached diaphragms. IHC subsequently brought out plastic ones to match its more recent imports, and I had a few spares, so I decided to add those. It also needed some cleaning and paint touch up, extra weight, and replacement of the car number, which appears to have fallen off one side. (I hadn't gotten into the habit of sealing decals.)

Here's the current status:

   

   

Hi gang,

I just returned from a trip to the Waters around Scotland, where I took part of excercise Joint Warrior 14-2 aboard the Danish Ocean Patrol Vessel Hvidbjørnen.
Also, mannaged to get myself promoted to Petty Officer
As celebration I gave myself a spread of cars from exactrail (¤%&¤"# those things are EXPENSIVE)
*Berwick 7327 Box Car
*P-S 7315 Waffle Box Car
*PS 50' Waffle Box Car
*Thrall 63' Centerbeam Flat Car
*Gunderson 2420 Gondola

These cars should feel right at home on my adaptation of the Palmetto Spur.

Happy railroading!

Martin

I just purchased this P2K gp38-2 on ebay. <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-31051">www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-31051</a><!-- w -->.
I was wondering if anyone knows if the trucks and fuel tank are the correct color. The only pictures I've seen of these are sort of dark and can't tell whether the trucks and tank are black or if they really are the same color blue as the body paint. Also what color blue should I use to paint any detail parts this model will need to match the blue on this shell?

An interview with two retrieved railroaders from my aria. They talk about their past experiences, working through mergers, and the state of railroading now.
I believe mike may have narrated a DVD on the Lehigh and New England Railroad, and Jerry volunteered as an engineer for us, running our F-3's out of Scranton.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3JqSNEl9Zk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3JqSNEl9Zk</a><!-- m -->

This Kato EMD SD90/43 MAC was a thank you gift from a friend. I have not unboxed it yet but want to know what is the best radius curve for this engine. On my layout I am using 18" radius and I think it is too short. Most of my engines are gp9's & 30's. The engine is a beauty though.

   

    A Conrail GP38-2 working on WPMA-17 sets out a car at Peter Lumber

While watching the switching at Peter Lumber caught this Ford 8N scraping the roadway at AGWAY

Bruce

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