01-23-2013, 05:02 PM
Thanks for your kind words, guys.
Bernhard, I can't imagine that you'd need any help with your Challenge, but I look forward to seeing whatever it was of mine that caught your eye - seeing it done properly and with your attention to craftsmanship will be a real benefit to everyone, me included. Then it'll be my turn to thank you.
Mike, I don't know what's available in the way of parts for N scale carbuilders, but in HO, car ends are a real necessity, at least for my skills. Some early steel roofs, as well as some modern ones, can be scratchbuilt, but the diagonal panel-type (Stanray, etc.) common in the '50s would be a fair amount of work, as would doors. If you know of any sources for those items, it probably wouldn't be all that difficult to scratch/parts-build a steel boxcar in N. I'm not very conversant in what's available commercially in N scale, but surely someone must offer a 40' steel boxcar that's reasonably accurate.
It's certainly not that I lack work to do, jwb, but sometimes it can be difficult to get going on it. I'm starting my second Challenge project soon, although I don't usually post anything until it's either finished or close to being finished, and I have a few more in mind. We'll see how far I get, but, as with the previous challenge, once I get going on a project, I generally try to finish it. This one and Part 2 are simply upgrades to previously done stuff, but if I make it to Part 3, it will be the continuation of a project started several years ago.
Wayne
Bernhard, I can't imagine that you'd need any help with your Challenge, but I look forward to seeing whatever it was of mine that caught your eye - seeing it done properly and with your attention to craftsmanship will be a real benefit to everyone, me included. Then it'll be my turn to thank you.
Mike, I don't know what's available in the way of parts for N scale carbuilders, but in HO, car ends are a real necessity, at least for my skills. Some early steel roofs, as well as some modern ones, can be scratchbuilt, but the diagonal panel-type (Stanray, etc.) common in the '50s would be a fair amount of work, as would doors. If you know of any sources for those items, it probably wouldn't be all that difficult to scratch/parts-build a steel boxcar in N. I'm not very conversant in what's available commercially in N scale, but surely someone must offer a 40' steel boxcar that's reasonably accurate.
It's certainly not that I lack work to do, jwb, but sometimes it can be difficult to get going on it. I'm starting my second Challenge project soon, although I don't usually post anything until it's either finished or close to being finished, and I have a few more in mind. We'll see how far I get, but, as with the previous challenge, once I get going on a project, I generally try to finish it. This one and Part 2 are simply upgrades to previously done stuff, but if I make it to Part 3, it will be the continuation of a project started several years ago.
Wayne