Earlier I was talking about the search for vintage rolling stock that would work with my era and area modeling. As it happens, I have a fondness for older models, some of which offer the only real viable prototype that fill the bill. PE had a number of drop bottom gondolas early on and the most distinctive were almost a direct match to the old Ulrich metal kit of the G 50. Dated yes, heavy, very yes, detailed...ok. But they are sturdy and hold up to operations at the club and fill up a siding just fine. The other nice thing about these models is the price...$5.00 each at the local shows. I pick them up as often as possible to add to the fleet marked in PE and SP for variety. Granted, not that many are needed on a spur as short as the Orphan, but once all the track is laid there will be space to show them off.

Here they are after being primed and painted. Basic pre shading was used to highlight some of the details to best effect.

And here they are running on Bruce Petty's layout. They give the Baldwin switchers a time, but all I need are 4-6 and a caboose...plenty of power for that.

I've been spending time looking at my fleet and deciding what and how much I need to effectively pull off the feel of the Spur. A smattering of boxcars, gons, flats and tanks with the largest number going to Reefers is what I need. I think I have most covered, but not a Reefer in sight. I'm considering going with some of the resin options out there for a unique look and cars that were prototypical for the era. In the mean time, I continue to add tank cars to the box.

This is one of the new releases by Walthers that I stripped and created new decals for. It is busy to say the least and will stand out in a string of oil cans. I have some silvering issues with the decals and will attack that this weekend. I also just picked up the 10,000 gallon tank car from Inter mountain and really like the detail. More on that later.