Exactrail Signature series Waffle side Box car

Those of you familiar with my US outline blogs will know of my liking, nay love, for Exactrail models. Today another one arrived by mail. (I'd like to say arrived in my mailbox but the mail person had just thrown the package on the driveway) . In the package was a NS waffle sided boxcar. I desperately wanted the Southern Railroad version but so, it seems did everyone else, and there is nary one to be found except by paying over the odds on fleabay. So I settled for the NS version.

It is one of the Signature series of models, top of the range and what a gorgeous model it is. Take a look.

Below: The lettering is really tiny and very legible

Above: The end detailing features coupler cut rods and air hoses
Above: More stunning detail.

If I have one criticism of the model it is that the door is moulded as a part of the body and not separately applied as on the Railbox perhaps's that's a production issue. The door actually fooled me as to me it looked as if it might open.

Another great model from Exactrail

Walthers Wood Chip Gondola

Trying to catch up a bit, here's my impressions of the Walthers wood chip gondolas that I got the other day. At the moment I know very little about Wood Chip gondolas. All I know is that I'll need some for this layout so I bought these two that were on sale through the "Walthers Flyer". No real rhyme or reason for the two that I chose - CN and CSX other than I see quite a bit of CN and CSX stock hereabouts.

Once again I'm really impressed with the details. The laddering on the sides and ends is separately applied and the printing of the wording on the sides is super. The one thing that I've come to notice now (and this is ExactRail spoiling me), the trucks are not equalised. I'm a bit disappointed. Still I can't have everything. Other than that they are a couple of very nice models that will look good in the yard at R Scend...

overall view of the car
end details showing the separately applied ladders
nice quality printing in the small details

Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine

About time I put in a good word for Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine. It's a Model Railroad magazine with a difference.

It's free! Totally and utterly free.

It's an e-zine (I do so loathe these "e" prefixed phrases that signify intenet content myself but I have to move with the times) So it is a magazine that you download from the internet. With all the advantages that the internet and modern computer trickery can throw at you. Direct links to the advertisers website for example.

Have you ever looked at the pictures in a model railway magazine and thought.

"That looks neat I wish I could see it working". Now you can. For the "e-zine" has video in there too. A quick click and you can see a video of a train running on someone's layout. Want to see that working colour light signal work? Click and there you go it changes from Red to Green.

It is a great magazine, though it can be a bit strange at first when you compare the experience to that of looking through Model Railroader for example. I'm still not entirely used to it myself. But it is well worth a read and in these environmentally conscious days just think how many trees you're saving by having a magazine on your hard drive. Not to mention how easy the back issues are to store!

I like Model Railroad Hobbyist. I recommend that you take a look yourself.

A bit daunted

I had sometime over the weekend to review the Proto87 turnout kits that arrived.

Daunted was an understatement.

I was positively "bricking it" as we Brits are prone to uttering when things look dire.

Some lengths of rail, some track bases and other detailing bits and frogs that were in three pieces! Worst of all. No instructions!

"What have I let myself in for?" I asked myself. I kind of expected a bit more organisation in the way the kit was presented to the buyer. In that regard these kits do not compare very favourably with P4 track company kits or even C&L kits. Instructions abound with those and they are excellently packaged.

However I am saved by the instructions on the Proto87 stores website.

These are excellent. Step by step, clear, well explained photographs that remove pretty much all fear of messing the job up. Having read those several times I'm not so scared now. But I am thinking that perhaps I should have put a new soldering iron on my Christmas list.