Model Railroad Podcast

Model Railcast Show #96
Tue, Feb 9, 2010
Posted by: Tim Harrison

Show #96 - Modeling in the 60's- the "Dark Times"
with Tim & Rob Hinkle (Recorded 1/30/10)

 Crew Lounge
  • RPO
  • Updates

 Round House
  • It the Sixties and not a pretty time for Railroads.Modeling in the 60's- The Dark Times of Railroading.
    Understanding the Times

    -The general state of Railroads in the 60's, the contrast with the 50's.

    -The state of your railroad at this time

    -the draw of modeling in this period

    -Any other standout feature or condition of railroads at this time.

    Rolling Stock

    -The general age of rolling stock, how old of a car might be seen in service?

    -What is typically going to set the new car construction apart from the old?

    -Variety, the different types of cars seem to have been nearly fully developed, yes?

    -Maintainence of the cars... was there any? (deferred main't issues)

    Motive Power

    -The changeover from Cab units to Hood units

    -How prevalent still is the 2nd generation of diesels? Is the 3rd solidly represented?

    -Typical features of motive power, whether appearance, tech, or otherwise.

    Overall tips for the period

    -Typical mistakes made when modeling the period, what shouldn't we see?

    -any keys or essentials for getting the right look?

    -What is the selection and availability like for this era.

    -Recommended resources
 
 That's a Wrap
  • Length: 1 hour
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    ryan (a-t) modelrailcast.com

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Commentsshow votes
Posted by: motrak MRCS Pioneer on Wed, Feb 10 2010     www.motrakmodels.com
Get show as always.
I'm modeling the 60's and the 70's. Get info Rob.
Posted by: flyalan MRCS Pioneer on Wed, Feb 10 2010     www.stonesriverrr.com/index.html
Good show guys. Thanks so much Rob. Good Info!
My era is late 50's so some things are applicable.

Alan
Posted by: epaine on Wed, Feb 10 2010    
Great show. A bonanza for those of us who model the Reading.
I am well along with construction on my layout depicting the Reading in the Philly area. My problem is that I can't decide whether to model the Reading in the mid-sixties, late sixties or early seventies. Rob Hinkle has done a great job mentoring me as I struggle with this dilemma :-)
Yes, he has been at my layout, and each time I learn more. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: bobcatt MRCS Pioneer on Thu, Feb 11 2010     bobcatts2bits.blogspot.com/
Finally got to listen to a show at work!

Nice to hear from Rob; never knew much about the Reading RR so it was interesting to learn the particulars of its operations and equipment.
Posted by: stevej MRCS Pioneer on Thu, Feb 11 2010    
Tim and Rob, Thanks for the Show!
Tim, great job on the interview, you are asking the perfect questions.
Rob, thanks for sharing what you know with us. I really enjoy this hobby, but will never get to the level of your knowlegde of the prototype. Really enjoyed hearing how you searched and found the data, so you have the story straight. You have made a very inportant point in my mind, that the history of the protype that your modeling, is very important in depicting your layout accurately. Looks like things changed, be it good or bad, fairly rapidly in the 60's on the Reading. Three weeks of time changed the entire picture of the fleet.
Really enjoyed learning about the Reading.
Keep us posted on your layout progress, should be interesting.
Steve
Posted by: RobHinkle MRCS Pioneer on Thu, Feb 11 2010    
Here are some better details on the change over from Cab units to 2nd Generation Units.

I had only mentioned the FT's in my talk since that's what I had researched for Earl, taking into consideration all of the F units, the change over wasn't as quick as I said.

The Reading had 10 FT's, 6 F3's and 24 F7's, the FT's were all traded to EMD for the GP30's in 1962, the F3's and F7's were traded to EMD in 1963 and 1964 respectively for the GP35's. So there was a period of around two years where there was the mix.
Posted by: markpierce MRCS Pioneer on Thu, Feb 11 2010    
Some things to keep in mind when modeling the 1960s:

Newer cars were coming equipped with roller bearings as they were approved for use in the mid-1950s.

Fifty-foot box cars became the standard length of box car construction in the mid-1950s, so the fifty-footers were in the process of replacing the forty-footers.

In 1966, running boards were prohibited from new cars unless there were roof hatches, with the resultant lower relocation of brake wheels.

In 1967, ACI (Automatic Car Identification) labers were approved but not mandatory. They once became mandatory in 1970.

Mark
Posted by: ricky123 MRCS Pioneer on Sat, Feb 13 2010    
Good show Guys. Job well done, good info. presented in a good way. Interviewing skills are gettig better all the time.

Keep up the great work,

Rick D.
 
 
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