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 Posted - December 12 2010 : 11:25:53 AM
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What a difference two decades years make!
I remember the first time I came a real train/hobby shop, wide-eyed grade-schooler stunned at the vast treasure within, clutching my first "real" car - an Athearn, not the junk at Toys R Us and yard sales. That place became a ritual destination, the Walthers catalog a revelation, and one of the first cars I bought was an Athearn PS Hopper, painted for the Rock Island - a classic car in every way.
About this time I was experimenting with weathering. All I had was a set of oil paints and such leftover from an art kit. There was no internet, no expensive coffee-table book, no photographs at the ready. Just my observations of the trains going my my house, and all their roughshod menagerie.
Of course, like anything else, practice makes perfect and those first steps were pretty bad. Awful... and later burned (heh heh, don't ask). I started trying to reign myself in, and not overdo things. Of course, the paint didn't always cooperate. Nonetheless, at the time I thought this car looked "OK" for how it turned out:
That was in 1990. I was 12. That was maybe the 5th or 6th car I had attempted.
20 years later, I find the same car at the haunt and have that sentimental affection. And in a case of deaj-vu, of allll the cars begging for weathering, somehow I was drawn to this one. Except now, with more materials and practice at my disposal, the results are much better:
Of course, maybe the variant shade helped some too, but each car has its own character now. Oddly enough, when put next to the new one, the old doesn't look *quite* as bad. In fact I might just change a road number, and give it a new lease on life.
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Posted - December 12 2010 : 12:34:49 PM
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Nice work, Tony...
...this one reflects my changeover from oil based paints to water soluble after my beloved was pregnant with our first child...
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Posted - December 12 2010 : 1:20:24 PM
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Here's a sweet all-metal hopper I just got Dec 11th, no idea of the maker, any help appreciated.
Has lever action opening on 3 sets of doors. very nice car. I'll probably upgrade it to Kadee couplers soon.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - December 12 2010 : 1:33:40 PM
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my cars of the week main line cars all wood construction,except trucks and kadees ken
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Posted - December 12 2010 : 2:55:28 PM
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Hi Jerry. Your Hopper Car was made by Ulrich.. Nice find... Now you need to find the Coal loader and the Hopper car unloader ramp made by Ulrich... it was also marketed by Pennline and Athearn in their boxes, But, made by Ulrich...  Carl
Numquam Immoderatio Satis Est
(Too Much Is Never Enough )
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Posted - December 12 2010 : 5:47:49 PM
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quote:Hi Jerry. Your Hopper Car was made by Ulrich.. Nice find... Now you need to find the Coal loader and the Hopper car unloader ramp made by Ulrich... Carl
Originally posted by VintageHOÂ -Â December 12 2010Â :Â 2:55:28 PM
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Hey, thanks for the ID, buddy! I'll keep an eye out for Ulrich...I remember that name now, but never search on it, so guess I have to now. 
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - December 13 2010 : 08:30:40 AM
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My built vintage kit! - Erich
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Posted - December 13 2010 : 12:14:15 PM
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A three car group of all wood reefer made from kits.
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
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Posted - December 13 2010 : 8:34:50 PM
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I really like the wood reefers. Wood kits are an area I'm going to explore, someday.
Going back to the early weathering attempts, here are a couple cars from my Life-Like starter set. I weathered them by scraping graphite off a pencil with my pocketknife (also a Christmas present) and rubbing it on with my finger. I always liked the result on the gondola, not so much on the reefer.
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Posted - January 04 2011 : 12:22:08 PM
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quote:Here's a sweet all-metal hopper I just got Dec 11th, no idea of the maker, any help appreciated.
Has lever action opening on 3 sets of doors. very nice car. I'll probably upgrade it to Kadee couplers soon.
Jerry |
Jerry - the car is by Ulrich - you can tell by the trucks. Nice cars - very heavy!
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