Atlantic, Iowa is the home of a very modest Iowa Interstate yard, and in my May 2005 era, that yard played host to an even more modest yard office.  That little Starbilt pre-fab structure, one of many like it that served as replacement depots at a number of Rock Island stations in the 1970s, is the subject of my latest modeling project.

More details to follow in the first reply.

I've said in previous blog posts that IAIS's MOW fleet includes some real gems that I've been looking forward to modeling, and IAIS 9719 is definitely one of them - an ex-ATSF PS-2 covered hopper converted to an open-top ballast hopper with Morrison-Knudsen ballast discharge gates.  In this post, I'll walk through the kitbash and weathering.

Here are Erik Rasmussen photos of the prototype:

One thing that's apparent when you model a single railroad for nearly two decades is that the state of the equipment is always in flux.  Damage and wear are inflicted, repairs are made...more wear, more repairs.  In fact, that's one of the things I enjoy most about prototype modeling within a very tightly-defined era because, through the details you choose to model or ignore, you tell the story of where a particular locomotive or car was in its journey with the railroad.

Next up on my workbench is a TTPX bulkhead flat I'm just kicking off, the prototype for which was in service hauling walnut logs from eastern Iowa to Midwest Walnut, a small mom & pop sawmill on the IAIS in Council Bluffs, IA.  MW takes in walnut logs and ships out specialty dimensional walnut in containers, often for export, for use in such things as rifle stocks and furniture.

You wouldn't think that a 2005-era modeler would be all that excited about 1950s and 60s rolling stock, but some recent research into the IAIS's MOW roster made me realize what a huge favor ExactRail did for me when they introduced their GSC 42' flat car and 53'6" bulkhead flat .  Two examples of each arrived at my door a couple mo

Best case, this is probably only going to be of interest to others who are afflicted with a level of OCD similar to my own , but I thought I'd post it anyway just to see if I'm alone in my thinking.

One of my hobby goals the last couple years has been to get busy weathering my rolling stock.  I've barely scratched the surface toward that end, but finally knocked out a few examples over this long holiday weekend.  Since my favorite medium for rolling stock weathering is PanPastels, I thought I'd start a blog post to document these weathering efforts and hopefully encourage others to try the product.  They're the fastest, easiest method of weathering I've found, and while they're just one tool in our weathering arsenal for more in-depth projects, even b

As I mentioned back in my blog post about switch locks ( https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/35731 ), I've long planned to add working derails to my layout in order to further immerse my crews in the experience of their prototype counterparts.  I finished that task about a week ago and thought I'd share what I found in case others were interested.

Description and photos follow in the first reply.

Since my previous source for custom Iowa Interstate (IAIS) reporting marks has gone out of business, I recently approached Bill Brillinger of Precision Design Co. about creating a new batch, along with some custom artwork for a number of unique secondhand covered hoppers on the IAIS roster.  The experience was so positive, and Bill's expertise helped me to learn so much about my own prototype, that I wanted to share it with you.

More details and photos in the first reply.