In the 1930s (and later) many railroads in the USA were cutting back on passenger service, especially on branch lines. One method was to assign an older steel passenger car to a freight train to make a "mixed" train.Often they installed a coal stove for heat, since steam heat from a train line was not available.

I'm planning to model a heavyweight combine in mixed train service, and have some photos.

Can anyone point me to a reference that explains the typical roof vents and underbody equipment on such cars?

Hello All,

Help.

I'm about half way through installing about 30 SMAIL turnouts on my layout. According to the manufacturer, they can be controlled via my Digitrax throttle.

I've been able to assign the correct turnout number to each SMAIL but some are backwards. The throttle shows them thrown when its closed and vice versa.

The directions on how to remedy this by changing CV584. I don't seem to be able to figure out how to change the value of the CV.

Any help out there?

Wow has it really been 3+ years since my last blog entry?!   Sorry about that.   The reality is I kinda lost my modeling mojo along with "life" getting in the way.  The LAJ still exists though!  :)

I've settled on my modern waybill template (simulating a simplified computer print out of the waybill), so thought I share some examples.

The format for the bill is (top to bottom):

-Originating railroad who created the bill with the ACI code (readily available via ORER's, etc)