The kindness of others.

I recently had the fun and privilege of building 4 of my all time favorite Sunshine kits. The 19th Anniversary BREX, WFEX, FGEX wartime reefers.
One was for a client, the FGEX car, and the other 3 I had on the shelf for myself.

As I was getting the parts sorted and ready for assembly, I noted that the decals for the FGEX car were wrong. A set for the BREX car had been packed in the kit. Given that I've had that car on the shelf for over 3 years, the warranty from Sunshine was most definitely passed. Further I was under a bit of a time crunch as the client for the FGEX will be visiting from Germany in a couple of weeks and didn't want to wait the usual length of time for Sunshine to process an order that they may not be able to fill.
So I put a "help" request out on the Yahoo STMFC list and was rewarded with an email from Bill Adam, offering to sell me some older Champ decals that would help finish the car. I immediately sent Bill a cheque and in about a week the decals arrived and I was able to finish the car just as the client wished.

Thanks Bill! You are an awesome soul.
The other 3 cars were finished and listed on Ebay and have all sold.

I should mention that the reason I love these kits so much is that they are the first Sunshine kits to include a goodly amount of etched brass for some of the parts. The ladders, fan housings, door hinges, bracket grab brackets and hatch rest are all etched and help make an outstanding looking model. They were in part inspiration for what I am doing with my kit line.
While I work alone, 50 + hours a week, in the basement, I'm always struck by how much we owe others for our day to day successes.

It wouldn't be possible without his kind

Today I received copies of some AC&F underframe drawings courtesy of Ed Hawkins.

This one of the eight that I received. They will be an invaluable resource as we finish up the Wabash 12 panel boxcar.
Those of us in the prototype modeling world owe an incalculable debt of gratitude to the historians who collect and disseminate the data they've rounded up over the years. Ed Hawkins, Richard Hendrickson, Stafford Swain, Chet French, John Golden, Fenton Wells, are but a few of the historians whose work allows us to produce accurate models. And they ask for nothing but that their knowledge be used to create accurate models.
This set of drawings has in fact answered more questions than I had hoped, but as I said to Aaron, as he prepares to make up the last of the parts, we're out of excuses now!

Post-Production post script

A rather successful outing with Trevor, filming the building of his S scale modules.
I think I'll let Trevor tell the tale.
 http://themodelrailwayshow.com/cn1950s/?p=4734

He does it much better than I.
I enthralled with this  concept and I expect that I'll be doing more work for TrainMasters TV .
As the traditional print magazines continue to struggle, it's interesting to note that Model-Railroad-Hobbyist continues to grow in popularity and readership. TrainMasters TV is an offshoot of the online magazine and may become the preferred method of sharing and acquiring modeling knowledge.
Just as the hobby has changed over the decades, so too have the mediums of communication that serve and support the hobby.
This blog is but a tiny example of that.

And now for something slightly different

Shortly I'll be hopping into the van and driving to Toronto (shudder) and spending a couple of days with Trevor Marshall.
The main point of the trip is that he and I will be building him module benchwork. The effort will be filmed for an upcoming episode of TrainMasters TV.
In certain circles I've become sort of famous for "benchwork in a day". Helps having many decades of carpentry experience. It will be enlightening to see how well I do without all the shop resources I had before I retired from my job at the Grand Theatre. But confidence is high.
More upon mission completion