Great work, Robert! 3 Uncle Will's Full Throttle hoppers: $75. Custom decals, laser-cut detail parts, paint, trucks and wheels, labor: $50. Having the first cars on the planet of thair kind in Z scale: Pricele$$! Giving one as a gift to your grandfather and watching his eyes light up: PRICELESS! Thanks for sharing....
As usual, fantastic work. I've worked with lasers since the early 1980's doing architectural models for Disney and have been amazed to see how they went from these huge industrial units to these desk top units that work like printers. What makes them really sing is a guy like Robert who is clever enough to dream up these new applications and make them come to life. Also, the human side of this project makes it all the more special. As for the subject, the paint scheme is now owned by Pacific Rail Systems in a deal worked out with the Railroad and their organization. We thought about doing these as well in N scale, but Dan scored the deal of the decade getting these. Cheers Joe MTL
...that was the same force behind my project in N scale back in March 2007 (I assume I was the first one who have had a Saskatchewan car in N scale) and the first one who got an eMail from the Vice President of the SGCC (Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation)... Please be advised that this will serve as your official notice that the Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation (SGCC) recently concluded negotiations with a Canadian based model railroading company for exclusive rights to produce and market the SGCC hopper cars in both N and HO scale. nice job Robert and the green is a big help for my next cars... ...I did use Badger Model flex #16-111 gloss green for mine
Alps Printer Pray59 (and Steve4): I presume both of you are using an Alps printer for decals? It is indeed a beautiful model.
Since they only covered N & HO does this mean that Z is open. I wouldn't think they could covert something they themselves don't make, manufacture or sell. ...don
Therein lies the rub with trademark and copyright. Canadian law may be somewhat different than U.S. law on this point, but, typically, if someone such as SGCC holds a trademark, they must pursue all commercial uses of that trademark. A number of years ago, a New York hotel was laid out and decorated in a "library" theme (nice wooden book shelves, shelving carts, etc.); the rooms were numbered and themed around the Dewey Decimal System (DDS). A library organization called OCLC holds the copyright on the DDS, so, by law, they had to serve the hotel notice to "cease and desist" and all that using the theme. Otherwise, by U.S. law, at least, they (OCLC) would lose all their copyright rights, and the DDS would (or could) move into the public domain. OCLC came off looking like a "meanie", but they did what the law required. Even though no commercial entity has (or perhaps ever will) produce hoppers - or any other rolling stock - in Z, SGCC has to be careful in allowing who is allowed to do so if they so choose. Otherwise, they can lose their trademark rights entirely. Mike
It's a good thing I did not intend to sell any of these decals anyways, because I don't have enough Alps inks left to waste on selling decals. All the Alps ribbons are sold out, with the ink ribbon factory being destroyed due to environmental concerns, so only people who stockpiled what ink ribbons they could afford, have any left. All the Alps based decal makers are throwing in the towel now, due to the dried up supply of ink ribbons, so lots of custom paint schemes will again become unavailable. I seen on Brooklyn Locomotive Works site that Intermountain was due to offer this green Saskatchewan paint scheme, but they have not materialized there either. I wonder if Intermountain got the SGCC hate mail too?
Alps Japan is still selling cartridges (did receive mine some months ago). there are several places in Europe where you can buy OKI cartridges. I did order OKI spot red, spot green and spot blue 2 weeks ago in OZ (and they did arrive last friday, cost was AUS $27 each plus AUS $10 shipping, not cheap but these are the full cartridges - twice as much tape on as on normal Alps cartridges...) check this threads on the N scale forum... http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=91412&highlight=saskatchewan http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=91880&highlight=saskatchewan http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=88401&highlight=saskatchewan http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=87723&highlight=saskatchewan
robert, i'm amazed at your computer skills, to take a photo and turn it, flatten it, make the decal work, etc. i know you have the gift of an Alps, but you have an artists eye to make it all come out right. the car is fantastic and i appreciate your heart to give it to your grand dad first. we all got a lesson about the joy of giving in your gift to him. dave f.
Finally the fantastic Car finds the way to Switzerland. Thanks Rob! BTW the Rainbow in the Background is real. We had a lot of rain mixed with sunshine today and also a lot of colorful Rainbows.
You sure seem to get all the cool and unique stuff Jürg. I'll bet your collection will be some off the best and rarest ever in a decade or so. And your collection can be a library off what has been available over the last years.
some clarification regarding copyright and such. this particular paint scheme was a cooperation between sgcc and pwrs. therefore copyright in any scale is in their hands. currently pwrs intends to bring out these cars in n and h0 scale. if i remember correctly intermountain will do these runs but they're not allowed to sell any directly. btw, there will be more such nice and fancy schemes coming out the next few years. not only for saskatchewan grain corp.
Hot diggity dog! If you placed 4 tracks under that bridge, I could have sworn that was MP 511 in Cheyenne. The BN does cross over UP at this location, a great one to view 60-80 trains per day! Awesome shot!
Saskatchewan Car added to my fleet Here is a picture of my Saskatchewan car made from Uncle Will 3 bay along with one for my own road. cheerz Garth
Very nice work Garth! It's a bit of a job to build one, but a car that is so nice looking, it's worth the trouble!
Maybe a bit of a job but it is the sort of thing I like to do so fun and satisfying to say the least. Use a bit darker green than you did and built with thru hatches instead. I am waiting for my FVM wheels to arrive and then they will have metal wheels sets in the trucks.