Fred, I found your picture. Next time when you go to Railimges, all you have to do is click on my pictures on the top of the page, and it will automatically take you to your pictures. Then click on BB board, and go to the tread you want to post the picture. After that, right click your mouse, and click on paste. Thats all you need to do. By the way, very nice picture. John
Thanks for posting the picture! What a surprise.. I also answered Searails call for hobbiest interested in painting and photographing thier units "in action". I had purchased the Foxter, Staxter, and Reacher prior to this request. I was disapointed when they arrived in a small white box - NOT meant for the rigors of the postal service- and parts were broken off such as hand rails, and the parts were NOT in the box. Quality control was lacking. Though it was a Major purchase... not some 10.95 railcar-- there were no instructions ( at the time I didn't know there were instructions) Like Tim, I thought the tubes on the undercarraige of the Reacher were mufflers and left them in place and made additional parts for the hydraulic arms. My experience with the initial order was mixed. After communicating with Searails, the problems seem to be rectified. My Stacker came in a strong plastic box and in a sturdy U.S. postal box, and all arrived in tact. The parts for the stacker were free of wax and in good shape. I was impressed by the details such as wheel nuts, and especially the complexity of the "Gripper" (we used to call them spreaders) as they would SPREAD to accomodate 20', 40', or two 20' containers on a single lift. I have spreaders for 40' (or 2-20') and 53' units. There was no flashing and just very minor sanding. I used Model Master #4683 chrome yellow for the body and spreader and Ceramcoat Charcoal for the tire treads, silver for the hydraulic rods and gray for the side boards. It took about 3 coats of yellow to give the model a nice sheen and proper surface. Wish I knew how to airbrush but it's too late for this old seadog to learn new tricks, all paint was brushed on. I understand additional vertical racks can be purchased to allow stacker to go 3-4 containers high. The picture shows a 53' topping off a TNT well car and a stacker lifting 2-20' containers off the deck. I used N scale decales from Microscale to add interesting details. Many Microscale N decales can be used for Z as the size of letters, numbers, and heralds vary widely in the industry. THe containers used in the foto are; TNT load of 53' and 40' from Make My Model, The two 20' containers are Ladd originals as is all the containers, and deck cargo in background on Seawitch, including the yard donkey- Ottawa. When I finally "nail these down" in the yard, I'll probably drill a small vertical hole to recieve a wire pin, and then glue tires and the pin onto the yard surface. They do not stand upright alone- especially with a 53 foot container in the air. Overall the details are excellent. One last note-- NOT SHOWN in foto- an etched steel set of hand rails were included in the second staxter, I didn't find them until After taking foto! These tiny hand rails go over the engine mount and look very nice. These are very well designed and made, and are a great addition to the LANDSEABRIDGE, marine or intermodal yards. Thatz all folkz, Best, Fred
Looks great Fred. I would love to have the room to add a the Seawitch. Its just small enought were it woun't take too much room. By the way, I am looking at your switch tower, and I may try to add the details to my copy.
John, That switch tower was EARLY PRIMITIVE Z... A colaberation between Rob Kluz and this ole seadog. Best, Fred
Very nice work Fred! What do you use to make all those structures? Are they wood, styrene, or a mix? They look very professional!
Fred picture Additional fotos of Container Yard and Seawitch. I've done some detailing on Seawitch and she now has a deck load of a Peterbuilt, RO RO RAMP with cars driving aboard the stern ramp (Needs some more work) and yard and boom rig offloading a backhoe in an open top container, fwd of the house. There is a CENTRAL CELL empty in the hold just fwd of the house, so you can look BELOW the waterline in DEEP STOW. There are tank containers and open tops that can accommodate odd cargoes such as bulldozers. THese are just set up to take pictures and NOT rigged for a permanent layout yet. Best, Fred Some of the buildings are Scratch built- Solid wood with Evergreen laminate. The yellow bldg and control tower are made this way. Some of the buildings are cast Dizzeyland buildings. The Mississippi Riverboat is scratchbuilt and I hope to make the sternwheel spin, when mounted on a module.
Cool pictures Fred! The funny thing is that ship rather than the train stuff, is the thing that gets my attension. It is really awsome!
Joe, There has to be a reason for the trains. With the modern landbridge concept, ships that can not pass through the Panama canal, offload thier containers on the left coast, and the units bound for middle and eastern America are loaded on railcars. UP is really really big in this trade. I have a naval and maritime background, so I like scenes with water ... and mountains. My Z fleet runs from the BOSTON SWAN BOATS to a replica of the Titanic- both naval and merchant. Almost all are scratchbuilt. The trains- and I got a lot of them- are the thread that connects all the different scenes. Torja- Thanks for speaking up.. I LOVE your video! and your modules are wonderful of a different era. Thanks for your pictures and modeling USA. Fred
Darren, You must be a NEW ENGLAND transplant. What a wonderful site you maintain. Lotz of good history and TRAINS. I'm trying to have something from each state represented on my layout, example, Stone Mountain-Georgia, Old North Church, Swan Boatz-Massachuttes, Old Man on the mountain (WITH NOSE) New Hampshire, Crazy Horse-S. Dakota, Iwo Jima Memorial- Marines Arlington, Blue Angels and just completed a boomer Ballistic missile sub, Navy, Alamo- Texas and the list goes on. Each will have a LITTLE FLAG denoting the state. I guess I'll have to make a MINI Minne Ha Ha. I took a short trip on her many years ago on Lake George-New York. DragonLady likes this aspect of my model railroading as she has been to every state- and I can't BUY these models- I have to scratchbuild- and it leaves just that more for shoes and warpaint. Thanks for the steer. Best, Fred
