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» Number of reviews : 210 - viewing 10 Per Page

Last Review Posted by imodelrr - posted: Sat December 26, 2009 1:11pm

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Views: 2818

A little paint & weathering, plus a few real life items that you would see on any sidewalk will bring your model to life. Rating: 7

Product Details: "Downtown Business Center" by jbaakko - posted: Mon February 11, 2008 - Rating: 7.00

Last Review Posted by brickbuilder711 - posted: Mon November 16, 2009 10:56pm

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Views: 673

I really was intrigued when I first saw this set at my hobby store. The detail was right and I was not disappointed, only for a minor flaw with the black dots representing holes, that can be tooled easily as the etch metal "walkway" much like the ones seen in their spine cars, for example. Otherwise, I was very happy and look forward to running it on my finalized layout. :D Rating: 10

Product Details: "Auto Max Auto Carrier" by brickbuilder711 - posted: Mon November 16, 2009 - Rating: 10.00

Last Review Posted by jbaakko - posted: Thu November 12, 2009 8:22pm

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Views: 578

ExactRail's new Express Series has a great entry model. This SP decorated 2420 Gon is well done. All wheels are in gauge and the coupler set at the correct height. The printing is well done, and fully legible. Paint is smooth. The details are sparse. Brake rigging is included, and the coupler pockets are close to prototypical width. Stirrup steps are very fine. The road number and "logo" plates look great. The brake wheel looks great. The end and side ladders are molded on, and look good, however I'll be removing them to get the bent up look of the car I'm modeling. The drop grabs are also molded on, as are the two end rib strips. The strips on the end of the car should be thin sheet applied over the top of the horizontal ribs. The brake platform is molded on. I can only hope that there's an appropriate Plano product to replace the brake platform (Plano #130-132 should work). All in all, for a $20 car, it is NOT a bad deal. Thanks for another great product. Rating: 7

Product Details: "Gunderson 2,420 Gondola" by jbaakko - posted: Thu November 12, 2009 - Rating: 7.00

Last Review Posted by jbaakko - posted: Fri October 30, 2009 2:59am

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Views: 1069

Another great offering from Athearn. This car is again a dulled down Genesis, missing Genesis trucks, the air line from the ends of the cars, and the coupler cut lever. The paint is great, and details superb. The retainer valve printing is doubled, which makes for the only mistake in all the printing. The car is correctly labeled as SP class B-100-46, and fits into SP 654809-654817 with a 7321 Cu Ft interior. http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/spcars/byclass/box/b100-46.htm There's a small pad printed label to the left of the road number reading "RETURN WHEN EMPTY TO AGENT G.T.W.R.R. DETROIT, MICH." Not sure how prototypical this is, for an SP box to be returned to a GTW agent? In any case, there's a patch out on the prototype in this very location. My only complaint about this model is the fact that the weight broke free inside. The paint sealed the floor on, so now I have to fight to remove it. After around 30 minutes of pressing a #11 Xacto blade in, I managed to free the floor and remove it. Fortunately for me, Richard Whitenight shot this exact car in Ft Worth TX. http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=396929 I'd recommend this boxcar to anyone looking for a highly detailed boxcar. Rating: 8

Product Details: "HO RTR 60' Berwick Hi-Cube Box" by jbaakko - posted: Fri October 30, 2009 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by jbaakko - posted: Fri October 30, 2009 2:56am

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Views: 989

I have a thing for SP boxcars, and when Athearn announce these cars I was happy. I ordered myself the SP patched GWS car, and a plain SP car. These are dulled down Genesis cars, see my previous review here: http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/reviewpost/showproduct.php/product/5/cat/4 These cars are exactly the same as the Genesis with the following exceptions: - Code 110 wheels on standard trucks, with no rolling bearing caps - No train airline detail on the ends - No coupler cut levers The paint is superb, and the details installed correctly. These cars come with installed brake rigging, which I love. The MSRP is under $20 so they're still highly affordable. The faded color of the Ex GWS car is nice, though every car they do is the same tone, and the GWS cars all fade different. I'd recommend only buying one or two patched cars and if you'd like more, buying the unpatched GWS version and fading it yourself. It's possible to fade the car more, but it'll require careful masking on the patch. These two cars will make for a good mate with my SP/UP Genesis version. Rating: 8

Product Details: "HO RTR 50' PC&F Box w/14' Door" by jbaakko - posted: Fri October 30, 2009 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by brickbuilder711 - posted: Mon October 26, 2009 4:33pm

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Views: 2733

I really liked the model I bought from Warrick's Hobby Superstore at $18 off MSRP. It's really full of detail and the parts Josh mentioned. I am really impressed with it. Rating: 10

Product Details: "Trinity 57' All Purpose Spine Car" by jbaakko - posted: Thu December 25, 2008 - Rating: 9.50

Last Review Posted by jbaakko - posted: Sat October 24, 2009 1:12am

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Views: 632

John Allen's infamous Hangman's Bridge scene can be replicated in HO scale with BOSCO's replica Sorfeetz brothers. Reviewed here are Mitad and Gordo, the first two released. I saw these neat figures listed in the October Model Railroad Hobbyist news, which is included in the 4th quarter 2009 Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine. BOSCO has replicated Mitad and Gordo Sorfeetz in HO scale, reviewed here, and has just announced Pequeno "uncle" Sorfeetz, and the retired diesel salesman, to complete the scene. The figures can be purchased individually for $3 unpainted, or $5 painted. Contact Keith at boscofigures@gmail(dot)com. First Impression The packaging back states "WARNING: This product contains chemicals, including lead, known in the State of California [...] Wash hands after handling." I'm figuring the figures are cast/carved lead, or white metal. In any case, this would be the time to say, these are not toys. Looking Over After removing the figures from the package, I have to say they're impressive. I cannot find a copy of the original scene in my collection of magazines to compare them to it, however, they look awesome. The paint looks to be hand applied, the tan of the hats missing in places on both figures hats, though the rest of the body remains clean and well applied. In all, I'm highly impressed, and have already ordered the next two figures. I hope BOSCO continues releasing figures. I don't think I'll be fully replicating the John Allen scene. Rating: 8

Product Details: "Sorfeetz Brothers" by jbaakko - posted: Sat October 24, 2009 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by DirtyD79 - posted: Thu October 15, 2009 12:54pm

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Views: 2818

Not a bad kit. It's reasonably priced, easy to assemble, and lends itself to weathering to get rid of the trainset look. It looks like a repurposed version of the bank Life-Like released years ago. The giant square hole in the middle of the floor leaves plenty of space to install lighting of some sort. Rating: 7

Product Details: "Downtown Business Center" by jbaakko - posted: Mon February 11, 2008 - Rating: 7.00

Last Review Posted by classic57 - posted: Sat September 26, 2009 5:14am

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Views: 2640

Ran smoother after lube & bed in period. Tender version ran better in reverse, settled down after lube. Rating: 8

Product Details: "Logging Mallet 2-6-6-2T" by malletman - posted: Thu November 20, 2008 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by jbaakko - posted: Fri September 11, 2009 2:30pm

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Views: 1015

ExactRail released an HO and N scale model of the Trinity 6275 Cu. Ft. Plug Door Box Car, and subsequently sold out of the TTX (FBOX) version within a month! This car has shown to be a popular item, and is almost sold out completely at ExactRail, the N scale CN version being the only one available! Exactrail released four paint schemes in the first run, TTX (FBOX), CN, SRY (blue) and SRY (red). Each paint scheme came in 3 numbers, with 6 for the TTX cars. In this review you'll see ExactRail's paint excellence, the detail, amongst other things. Paint ExactRail's paint is AMAZING on my model, FBOX 505269 (TTX car #2). All lettering is legible, and accurate (as far as I can tell). The yellow is good, and the black door has sharp edges. Details Again, ExactRail has excelled here, the only thing lacking are the uncoupling levers, and train airline. Door rails are separate parts, as are the locking levers. Etched brake platforms, and a nicely detailed underframe, with brake rigging. Couplers & Trucks ExactRail's trucks are amazing in detail, though, again, I wish they'd offer a Code 88 tread, those chunky code 110 treads (nearly double that of P:87 code 64!) are WAY to big... The couplers work fine and are mounted to NMRA height, but both trip pins hang too low. Hats off to ExactRail for another fine piece of rolling stock. The price is decent, along the lines of Genesis products, however the lack of Code 88 tread, uncoupling levers, and train airlines makes me wish the car was a few dollars cheaper. Along with the previous "issues" and citing the availability factor, I'm going to give this car 9 out of 10. Rating: 9

Product Details: "Trinity 6275 Cu Ft Plug Door Box Car" by jbaakko - posted: Fri September 11, 2009 - Rating: 9.00

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