Model review - Lok-n-Roll R-40-27 and -28 reefers

In a previous post I mentioned receiving a pair of PFE reefers from Lok-n-Roll of Germany - an R-40-27 and an R-40-28 in the 1960 Gothic lettering scheme. As I promised then, I'll now briefly review the models. Before I launch into it, though, I do want to say that although I may criticise something or other, I do it whilst being very appreciative of the fact that such models are even being made available in TT scale.

One cool thing about the way Lok-n-Roll are producing their models is that each is, in a certain sense, a one-off: only one example of a given road number is produced. The models I received are PFE 10948 (R-40-27) and PFE 11734 (R-40-28). The overall impression on looking at the models from a few feet away is pretty good. The R-40-27 and -28 were, apart from the doors, identical, so the following observations were taken (mostly) from an inspection of my -27.

Length over the roof of these cars was 41' 5-1/8" (12627 mm), the model scales out to 40' 0" (12192 mm) over the roof. This is understandable given that the underframe used is that of the Gold Coast Models 1937 AAR boxcar, but a foot and a half is a significant difference; however, given that the sides were made specifically new for these models, it's a bit disappointing that they were shortened to accomodate the existing underframe, instead of making a new one at the correct length - especially at the rather steep price of €119 each (US$140, C$185 as of 9/9/2020). Consequent to the use of the shorter underframe, the truck centres are also short, at 30' 6" (9296.4 mm) on the model as opposed to the prototypical 31' 8-3/4" (9671 mm). From top of rail to the top of the running board, the model measures out to 13' (3962.4 mm), compared to the prototype's 13' 7-15/32" (4152.1 mm) - noticeable, but not terribly so. The width is certainly close enough, with the model being 9' 6" (2895.6 mm) as compared to 9' 8-3/4" (2965.5 mm).

The rivet pattern on the right side of the door is essentially correct - but to the left of the door, it's mirrorred from how it should be. This isn't really a big deal, as you'll only really notice this with magnification. I like the size of the rivets; I don't care to measure them, but they're big enough that you'll perceive their presence, but small enough to not overpower - so, overall, they look right, which is the most important thing, IMO.

Grabs, ladders, and stirrups are nice and fine, separately attached; the end stirrups aren't shaped exactly right, but that's only something you'll notice if you know to notice it. The roof, running board, and ice hatches are correct and look good, as are the ends. The only issue here is that the model comes with an (approximately) Universal brake wheel; per the photos I've seen, R-40-27s and -28s had an Ajax wheel. Happily, these exist in TT scale, so this is easily fixed.

The distinctive triple door is executed decently. At 6' in width, the door is correct - for the R-40-27. This becomes an issue with the model of the R-40-28, which uses the same sides with the six-foot doors, where in reality the -28 had eight-foot doors.

Paint colours match the colour chips in the PFE book quite closely - the orange on the model is just a touch too red, but IMO the difference is well within 'tolerance'. The lettering and heralds are placed and shaped correctly for the 1960 Gothic scheme, and is sharp enough to make out the dimensional and capacity stencilling, though text smaller than that is illegible.

Overall, then, I think these models are quite decent, certainly fitting the parts they want to play, as aside from the length, there is essentially the only one very glaring error, and that applies only to one of the two models - the width of the door. But the general impression that they give is good - you can tell at once that you're looking at an R-40-27. The price is, of course, on the high side, but this is to be expected when buying from European small-series manufacturers in any scale, let alone something as niche as North American TT scale - so it's something that, if you want to model NA in TT, you'll have to swallow. That said, I don't feel like it's an unreasonable price, as, on balance, I'm satisfied with my models.

Planning Carpinteria

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've started working on sketching out how to compress Carpinteria for modelling. From the outset, my intention has been to build modular, with the modules compatible with the TT-Tracks standards, so as to be able to take it to shows for display with the PNW TT gang. Here you can see the results of my initial sketching; on the left, the envisioned modules, on the right, a Sanborn map of the area, with the areas the modules cover outlined. The idea, then is two double-length modules (994 mm, just over 39-1/8") and three single-length modules (497 mm, just over 19-5/16"); of these, one (#3) would be optional, if less space is available. This would give a total length of 2.982 metres (9' 9-13/32") for the shorter setup, and 3.479 metres (11' 4-31/32") for the full arrangement.

Let's look at the sections one by one. (Click on the image above to enlarge it, or right click to open it in a new tab, if you want to look back and forth between the image and this text)

Module #1 is a double-length module covering the northern (railway western) end of the yard, including the depot - everything north of Linden Avenue. Naturally, the track length is compressed here; I'm entertaining the notion of making this as two single-length modules, so as to allow for an extra segment to lengthen the tracks if desired. Apart from the depot (SP standard #17), there's little going on in this module. The width (depth) of the standard TT-Tracks module is 30 cm (1'), but I'm thinking of making this module 50 cm (just under 19-11/16") wide, which would allow me to include 5th Ave; this idea appeals, because then I could include the In-N-Out Burger at the corner of 5th and Linden, and the apartment building (at least as a bas-relief) at the corner of 5th and Elm: for the first few years after moving to Carp, it was in this building that my mother lived, so it would be a little personal connection. But before I make this decision, I want to find out when both the In-N-Out and the apartment building were built - if they weren't there around 1966, then I'll not bother.

Module #2 is another double-length module, much more interesting than #1. On here is the crossing of the railway and Linden Ave, the Carpinteria Mutual Lemon house, and a small building belonging to Standard Oil. I haven't yet decided for certain if I want to include the Standard Oil building or not, as it was, by the evidence I've seen, gone some time in the 1930s. On the one hand, it would be an anachronism out of place in 1966; on the other, it would give a bit of extra interest - from an operational perspective, it certainly can't hurt to have one more industry to switch. The Mutual Lemon building, on the other hand, is a must. Another interesting element of this scene is that in the 1960s, the level crossing was still guarded by a wigwag signal. If I opt to make module #1 50 cm wide, then this one would be a right trapezoid, 50 cm deep at one end, and 30 cm at the other; regardless of the shape of the module, the Mutual Lemon building will only be a partial structure. This building is still standing, though had been converted for other uses by the time I first arrived in Carp in 1984.

Looking at the Sanborn map, you'll note that I've omitted two buildings: the Carpinteria Walnut Growers Association building, and that of the Southern Pacific Milling Co. There were several reasons for deciding not to model these. For one thing, compromise must be made, and things need to be compressed to a manageable size; luckily, the way the railway is laid out at Carp makes it easy enough to do this simply by leaving some buildings out. For another, I haven't yet been able to find any photographs of these buildings, and I'd like for any structures present on the module to be, if not completely accurate modules, at least somewhat similar to what was actually there, and a third reason is that I'm not sure if walnuts were still being shipped from Carp in 1966. However, given the modular nature of the project, if I should find enough information about one or another (or both) of the buildings, I can easily build a further module to include in the setup.

As you can see, another compromise must be made with regards to the layout of the siding; whereas in reality it heads away from the mainline after the SP Milling building, on module #3 it will continue parallel to the main. This module will feature the building of the Henry Fish Seed Co. - one I definitely want to model, because it is a very interesting structure.

Then, another building will be omitted, this one belonging to the Santa Barbara County Walnut Growers Association - left out for the same reasons mentioned above.

This brings us to module #4, the last representing the siding, this one featuring another lemon packing house - this one belonging to the C. D. Hubbard Fruit Co., associated with the famous Sunkist cooperative. Like the Fish building, this one was clad in corrugated metal sheet, and was another distinctive element of trackside Carpinteria, one I remember clearly from my time there; sadly, it was torn down some years ago.

After module #4, I can potentially build a few others, including the Palm Ave crossing, although I don't foresee doing that for quite some time.

Module #5 is one in which I will exercise the right of modeller's licence. South of the station, heading towards Ventura, just before Tar Pit Park the main line crosses Carpinteria Creek on a single track, 100' plate girder bridge. Objectively speaking, there is nothing particularly interesting about the bridge, nor is the scene of the bridge over the creek especially distinctive, but I want to include it for personal reasons: I had a friend who lived near Tar Pit Park, and a bunch of us spent a good amount of time on the section of beach immediately adjacent the park and the railway bridge. Of course, modelling this accurately as a single-track bridge would mean being unable to include it in displays at shows (the TT-Tracks standard specifies double track mainlines), so at the suggestion of fellow TT scaler and SP modeller Richard Brennan, I'm going to take a liberty with it and make it a double track bridge. Then, if one day I get to building further modules to represent more of the line towards Ventura, I can make the next module take the line down to single track.

You may notice that on the module sketches, it's mostly sectional track indicated. That was done mostly for the convenience of planning the modules out. In actual practice, I'll most likely have Tillig BG4 (41.5 mm bedding track) sections at the module joints (as specified in the TT-Tracks standards), along with (probably) Tillig flex track with wooden ties, and Tillig EW3 12° turnouts, doing the ballasting myself.

So: this is, tentatively, where I stand with the planning of modules. I'm liking it, but of course until construction starts, things may change...

Back at it

It has been several dogs' ages since I've made a post here, but I'm back now.

I'll leave the long story out, but there are some changes. I'm still sticking with 1966-ish, but I don't know if I'll be pursuing the fictitious Gibraltar Branch plan. However, the primary location focus remains Carpinteria; I may decide eventually to revive the Gibraltar idea; I may revisit the idea of fudging the Ojai Branch; or I may decide to opt for that section of the Coast Line, with Santa Barbara and Ventura as staging yards... we'll see. But whatever I decide, Carpinteria will be the centre-point. I've started looking at ways to compress Carp into something manageable that still gets a reasonable Carp "vibe", I'll post about that in the near future.

For the moment, a little word about some new arrivals. After quite the shipping ordeal that involved the package taking a detour to Montreal (apparently Canada Post doesn't know the difference between QC and BC), my order from Lok & Roll in Germany arrived with three new freight cars: a CP Rail insulated boxcar, and a pair of PFE reefers. Apparently, TT scale has beaten HO to the availability of an R-40-27!

I'll do a closer review of them once I've received my copy of the PFE book (ordered), but for now I'll say I'm pretty content with them... though the price *is* a bit steep.

Moving here...

So basically Wordpress fails, and has suddenly decided to no longer co-operate with my browser despite all I've tried. So, I've decided to move my blog here; thankfully, there's not a huge archive of posts there, nor a great deal of information in what few posts I did make there, that won't be at least touched upon in future posts here. But, what is already there will stay put there, so you can always check it out if you wish at http://espeett.wordpress.com

That said, I know it's been a very long time since I made my last post there, in large part because spring and summer usually draw my attention away from modelling stuff into other realms. As we head back into the time of year where the weather is either "rain", "downpour" or "deluge", I'll be getting back a bit more into the modelling end of things, too. And, too, the leadup to the November train show usually lights a bit of a fire under my posterior, too!

So, I have no real updates at the moment, but for those of you who might not yet have seen it, here's a photo of my SW8 kitbash as it stands right now:

As you can see, the bulk of the work is done. The matte coat I gave it killed the nice weathering I did on the body using cheap eyeshadow, so I'm going to redo that, then add the railings, bell, couplers, etc., and then call this, my first TT scale SP locomotive, finished.

I have a number of rolling stock and structure projects that I'd like to finish over the course of the winter, and I'm hoping to make some good progress on the Petrolia modules, so that I can take them to the March show. But more on those later.