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NEWS: Book on CD, Intermodal Transport History &Technology newslettersHighlands Station, LLC, 600 Dudley St., Lakewood, CO80215 www.HighlandsStationLLC.comHighlands Station has released its tenthdigital book. Produced in cooperation withthe Society of Freight Car Historians, itincludes Vols. 1-5 of their Intermodal TransportHistory & Technology newsletters. TheCD has 2,044 pages of data and historyfeaturing 610 high-resolution photos. It providesa wealth of information for intermodalmodelers and historians.Articles by David G. Casdorph, John Helberg and ChadHewitt cover a variety of topics and include many pictorials.Subjects include the first decade (1981-1990) of the intermodalera, detailed roster information for many reportingmarks, 53' well cars, 45' steel containers, chassis, K-Linecontainers, KCI Konecranes gantry cranes at BNSF's Hobartyard, plus much more. This digital book is presented in PDFformat (Adobe Reader 5.0 or later required), and all of thehigh-resolution photos can be zoomed in on for close examinationof every detail, something not possible with printedversions. Pages may be printed for personal use. Retail price:$14.95 plus $4.85 S&H per order (US). S&H via InternationalPriority Mail to Canada and Mexico is $10.95; $12.95 for allother countries.NEWS: Harriman 40' Baggage/Postal car, Kit #101.Southern Car & Foundry, 970 Sunshine Lane, Suite D,Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714407-389-3100 • www.southerncarandfoundry.comSouthern Car & Foundry, a Central Florida based manufacturingfirm, is pleased to announce its latest O Scale resinkit, the 40' Baggage/Postal Harriman Head End Car, Kit#101. The kit includes a one piece cast resin body, one piececast underframe, laser cut acrylic windows, complete brakedetail and cast brass steps. The kit retails at $125, with a $10shipping cost for each kit.SC&F is also pleased to announce the availability of aTwo Tank Detail Set, Kit #O-2001, in O Scale. The kit’sinstructions provide color images and tank assembly directions.Components of the kit includes cast resin parts of theround tank, square tank, filler hatches, timber and metalsupport pieces, and a tool box. This kit retails at $35, with ashipping cost of $6 for up to six kits.NEWS: Plans by Tom YorkeUnderground Railway Press, PO Box 814OS, Brevard NC28712-0814The Underground Railway Press has released a numberof plans drawn by Tom Yorke. They include: TY-01 CornerStore, TY-02 Gas Station, TY-3A Railroad Open Air RepairShed, TY-04 Wood Storefront, TY-05 Wood Church, TY-07Brick Storefront Texas, and TY-08 Brick Storefront St. Louis.Each plan set is $4 plus $2.50 p&h per order. A URP catalogis sent with every new order.REVIEW: Clever Models Two stall enginehouse; MSRP:$39.95www.clevermodels.com • generalinfo@clevermodels.comReviewed by Al AskerbergClever Models hasreleased a CD-based papermodel inspired by the legendaryengine house atGorre on John Allen’s Gorreand Daphetid. A water tankmodel is also included onthe disk as a bonus. Modelersunfamiliar with John’smasterpiece can find hisown photographs of thesetwo models on a websitecommemorating this great modeler and his works. [http://44 • O Scale Trains - July/Aug ’09www.gdlines.com/].The CD contains a folder for the enginehouse drawingsand another folder for the water tank drawings. The drawingsare in PDF format and can be printed directly from theAdobe PDF toolbar. An Adobe PDF reader is included onthe disk for those who might not have it already loaded ontheir machine. The current version can also be downloadedfor free at Adobe.com. There is a Microsoft Word documentthat contains general instructions on constructing papermodels. This document should be read first before proceedingwith the model. A second Word document containsdetailed and illustrated instructions for building the enginehouse.There were no instructions on the disk for buildingthe water tank and, consequently, no illustrations to guidethe modeler. Fortunately, there is a photo of an assembledmodel on the Clever Models website. The water tank kitwould benefit from instructions comparable to those providedfor the enginehouse.Once you have printed out the parts, you have created
a kit not unlike other pre-printed Clever kits. If you haveassembled one of their kits, this kit should look familiar inthe nature of its construction. However, the enginehouseis a complex kit with many parts, and the manufacturermakes this clear by calling it their “most challenging kitever…a true craftsman level building experience.” This kitwill require patience, as there is a lot of intricate cutting toperform.I loaded the disk on a Windows-based PC without incident.The disk label does not indicate whether the disk isMac compatible. I presume it is; but I was unable to verifythis, as I have no access to a Mac machine. Those using aMac might want to check with the manufacturer for compatibilitybefore purchasing the disk.I noted that some of the drawings, notably the multipanedwindows and the triangular ornaments on the enginehouse exterior front have a light shadow surrounding theparts. I’m not sure of the purpose for these shadows, butthey add to the challenge of determining the precise edgefor cutting, at least for my tired eyes.For printing the drawings, the manufacturer recommendsobtaining 100 pound card or cover stock, also sometimesreferred to as index paper. I located 8-1/2” x 11” 90 lb. and110 lb. index stock at Office Max in packages of 250 sheetsfor about $10. The manufacturer also recommends Epsonprinters or any other printer that offers a straight-throughpaper path.I did not have index stock available for this review, butI was able to print out a sample on my Epson Stylus Photo1400 on Epson 44 lb. matte paper. After setting for mypaper type, I used the default printer settings. I found theresulting color to be a close match to my monitor and quitesatisfactory. The print was sharp and the wood grain detailwas rendered very well. When using index or cover stock,you might have to experiment with printer settings to obtainproper inking and color matching. I recommend reducingthe printing size substantially; say no more than 25%, whileexperimenting with printer settings to conserve ink. Youshould be able to make this adjustment in your printer settingsmenu. I would have liked to see “real world” dimensionsaccompany the drawings together with a graphicscale. This would allow one to check that the printer is setproperly to the desired scale.There are 37 separate 8-1/2” x 11” pages to print for theenginehouse and another 10 pages to print for the watertank. I have previously estimated that it costs somethingmore that one dollar for ink to print a full 8-1/2” x 11” pageon my Epson printer. Some of the sheets in these modelshave relatively low image coverage, so the actual ink usageshould be somewhat lower than when printing a full pagephotograph. The total cost of the resulting models willinclude the cost of the CD, paper stock, and printer ink.Although the cost of producing your own model from aCD might be higher than purchasing a pre-printed kit fromthe manufacturer, there are certain advantages from usinga CD. In this case, Clever Models generously allows theowner of the CD to share it with friends and fellow clubmembers, so multiple models may be built from the singleCD. The CD is protected by copyright, however, so copiesof the drawings may not be sold nor can the CD be copied.This is detailed in the general instructions provided.Another advantage of being able to make multiple copiesis that accidently ruined parts can be reprinted immediately.The manufacturer offers to replace ruined parts on theirregular kits, but reprinting your own certainly speeds up theprocess. Given the considerable amount of intricate cuttingthat is necessary, particularly if the window glazing is to becut out between the mullions, there will be plenty of opportunitiesfor parts to be damaged.For me, the most interesting advantage of printing yourown models from a CD is that you are not limited to the primaryscale. You can print at any scale smaller than the scaleof the model offered on the CD by altering the print size settingin your printer’s menu. Why should this matter? Consideroff-line structuressuch as stores, houses,and sheds that mightpopulate the backgroundareas of your layout. Theycan be printed at reducedscale to create forced perspective.This would notbe appropriate for this kitwhich must be necessarilymade to the modelingscale, but I think this itoffers a real significantopportunity for future offlinemodels on CD.Clever Models has setan interesting precedenthere with this innovativekit. I look forward tofuture offerings of theirstructures on CD.July/Aug ’09 - O Scale Trains • 45
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