GVSR 443042 and M-5 Horns

New Delivery Today - 4-17-2017

A small order arrived today.  A 3-pack of Atearn brass HO Nathan M-5 horns was the primary purpose for the order.  Athearn has really stepped up its game with regards to detail parts and the horns are no exception.  My Y&MV SD35 rebuilds will have Nathan M-5's so I ha to grab these while they are available.  

​It is interesting that Athearn/Athearn Genesis puts a lot of effort in the appearance of the horns on its locomotives and then equips its locomotives with a decoder, Tsunami, that is incapable of making a sound that represents the detailed horn.  Oh well, the Y&MV SD35s will be LokSound equipped.

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Also available are the second release of the Gunderson 62-foot bulkhead flat cars by Wheels of Time. The first run sold out pretty quickly so I decided to grab one, decorated for Golden West Service as GVSR 443042.

This was my first Wheels of Time purchase.  The car is quite nice, equipped with metal wheel, KaDee No. 58 couplers, and all of the details we expect from top-end models these days.  This is a Southern Pacific specific model and is a great addition to the fleet.  

The car comes with the wood for the bulkheads as separate pieces.  Evidently these were not well maintained by the Southern Pacific and it was not uncommon to see these cars running with bare bulkheads so they are applied separately to facilitate modeling cars in that condition.  I expect that the rebuilt GVSR cars in 1996 were fairly complete so this car spent a few minutes in the paint booth/shop for installation of the bulkheads.

Putting the bulkheads on only took a few minutes.  Testors plastic cement did the trick!  

I was a little surprised at how low the bulkheads are on these cars.  I'd imagine this is part of the reason this design was not sold to more railroads.  The image below shows how short the car is as compared to a Walther's 50' Seico pulpwood car.  Variety is what makes this hobby great!

Chris