I just finished putting together 2 kits. One was the 50’ Golden West box car by Roundhouse and the other was a 40’ Great Northern wood box car by Athearn. It took me so long b/c the train shop I go to didn’t have any Goo and I couldn’t find it at any of the other stores I’ve been to. So today we were down at my grandparents and they have this huge hobby shop with airplanes, crafts, trains, model cars, etc… So I bought some Goo and decided to put the kits together. The Golden West one is missing couplers as again the hobby shop I go to hasn’t got any Kadee #5’s in for like a month. They turned out pretty good, I think anyways for my first tries. You can see where I put the Goo on the bottom of them but thats alright, nobody looks at the bottom.
I’m so happy now. Tomorrow I’m going to try my other Great Nothern box car and the Canadian Pacific hopper I got.
Couple of comments since you are starting out. Consider adopting metal wheelsets at the outset. Also make sure your rollingstock is properly weighted and balanced. Both practices will yield better running and less time in maintainence down the line. Final thought, read the ‘Hip to be Square’ article on page 36 of the current issue (Jan 04) of Model Railroader. Has some good tips on building.
Randy
PS thought, best source for squares, machinest blocks and calipers I know of is Harbor Freight, www.harborfreight.com , about 1/3 of Micro-Mark for what they carry.
Just a comment on Harborfreight, they are a great source for just about any
tool you may need (for MRRing or otherwise).
So order their FREE catalog. Dave