I am need of help from my friends on the forums again. I model in the era where ACI Plates are needed. I know one of the Kalmbach magazines did a one issue series on ACI plates that talked about the scanners, building them and where they the plates went on both freight cars and engines. The one problem is I don’t remember what issue that was covered in. The only suspicion that I have is that it is the December 1999 issue (according to the Train Magazine Index), but I am not sure. If anyone could check that issue for that article, I would appreciate the assistance.
The Dec 1999 issue had a picture of a C&NW unit and a description of the mounting plate. It refers to an April 1994 issue - It just has a picture of a MILW road boxcar showing the mounting position.
The Oct 1994 MR has an article by Ken Pfaff on page 112 - This is about modeling the actual scanner hardware. I suspect this is what you are looking for…
Jim
Nov 1994 Model Railroader
ACIlabellocations by Donald Schmitt, on Flickr
Thank you. That answers my questions.
Unfortunately, I can come up with another question. Does anyone know where I might find a copy of the AAR ACI placement standards as mentioned in the article? As I have multiple different kinds of cars, in order to properly place the ACI plates I am in need of a copy of something that have the list. I thank you for your continued assistance.
Don’t know where to get the AAR documents, but this information may help. The basic criteria ito place the label as close to the opitmum location as possible to minimize reading errors. They must also be located in an area that will stay reasonably clean, where they will not be easily damaged, and provides an unobstructed view for the Scanner.
December 1974 NMRA Bulletin:
ACI2 by Donald Schmitt, on Flickr
Some photos from Fallen Flags:
ACIphotos by Donald Schmitt, on Flickr
On the locomotive shown the label is on the body, but I have also seen them on metal plates attached to the hand rails, which is probably better for the Scanner. On a curved or steeply sloping surfaces the lables might be placed on plates welded to the car so that the labels are normal to the scanner
That does help in one respect: The placement of the reading system. I would have needed to get that eventually in order to place it properly on my layout.
If you can, get hold of the July and December 1969 editions of MR. These, of course, date back to when ACI was in bloom.
The “MR Clinic” in those two editions had a lot of ACI information for modelers. The July column (pp. 72-74) had some pictures of scanners and an explanation of the system. The December column (pp. 86-89) had a series of diagrams showing how to place the labels on various types of rolling stock.
I’ve applied a lot of ACI labels and hope that this is helpful for you too.