Growing the GTW Boxcar Fleet

This is the original member of my small GTW boxcar fleet.  It was modelled from a photo I took in London in March of 1986.

By Peter Mumby, with Photos by George Dutka.

I suspect that, like me, a lot of readers of this blog will have spent many hours over the years perusing the pages of hobby magazines such as Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman.  As recently as ten years ago, in a preliminary scan I would have sought out the ads and new product announcements in search of interesting rolling stock items to add to my "want list."  With the recent proliferation of price increases, I have pretty well cured myself of this tendency; my interest in acquiring the newest freight car releases has become inversely proportional to these rapidly rising costs.  Mind you, I find myself still buying items; I am simply concentrating on the used market.  Over this past train show season George and I have located a plethora of products at a practical price point (i.e. in the $5.00 to $15.00 range).  These have been good quality cars, such as Life-Like Proto 2000 and Atlas, either in kit form or ready-to-roll.  Often, all they require is a light weathering application, and they are ready for the layout or display shelf.  Case in point - the GTW fifty foot boxcars shown in the accompanying photos.

Here we see representatives of this year's acquisitions arrayed on George's workbench.  In the background are similar projects that George will be undertaking.

GTW 595468 is a lightly weathered Atlas model.

This drone shot highlights the roof area of GTW 591268, a Proto 2000 model.

GTW 591599 is another Proto 2000 model.