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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks, Bill. I hope this clears the air. Based on
past posts, I doubt it will be remembered long. Jim Nichols</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org href="mailto:nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org">NW
Modeling List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org
href="mailto:nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org">nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 13, 2009 9:22
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Modeling Committee</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Spring must be coming; it's time to take another whack at the
Modeling Committee. Give the guys a break! Where does one think the DP
heavyweight project came from? Harold Davenport and others have been working
with, and on DP for years on several N&W/VGN projects. That the projects
don't reach the market, or reach the market with flaws doesn't diminish the
hard, persistent work that has gone into providing the data. As I said a
couple of years ago, there are limits to what can be accomplished with
commercial firms that have their own interests and concerns. We can provide
data, but they do what they do, when they want to do it.<BR><BR>Re the Yoder
gons: we published his beautiful CAD drawings for those cars in the Arrow and
solicited interest in an HO version; we got zero interest...zero, not one
indication of interest. Rich had said he would consider it if he had enough
interest; we didn't respond so he moved on. And as a sidelight, the data for
the O scale versions was provided by members of the Society and from our
Archives. The result is the most accurate G3/G4 ever produced. (Of course, now
F&C produces a much improved HO resin kit version of the cars in a
one-piece body at a fraction of the cost of an HO brass version. Steve and
Sharon responded to persistent requests from NWHS members to update their
resin kit. One suspects they used data from the Yoder car to do that.)
<BR><BR>Re VGN hoppers: the Commissary offers a set of Bowser H3 hoppers in
the as-built lettering, the data for which was provided by Harold Davenport
and is spot on, and Bowser markets the same hopper in the later lettering.
Projects undertaken by Bob Bowers for the Commissary have to be as commecially
viable, or more so, than for commercial firms. The money he has at his
disposal is limited and precious. He has been at his job for many years and he
has as good a feel for what members will actually buy, as opposed to what they
say they want, as anyone in the Society. He does a great job with what he has
available.<BR><BR>At the recent show in Springfield, Broadway was asked what
happened to the CF caboose to go with the locos; "not enough interest" was the
response. They were asked to reconsider.<BR><BR>Russ Goodwin has great
contacts within the major manufacturers and has worked hard to interest them
in N&W/NS projects. But again, the manufacturers have their own agendas.
The late Jim Gillum worked tirelessly on model projects; Jim Brewer produced
beautiful resin kits of two N&W cars. And no one has worked harder on the
subject of accuracy than Jim Nichols. I am sure there are others who have
worked behind the scenes to get stuff done. My point is that the NWHS modeling
community has accomplished quite a bit; that it has not satisfied every
desire, or responded to every fleeting idea should not diminish the efforts of
a number of dedicated members.<BR><BR>Now, how about an HU hopper!! Been
trying for years, in plastic, resin and brass, alas.... <BR><BR>Bill McClure
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