Dear Bob,

I built both cabooses by Banta (photo attached). They are nice models. The short caboose fits over the Bachmann flatcar minus the stake pockets. The other caboose fits over the stake pockets, making it wider! Not sure why but would have preferred the narrower version.

First class magazine!

Sincerely,
Jim Bullock, via email

Dear Bob,

I never imagined writing to you at the GAZETTE. When I first came across the magazine in the 1980s as a teenager, I was in awe of the standard of modelling. At the time I modelled in HO, then N, now On30. I picked up the March/April 2022 issue at the local model shop (Trainworld in Melbourne, Australia) last week and, surprise, saw the Craig Symington, MMR, article regarding a test track, which I was in the process of building a version myself. I acknowledge Craig’s design, and as a late change adopted his idea of using a decoder in the unit to be able to drive analog DC locos.

Variations in my design are apparent from the photos, including:

It is great to be able to study a locomotive in motion but without it moving away and turn it from side to side to check things are operating symmetrically (if they should).

Keep up the great work!

Sincerely,
Rowan Cole, via email

Dear Bob,

In regards to your review of NO-OX in the July/August 2022 GAZETTE, car nuts like me are familiar with a similar product called di-electric grease. It’s a white colored cream/paste which has an effect very similar to the Sanchem product. Available in multiple different sizes at any full line auto parts chain, like AutoZone.

Sincerely,
Jim McLaughlin, via email

Dear Bob,

Here is a follow up to my letter in the last issue. I did the NO-OX last winter, so it has been on the track for eight or nine months without me doing anything despite the Roseville extreme hot and cold weather, my layout being in the garage and the fact that I don’t run trains that frequently. No other track cleaner, and I have tried many, has ever lasted more than a week or two under those conditions. The NO-OX is also keeping good electrical contact with my HOn3 turnouts which only have manual throws and rely on the physical contact to make the electrical contact. No other cleaner has done that, either.

Keep up your great work on the GAZETTE!

Sincerely,
Bert Donlon, via email

Dear Bob,

After reading your “New in Review” in the July/August 2022 GAZETTE, I thought you’d be interested in this, regarding NO-OX. It’s recommended in a book from 1965!

764 Helpful Hints for Model Railroaders — see tip #7-49, from the incomparable Linn Westcott.

Sincerely,
Paul Wilfong, via email

Dear Bob,

Here is my version of Jim Vail’s little suspension bridge described in his column “Two Little Bridges” in the September/October 2011 GAZETTE. The filigreed angle braces are etched brass pieces I designed on my computer, following a photo of a real iron bridge. I had these made by PPD Limited (https://ppdltd.com) as part of a larger custom order. The finials were 3D printed by Shapeways (https://www.shapeways.com) from a design I created in the free 3D design program, Blender. I cast the plaster abutments in a simple mold. Other than that, I followed Jim’s instructions closely. I’m still planning my layout, in between making structures (my favorite sub-hobby), so the bridge has yet to find a home.

I really miss Jim’s column. So many neat ideas!

Sincerely,
Sandy Stewart, via email

Dear Bob,

Recently on our way to St. Louis from Cincinnati, my wife, Nancy, and I had a chance to stop in Illinois to see Pete Smith’s Loon Lake layout. Fortunately, I had read his recent GAZETTE article the week before, so was well-versed in his waterfront scene, and certainly enjoyed the logging, mining, and brewing portions of his layout, along with the bench work and fascia design, which I think was another GAZETTE article some time ago.

Pete had asked about obtaining drawings from my Reed Bros. Boatworks model article in the January/February 2017 GAZETTE, so maybe we’ll see that in S scale at some point.

That’s Pete on the left and me on the right.

Sincerely,
Sam Swanson, via email