From the Dome Car: Train 10 Track 2 (September, 2000)

 

Ti-Cat boxcars; that’s a new one for me! Morgan writes about that as an aside in this issue's Dome Car, describing the unique yellow and black TH & B boxcars that were inspired by his beloved Hamilton Tiger Cats football uniforms. He mentioned that while praising the role of special interest groups (SIGs) like the TH&B Historical Society. And he marks the passing of John Rendall of JR Scale Models of Bracebridge, Ont. Anyone still have one of those kits?  

Somebody once asked me if I thought that the prototype special interest groups and their publications served any useful purpose for the modeller. My answer was a resounding "Yes!" 

Recently, I received my copy of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Rail way 'Focus', the official publication of the TH&B Historical Society. Inside was an extensive article of some 15 pages on the history of the TH&B box car by Lance Brown. His well researched and documented article covered the time period between 1948, when the first of several orders for 300 all steel cars was placed with National Steel Car, to 1987, when the last three surviving cars left for Waxmans, the local scrap dealer in Hamilton. 

In between those dates, the cars had a very colourful history including the discovery, one day, of a body in one of the cars! 

From his article, a modeller can reproduce the prototype car in model form and do so with considerable accuracy. My point is this: Modellers need prototype information to reproduce reasonably accurate models, especially if those items being modelled are no longer with us. 

Unlike a few pieces of TH&B rolling stock which is still in limited use with Canadian Pacific, all of these (that I know of) 'Ti-Cat' box cars, as they are known, are gone, with only one preserved (that I know of) at the Port Stanley Terminal Rail in Port Stanley, Ontario. 

Special interest groups serve a valuable purpose. They record the history of our railways just as this magazine does, but sometimes from a different perspective. Such a detailed and lengthy article on such a specific subject was nice to see and, in my opinion, appropriately featured in the TH&B 'Focus'.

On the home front: We ran into some technical problems with our first attempt at digital production with the last issue; as a result, it was late getting out. Hopefully we've got most of the bugs ironed out of the process and we can get back on a schedule. 

At Canada Post we've gone to what they call the 'machinable mail' option, which takes a little longer to prepare but apparently is quicker to be delivered (you can be the judge on that one). For those waiting for article material to be returned, we are in the process of getting it ready to go out, too. So yes, it's been a very busy summer. We are all wondering where the time went. 

And finally, it is with personal sadness that I report on the passing of John Rendall of JR Scale Models. John operated his craftsman kit business out of Bracebridge, Ontario; his kits are known around the world for their accuracy and attention to detail. Many a time John would drive the back roads around Haliburton and Lindsay looking for abandoned rail lines and railway structures to use for his kits.

John was known by many of our readers, and he could always be found at the Toronto Model Railway Show each spring, staffing his booth and talking to his model-building buddies. We extend our sympathies to his family. 

So, that's the way things look from here, folks. Get the winter coats ready and stock-up on those modelling supplies—winter is right around the corner.



 

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