August MTL Releases Posted

[Cajonpassfan]

Found a photo courtesy of the Passenger Car Photo Index- you are certainly correct that it isn't very much like the MTL car. (ps- while the url says "Ogden Canyon" the photo shows "Ogden Canon" on the car side.)
http://www.drgw.net/gallery/v/SGPassengerCars/HWPassengerCars/OgdenCanyon/drgw-ogdencanyon-saltlakecity_ut-_1952_-000.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=2

Thanks Tom, for posting the link. Love that big back porch on that observation car, very cool.
And now, back to the Airwire...
Otto K.

[pmpexpress]

I got to the thumbnail as well, and that is a DC-9. Lots of differences between it and the 737 fuselage MTL sells.

In the brief searches I did, I could find no examples of a new fuselage being shipped painted... for Boeings, all painting takes place at the end of the assembly process in Washington so the chances of a new fuselage having a red stripe on it are very low. I am curious as to where MTL got the idea for a painted fuselage.

 The images I did find of painted fuselages are similar to the link above, i.e., scrap.

Using another browser, I was finally able to view the link that Jason so kindly provided.

Not only were there no images of new, painted aircraft fuselages on rail cars to be found on the web, constructed by Bethlehem Steel between October 1979 and January 1980, the flatcar that is portrayed in the photo is from the TTAX, not the JTTX series and bears TTX, not TT markings.

[peteski]

I thought that only Boeing was transporting airliner fuselages by rail. If that is true, then it is a Boeing (737-something)

[learmoia]

Ian,

Re: "In true TRW fashion we are putting way to much thought into this considering the other major announcement was a Solar System locomotive."

Au contraire.

We are engaged in a lively discussion concerning the modeling of a prototype railcar and the load it's carrying, which is one of the positive attributes of this forum.

.... Apparently I'm not adequately conveying my sarcasm and and humor with us taking this debate seriously..

The information is great, and shows how you can adjust and improve the plane model to be more prototypical, and the 'pics or it didn't happen' search found some great examples of what 'could be prototypical' with a great potential weathered release. 

I'm pretty sure Micro-Trains is throwing prototype out the window and aiming for the bright and shiny impulse purchase market.

Until Micro-Trains drops the mic with a prototype pic of what they were doing..... then yeah.. all we can do is debate aimlessly.

~Ian

[learmoia]

I DID find this...
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1058949



And this from 1967 (fixed link)
https://jmmullis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/737-10000th-Fuselage-Aviation-Week-Article-02-20-18.pdf

And this.... specifically Volume 3.. (Some interesting sample photos.. including an SP uni-level auto rack with an airplane wing.)
http://www.planesontrains.com/

[jpwisc]

I figured the new plane was an add-on to the Area 51 set MT did a couple years ago. As people weren’t too concerned with the prototype for that one, I don’t think MT cared if this one matched a prototype perfectly. It’s a humorous paint scheme they could slap on their existing tooling.

[peteski]

Being serious again, I don't believe that Boeing ever shipped any pre-painted fuselages - AFAIK they paint them after the aircraft is assembled.

We had a very exhaustive thread on TRW about the Boeing train and its cargo back after the initial release.

[pmpexpress]

.... Apparently I'm not adequately conveying my sarcasm and and humor with us taking this debate seriously..

The information is great, and shows how you can adjust and improve the plane model to be more prototypical, and the 'pics or it didn't happen' search found some great examples of what 'could be prototypical' with a great potential weathered release. 

I'm pretty sure Micro-Trains is throwing prototype out the window and aiming for the bright and shiny impulse purchase market.

Until Micro-Trains drops the mic with a prototype pic of what they were doing..... then yeah.. all we can do is debate aimlessly.

~Ian

Ian,

Forgetting that we are having this discussion on the Railwire, yep, I completely missed the sarcasm and humor.

While It's doubtful that we will ever see a photo of the prototype, hopefully Joe will provide some background information on this MTL project in the near future.

Although the pre-order model is "bright and shiny" and somewhat easier to assemble (i.e., because there is no 3D printed brush guard to deal with and only the cockpit windows, the forward and aft doors, and tail location marking decals need to be applied by the end user), given that Micro-Trains has not yet exhausted all of the potential variations of BNSF fuselage train consists, it seems that it would have been more logical to release one of the these other versions, or, one with weathering and/or graffiti.

I DID find this...
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1058949



And this from 1967
t/uploads/2018/02/737-10000th-Fuselage-Aviation-Week-Article-02-20-18.pdf

And this.... specifically Volume 3.. (Some interesting sample photos.. including an SP uni-level auto rack with an airplane wing.)
http://www.planesontrains.com/

Thanks for sharing the additional information that you located.

Both the NTSB crash report on National Airlines Flight 193 and the photo of the corrosion damaged 727-235 fuselage loaded on an SLSF flatcar were worthy of being added to my historical aviation files.

None of my web browsers could open up the Aviation Week article link.

Although I spent some time in the online Aviation Week magazine archives, a subscription is required to view anything posted there.

Need to purchase copies of volumes three and four of the Shipping Trains on Planes book series for my library.

As volume three received some excellent reviews on another train forum board in 2016, I am really glad that you mentioned this splendid source of information.

[learmoia]

I'll fix it tomorrow if someone doesn't beat me to it..
It was a PDF with couple of photos of a Santa Fe GP7/9 pulling the first 737-100 out of the factory in Wichita to go to Washington for final assembly.

Although, at that time, I guess they shipped the fuselage in sections.

[peteski]

Here are couple of photos I posted in the original Boeing Train thread. These show partial fuselages being shipped. They appear to me to be B-757.

[peteski]

I'll fix it tomorrow if someone doesn't beat me to it..
It was a PDF with couple of photos of a Santa Fe GP7/9 pulling the first 737-100 out of the factory in Wichita to go to Washington for final assembly.

Although, at that time, I guess they shipped the fuselage in sections.

These are probably the photos you are describing.  I found them in the Interwebs few years ago.  They are from 1966 and 1967.

[pmpexpress]

These are probably the photos you are describing.  I found them in the Interwebs few years ago.  They are from 1966 and 1967.

Two of twelve photos that were taken by Boeing of the first shipment of aircraft components from Wichita to Washington.

Although it took some time to peruse all of the information that a bunch of us had posted in Mark's fuselage train construction thread, I was finally able to determine that the downloaded copies of the entire set of images that currently reside in my digital archives was acquired from a Kansas Historical Society site link that you mentioned in response to Jason's contribution of five of the photos on page eight of the Detailing the Micro-Trains BNSF Fuselage Set" thread.

As seen in the image below (i.e., of the backside of the photo of Santa Fe GP7 2772 , three flatcars, two fuselage sections, and a caboose that you and Jason previously posted), the backs of the originals bear "Photo By Boeing Company" ink stamps with handwritten descriptions, dates, and inventory control numbers.

[peteski]

Thanks for the info Neville, and for linking back to the original thread on the MTL fuselage set.

[learmoia]

Yes Pete, those are the photos.. an I had not followed the original thread..

https://jmmullis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/737-10000th-Fuselage-Aviation-Week-Article-02-20-18.pdf

Here is the link again..

~Ian

[pmpexpress]

https://jmmullis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/737-10000th-Fuselage-Aviation-Week-Article-02-20-18.pdf

Here is the link again..

~Ian

Ian.

Another splendid addition for my aviation archives.

Aside from being a great read, the pdf contains three images (i.e., the first pair of black and whites depicting the fore section of the first Wichita-built 737-100 and the Spirit AeroSystems color photo of a fuselage train departing Wichita) that I have never seen before.

Thanks again for sharing your finds.

Although it would be much easier to retrieve all of aircraft fuselage rail transport information that a bunch of us are contributing and have previously gathered and shared on the Railwire if were placed in a single thread, the fact that part of the accumulated data currently resides in an MTL new release thread makes me wonder if this could be accomplished.