EXTERNAL: Re: The Cavalier Drumhead (Rear Tail Sign)

Sat Oct 26 11:35:38 EDT 2019

Hi Ralph:

Thank you for noticing Dottie!  I have not made any of my artwork available for sale, as I have only bought non-commercial licenses for Corel and the occasional Railfonts products I have used.  But I don’t feel bad about occasionally helping a fellow modeler stuck for something unavailable from any commercial source.

I see you are a member of PRRH&TS.  Last night I had Steve Staffieri and another local friend over for a “beer and brass” session, and showed Steve several of my latest custom finishing projects, including RWKS PRR Troop Sleepers (both configurations) and FM container flats, and an NJCB LIRR N-22b caboose that was the first application of a “Dashing Dottie” logo that I’m aware of in the hobby (1st attachment).  I did the decals for all, because Mount Vernon Shops was out of stock on their container flat sets (and I think their sets miss some important markings, and I wanted different car and container numbers in any case), and I wanted the little “P.R.R.” marks under the road numbers on the right of each side of the troop sleepers, which I don’t think the Bethlehem decal sets include.  I’ve also done decals for many more of the PRR horse car and scenery car names than BCW did in their (quite good) sets, of which I have used more than a few.

Although I’ve bought many excellent decal sets from Bill Moesteller, I’ve added some of my own, like different repack dates and VGN shops for C-1’s; see 2nd attachment.  And on many caboose projects and all passenger car projects, I add “WATCH YOUR STEP” decals to one of the step risers on appropriate corners of the car.

Then there are those really bizarre cases where an otherwise quite good model comes with decals that just do not fit, or are provably wrong in general or for a specific era you want to model.  The E&P GE Schnabel car is an example, where you’d swear that the decals provided were for an S-scale model, because they just do not fit the HO model.  So, make your own (3rd attachment), and problem solved!

If you’re stuck for something really impossible to source, you can network to me through Steve or the NWML moderator.

Best,

-Eric Bott

From: NW-Modeling-List <nw-modeling-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Modeling List
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2019 15:07
To: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Re: EXTERNAL: Re: The Cavalier Drumhead (Rear Tail Sign)

Hi Eric,

Very nice artwork.  I especially like the “Dashing Dan” and “Dashing Dottie.”  I don’t think I’ve ever seen artwork for “Dottie” decals before.  Too bad they’re too late for my modeling era.  The stained glass artwork is also very impressive, as is the George Washington portrait, and the former is just a “first attempt” you say.  Wow!

Are the decals from any of that artwork available anywhere?

Pax,

Ralph Brown
Portland, Maine
PRRT&HS No. 3966
NMRA No. L2532

rbrown51[at]maine[dot]rr[dot]com

From: NW Modeling List via NW-Modeling-List
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2019 1:59 PM
To: NW Modeling List
Cc: NW Modeling List
Subject: RE: EXTERNAL: Re: The Cavalier Drumhead (Rear Tail Sign)

Good grief, this is pitiful!

I’ve been making custom decal artwork for the past two years, using Highball Graphics’ printing services.  I’ve attached the artwork that I have done for various logos.  Among these are tail signs for the New Haven’s Flying Yankee (lower right corner) and for the C&O’s The George Washington (about 3” above the Flying Yankee.  The former artwork was translated from an original NH color poster for the train, while the latter is a vectorized rendering of the same portrait of Geo that the C&O used, and looks like an authentic painting when reduced to the correct tail sign size in anything up to O-scale.  [Also included on this sheet are dining car place settings in PRR, NH, and MKT china patterns, some “bulkhead murals” for passenger car interiors, anti-macassars for car seatbacks, and a first attempt at “stained glass” windows for a trolley car project, a small section of “linoleum” flooring for some HWT NH MU cars, plus a few “builder’s plates” that I have done.  I always try to research the builder’s number and date for the specific loco road number I’m trying to represent, since those numbers are readable in the HO scale builder’s plate decals.]  I can honestly say that I have a lot more fun with unpainted brass than painted!

If somebody can provide N&W tail sign images (any/all N&W trains), sizes, and color specs (RGB or CMYK specs would be easy to respond to), I will make up appropriate decal artwork and have Highball print it in whatever scales there is demand for, and ask for enough money per “set” to pay for the printing and shipping charges (probably $2 to $3 per “set”).  By “set”, I mean one decal of each tail sign we can find solid evidence for in one scale of your choice.  I’d want orders for 20 or more sets to commit to the printing.

-Eric Bott

From: NW-Modeling-List <nw-modeling-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Modeling List
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2019 20:46
To: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>; nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org
Cc: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: EXTERNAL: Re: The Cavalier Drumhead (Rear Tail Sign)

I have enclosed the drumhead on the Arrow tavern car. Hope this can help. It along with a lot of stuff N&W on the VA Tech Imagebase.
-----Original Message-----
From: NW Modeling List via NW-Modeling-List
Sent: Oct 24, 2019 6:36 PM
To: nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org
Cc: NW Modeling List
Subject: Re: The Cavalier Drumhead (Rear Tail Sign)
Attached is the tail sign for The Pocahontas offered by Tomar Industries.  Like The Cavalier drumhead that they sell, it looks like something drawn with a crayon by a pre-schooler.

Bill King
Arlington, Virginia

-----Original Message-----
From: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
To: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Thu, Oct 24, 2019 6:28 pm
Subject: Re: The Cavalier Drumhead (Rear Tail Sign)
To follow my comments and Jim’s below.

I’ve seen photos with the Memphis Special (predecessor to the Tennessean) with a tail sign (drumheads, by nature are round) that was a box shape, and the Tennessean had some round end cars with a tail sign (I believe) but they did not come through Roanoke to my knowledge. the last Pocahontas out of Roanoke carried a painted wooden sign on the platform car, and as mentioned, the Arrow had built in tail signs on the round-end cars.

I have seen a purported tail sign for the Pocahontas for sale some years back, but honestly believe it was a railfan fantasy item, not an authentic piece.

Ken Miller

On Oct 23, 2019, at 10:49 AM, NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

The only drumhead I ever saw on an N&W train was on the 1949 Powhatan Arrow.

Jim Nichols

On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 05:36:36 AM CDT, NW Modeling List via NW-Modeling-List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

I'm trying to model N&W's passenger train, The Cavalier.  In real life, it always ran a poor third compared to The Powhatan Arrow and The Pocahontas.  I guess that's why it interests me so much.  But information about it is very hard to come by.

I've found a company (Tomar Industries) on-line that makes Drumheads (or rear passenger car tail logos) of passenger trains.  The rear tail sign for The Cavalier that they offer is so unbelievably crude and childish that I can't believe it was actually used on an N&W passenger train.  I've attached a copy of the logo that they offer for everyone to inspect.

I have two questions that I need answers to: Is the Cavalier drumhead offered by Tomar Industries the actual logo that N&W used?  And, if not, what did the real Cavalier drumhead look like?

Bill King
Arlington, Virginia
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