Nice repairs Bart. You might have a few people dining on words come January
Paul Norton said:It was about 6 years ago for me too. The same outfit took $175 from me and never delivered, despite several emails and 'phonecalls. HOPELESS. I consider them a bunch of bandits. They'll never get any business from me again.
...I remember buying this from Wholesale Trains ....
Doug Arnold said:Those sure look like Aristo Classic or Delton trucks to me.
I know it's an old LGB car because it even has springs in the trucks!
It’s entirely possible because it was a used car when I bought it.
I used lacquer thinner on the black paint today but only got a little paint off. It may have a “weathered” look when it gies back on the rails!
Taking a cue from Bart, I’ve started finishing almost-done projects. First off, are two 30 foot flat cars. All these needed were trucks and couplers.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bob_mccown/RollingStock/2012-11-17_15-10-57_72.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bob_mccown/RollingStock/2012-11-17_15-11-01_729.jpg)
Next up are a pair of 7/8 flat cars. These just needed a bit of weathering.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bob_mccown/RollingStock/2012-11-17_15-14-51_857.jpg)
And finally, a string of wood ore cars. Ive had these almost done for a while. Finally got the couplers on all of them. I still have one to paint, but that’ll have to wait for spring.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bob_mccown/RollingStock/2012-11-17_15-17-52_474.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bob_mccown/RollingStock/2012-11-17_15-18-05_639.jpg)
7/8ths Bob? Can you do that 
Nothing against the ore cars, I imagine they were quite a bit of work, too, but those flats look especially sweet to my eye.
Watch out ogling that 7/8th scale stuff. When the Sierra Valley 7/8th scale flatcar was first reviewed in the back pages of Garden Railways I was smitten. But I resisted. In the following issue the low sided gondola was reviewed. I weakened but did not break. In the next issue the high sided gondola was reviewed. I broke down and ordered the kit from Hartford. I had that car for years, but never got around to building a 7/8ths scale railway. It was a candy dish in the family room of our previous home until one of the cats took a liking to it and started chewing on a corner. In our present home in was an ornament on one of the wall unit shelves in my basement TV room. Then one day I saw Bob post about 7/8ths scale. So at this year’s American Invasion of Ottawa I gave it to him as a token of my appreciation for all he does for us here. He and Martha quickly found a new use for it.
Still encouraged by Bart’s personal challenge, this morning I finished repairing and tuning the last of four vintage FA-1/FB-1 diesel motor blocks for a friend.
This afternoon I installed and tested a Revolution receiver with sound in one of my GP-40s. It was the easiest sound installation I have ever done, but man that thing is LOUD! It woke the cat up from his afternoon nap in my computer chair. He gave me a disgusted look as he left to find a quieter spot. It took a while to figure out how to get around the REALLY LOUD default volume setting when it’s turned on.
Tomorrow I will resume restoring an old CNR Pacific now that I have received the last required parts.
… It’s for outdoors, Paul. Take it outside and wake up the neighbours’ cat. 
Continuing Bart’s “Finish what ain’t done”, I dug into the train shed and pulled out four unfinished flats, 3 idler flats and one general purpose. Attached decking that I had cut this summer, and left out to weather a bit. I only had one set of couplers, so I’ll need to wait to finish all of these completely.
Paul Norton said:I'd leave it that way. You know how much Fred appreciates loud locos .....;)
It was the easiest sound installation I have ever done, but man that thing is LOUD!
idler flat?
anybody can tell me, what the difference is, between an idler flat and a general use flat?
either in use or construction.
Idler flats are used between loads that overhand another car, like a pipe gondola or flat car. The brake wheel is set lower, less than 6" off the deck, to let the load from the next car go over it. The DRGW used them a LOT bringing drill pipe to Farmington (40 foot sections of drill pipe into a 30 foot pipe gondola, for example). They also cut up boxcars and stock cars into flats, too. Wood cars often had a piece of rail bolted to the side frames, either above or below, to increase support, since it was not unusual for the old wood flats to break under heavy loads.
http://markpaulson.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/pipe-gondolas-and-idler-flats/
An “idler flat” has no posts along the side, nor any provisions for them. It is essentially a flat smooth rectangle. Used to support long loads that spanned multiple cars in a consist.
Bob beat me to it! 
What I never understood was the “economic advantage” to them. Why not add the stake-pockets along the side so the cars could be dual-purpose? I’m guessing the D&RG had so much money they didn’t have to worry about maximum use of their equipment. 
I thought I had uploaded a photo from my trip to the Orange Empire Museum in CA.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/038-drgw-idler-oerm-7.JPG)
This is an idler flat, with a piece of rail strengthening the sides, between a pipe gon and a drop-bottom gon - both have seen better days! In closeup, it shows no signs of stake pockets, and the steps are obviously an afterthought, so this might have been a boxcar cut down.
… It’s a small apartment that their wives don’t know about, where a bunch of lazy guys hang out on weekends to drink beer, watch football, and fart in the living room.