The May Bring ‘n’ Brag category was Freight Cars and this brought out seven entries:

1st place went to Mike DeSensi for his N scale Santa Fe reefer car. He models the year 1945 in N scale, and his starting point for this model was an Intermountain SFRD model, from which he removed the molded doors and replaced them with doors he scratch-built from styrene. He also added a floor and walls, weathered metal wheelsets, and Z scale couplers, then weathered the model with Pan Pastels.

2nd place went to Denny Lippert for his collection of five diverse freight cars, which he described as having just “popped from the shop,” including a Rapido SP waffle boxcar, an Athearn WM centerflow hopper, a Proto-2000 PC flatcar (which he custom-painted), a Branchline 50ft PRR boxcar (which he painted after modifiying the sills), and a new Walthers P2K 40ft boxcar.

3rd place went to Bob DiBenedetto for his collection of three loaded RailGons in various levels of weathering. Two of them featured scrap metal cubes, and one featured banded steel plates.

Four additional models were entered into the contest this month; two of which comprised steel coil cars.

Rick Montgomery entered a pair of coil cars, one depicting the car after it had just been re-shopped, and the other soon after it was put back into service (he added State tool and die coil cradles and US Steel coils), He heavily weathered the car with Pan Pastels and Testors paint markers, and added graffiti (Blair Line decals) to give it the modern touch.

Vinny Kaplack entered a CSX Cushion Coil Car, which was a Walthers HO scale kit from the early 2000s, to which he added metal wheels, Kadee couplers, and the steel coil load. He finished the model by weathering it using three different techniques: airbrush, powders, and chalks.

Richard Reichenbach brought an Erie TOFC with trailer advertising the “Piggy-Back Service,” weathered to resemble a prototype photo he also displayed with the car.

And not pictured, Tom Catalano brought several flatcars with armor loads, appropriate for the month during which we honor our veterans.

This page is based on the Keystone Flyer.