Full Version: Remembering biL Marsland...
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May 11th, 2012, will mark one year since my friend and fellow-Member biL Marsland passed away. I miss our long and rambling e-mail conversations and regret never having had the chance to talk with him in person.

Not long after his passing, I decided that I wanted to create something on my layout in way of remembrance. Eventually, he'll have an industry named for him, but my first thought was to letter a piece of rolling stock for his Lehigh, Susquehanna & Western. It occurred to me that there may be others to whom this might be of interest, and I thought that such interest might be sufficient to have Accurail do a run of custom-lettered LS&W cars. For this, the minimum order is 48 cars, perhaps a manageable number. However, the drawback is that biL was modelling, like me, the '30s, so a car would need to fit into that era, at least if I were to be footing the initial bill. Wink Misngth
BiL's daughter had promised to send me the artwork for her Dad's LS&W herald, plus, if she could find it, his numbering system for freight cars (I had the latter in an e-mail, but accidentally deleted it, along with a lot of other stuff). Wallbang To date, there's been no further word on this.
However, I can work with biL's avatar from Big Blue, if necessary:

[Image: LehighSusquehannaWesternherald.jpg]

My good friend Ed (cn nutbar) suggested that perhaps custom lettering might be a better option, as modellers could apply it to their choice of rolling stock, regardless of their modelling era. I contacted Rail Graphics, and it appears that a sheet of decals sufficient to letter two cars with heralds, reporting marks and numbers would run about $4.00 U.S. if I supply the camera-ready artwork. The individual modeller would need to supply the dimensional data, as that's quite era-specific. The minimum order would be for 25 sets and they indicate that an order can be done in both white and black, with the optional colour available in increments of five: for example, 25 sets, with 15 in white and 10 in black. My thought is that the decals will be intended for HO scale, unless there's sufficient interest (at least 25 sets-worth Misngth ) in other scales.
If there's sufficient interest, I'll do the artwork, fund the project, and mail out the finished decals to interested parties, who will pay (I hope Misngth ) only for the actual cost plus my shipping (which would be postage for a letter, unless you want a crateload of decals.) Icon_lol

Right now, I'd like to find out if enough people are interested, so post the number of sets you think you'd like, and the colour - black or white - you'd prefer. If you're interested in a scale other than HO, don't forget to mention so, and if you have any comments or suggestions, please include them. Keep in mind, too, that each decal set will do two cars.

I've also included a Poll, which gives you multiple choices for colour and scale, and allows you to indicate the number of sets you'd like. Click on whichever ones or combinations that suit your preferences. If you want more than five sets, simply click on the choices which will give you the correct total: for instance, to indicate that you'd be interested in nine HO scale sets in white, click on the appropriate 5, 3, and 1 options. Bear in mind that one set will letter two cars.

The poll will close in 30 days, at which time I'll evaluate the results and post my conclusions.

Wayne
A very thoughtful tribute to bil, Wayne. Thank you. I like the idea a lot. Personally I don't see any problem with that logo appearing on a 1960's era covered hopper on my layout.
Thanks for doing this! Thumbsup
I would be able to use one set of white and would use them on 50's era cars
Charlie
Very nice Wayne! Put me down for 2 sets white in HO for a couple of single or double sheath boxcars for my "between the wars" era.

If you are also gauging interest for an Accurail car (instead or in addition?) put me down for one.

Thanks for doing this. biL certainly made a great contribution to the forum in the unfortunately relatively short time he was here. Sad


Andrew
Andrew, don't forget: one set will do two cars. They have another option for a single car set, which I may explore further. In either case, it'll end-up as a custom job, and there's not a lot of difference in price between the two. For the two-car set, the lettering can be done in two sizes or all the same, as the buyer chooses. I originally thought all the same would be best, but the two-size version would allow for a house car and an open car, like a hopper or gondola. BiL envisioned the railroad as an Anthracite hauler, so I'm planning on perhaps four hoppers and a couple of double sheathed boxcars.
The lettering style is probably applicable to any time from the mid-teens to the mid- or late-'60s, but wouldn't look out of place on a modern car, either. After all, the dimensional data and its style and lay-out varied quite a bit over the years, and that part of the lettering is left up to the individual modeller. Maybe LS&W containers on a commercially-available double-stack well car? Wink

Wayne
I would like to reletter a yellow railbox with black letters and a brown BNSF high cube with white letters in memory of biL. Two sets H0 of each would be fine in case of failures and some backup for later use.
Wayne, I think it's a great idea. I dabbled with something like this and got some ideas for it after his passing, unfortunately I've been hit with problems and the project got put on the back burner. Some of my ideas were:

Using his herald, inverting the colors, or even getting the font and rewriting it in a larger size for a higher resolution
Having reporting marks BiLX or BLM
Numbering the car 51111, for the date

This is the large photo

[Image: LSWHerald-BorderlessRe-Edit.jpg]

and found here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://s1022.photobucket.com/albums/af349/wwmarsland/Lehigh%20Susquehanna%20and%20Western/Original%20Hand%20Set%20Herald%20Artwork/">http://s1022.photobucket.com/albums/af3 ... 20Artwork/</a><!-- m --> is the artwork

I also thought about making a furniture store or even billboards featuring the 'Milano Collection" which BiL won an award for designing.
doctorwayne Wrote:Andrew, don't forget: one set will do two cars. They have another option for a single car set, which I may explore further. In either case, it'll end-up as a custom job, and there's not a lot of difference in price between the two. For the two-car set, the lettering can be done in two sizes or all the same, as the buyer chooses. I originally thought all the same would be best, but the two-size version would allow for a house car and an open car, like a hopper or gondola. BiL envisioned the railroad as an Anthracite hauler, so I'm planning on perhaps four hoppers and a couple of double sheathed boxcars.
The lettering style is probably applicable to any time from the mid-teens to the mid- or late-'60s, but wouldn't look out of place on a modern car, either. After all, the dimensional data and its style and lay-out varied quite a bit over the years, and that part of the lettering is left up to the individual modeller. Maybe LS&W containers on a commercially-available double-stack well car? Wink

Wayne

A two size version sounds good. And as you say, if there is little difference in the price, I am happy to have two sets (4 cars in total) in the event that I either muck it up, or acquire more cars in the future.

Andrew
A fitting tribute to a great model railroader. I'll go put a check mark on the poll, too.

Stein
tomustang Wrote:...This is the large photo

[Image: LSWHerald-BorderlessRe-Edit.jpg]

Nicely-done, Tom. Thumbsup Thumbsup

If this is do-able, I hope to coerce my brother into doing the artwork and layout, as he has the equipment and know-how to accomplish it. While I did the initial work for my own lettering, he did the final drafts for all three orders, saving a substantial fee by providing high quality camera-ready artwork as negatives, positives, and prints.

Wayne
Hi Doc---thanks for taking the initiative to get this tribute to Bill rolling---I've checked off the boxes in the poll,but just to clarify I would take 2 sets in white and one in black.The black sets would be on either yellow or orange reefers and would be used for transporting that imported Chinese beer and Bushmills Irish Whiskey that Bill used to enjoy Cheers
I have the Brigantine W.W.Marsland on the modules so Bil goes to the shows with me. Three sets of white in HO would be fine for me. I certainly have enough rolling stock that can be re-lettered, and here again would "go on tour" at every show I take the modules to.
This was very thoughtful of you Wayne. A fitting tribute. I'll take an HO set in white, and if you do an Accurail car, I'll take one of those as well.

Dave
Doc, this is a wonderful idea..I wanted to offer him a trade of a few of my heralds for a few of his. but he became ill and passed. I wasn't comfortable with asking his daughter about them but she seams happy with the idea. I would be honored to have the Leigh, Susquehanna & western running running on my pike, back in north east PA where I was started.
Any chance of a more modern font for us modern guys?
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