Category Archives: •Mike’s Projects

Personal Projects of OST’s P48 Columnist and Managing Editor Mike Cougill

Cushioned draft gear for the PS 5344

I tinkered around at the bench and after looking over the prototype photos Greg Elems sent, I came up with the arrangement shown below. I think it turned out well.

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Website updated

I’ve updated the Cougill Studios website with new pages featuring the boxcar project also seen here. I’ll be adding more photos and comments about it in both places soon. Regards, Mike Cougill

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PS boxcar update.

I managed to get reacquainted with my modeling bench over the weekend, and made progress on the Pullman Standard 5344 project. I came up with a representation of the cushioned draft gear using the Protocraft couplers and with a little … Continue reading

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Protocraft coupler review supplement

As mentioned in my review of the new Protocraft Type E couplers in issue #49, here are some additional photos and thoughts on the product.

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Pullman Standard boxcar project

I thought I would post some in-progress photos of my 1970s era Pullman Standard boxcar. It’s scratchbuilt out of styrene. I had it at the Naperville show last fall.

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Detailing Track

The photo below shows a detail that can help lift your model track from ordinary to extraordinary.

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What does model railroading and Hernando Cortez have in common?

Model railroading and a 16th Century Spanish explorer? You may remember Cortez from world history class. He was going to conquer Mexico and the Aztecs and take all the gold and other loot for the Spanish crown. Upon arrival in … Continue reading

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Correction to Issue #48

In Part One of Tom Mix’s Building a Center Cab Diesel of the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of the magazine an incorrect e-mail address was given for Protocraft. The correct address is norm@protocraft.com Since all excuses for mistakes stop at my … Continue reading

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Is the hobby in a rut?

This thought occurred the other day and I wondered if anyone else feels the same way. Do we do things in model railroading simply because that’s the way it’s always been? Take layout design as an example. Is a continuous … Continue reading

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15th Annual Sunshine Prototype Modelers’ Seminar

A movement toward accurate prototype modeling has been steadily growing over the past decade and a half. Groups of like-minded modelers would gather informally to share information, ideas and modeling techniques about their favorite subjects, which were more often than … Continue reading

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