Exclusive decals to letter models of Michigan-prototype locomotives and rolling stock.

A Brief Note Regarding Decal Availability During Early 2009

Updated 20-MAR-2009

As 2009 begins, three situations are affecting the availability of my decals. Two are situations which have been ongoing for some time, and the other is a new one.

Effective immediately, I am no longer listing my Pere Marquette switcher decals for sale. I have had three runs produced over the past thirteen years by an outside supplier who does excellent work, but who has had very little time to devote to my decal orders. This set will be back, but until I can get a firm commitment on a delivery date from my supplier, I will no longer list it here. This set uses a custom-mixed yellow ink in a shade that I cannot reproduce well on my ALPS printer, and that I have been unable to convince other custom decal printers to mix. This is same supplier who made the limited-run Ludington & Northern diesel switcher set.

Decal sales are part of my hobby, and filling orders comes out of my hobby time, when I actually have hobby time available. Like so many others lately, my office has been experiencing the stresses of having to perform the same amount of work with fewer employees as a result of recent layoffs (My department alone has seen a 40% "workforce reduction" over the past two years). As a result, delivery times have grown, often to six or eight weeks.

The third and final situation is that I have finally reached the point where my supply of ribbons for my ALPS printer has begun to dwindle and I have to go out and purchase them at a far greater price than when I stocked up nearly six years ago. This will be reflected in new pricing, which I will release shortly, reflecting the increase in the cost of ribbons. To give an idea of the increase in my costs, a white ribbon for my ALPS printer which cost $8.95 six years ago, is now two to three times that price from reliable suppliers.

In other news, in late 2008, I received Craig Wilson's permission to reproduce his decal set for Ann Arbor Railroad GP-38s #7771, 7791 and 7802. I have completed converting his artwork, and I will offer this set for sale on this site soon. I have completed new artwork for the Ann Arbor steam locomotive set, as my earlier artwork, along with that for a couple of other projects I've been working on, was lost in a combination of hard drive and backup failures in October.

Thank you for your continued support.

-Fritz Milhaupt

Ann Arbor Steam Locomotives

Ann Arbor Mikado #2494 at Owosso

There are a number of good models out to represent the Ann Arbor Railroad's steam locomotives, and now there's a set to letter them! This set will letter one locomotive and tender for the Annie. It includes prearranged numbers for an 0-8-0, a 2-10-2, a 4-4-2 and an 4-6-0, plus an assortment of numbers to allow you to letter any other Annie steam locomotive.

HO Scale:	Set AA-1: $4.00 each
O Scale:	Set AA-1-O: $7.00 each
N Scale:	Set AA-1-N: $2.50 each

 

Manistee & Northeastern Boxcars

An Accurail HO boxcar painted as M&NE #4011

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Manistee & Northeastern received a dozen hand-me-down wooden boxcars from the PM. Numbered 4000-4011, these double-sheathed cars were taken from the PM's 85000-86000 series. While no perfectly accurate models exist, available models of the USRA double-sheath 40-foot boxcars make acceptable stand-ins.

Each set provides enough white lettering for one boxcar.

HO Scale:	Set MNE-1: $3.00 each
O Scale:	Set MNE-1-O: $7.00 each
N Scale:	Set MNE-1-N: $2.50 each

PM A901- and A950-Series Steel Cabooses, and A800-Series Wood Cabooses

An Atlas Trainman HO caboose lettered using PM-5

In 1937, the Pere Marquette purchased its first steel cabooses, a group of 25 cars from Magor. In 1941, it purchased its final group of cabooses, 40 similar cars from ACF. These groups of cabooses were very similar to each other, as well as to contemporary cabooses purchased by the C&O and the Missouri Pacific.

Over the past 30 years, a number of models have been released in brass, and most recently in plastic, that are either accurate models or reasonably close stand-ins for the PM's A901- and A950-series steel cabooses. In the last couple of years, no quality decal set has been available to letter these for the Pere Marquette. This new set is intended to fill that gap.

Each set contains roadname lettering, dimensional data and servicing marks to accurately letter one of the PM's A901- and A950-series steel cabooses, or one of the A800-series wood cabooses built for the PM in 1930.

HO Scale:	Set PM-5: $4.00 each
O Scale:	Set PM-5-O: $7.00 each
N Scale:	Set PM-5-N: $3.00 each

Pere Marquette Wooden Refrigerator Cars

An Accurail HO wood reefer as PM #25010

In 1924, the Pere Marquette's Wyoming Shops built 300 wooden refrigerator cars to help handle its seasonal produce traffic. Now, for the first time ever, we are pleased to offer a decal set specifically designed to accurately model these cars, featuring prototypically-accurate lettering and dimensional data.

While no completely accurate models of the PM's 25000-series wooden reefers are currently available in HO scale, the illustrated instructions accompanying this set describe methods to modify Accurail, Tichy, or Red Caboose kits to make close approximations of these cars. The upcoming Intermountain Fruit Growers Express wood reefer should be nearly identical to the PM car.

Each set letters one refrigerator car.

HO Scale:	Set PM-4: $3.00 each
O Scale:	Set PM-4-O: $7.00 each
N Scale:	Set PM-4-N: $2.50 each

 

Pere Marquette Steel Snowplows

The PM purchased its last two snowplows in April and September, 1944. Plows SP-21 and SP-22 were fairly typical steel plows from Russell which the PM painted boxcar red with black roofs.

Both Overland Models and Walthers have produced HO models of this style of plow, and this set will letter one for either SP-21 or SP-22. Each set provides enough white lettering for one plow.

HO Scale:	Set PM-3: $2.50 each
O Scale:	Set PM-3-O: $4.00 each
N Scale:	Set PM-3-N: $2.50 each

When calculating the cost of your order, please add $1.00 postage and packaging (US and Canada). Send remittance to:

Fritz Milhaupt
P.O. Box 7408
Ann Arbor, MI 48107-7408

Please pay by check or money order only, payable to Fritz Milhaupt. Please do not send cash through the mail. I do not accept credit card orders, or orders via phone or e-mail.

All orders are shipped via the postal system, unless other arrangements are made.

Future Products

Other Projects

Projects underway include sets to letter Detroit & Toledo Shore Line cylindrical hoppers, Michigan Northern E8B/Steam Generator Car #671, Manistee & Northeastern and Ludington & Northern 0-6-0s, and Manistee & Northeastern combine #9.Sets for Michigan Northern GP7s are on the drawing board, too.

 

Decaling Tips

I've put together a sheet describing the techniques that have worked the best for me when applying decals. It is available for download as an Adobe PDF file here.

 

Other Small Decal Manufacturers

There are many other people in North America who produce small lines of decals to model specific prototypes. Many of these are enthusiasts, like myself, who created sets to allow them to letter specific models they wanted for their own use. A very good list of these small manufacturers can be found at Bill Mosteller's Great Decals! site, at http://www.greatdecals.com/.

Bill produces a fine line of decals. Of special note to the modeler of Michigan prototypes is his set for the "scare striping" the New York Central applied to their Budd RDCs in the early 1960s. One NYC RDC which received this striping was M-497, the RDC3 which provided the last NYC passenger service from Detroit to Saginaw and Bay City. M-497 is one of the two numbers available on the Proto 1000 HO RDC3.

 

The Pere Marquette Historical Society

The single best source of information on the locomotives and rolling stock of the Pere Marquette and the Manistee & Northeastern is the Pere Marquette Historical Society. Members receive six issues of PM Tracks, the bi-monthly PMHS newsletter, and two issues of Pere Marquette Rails, the PMHS magazine, each year. Members also receive notices of special projects, such as the recent HO brass car side kits for the Pere Marquette streamliners, and the PMHS's special-run HO PM freight car kits

For more information on the PMHS, and on the Pere Marquette and the Manistee & Northeastern, visit the PMHS Web site at http://www.pmhistsoc.org/