At about what time did 55 Gallon steel Drums (now found all over the world) first appear on the narrow gauge railroad scene?

Dear Bach-Man:
How about taking up a collection at the office....to send out West the guy who does the "hand-shake deals" with small breweries.  To somewhere  such as Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, etc.  Some of them have great logos (moose, elk, bears, snow-capped mountains, etc.) which would look great on a reefer intended for one of our western logging or mining layouts.  It's un-American to keep him locked up on the East Coast.  You could even go yourself, if you had to!
Cheers

Top O' The Mornin to Ya!
Question:  Does the operator of a goose or railtruck belong on the left (as a driver?) or the right (as an engineer?)?  I have seen models done both ways....how did they do it "for real"?  Or is this a case where we refer to "Rule Number One"?
Thanks for your help.

OldStone, Chief Goose Herder,  O & W RR

Am building a pair of water tanks (towers) for the O & W.  In some of the articles, photos, etc. I've read on the subject there is a spike, called a "finial" by one author, in the center of the roof, at the highest point.  None have mentioned lightning rods but it causes me to wonder.  Did they have lightning rods on RR water towers at the turn of the century?

Happy 4th To All!
I wanted Fireman Fred (Arttista #1407) to ride on the tender and be removeable....to aid future access to Tsunami, wiring, etc..  First - I held him upside-down against a block of wood while drilling #60 hole 3/16" deep in leg.  Small drop of ACC to fasten .035 brass wire in hole....trim to 1/4".  Glue shovel to hand & foot with gap-filling ACC.  Locate spot where Fred is to stand and drill #60 hole thru tender floor.  Not absolutely necessary but I added a small piece of .125 styrene under the floor to deepen the hole.  "Plant" Fred.  Bend wire if needed to adjust posture.  Can now stand Fred anywhere on the layout that I can drill a #60 hole.



Fireman Fred on his "peg".  The engineer is Arttista #1403.

A useful mogul needs a working front coupler.  I also wanted to keep the "cowcatcher look"....see photo below.  Removed the dummy coupler and the point-section of the pilot.  A block of wood the same height as the bottom of the coupler-box opening let me deepen it with a sanding stick while keeping everything square.  Made snug fit for Kadee #13 kit  "universal adapter plate (a box with no ears) and centering spring.  Drilled and tapped up from the bottom for 2-56 black nylon screw from Kadee 32 kit which also provided the medium-overset-shank 9/32" coupler. The ugly, long 25/64" coupler proved unnecessary.  Coupler box needs a shim on each side or in the rear to keep it from pivoting...being VERY CAREFUL NOT to glue it in place (for future coupler removal).  Now to paint the exposed portion of the spring black.  It works well.   

Good Evening All:
Finally got the O & W Rwy to the point I can use it.  NCE PowerCab, 250 feet of track, 41 Peco Insulfrog ("dead" frog) turnouts and 3 Insulfrog crossovers.  No problems with the turnouts at all....but the crossovers were causing my three-color LED on the NCE Smart Booster and the #1156 taillight bulb on that power district to wink and sometimes light up.  When the #1156 lit up the train stopped - the booster had obviously tripped its breaker.  In 2 or 3 seconds when the booster restarted, the train took off as if nothing had happened.  It occurred going South but not when going North.

I finally determined that a couple boxcars were the culprits.  Further checking determined that their wheels would not quite fall into the notches on my NMRA HO Standards Gauge.  Close, but no cigar.  A few thousandths, maybe.  Once I had twisted, pushed and pulled to get them perfectly in gauge....no more shorts....none, zip, nada!  I was amazed (still am) that so small a change could have such a significant effect.  Henceforth, all new cars will have their gauge checked before being allowed on O & W rails.  I suppose a lot of modelers have been doing this for decades...but I'm new at it.  Incidentally, my new "hunkerdown" high-side gondola came with its wheels nicely "in gauge"....a good omen?