Robert Parri was a builder of custom O scale cars. I would be interested in knowing some history of Mr. Parri and his cars. I own a few of his cars and they are excellent models.
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For some reason, Bob Parri is not listed in the O Scale Central Hall of Fame, although it seems to me that he should be there. He not only built excellent O scale cars, he also built several remarkable O scale accessories that included coal loading and unloading machinery.
@B Smith posted:For some reason, Bob Parri is not listed in the O Scale Central Hall of Fame, although it seems to me that he should be there. He not only built excellent O scale cars, he also built several remarkable O scale accessories that included coal loading and unloading machinery.
He certainly is most deserving of the recognition.
@David Eisinger posted:He certainly is most deserving of the recognition.
You have to be voted into the O scale hall of fame... but first be nominated I believe.
He is certainly deserving of that recognition and honor. His Erie horizontal rib hopper car that I recently acquired has completed my O scale brass want list.
Not sure that there is a comprehensive list of his cars out there though. I have seen a few over the years; I believe on one of the discussions on here is a list of some sort.
Not the case anymore. Yes it's a vote with one appointment or recommendation. A few years ago I appointed Elliott Donnelley. The problem today most people don't know who were the real founders and leaders of O scale. Mr Parri is a great example.
In the 1980's I had the good fortune to visit Bob Parri's home workshop and see how he built brass hopper cars. My take-away was that he planned and researched his projects for production in quantity, as opposed to one-off model building. He had a friend (name escapes me) who assisted in developing tooling to form special shapes (like prototypical ribs) and riveted sides from sheet brass. He used jigs to hold the various components in position for soldering. As a PRR modeler I purchased a number of his H21 and H25 quad hoppers and G22 gondolas. At the time they were built, Bob set a new standard for detail and prototype accuracy, especially when compared with earlier brass imports from Max Gray and US Hobbies. Bob Parri deserves membership in the O Scale Hall of Fame.
On Parri's hopper cars there is rivet detail on both the outside and inside of the car body. To accomplish this it is necessary to emboss rivets in two sheets of brass that are sandwiched together to form the cars body. Essentially the construction of each car is like two cars in one having inner and outer sheets. This method of brass car construction is still used today on high end brass hopper cars.
Just remembered - the fellow who assisted Robert Parri with tooling to fabricate brass parts was Carl Auel. The same fellow who produced O scale die cast trucks and details including bridge support "shoes". To build on David's post above - you could tell a Parri PRR quad hopper blind folded from imported ones by their heft due to the double wall construction.
Seems to me Mr. Parri was employed by Mr. Auel. I recall seeing in an issue of the late "O Scale News" in the "Lease Pool" section, an ad where a fellow was looking for Parri's molds, and Ms. Janine Gatch (the gal that inherited Carl Auel's business) was advertising in the SAME group of ads: "some of Robert Parri's molds have turned up". Don't know if they ever got together, but what are the odds of those ads appearing at the same time. Last I knew, Ms. Gatch was still involved in the hobby.
ECI
