Nice job on weathering.  May be a bit bright on the interior color and couplers.

The one question I would have is when was the car built?  The MP merged in 1982.  In 1982, I remember those CNW gons as being pretty new.  The PC/CR gons were really beat up, but the all welded 65 ft mill gons on the midwestern roads were all pretty new.

the partially buried spur and the weeds in the ditch look great. Some of that scrap iron in the gon would be a nice touch.....DaveB

The layout is set in the mid to late 80s.  Technically after the MP/WP/UP merger but still a time when "Jenks Blue" could be seen on the rails. (Legally, MP still existed as a corporation until everything was finalized in the 1990s)

This also gives me more "wiggle room" in regards to modeling. 

To the "rail fans" of Willioughby, Arkansas, the merger is an ugly rumor and it will always be a MOPAC line despite already seeing the appearance of "UP Yellow!"  "But at least the UP Yellow still has the Missouri Pacific name!"

In regards to the actual gondola's build date.  I was not able to find that but the model is more of a "representation" of a hard working scrap gondola than any attempt to model the "specific" car in that time period.

Thanks for the feedback!

Joe

Thanks Dave!

Working on building a removable scrap load for the gon. 

"Knew there would be a use for all my modeling kit leftovers one day!"

Joe