My plastic freight car challenge

[doctorwayne]

You're right, Bernhard, there's not a great deal of benefit, in most cases, to replacing the rungs of cast-on ladders with wire. I was going to do so for the eight boxcars on which I'm still working for my Challenge project, but opted instead to remove the cast-on ladders completely, replacing them with plastic parts. (The original ladders, on Athearn cars, were otherwise acceptable to me, but because I've lowered the cars' roofs, the spacing of the rungs is incorrect.)
Here's the only ladder-equipped car on which I have replaced the rungs, another Athearn car with a lowered roof:




This car, one of three, is a much-modified Train Miniature car, and originally had cast-on grabirons in place of ladders. Because I increased the cars' height and because the prototype cars used ladders, I made the ladder stiles from strip styrene, then added wire grab irons:





Several years later, when Accurail released their very nicely-done version of the same USRA double sheathed boxcar, I unwisely chose to shave off the grab iron-style ladders and replace them with metal parts.



....and have subsequently done several more :



You'll notice, though, that the ones on the car's ends are still the cast-on ones. (Too soon I get old, and too late I get smart.)


Wayne