A few boxcar upgrades...

[doctorwayne]

While neither a scratchbuild nor a kitbash, here are some pictures showing some changes made to a kit boxcar in order to make it more closely resemble its prototype.

Here's the prototype, an ex-Pennsylvania RR X-29 boxcar, used in express service by REA, and later in MoW service by Penn Central. Like a cat with nine lives, she's still earning her keep as a HEP car for the Kiski Junction's passenger trains.


The Pennsy's X-29 boxcar has long been one of my favourites, and when my friend Charlie Bowyer, a Pennsy fan himself, announced his intention to retire as Supervisor of Operations for the Kiski Junction RR at the end of this year, I felt that a model of the KJRR's boxcar, returned to its former livery, would make a perfect retirement gift. Another good friend, cn nutbar, was in on this project, too, in the form of funding, so I ended-up making three versions of the car, one for each of us.

Fortunately, the car's original number was still stencilled on the interior face of the door:


The starting point was Red Caboose's version of the X-29 most suitable, the 1924 style, with plate ends, patched side sills, and an REA detail package. (These kits appear to be no longer available.) The prototype car shows BLT. 7-34 on its sidesill, even though the plate ends clearly identify it as a 1924-style car, not the 1928 and later style, which used Dreadnaught-style (ribbed) ends.


After adding brake gear to the models, I learned that many of the cars converted to express service had their underframes rebuilt to incorporated two steel stringers per side, replacing the single wooden stringer per side with which the cars were originally built. This type of rebuild involving the frame explains (at least to me ) the 7-34 built-date on the original. I didn't, as you can see below, modify the underframe of the models.

The three cars which I built are almost identical (save for weathering and re-weigh dates), but one of the differences is in the brake gear. These cars were originally built with K-style brakes, as illustrated by the photo, below, of another car:


K-type brakes came in several versions, most utilising one or two major underbody components, as shown above, while more modern AB brakes were comprised of three components, the reservoir, AB control valve, and the brake cylinder:


Some early conversions used mounting hardware from the earlier K-style brakes, the option chosen for my late-'30s version of the car. Pennsy used an extra actuating lever, pivoting at the sidesill, as shown below...


...while later versions used the standard set-up:


As shown above, I added only the basic piping and actuating levers that would be seen under close scrutiny from trackside. Hopefully, there'll be no major in-service wrecks that will allow closer inspection.

Here's a view of the prototype's "B" end:


Red Caboose provides plastic parts for most of these details, but I felt that metal would be a better choice, especially for the grab irons and tack board mounting straps. No cut levers were supplied, so I fabricated ones from brass wire, along with four-piece mounting brackets, which I added beneath the poling pockets. The plastic grab irons were installed as per the kit's instructions, then the actual grab iron section was trimmed away from the support brackets (there are two styles of brackets supplied with the kit, both vertical and horizontal). Next, the remaining brackets were drilled to accept .012" brass wire, which was bent to suit, inserted into the holes, and secured with ca from inside the body.
The mounting straps for the end tack boards are rather unique, not at all like the plastic ones supplied with the kit, but because they're so unique, I felt it worthwhile to attempt to replicate them.
I started with Detail Associates .010"x.030" brass bar (not exactly "to-scale", but an expedient compromise), cutting and bending a test piece until I arrived at a suitable length. Both ends of each strip were drilled to accept .012" wire, which was then soldered in place. The long ends were inserted into holes drilled into the cars' ends, bent-over, then fixed in place with ca, while the visible ends were trimmed to represent bolt heads, using a cut-off disc in my Dremel. I also drilled holes (again, before bending and installing the straps) for the upper grab iron, soldering it in place after the straps had been installed on the car.






Also visible in the photos above are the new platforms at the brake wheel and lower right-hand corner of the end (the kit's originals were solid plain styrene, while the replacements were cut from a Tichy open grid roofwalk), the scratchbuilt reinforcement gussets over the coupler pocket, and the bolt details added to the lower grab on the right side of the car's end (the proper style wasn't included in the kit). The mounting brackets for marker lights were included with the kit and can be seen protruding from the car's corners, about half-way up the side.

Similar changes were required on the "A" end:




The modified drop step, with the extra rung, can be seen in the second photo. The steps are from A-Line, with the extra rung made from D.A. brass bar and soldered in place.

While the kits' trucks are unsprung, they are self-equalising, so I added sheet lead inside the car to bring it up to just slightly more than the NMRA recommendations. When the car is first placed on the tracks, it's a good idea to press down on it once it's on the rails - this aligns all of the sideframes properly, allowing the interior weight to return the sideframes to their proper position as the car rolls over any minor irregularities in the track.


Another area where the kit details didn't match the prototype (this is in no way meant to be a put-down of the kit - it's an excellent kit with a good detail package) is the door latch mechanism. The lower latch detail, both on the doors and the carside are fine for a freight-service car, but the REA cars had an additional latch, mounted a little higher:


I couldn't find similar detail parts, and was going to omit this feature. Eventually, though, I decided to scratchbuild something reasonably suitable:


Including the piece on the door, each latch is comprised of eight pieces, mostly .010" styrene. Also visible to the left of the door is a placard holder, constructed from a piece of stainless steel grill work (from Detail Associates) intended for F-units.

All three cars have one working door, with latches in the unlatched position...




with the other closed and latched:


As you can see by the three photos above, the LD.LMT. and LT.WT. figures have been omitted: they were added after the initial weathering was completed.
A few more photos of the un-weathered cars:




Here are a few in-service shots. The lettering is from Champ, with all cars receiving a light wash using well-thinned PollyScale, followed by various colours of airbrushed Floquil.

Here's 6866 rolling through Dunnville, empty, some time in the late '30s - note the January 1937 re-weigh date, with the work performed at East Altoona: