doctorwayne's New Years Resolution Challenge...

[doctorwayne]

Here's the start of the Athearn boxcar re-build for the EG&E.
The first task was to mark the car sides for the material to be removed in order to decrease the roof height:



Next, the lower door tracks were removed, using an X-Acto # 18 blade. The car's floor should be in place for this, as it's otherwise very easy to break the sidesill at the door opening:



Next, a strip of .040"x.040" styrene was cemented into the upper door track mounting grooves (it doesn't fill the groove, and needs to be located to the top edge of it - when the rivet strip/roof is removed, most of the strip will remain with those parts). I also added reinforcing plates of .060" sheet styrene at the door openings. These extend about 7' (HO) to either side of the door opening, and are necessary to keep the car sides together once the roof is removed. The tabbed side sills were removed next. I was originally planning to keep them, which would have required modifying the Central Valley underframes, as the truck-mounting bolsters wouldn't line up with the tabs. I'll create new, straight sidesills from strip styrene, which will allow me to keep the CV bolsters in their original position, which is closer to the car's ends than the Athearn bolsters. As was mentioned elsewhere, many early cars, including Pennsy's X-29s, used bolsters placed in this manner.
I used a utility knife with a new blade, making the first light pass using a straightedge aligned with the raise bottom edge of the car's sidesheets. A couple more light passes cut the tabbed sill free:



This will be continued later, but right now, the paint on the other cars is dry and ready for lettering.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

Finally got a couple more cars finished.
First up is the MDC truss rod reefer. That's the one which needed its fascia boards replaced because someone was a little heavy-handed with his sanding technique, and it was last seen in grey primer. I decided to letter it for my free-lance Grand Valley Export Company, which is the Grand Valley's refrigerator car subsidiary, much as MDT was for New York Central or SFRD for the Santa Fe. While checking for un-used numbers, I re-discovered three other GVEX cars, all slightly re-worked Tyco cars. Their plastic floors are sagging and I intend to scratchbuild new ones, but not as part of this Challenge. Here's the latest addition, being dropped-off at National Grocers:





As you may recall, jwb offered some good suggestions about an Espee automobile car to which I had added some underbody brake gear. I managed to find a photo of a prototype car, and in addition to adding the storage tubes for the tie-down chains and a white stripe on the door to show that the car was equipped with Evan's Auto-Loaders, I decided to re-work the car to more closely match the photo.
The easy part was adding the storage tubes. I couldn't find a photo which clearly showed their placement, so I took a guess based on the fact that a car like this would hold five automobiles. I didn't include the tubes which would be near the car's ends, as I didn't want them to interfere with truck swing. The ones shown were cut from 3/64" styrene rod and cemented into holes drilled in the car's floor:



I next removed both the upper and lower door tracks, along with the doors. The upper track's mounting slot was filled-in with strip styrene, then more strip was used to create a new, finer upper door track. The tabbed side sills were then removed completely, and replaced with a straight one built-up from various sizes of Evergreen strip styrene. The visible part is cemented to the bottom edge of the car's side, then reinforced from behind with some thin strip. I also added a long reinforcing tab below the area of the door openings, along with a new lower door track (the stock Athearn lower door tracks on most house cars sit too high, a concession to "working" doors). Because the profile of the inside face of the car was changed by the reinforcing for the sills, I also added blocks to maintain the carbody at the proper height on the underbody.



Lowering the bottom door track meant that the stock doors were now too short, so I cut up some spare doors and grafted them onto the modified tops of the originals. The white styrene seen in the interior of the door openings in the photo above are to provide strength to the butt-cemented joints and to prevent the modified doors from warping.



As you can see, some of the car's rivet detail along the lower edges was damaged during all this fiddling, so I shaved rivets off the left-over parts of the donor doors used in the height increase and added them to the car. While they're fairly visible here, and not all that straight, I think they'll look acceptable once the car is repainted.



Next, I used a rag dipped in methyl hydrate to remove the lettering, then tossed the car body into the sink for a quick wash. After spraying with Floquil Grey Primer to give an even base for the final paint, it was airbrushed with a custom-mixed boxcar red, then lettered with C-D-S dry transfers. I took the opportunity to give it a correct number and a BLT. date of Oct. 1936. Shown below, she's already had her first re-weigh but is only lightly weathered. The door stripe, by the way, is two 1.5" stripes from Champ. I didn't have the very tiny lettering that should be either on or below it, but please don't tell anybody.



The final Challenge car (other than the eight Athearn boxcars which will definitely not be finished in time) is the Southern Su-class boxcar. I used the MDC boxcar shown near the beginning of this thread, but it required some modifications to make it a little more like its prototype.
The prototype car has both a steel centre sill and truss rods, much like the reefer shown above. However, the Su-class boxcars had their queenposts mounted on an I-beam which is very visible from trackside. I used I-beam material from Evergreen, trimming the MDC queenpost casting to remove some of its excessive thickness, especially on the outermost (most visible) ends. The pictures, below, show most of the construction details. I made-up the brake levers from sheet brass, while the rods are .012" stainless steel wire. The truss rods are monofilament fishing line, while the turnbuckles (not yet cemented in place in the first two photos) are from Tichy.







As you can see, the I-beams end at the edge of the floor, while on the real car, they extended to the outside face of the car's siding. With the cast plastic sides' excessive thickness, the car just didn't look right. I finally decided to add short I-beam extensions to the lower edge of the car. They're cemented in place, then, once the cement had fully hardened, the bracing was added using .010"x.060" strip styrene. First, using lacquer thinner, the over-length strips were cemented to the I-beam, then, when the cement had set, bent down to the sidesill, and then bent again to provide a gluing surface to affix then to the bottom edge of the car. I also added short lengths of .012" brass wire to represent the bolts used on the real ones, drilling through the straps and into the car's sides. (The sheet styrene seen in the centre of the car's interior is to support the new roof.)







The roof replaces a board-type one which came with the kit. Most of the almost 15,000 cars built got Hutchins "Dry Lading" roofs, so I built a simplified version using sheet and strip styrene. The roofwalk and laterals are HO scale 2"x6", distressed with a razor saw.



Over the course of building such a large block of cars, several different ends were used, including Hutchins with tapered panels, Hutchins with straight panels, a T-brace end, and, on the last 1500 cars, Murphy 7-7 ends. I opted for the Hutchins with straight panels, as that's what was shown in the photo.





The ladders are simply strip styrene with custom-bent stainless steel rungs, to which I added short lengths of .012" brass wire to represent the mounting bolts. Brake gear components and door hardware is from Tichy.
After a quick wash and a coat of Floquil Grey Primer, I airbrushed the entire car, including the underbody, with Floquil's Southern Freight Car Brown, one of the few times I've used a paint colour without altering it. The roadname and numbers are dry transfers from a C-D-S set for a 50' automobile car, while the dimensional data is from Champ.





I have one more car, not shown in my original photos, which should be finished before the deadline, and I'll keep plugging away at those eight Athearn cars, too. I'll continue to post photos of them here, even after the Challenge has ended (and may toss-in those three Tyco reefers, too - no sense in quitting now that I've got myself in-gear.)

Wayne

[modelsof1900]

Doc, very good modifications and very good looking results. The I-beam modifacation of the Southern car are a very good solution which I never have seen before. All in all a big number of very specific cars!
I would be lucky when progress of my own car modelling would be gone with same speed like yours.

[Tyson Rayles]

Awesome work (and knowledge of freight cars) Doc!

[e-paw]

[doctorwayne]

Thanks to all for the kind words and for taking the time to work through this lengthy thread.

Wayne

[Charlie B]

Hi Wayne,
What you are doing with these cars is wonderful. You really do great detailing work, and it is impressive the amount of details that you make.
You truly can make a good car great and a cheap car look like a 200 dollar brass model.
Charlie

[MasonJar]

Absolutely fantastic work Wayne!

Andrew

[doctorwayne]

When I entered this Challenge, I thought that it might help to motivate me to finish some long outstanding projects, but unfortunately, I keep finding more stuff that needs attention.
When I was photographing those last three cars on the layout, I noticed a nearby car which had rust-coloured faces on the wheels. While that would be perfectly correct for a car equipped with roller bearings, most of my rolling stock is still outfitted with solid bearings, and that means greasy/oily wheels. I had known when I originally painted the wheels that they were incorrect, but with some heavy airbrushed weathering, they didn't look too bad and were perhaps a bit more interesting. Anyway, the sight of those wheels bothered me enough that I decided to repaint them. I knew that all of the cars of that type had the same problem, and found a few more, too. While this was easy work, taking time to do 10 or 12 cars was time taken away from the Challenge tasks which I had originally set out to do.
Other distractions include these three boxcars (which also needed their wheels re-painted). Two had BLT. dates in the mid-'40s, and all three showed "NEW" beside the weight data, with, of course, '40s dates. I scraped off the offending data with a knife (two cars were lettered with C-D-S dry transfers, which came off easily, while the third was factory lettering and a little more stubborn to remove. I used painted decal film to covered the appropriate areas, then added data using decals from Champ. The re-pack stencils (on black decal film to the right end of the car) are also from Champ, and help validate the newly-black wheel faces.



Here are a couple of them in service:





Also on the same train was this caboose:



Originally a CPR caboose from Trueline, I picked it up "used" at a local hobbyshop for $10.00. After removing the script lettering (and most of the paint from the car's sides) using a rag soaked in methyl hydrate, I completely dis-assembled the car, then washed all of the parts in hot water and dish detergent. After everything had dried, all of the parts made from engineering plastic were brush-painted using Tamiya paint (left-over from the same procedure on a couple of Trueline CNR cabooses). This included the end platforms, steps, railings, and ladders. After the paint had cured, the same parts, along with the car's sides, were airbrushed with PollyScale Special Oxide Red, a good match for the original CPR colour (which was still intact on the sides of the cupola). I left the car's ends in the original caboose red used by CPR.
Lettering was done using Champ alphabet sets, then the parts were Dullcoted and re-assembled, followed by some airbrushed weathering.



I also took time to begin painting some solid-resin automobiles. After a thorough washing, they were airbrushed with Floquil grey primer and are currently undergoing brush painting. They may or may not be finished before the end of the month.

I also managed to not totally neglect the EG&E boxcar rebuild, with work proceeding on roof removal. Using a utility knife with a fresh blade, several light passes were made just below the rivet strip at the car's eaves:





Next, a cut was made across the ends, half working from one side, the other half from the opposite side. The ends will eventually be replaced, but will be needed while the sides are lowered and also when the roof and rivet strip are re-attached.





Both the roof and the top edges of the car will be sanded in order to remove about 1' of height from the car's side, then the parts will be re-joined. To prevent the rough end-cuts from interfering with sanding, the utility knife was used to remove excess material:



Wayne

[MasonJar]

Originally a CPR caboose from Trueline, I picked it up "used" at a local hobbyshop for $10.00. After removing the script lettering (and most of the paint from the car's sides) using a rag soaked in methyl hydrate, I completely dis-assembled the car...

Hi Wayne,

Any chance you took pictures of the caboose disassembly? I have a CNR version, and a lighted lantern kit to put in it, but no knowledge of getting the thing apart. There seem to be several layers overlapping underneath with multiple screws. I don't want to take it apart more than necessary, so any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Andrew

[doctorwayne]

Sorry, no photos of the take-apart operation, although I think I've done it 5 or 6 times at least.
You're right about the "overlapping" of the assembly steps, as the body won't come off the floor until the platforms have been removed and they can't be removed until the couplers are out of the way. As you remove the parts, set them aside with their screws - the ones for the couplers are different from those for the platforms, and they may also be different from the ones used to attach the roof.
The couplers are removed first - they don't look like they'd be involved, but they're in the way of the railing removal. The railing, ladder, and end beam are all one piece, with nubs on the inner face of the end beam pressed into recesses in the edge of the platform floor.
First, disengage the wire step braces from either the bottom step or from the end beam and from either the other end of the step or the car body - I found it easier to remove all of them completely, as they're less likely to get lost during handling. Next gently pry the end beam free first, then grasp each stile of the ladder, in turn, as close as possible to the point where it enters the roof, and pull them free. Next, pry the ladder away from the roof's end - there are two nubs which press into the roof's edge, so you'll need to insert a small screwdriver or knife blade close to that area. The end beam/railing/ladder assembly should now be free.
Remove the two screws from the underside of each platform, noting which end faces the car body and which faces the railing. You should now be able to remove the body from the floor - gently spread the lower edges of the sides, and the floor should drop out. The roof is secured only with the four visible screws (no glue) and may be easily removed if necessary.
Re-assembly is pretty-much the reverse, although it's probably easiest to add the wire step braces last. Using pliers, insert the upper end into the car body or end beam, then, by slightly distorting the step downward, swing the bottom end of the wire over the step. Align the wire with the hole, then, with the bottom step on a hard surface and a firm grip on the wire with the pliers, press down with the pliers. The wire should snap into place. Repeat for the other seven braces.

While you have everything apart, you may wish to paint the platforms and ladder/railing/end beam assembly. These are moulded in Celcon or a similar engineering plastic, and, while the plastic is similar in colour to the painted parts, they don't match exactly. This type of plastic doesn't accept most kinds of paint very well, but I read somewhere that Tamiya is one type which can be used. I mixed a colour to match CNR cabooses, both brown and orange versions and the CNR brown was also used on the ex-CPR car. Once the Tamiya is cured (I generally allow a minimum of 24 hours for most paints, although some take even longer) it may be over-coated with most types of paint - I used Pollyscale for the caboose shown, as an out-of-the-bottle colour was a good match for the CPR caboose. For the yellow handrails on the end platform, I used Pactra RC85E Bright Yellow, applied right over the Tamiya. However, this Pactra paint, which is intended for polycarbonate plastic car models, is also one which is suitable for use on engineering plastic, so you may be able to find an appropriate colour in their product line.

Wayne

[MasonJar]

Thanks Wayne! Great description. I'll have it on hand when I look at the caboose.

Cheers,

Andrew

[faraway]

I love to view this thread again and again. The boxcars are so well modified, painted and weathered. They are the most beautiful brown boxcars

[modelsof1900]

Wayne,
extra ordinary well written descriptions and a big help for starting own projects. Thanks! And superb modelled cars of course!

Yesterday I received two Accurail single wood sheeted box cars - and reading your posts I will rebuild them to a 50' 1 1/2 door automobile car after a picture in Car Builders Cyclopedia of 1928. You have given the courage to me for starting such a plastic car scratchbuilt project - after finishing my present time projects.

[doctorwayne]

Reinhard and Bernhard, thank you both for your kind words.

Bernhard, I look forward to seeing your boxcar conversion - I think that you'll enjoy working with styrene.


Wayne