Two Projects To Start - EBT Tank Car #116 & EBT M-3
#1
Hey Guys!

So I figured I'd kick things off with two projects that I picked up via the Friends of the East Broad Top Company Store, an unpowered HOn3 model of the East Broad Top's unique M-3 track inspection motorcar, as well as a resin kit of the East Broad Top's sole surviving tank car. I'm gonna start off with a brief bit of history about both, as well as photos of the projects as they were received. I have a couple of photos of the prototypes that I found on the internet that I plan to post up (with photo credits if they are available). If that's a problem they can be removed or whatever, but I thought having a prototype photo might be helpful for those less familiar.

So, the East Broad Top M-3 was built in 1928 by the EBT Shops in Rockhill Furnace, PA. It was built from a Nash automobile and used as a track inspection car and occasionally used for MOW service. It is a gas-mechanical vehicle and reportedly had a trailer that it could tow, though I have no idea how frequently that was used and have no real plans to model it. There is a small lean-to shed in the Rockhill Furnace Shops complex with a track in to it that is currently used to store the M-1, though I'm not sure if that is where she was always stored or not. It would stand to reason that it would have been stored in a small shed where it was accessible instead of in the shops where a car or locomotive being worked on may be blocking it. That's just conjecture on my part, though. Nevertheless, it was on the railroad during the era I model (1937-1942), so I have acquired one to go on my layout. It was painted red with a white roof and had the letters "East Broad Top" on the side, with "M-3" written underneath. The railroad uses M-series numbers to number any of the large motorized equipment on the roster, such as the doodlebugs M-1 and M-2, and the M-4 through M-7 used on the modern Tourist era railroad.

The East Broad Top's sole surviving tank car is one of two known to exist, though it still has some mystery surrounding it. As with many narrow gauge tank cars, tank car #116 is a tank attached to a flat car, rather than having a frame (or no frame) to attach it to. The flatcar used was a standard East Broad Top steel flat car. A 6,000 gallon steel tank was permanently attached, and stabilization railings were added to either side. It was built sometime in the Great Depression, most likely in or just after 1936 from current records. Aaaaand that's where the known-for-sure bits stop. The East Broad Top had one other tank-on-flat-car, #102 (or maybe #103?), a wooden flat car with a tank made by Atlantic Refining Company (ARCo) mounted to it temporarily. Some identical tank bodies were used by the D&RGW narrow gauge, some on frames and some frameless, in GATX service. It's unknown whether that is the same tank currently on car #116, or if the tank is a copy. In any case, the tank car was utilized as a part of water trains that were run daily to Robertsdale at the end of the line during droughts. The tank car would carry potable water, while four "well-caulked" boxcars would carry non-potable water.

So, the M-3, as I said, is an unpowered 3D-printed model. I'm going to attempt to add windows to it, as well as paint and decal it. I'll be using .005" Evergreen clear styrene sheet and Microscale MI-9 Kristal Klear glue to put the windows in. To paint it I'll be using Tamiya fine surface primer, followed by a flat white on the roof, caboose red on the body, and a flat dark grey on the hood and frame. It'll get a small blast of some basic weathering, and that'll be that.
With the tank car, it'll be a bit more work. It is a kit made by Funaro & Camerlango. The couplers are Kadee scale HOn3 couplers, trucks are EBT Vulcan trucks from C&BT shops. Paints for the project will be an off-white for the body, and a dark grey or black for the body. I have a decal set from the FEBT as well.

Photos are posted as attachments rather than hosted and spliced in due to data limits at the current moment. Later I'll get them hosted and spliced in so it looks better, if desired.


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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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#2
I don't recall ever seeing the tank-on-flatcar or the rail-car either, on my visits to the EBT.

I was there one time when there were no tourists around, and only one shop worker. He invited me to go into the engine house and also to "feel free to get up in the cab".  I had stopped there only because I was passing through to another destination, and was kicking myself all the way home, as I hadn't brought a camera with me. 35

My last visit, I think, was when they ran the steam doubleheader, and I made full use of my camera that day, especially because the wander-around-rules were pretty-much more relaxed, as long as one was mindful of safety concerns. 
Having spent decades in a steel mill where trains were everywhere, I was well-aware of what was safe and what wasn't.

Wayne
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#3
M-3 only comes out occasionally. It’s a bit… fragile, and totally irreplaceable. The tank car shows up occasionally in photo freight consists.
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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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#4
All of the paints and detail parts for M3 have been ordered and will be arriving prior to my arrival home. I’ll be collecting them all up and getting that project all done up very soon. Pics to come!
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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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#5
YT Trimmed all the sprue material off of my M-3 car. As I was doing so a tiny piece of the roof split and broke off. So it will need fixed or I will need to replace it. Or I just can make sure the broken part doesn’t show up in photos. Not sure, yet.

These first three photos are of the model as it arrived from the FEBT.
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Here it is after trimming all the sprue material off of the model. You can see where the chip is at.
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Next up I will clean off the last bits of sprue on the model, then prime it.
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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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#6
Cleaned up the leftover stubs of sprues and primed
 m-3. I used a rattlecan of Tamiya light surface primer.
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I put some Grey poster putty on a plastic knife to use as a handle.
This was my first time using a spray can to paint or prime. The next step will be hand painting of the model.
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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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#7
Looking good!
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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#8
Sorry for the disappearance again. Work on the road has been insane since my last update on this. In the meantime I bought a replacement M3 model because of the damage to the roof of the previous one.

Here’s how it came out of the box
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Here it is after removing the sprues
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And here’s the back side
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Red paint on the body
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Black added to the frame, hood, and undercarriage 
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And here the white is applied to the roof
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The model is entirely hand-painted. I primed it with Tamiya brush on primer. The paints used are all Vallejo acrylics in red, NATO black, and aged white. Definitely learned quite a number of lessons in painting it but I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

I’ll be building EBT tank on flatcar 116 when I’m home from work next, and now that I finally figured out how to post photos from my phone I hope to actually get to share a bit more with you all when I’m on the road.
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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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#9
neat little critter, you might be able to adapt a slot car drive under it to make a powered model.
Jim
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#10
I’ve seen some people power them with NWSL Flea motors but they really struggle being so light.
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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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#11
Nice looking critter!

How are the Vallejo acrylics paints? I just got some and have not used them. I know they make airbrush and brush versions. which did you use?
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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#12
I really liked them. I think these are technically the Vallejo Airbrush ones. The main difference seems to be that one is thinner than the other. It goes on smooth and cleans up with water which is especially ideal for me.
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Modeling the East Broad Top as it was between 1937-1942
~Amanda
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