|
|
 Posted - July 14 2013 : 5:49:09 PM
|
I posted earlier about my Head End Power Box Car project and included enough images of the in-progress work. Now, I have finally finished it an am posting the completed project results:
The wierd reflections are from the plastic desk blotter that is underneath my photo platform.
The front end has a scratch-built door and frame (although the idea is copied from other better modelers than I) to allow in-use access from the locomotive, as this car travels directly behind in transit. The door handle is .25 steel wire.
The roof cylinder may represent a cooling system, but I am not sure. I made it with two larger decorator jewels sanded round and glued to th ends of a styrene pipe, with .25 steel wire representing the plumbing lines. The larger vent is the exhaust from the generator inside the car, made from a lego-type toy tire and wheel; the smaller vent is an inlet for fresh air to the generator. The reason for the louvers and wire screen is to provide sufficient passive airflow for cooling inside a steel boxcar, which might get a bit hot with an engine running in it.
The small jewel at the roof crown is meant to represent an indicator light, so the engineer can check visually to see if the car is "on" when moving. There is an identical light at the other end.
The screen is made from .80 copper mesh, applied from the interior with a frame on the outside. The two louvers on each side are made from .030 clapboard styrene. I originally was going to place them in cut-outs of the car wall, but felt that would compromise the structural integrity of the car.
I painted the ends and roof white to make this car stand out and not be confused with other Sioux Lake equipment, due to it's special use as a power car head end unit.
Here on the Sioux Lake railroad, we provide tourist and special event trains for the general public and the nearby Sioux Lake State University students on a fairly regular basis. The public trains are just for the fun of a 15 mile run on the railroad, as it skirts Sioux Lake itself and the college trains give a whole different dimension to the extracurricular eveants on campus. The Minnesota, Sioux Lake and Western also has several weekend and holiday ski trains for the college and the residents of Sioux Lake which take them to the several ski resorts in Northern Minnesota. Welcome revenue for a short line!
This is one of the last three novelty cars I plan to make at this point, the remaining two being a "University of Minnesota Agricultural Extension Soil Science Mobil Lab car and a "partial box car shell-on-flatcar" MOW car, designed for housing a small bench machine shop for on-site work. This second one is again, an idea borrowed from my betters as I researched things online.
I have now built or upgraded over 100 rolling stock cars and just need a few cattle cars and a few more gondolas to fill out my roster. All my rolling stock has metal wheels and with one or two exceptions (purchased RTR special cars with EZ mates) Kadee couplers.
I am at a point where I need to finish up a few cabeese in progress, upgrade a few more Athearn BB engines and then turn my attention at the end of summer to getting my layout trackwork completed. Not to mention a few structures that I have been away from for over a year!
C U Soon
Siouxlake/ Ron
Edited by - siouxlake on July 14 2013 5:53:51 PM
|
Country:  USA ~
Posts: 510 ~
Member Since: September 21 2011 ~
Last Visit: December 21 2014
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - July 14 2013 : 8:11:46 PM
|
 very nice & I thought the vent looked tire-ish 
I still wants a Sioux Lake Railroad boxcar from you hehe 
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 14908 ~
Member Since: February 23 2009 ~
Last Visit: June 25 2025
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - July 15 2013 : 01:00:00 AM
|
Ron, Interesting car to say the very least! However as you know me I always have a lot to say.......regardless!
What did you use for the ventilators? The bottom most picture, with those "windows" are those filled in with screen? They look like some sort of side vent.....yes? no?
~John
Many have tried to, and failed, ya just can't repair stupid...
Do NOT try to Idiot-Proof anything!!!! God, will simply create a better......IDIOT!
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2911 ~
Member Since: March 26 2012 ~
Last Visit: January 14 2014
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - July 15 2013 : 10:21:09 AM
|
The louvers are Evergreen #4031 clapboard siding (.30 inch spacing). I had some wider clapboard, but looking at the drawing and the Nevada car image ( prior post on this project), the wider stuff did not look appropriate, so I got narrower siding.
I now have two cabeese, a calf SW7, and that first center cab diesel from 2 yrs ago- in addition to a whole fleet of MOW cars done in my Sioux Lake railroad scheme, with a final diesel project on the workbench. I think that inventory is sufficient to "brand" my layout. I don't want to have nothing but my colors on the tracks- it becomes visually boring and undermines the role my fictitious railroad plays as a subsidiary of the Great Northern (had it remained as it was). Canadian Pacific, Soo Line, Northern Pacific, as well as a number of other regional short lines all can be at home on my switching and rehab facility layout.
As always, I greatly appreciate others' feedback and attention to my simple efforts.
Siouxlake Ron
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 510 ~
Member Since: September 21 2011 ~
Last Visit: December 21 2014
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
Home
Forums
Events Calendar
Forum Admins & Mods
Register
