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 Posted - October 15 2014 : 01:15:06 AM
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Ever since I first played with printing a paper car side for a Mantua Refrigerator Car to make an "homage" (humbling myself before modelers whose standards may be more strict) to the Colorado Midland, I've wanted to try that with a Mantua Box Car. So, this is a little photo story about that effort and maybe a couple things I learned.
One thing I learned relatively early on was that my plan to use the end of a Mantua Refrigerator Car (because it is modeled to look like wood siding) wasn't going to work without some modification . . .
I briefly considered using some styrene angle "iron", but that would not have represented sound construction practice and I really didn't want to stray much from what Mantua provided right out of the kit box. So, I resorted to using the "steel" car ends that come with the box car. And the car already had a "steel" roof which was not really in the time period for a Colorado Midland box car anyway. That's why I'm calling this car an "homage" . . . sort of honoring the style of the Colorado Midland brand . . . with a wrong period car. Heresy! Probably also heresy to Mantua collectors who think cars should be left as they're found. I do kind of dig some of the cars just as they are and I want to have one consist of cars as untouched by me as possible including keeping the original hook and loop couplers. I think it would be a trip to really get those uncouplers they had for those things working. It would almost be a must if you didn't want to go through contortions each time to get them apart.
I did make one modification. I was missing a roof walk and rather than scrounge one of the newer catwalk style metal ones off another car, I made one out of scale lumber.
From "several feet away" (ha!) I can look at this car getting pulled around the layout and it stirs my imagination. These particular Mantua products, like the 2-6-0 Moguls I like to mess with, are really just "toy" trains, not intended to accurately reproduce any particular piece of equipment. But I'm kinda diggin' messin' with these "toys" trying to make them look more real. The instructions that came with this kit were dated "5/47" and I guess for the time, while I stumble to find my way in this model railroad Pandora's box, I like these old school models.
By the way, that "weathering" above the doors is some black and box car red that I used to try and cover up my poor cut on the printed cardstock for the door. [I also learned that in the future, I need to minimize Dullcoat spray on the cardstock; maybe even avoid it altogether . . . it "weathers" and obscures detail.] The print for the car side came from a photo of a Roundhouse Colorado Midland box car that someone had taken. I had images of a couple other CM box cars; each had one thing or another better or worse than the other, so it was really a toss up and a compromise. I think that will be the key to coming up with a better model . . . finding a good image for the side and where the door works out to be approximately the same size and matching the paint color and . . . .
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Posted - October 15 2014 : 07:55:56 AM
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Barry,
I like it! It is innovative and produces good results. Thanks for sharing.
Regards, John
The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced. <> Frank Zappa
Edited by - JRG1951 on October 15 2014 09:48:27 AM
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Posted - October 15 2014 : 08:11:21 AM
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| Very Nice!!
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Posted - October 15 2014 : 08:48:04 AM
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Barry,
That's a nice looking car and I think the combination of outside-sheathed wood sides, stamped metal ends, metal sheathed roof and wood roof walks is pretty plausible. Accurail thinks so, and they've got people far more knowing than I:
The build date on this particular model is 1918.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - October 15 2014 : 09:11:05 AM
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 Barry, I think this is one of your best box cars to date. Looks better than most of the other ones you have on your layout. Very well done, not to mention very creative.
-Steve
"A lot of modellers out there who go to these train shows see broken HO stuff and go, 'This is useless' when, in reality, they can still be used for modeling whether it's as a prop on your layout or a cool project to make something old new again."
Edited by - kovacste000 on October 15 2014 09:11:26 AM
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Posted - October 15 2014 : 10:16:46 AM
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| Hey, thanks for the feedback, and Don, thanks for that reference to the Accurail Chicago and Northwestern car.
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Posted - October 15 2014 : 12:53:32 PM
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Barry - I like your modeling style. I think that - generally speaking - modelers sometimes focus so much on the 'correct' details that they lose track of getting the overall look right. Think about that next time you're watching a train go by. Don't know about other people, but I'm taking in the sights/sounds/feel of it all, not wondering if the trucks are the exact scale feet apart, or the stuff under the passengers cars is 'correct' (of course on the other hand you're watching a real train, so it's automatically 'correct', but I think you see my point).
Anyway, my real point is - your stuff always seem to carry that authentic look, not to mention your figures, which are amazing. As you have mentioned, there may be inconsistencies comparing your box car to the 'prototype', but a person would have to be an expert on the Colorado Midland to even mention it.
Great work, and thanks for the excellent post detailing the process.
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - October 15 2014 : 2:38:15 PM
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The former Nebraska Midland 3ft gauge used the CM logo as their logo 
The line runs around the Stur Museum in Grand Island, NE
No trains run there now  WP&Y now has Loco #69 that used to run there & on Black Hills Central 
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