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Author Previous Topic: Bobber Upgrade Topic Next Topic: Options to repower Pacific''s and Mikado''s???  

Barry
Big Boy


DRGWAvatar

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 Posted - February 18 2018 :  5:47:32 PM Link directly to this topic  Show Profile  Add Barry to Buddylist
In my efforts to gather early Mantua cars of the railroads that worked in my neighborhood, I acquired this Santa Fe refrigerator car. The second railroad to come to my town (D&RGW was first), the Colorado Midland, was purchased by the Santa Fe. So, of course, I search eBay for these things since they don't usually even show up at local train shows. These first three photos are from the eBay offering . . .



Looks pretty fair, hey? I did note some obvious work to be done, such as removing rust from the axles . . .



Upon looking more closely (e.g., inspecting at receiving it), I also see that the roof walk is bent downward at the end by the brakewheel . . .



Well, I just could not leave well enough alone and tried to bend [a casting no less] the end of the roof walk up. You might imagine what happened. Turned out to be quite brittle . . .



You can see the nice little pieces it broke off in. So, getting the roof walk removed wasn't difficult. What was a little tense, was getting the metal out of the mounting holes without making a mess of the rest of the car. Luckily, I was able to dig at them with a pointed file. I tried drilling, but drilling into the cast metal with a tiny bit wasn't going to happen. Alas, I did get through, and also lucked out and had a virgin Mantua refrigerator car roof walk (they are different from the box car; facsimile wood vs steel). . .



The next bit of luck came when I found that I had a bit of Floquil Box Car Red that matched up pretty well with the roof color. In this next photo, you can also see the trucks have been cleaned up (these give some idea of the date of manufacturer since they are the cast wheels and not the brass like many of the early ones) . . .



The most intriguing thing to me are the graphics. The photo above includes the graphics that are most often seen on these Mantua reefers. I tried searching the catalogs and things on www.hoseeker.net, looking for photos of Santa Fe reefers, but it seems they did not showcase the Santa Fe as an example. And looking at other Santa Fe cardstock sides that I've been able to view on eBay does not show one like this. ? ? ? So, here's the car today. [In this photo the car looks more yellow than orange and in some of the others, it looks quite orange. It is more orange than the usual Mantua ones, but not as orange as the photos look.) Still a few things that could be gotten after, but I don't have to look at a bent roof walk or rusty axles, and I like the simplicity of the graphics; not totally like the earlier Santa Fe cars, but more like them than the typical Mantua graphics . . .

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scsshaggy
Big Boy


scsshaggy

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 Posted - February 18 2018 :  10:59:03 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add scsshaggy to Buddylist
Nice job of restoration. A little TLC and a classic is ready to roll again.
Carpe Manana!
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Barry
Big Boy


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 Posted - February 19 2018 :  3:41:19 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add Barry to Buddylist
Thanks Don. Another thing that was different and may "date" this model, is that the trucks don't mount with 'shoulder screws'. Rather, as you can see in the photo below, there is a brass bushing with a lip on it and a fiber washer that allows for clearance and movement the way a shoulder screw would . . .

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microbusss
Big Boy





tiger

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 Posted - February 19 2018 :  4:47:39 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add microbusss to Buddylist
if you look at those maps of the ATSF system
you'll see a line to the Grand Canyon
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scsshaggy
Big Boy


scsshaggy

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 Posted - February 19 2018 :  5:13:05 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add scsshaggy to Buddylist
quote:
if you look at those maps of the ATSF system
you'll see a line to the Grand Canyon

Originally posted by microbusss - February 19 2018 :  4:47:39 PM


I've ridden that line, only by then, it had been spun off as the Grand Canyon Central.

Carpe Manana!
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  Previous Topic: Bobber Upgrade Topic Next Topic: Options to repower Pacific''s and Mikado''s???  
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