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 Posted - November 20 2020 : 4:08:57 PM
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I dug into the incomplete projects box, yet again, and came up with some parts I'd gathered for a 36-foot stock car.
Years ago, I built some wood gondolas on the tie rod underframes of some Roundhouse box cars. This meant some leftover boxcar shells. Then, I wanted a small fleet of cars dedicated to LCL (Less than Carload Lots) shipments. At one point, railroads converted some old tie rod cars to steel underframes, and in imitation of that, I threw together some underframes for the box car shells. They were made of wood and kind of crude, but they don't show up much, being on the underside of the car. Later, I was at a swap meet, and in a box of cars for sale really cheap were a couple of Roundhouse stock cars. They were pretty beat up, but mainly I wanted the underframes to put on the LCL boxcars. Between the two stock car bodies, there were parts enough to make one really good shell. This I put in a box with one of the swapped out wooden underframes from the LCL cars. Here's the kit:
You'll notice the fancy weight I salvaged from an abandoned mine.
There were holes in the body for mounting grab irons, but no grab irons. Some piano wire came to the rescue. It's a little big for grab irons, but it matches the holes. Also, the brake wheel was just pasted to the roof, and didn't have a shaft. More wire helped with that. Finally, the stirrup steps on the Roundhouse cars are cast into the underframe, so I had to fashion those from wire, too:
I had some airbrake parts on hand and some metal wheelsets, so adding those helped some:
By the way, if you mount Kadee number 5 couplers and boxes to the underside of the floor and put MDC trucks on an 1/8" high bolster, the coupler height comes out right.
It was all over but the painting. All that bare wire needed some paint. Here, the brake wheel shaft has been painted:
A side view shows the grab irons, wheels and stirrup steps with a coat of paint, completing the model:
The Mussentuchit Transfer sometimes includes a Swift refrigerator car. Maybe it's high time to haul some meat on the hoof, as well.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - November 20 2020 : 9:53:33 PM
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Great work, as always!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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Posted - November 20 2020 : 11:47:09 PM
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| Fabulous rescue. Has a load of character.
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Posted - November 21 2020 : 08:52:10 AM
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What else is in the junk box? 
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Posted - November 21 2020 : 10:32:52 AM
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| I like that you used a spike as a weight
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Posted - November 21 2020 : 6:54:47 PM
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quote:I like that you used a spike as a weight
Originally posted by Erik The Train Nerd - November 21 2020 : 10:32:52 AM
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That probably came from somewhere up the river from you. My first time in the Animas River Valley was in 1976, and there was a lot more left of the abandoned mines, back then. I probably picked that spike up around one of them during that vacation and had it lying around for a long time.
Carpe Manana!
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