We had warm weather on Sunday, so I took the opportunity to paint nine cabooses (cabeese?). These are on deck to be completed over the winter. Along with all of the geeps I’ve neglected, layout staging, scenery, etc. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Here's a small project that I finished up recently. It's an Intermountain 60' PS-1 boxcar. The kit is factory painted, but I made a few updates. I exchanged the plastic crossover platforms for Plano etched ones, and added a Plano cushion underframe coupler cut levers. Intermountain supplies their kits with plastic wheelsets and their 3-piece equalized trucks (which are a bit sketchy), so I swapped them for Tangent 70 ton Barber S-2-A trucks. These are the 'basic' version without the spinning roller bearing end cap. My local hobby shop didn't have the newer version, and for a basic build like this, I didn't want to order trucks online. I've always enjoyed pre-painted kits like Intermountain and Proto 2000 offered, and with a few basic detail parts, you can get a well-detailed model without having to do heavy kitbashing and upgrades to an undecorated kit.
Starting a new model, this one is the 50' TOFC flatcar from McKean. The model is based on TOFC flatcars built by the Southern Railway from old boxcars. The car was cut to the floor, basically turning a boxcar into a flatcar. A few hundred were built, and lasted through into NS and were retired in the mid 2000's. The McKean model is relatively basic, and plenty of foobie and fantasy schemes were produced. I've reduced the shell to a flat piece of plastic, and will be adding all the details back on manually. Most of the underframe will have to be scratchbuilt. The first step is removing a section of the floor. The McKean model has a full floor, while the prototype has a large section removed, exposing the frame like a spine car. The model floor is nailable steel, but the TOFC car had a corrugated pattern put over it for tire grip. I filled the floor with Tamiya putty, sanded it down, and applied some plastic mesh from a chain link fence kit to represent the new floor texture.
Very cool! Feel free to post that in the, "Uses for Old Rolling Stock" https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/uses-for-old-rolling-stock.152822/ Interesting what railropads did during transition to new systems.
Four cabooses are off the workbench and on the layout. These are all Athearn kits except for the 9382 which is an old Roundhouse kit with a removable roof. I put Walthers Milwaukee Style caboose trucks under 9382 and 9420. Unfortunately they are now out of production and out of stock everywhere, I’d like another 6 sets for some more caboose projects. I may go back and add the ladders on 9562, it looks funny without them, even in the 1971-72 period I’m modeling. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
More progress on the Southern car. The structure of the frame is pretty much complete. There are a few more details to add, but all the crossmembers are installed. The thicker main beams are assembled from 3 pieces. The top has a saddle shape, so I had to fabricate the web separately rather than using extruded I-beam elements. The thinner cross members are simply Evergreen z-channel strips. The weight is visible under the portion floor that was not cut away. I wish I could omit it entirely since it affects the depth of the details in that area of the underbody, but I didn't want to affect the performance of this car more than necessary. The car is already too light. The brake equipment is located in this area of the car, so that may help disguise the metal a bit.
So I have the walthers sunrise feed mill and watched a few of my RR DVD's Noticed there was sever feed mills similar to the walthers kit but something about them bothered me Then it hit they were bulkier couple feet wider in most places vs the model and a bit longer vs the model So here's what I'm starting with and where I'm at Started with the kit part and made a new piece from evergreen 2080 V-Groove which at 0.20 is the outer skin Here's the kit part overlaid with a different roof pitch than the kit I found a company that does sheet plastic 0.40 thick and 12" x 24" sheets at a very reasonable price there's 4 sheets in that order pm me if you wish the link to the company Excuse my camera it's my old one and doing whatever it wants as pic layout goes Enjoy
Ran out of brass wire for brake plumbing, so the TOFC cars are on hold. I decided to get some work done on my BNSF business cars instead. I have the full set from Walthers, and I'm working on putting ESU DCC lighting strips inside and reworking a lot of the underbody details. The Bay View dome has been finished for a few months now, so a few more cars are on deck. Baggage car 77 should be done in a few days, and diner Fred Harvey is getting work done too. The Walthers models are nice, but the underbody details are lacking. Walthers did not update the tooling with HEP details, so all the cars still have their steam heat and axle-generator electrical system details. The baggage car is easy to fix. It just has HEP pass-through wiring with minimal underbody equipment. The diner and sleepers require a complete re-work. Here is the diner with a few of its larger equipment boxes roughed-in. I need to make a few modifications and reprint them. These details also apply to the ATSF-era cars, so I may try to upload them on Shapeways in case anyone else needs them. BNSF has since modified these cars further, so the equipment I am modeling is accurate up until around 2006 or so.
Certainly not HO scale, but tonight's project was to put a new plug (orange) on our ancient, but still very useful, waffle maker. The old plug had gotten a bit brittle and, after one too many things got shoved into it, or piled on top of it, finally shed enough plastic (actually probably Bakelite) to expose the wiring. It should be good for a few more years now. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
Indeed. My wife rescued it from a former roommate before we were married (and it was already old). It's all cast iron inside, so we scrubbed it clean, seasoned it, and it's been great for the last thirty years (and three kids). Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
Man, that thing is a relic, but they also don't make them like that anymore; industrial strength. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Putting a SoundTaxx decoder in this Bachman Spectrum 80-ton 3 truck Shay. It's going to be a tight fit, but I think I have it all figured out. I have had this locomotive for years now. I finally got the split plastic gears on the axles replaced with the metal ones from NWSL. Once the sound is in, this bad boy is going into revenue service.
"Cruise Control" was a rare thing in the carburated early 70s. I'm paralleling a plunge-type accelerator to our set-speed steering wheel/brake controller so hopefully grandson can easily "BACK-OFF" when 'rounding those corners. Spoiler: New '69 GTO & '70 Mustang Tested WORKS! When one lets up the car either slows to set "cruise speed" or can hit "brake". (Excuse wiring mess track is temp set on dining room table and will prolly elevate entire thing over 12X8 HO train layout)
Well other than new decals and the cutting down of the oil tank so it fits over the speaker, she's done. I'm waiting for a new bandsaw blade to cut the tank. Installed a SoundTraxx decoder and speaker. It's a tight fit but I got it in there. And also replaced the axle gears with the NWSL metal gears. it runs like a dream. It been a long haul to get this beauty ready to go, but seeing and hearing it run has made it all worth it.
HO 'Transfere / Coupler Transistion Caboose'. For Practice: I'll be cutting down an old used Tyco caboose so there is just a 'shack' on it. Swapping out the hornhook for knuckle couplers. Adding some kind of 'deck' to the exposed flat part. I've never done this so we shall see.
When I was cleaning up after the Shay install, I found another SoundTraxx decoder and speaker that I forgot I had bought. Turns out it was the correct one for my old Proto 2000 USRA 0-8-0. The soldering iron was still warm, and I was in the zone, so now this beauty has sound as well. I'm kinda getting hooked on steam again. After being shelved for years, my old steamers are getting a new life.
Well, it wasn't planned to be on my workbench. I forgot the lift up entrance to my layout was up. Got a 4-6-0 rolling. Started to switch a few cars with another loco and then I hear the horrible sound of a locomotive hitting the floor. Dang it! So now I am in the middle of repair. I could still get some parts from Bachmann, so I ordered those. The good news is the crew survived! She was a woo woo woo loco anyway. The shell from a loco with 63" drivers on top of 52" drivers. But she was a great runner so she will be rebuilt.
