GTW Automobile Car Part 2

Continuing on from part 1, I finished the under frame by using 0.010" Tichy wire for the 3/4" diameter brake rods of the prototype.  Most 40 and 50 foot cars used either 3/4" or 7/8" diameter steel rod for the brake rods depending on tonnage rating.  The levers are from Yarmouth Model Works.  A piece of 40 links per inch chain connects the hand brake rod to the cylinder lever.

The model as provided doesn't have an attachment for the running board laterals.  They just float in mid air.  To rectify this add short pieces of 0.010" x 0.030" styrene strip, bent into an 'L' and glued to the underside of the lateral and to the edge of the roof.  I added a rivet to each which I harvested from  an Athearn boxcar.  

To detail the ends, drill and mount wire grabs and 1" nut bolt washer parts above them.  The prototype bracket grab can be simulated with a Kadee grab by cutting one end off and mounting it 90 degrees on the inboard end.  A small drop of CA will re attach the two halves of the grab together.  

The next improvement is to correct the side sill.  Remove 0.5" from the lower right hand side of the sill reinforcement.  Then cut it on a 45 degree angle.  Follow this by extending the left end of the sill reinforcement by 0.5" with a piece of 0.040" by 0.080" styrene.  Taper the end of it by 45 degrees also.

The running board end supports are fairly crude, so I created new ones from 0.010" x 0.030" styrene and a couple of harvested rivets.  Next I installed an etched brake step and supports made from 0.010" x 0.030" styrene and harvested rivets again.

I carved off the brake housing and installed an Ajax uint from Tichy along with a Kadee brake wheel.  Lastly the retainer valve pipe has been replaced with 0.008" wire to represent the 3/8" NPT pipe used on the prototype.

The prototype has bottom mount sill steps.  Installing A line sill steps is a simple upgrade that not only matches those used on the prototype, but they are much more durable.  The left end uses a straight step while the right end uses a single angle step.  The second view also shows the National B1 truck.  Note of caution, the sides are very thin so add a piece of styrene behind the sill to thicken it so you can drill without breaking through.

The last easy upgrade is to add the upper door bits.  In the middle add two pieces of styrene to make up an 'L' shape.  First glue a piece of  0.010" x 0.040" flat against the track.  Then add a pice of 0.020" x 0.020" along the bottom edge of the first piece.  Finish up by adding four small pieces of 0.010" x 0.040" to represent the the small tabs at the top of each door.

I added tack boards and route card holders from my National Scale Parts line.  The kit comes with two board versions, but these cars had three board versions.  I still need to add brake hoses and cut levers.  At this point a bit of touch up paint, either brushed or sprayed on and you would end up with a fairly creditable representation of the prototype.  Further improving the car requires fixing the steel panels on the side of the car body.

I decided that this could be easily done with 0.005" styrene and both harvested rivets and Archer rivets.  The Proto 2000 car has 4 panels to the right of the door and 7 to the right.  The prototype has three to the left of the door and six to the right.  The ones on the right use two different widths also.  To begin the conversion use a chisel blade and remove all the rivets where the new panels go.  Then sand the panel seams.  Not every last bit needs to be removed.  Then cut 0.005" thick styrene sheet into 0.600" strips and cut using a chopper to length.  Apply the panels working from the inside of the car to the ends,  maintaining the correct overlap.  I word of caution on glue.  Use very little and a really small brush.  I prefer Tamiya Extra Fine " Quick Set". It is the least hot of all the styrene glues I have tried.  It flashes off very quickly and doesn't smell as bad as MEK.  Even with caution I still had a couple of glue sink marks.  These were corrected with a bit of filler and wet sanding. The three panels to the right of the door were not replaced.  I sand blasted the car before starting so the glue would not have to work though the paint.

I added door stops from my National Scale Car parts line, to replace those carved off in the panel replacement.  Archers rivets are used on the panels edges and bottoms.  Harvested rivets are used for the loading rack rivets in the middle of the panels and to detail the under frame attachment to the side sill.  I had a spare set of ladders that I used for the sides as the originals were bent.  The last detail is to add the Kadee bracket grabs to the left ends of the sides.

I need to source some decals for this car.  A set exists for a 40' GTW Steel Car, but I may have to pull from a few sets to make up some of the data for this 50 footer.

I will show the final car in Part 3.

GTW Automobile Car Part 1

 The GTW Western rostered some of the earliest examples of 50' Automobile cars built similar to the to the 1937 40' AAR Standard boxcars.

 Cars 591000-591199 were built by Pullman Standard in 1937,  had End doors and square corner post 5-5 dreadnaught ends on the B end.  They rode on AAR cast side frame, spring plank-less trucks. The side sills were continuous and had a large reinforcement member under the doors, which were of the Youngstown type.  The roofs were Murphy raised panel and had wood running boards.

 Cars in the following series 591200-591399 built 1941 were similar except they had round corner 5-5 Dreadnaught ends on the B end. They rode on National B1 trucks.

 The Proto 2000 50' auto car with end doors are almost spot on for this second series of cars. Although a few changes will make for a more accurate car.

 If you're a modeller thinking about dipping your toe into the prototype modelling pond - building one of these kits would make for a great first project.  The body requires no major surgery and only minor changes are required to produce an accurate representation of the prototype.  Kits are available prepainted and lettered.  Only basic hobby tools are required for the work.

Here is a picture of the prototype car taken in 1969 by Steve Rush.  The original can be found on Rail Picture Archives in colour.

 By 1969 the car has undergone some changes.  The trucks have been changed out, incidentally to the type of truck the previous series rode on.  The sides have been patched to reinforce the car body around the bottom of the door openings and an ACI tracking label has been fitted.  Evidence of paint touch up can also be spotted on the reinforcement member under the doors. Since I model 1955, I will not be making any of these changes.  Other than these minor repairs this car has undergone little change since it was built in 1941.

 My car was purchased used and was already assembled.  I decided to remove most of the detail parts.   They were half  broken and not fitted correctly. I left the ladders on for now, but they are not straight and I may upgrade them if I can't straighten them up.

 I started by gluing the doors on straight and centered in the opening.  The kit comes with a plug that goes between the doors at the top, don't install this part as it is much too large and is easy to upgrade.  Next I installed couplers and Athearn National B1 trucks.  These trucks are also available from Walthers and Kadee. Save the kit trucks for another project, or if your modelling 1969 go ahead and use them!

 Next, I plugged all the holes on the sides and roof where the detail parts were removed.  To do this, drill out the holes with a 0.030" drill bit and then glue in short lengths of 0.030" styrene rod.  When dry, trim off with nippers and sand or chisel smooth with a knife blade.  Details that were removed are as follows: all grabs, sill steps, running board supports, brake wheel and the retainer valve pipe.

 On the underframe,  all pipes, rods and lever hangers were removed.  I drilled the required four holes in the AB valve, two in the reservoir and one in each end of the cylinder.  I installed 0.0125" Tichy wire to represent the 3/4" NPT piping used between these parts on the prototype.  Next I added 18" scale grab irons to represent the brake lever hangers.  I mark the locations with a set of dividers - drill the holes and use CA to mount the grabs.

I then returned to the ends and plugged all the holes as I did to the sides.

The next post will show how to complete the under frame and the small changes required to build a more prototypical car.

Missouri Pacific 1932 ARA Box Car - Part 1

The Missouri Pacific rostered the largest number of 1932 ARA designed boxcars, 2500 in fact.  These totals include the subsidiary companies I-GN (International Great Northern) and NOT&M (New Orleans, Texas & Mexico) cars. The cars ran without any major modifications throughout their lives.  The one distinctive feature of the MP cars, is the choice of fixtures used on the Youngstown doors. They either came with Creco's Ball Bearing Fixtures or Railway Metal Product's Union Duplex Fixtures.  For further information about these and all of the other 1932 ARA designed boxcars, I recommend Ted Culotta's excellent book "The American Railway Association Standard Box Car of 1932".

Walter E. Frost, City of Vancouver Archives

I decided to model one of the NOT&M cars, which had the Union Duplex Doors, 4-4 Square corner ends, wood running boards, Universal Brake housing and Murphy panel roof.  The basis for this build is an Atlas 1932 ARA undecorated kit and parts kit (MK-102.6)  from my company National Scale Car. The decals were created by Ted Culotta and include MP, MI, and NOT&M reporting marks. I-GN cars did not have doors with the Union Duplex Fixtures and are not on the kit decal sheet.  The kit includes resin doors and etched door tracks.

I started by reviewing the Atlas car body, to the prototype photo.  Numerous small changes are needed, to build a more accurate representation of the car.  A prototype photo of the NOT&M car is in Ted's Book, but the cars generally followed what is shown in the MI photo above (note - the MI car has 4-4 round corner ends).  Changes are noted on the photo below.

Here is where I am at after and evening or two of work.

I will add rivet decals to the upper door track just before painting, that way I won't knock them off while working on the car.

The ends also need a few changes, as noted on the following photos.

The kit ladders are actually not too bad so I elected to keep them.  The other features noted will be scratch built.

I'm not one for New Years Resolutions but I do like "to do lists".  One of my favourite quotes is by Lee Iacocca - "The first step in accomplishing a goal, is to write it down".  So with this in mind, here is what I want to get done in the next year.

Build the following Freight Cars.

MP 1932 ARA Car (Atlas and NSC mini Kit)
B&O M26D (Speedwitch Media Kit)
D&H Oneota built modified 1937 ARR (Yarmouth Model works)
Grand Trunk Shower Car (Scratch Build)
UP Flat Car (Proto 2000 kit with Speedwitch Media decals)
Grand Trunk Western War Emergency Gondola (Ends will be offered as a mini kit through NSC)

The following Pattern Work

B&O M55 parts for Mini Kits from NSC
3 Patterns on my bench (I will let Yarmouth Model Works make the announcement)
Single Sheathed Auto Car Pattern (TBD)
Duryea Under frames (4 different versions)

A diorama of Danville Junction.

 Foam is cut, cork and ties are down.  Need to lay track and construct a crossing diamond.  I want to include the original Danville Junction crossing tower, but have yet to locate a useable photo of it.  If you have one or know of a source I would appreciate some help.  The original was torn down in 1963 from what I have learned.

CGW Shake and Take Kit

Its been quite a while since I posted about my modelling efforts.  I've been busy working on new kits for National Scale Car. In between casting, packing, and writing instructions I've managed to build a few freight cars for my layout.

Attendees of the Chicagoland RPM in 2017 received parts to create a 1937 AAR Boxcar for Chicago Great Western.  These cars used a Pullman car builder end.  The kit included resins parts, decals, and a Red Caboose Square corner undecorated kit. In 2018 George Toman presented a clinic on building his kit using the supplied parts.  Georges Clinic Can be found here.

I followed Georges Clinic to create an accurate car as I could muster.  I decided to not cut up a perfectly good Red Caboose Square corner car and instead started with an Intermountian 10' IH car instead.  The ends are separate parts so it saves cutting them off. I will let the pictures and captions tell the rest of the story.  I will be attending this years Chicagoland RPM and I'm already looking forward to George's Clinic on building the 2018 car.

Scratch built under frame, the kit under frame has diagonal corner braces where as the prototype did not. Also, the Z bar stringers are larger between the cross bearers at 4" x 4" versus the rest of the stringers at 3" x 3".

The floor from the body was milled off.  I custom made mounting brackets for the brake appliances from brass sheet and archer rivets.  The dead lever actually can rotate in the mounting bracket.

I also bent up a plate steel brake step from brass sheet.  Ladder attachment brackets were made from styrene strip and harvested rivets.  I filed the Equipco Brake Mechanism by hand, starting with and Ajax one, with some added styrene to the bottom.  The single hand grab on the end was fashioned from a partial bracket, styrene rod and harvested rivets.

Yarmouth Model Works Sill steps installed, along with one of their Wood Running Boards and brackets.

A view of the finished end with air hose bracket and cut lever installed. I cut the ladder rungs off and replaced them with 0.010" styrene rod.

Primed and ready for inspection before final paint.  The door track was also modified to match the prototype with the visible opening between it and the lower sill.

The roofs on these were painted black, while the running boards were stained and the painted, followed up by sanding off most of the paint to give a weathered look.

I weathered to match a Prototype photo using Pan Pastels and an AK wash.  Chalk marks were also added in addition to the  kit decals.

Decal Hot Tub....?

 I find applying decals easier if I use warm to hot water rather than cold.  The adhesive lossens much faster with the warm to hot water.  I would say somewhere around 75 degrees Celsius.

 It can get cold in the basement during the winter months in Canada.  Getting up every few minutes to refresh the warm water in my water bowl was getting old.  I looked for a solution such as a scientific hot water bath.  All I could find was fancy ones that cost $500 bucks or more.

 So I asked my better half if she had any ideas and not to my surprise, she had the answer right away.

 A mug warmer...  Apparently mug warmers are a thing.  In less than five minutes she had one on order from Amazon Prime and I got it the next day for the high price of $9.96 CAD.   It works great.  Here is a link.  Bonus, the price is now $9.74CAD...

My wife calls it the "Decal Hot Tub Time Machine" since I model the 1950's....

Now back to those decals....

Salton SMW12 Mug Warmer, White

CV / GT Wheel Flat Part 1

   I am always on the look out for photos, of interesting company service freight cars.  When I came across this photo, at Bob's Photos I new I had to build one for my layout. The picture was taken in 1955 at New London Connecticut.

New London Connecticut - Bob Photos

   The GT and CV had very similar freight cars in company service.  Most likely similar, if not exact copies were rebuilt from older cars at the same time, for both roads. I don't have a photo of a GT wheel car, but this CV photo was enough proof for me to consider building a GT version.  The length of the car is stencilled as 36' 10". I am not sure if this is the overall length, or inside measurement between the two bulk heads.  The CV and GT both had 40' flat cars of this design. Never the less, I think a kit bash of a 40' Tichy flat car can make for a reasonable facsimile.

    The changes I made to the kit are as follows.

- remove all cast ribs on each stake pocket(6 per).  I cut and sanded these ribs away.  The rivets were removed in the process, so I also installed 4 rivets per pocket. I also filled the small holes in the stake pockets.
- replace kit sill steps with ones from Yarmouth Model Works.
- remove various rivets from the side sill.
- add a small piece of styrene on each side sill corner, to represent how the end plate wraps over onto the side sill.  Add three rivets per corner.
- make a brake staff base, from a bent up A-Line sill step.
- add air hoses and small 'U' shaped attachment strap.
- detail the brake rigging with wire and chains.
- trucks are Kadee HGC Arch Bar. The extra mass of the HGC trucks really helps to get this very light car up to spec. some extra lead will also be added between the fish belly center sills.
- coupler cut bars attached with Yarmouth eye bolts.

   I've been waffling back and forth, on priming of freight cars before top coat.  I've decided to prime all my cars in the future.  Before priming, I also used a mini grit blaster I borrowed to blast the entire car, except for the deck.  I think, I'll get one of these as I really like how it prepares the surface. Here is a photo with it in primer.  I used a new to me product from Tamiya, their surface primer in a bottle, thinned with lacquer thinner.  I actually failed to read the bottle and thinned it with Tamiya acrylic thinner, right in my airbrush paint cup.  Opps.....well that made a gooey mess that took about an hour to thoroughly clean up. 

   In my next post I will show the construction of the wheel rack.  No commercial decal set for CV/GT MoW or flat cars exists.  I will be piecing the decals together from letter sets again unfortunately.

Center Cupola Cabooses

The Grand Trunk (NEL) rostered three centre cupola cabooses, all wood sheathed.

Numbers:

77964
77965
77971

Jim Parker Photo, Portland Maine1968

They were leased from the Grand Trunk Western(GTW) in 1934.  Built by GTW's Port Huron shops in 1927, as part of the 77958-77977 series.

In 1953 they were officially transferred to the Grand Trunk (NEL).  They all wore GTW white lettering on Morency Orange bodies until the late fifties, when they received Grand Trunk within a horizontal green leaf.  In the sixties they were repainted into the GT version of the CN noodle scheme.

I decided to model 77964 for my Caboose fleet.  This will be primarily used on the South Paris Switcher.  Being a centre cupola design, it lent itself for better branch line use, as it would not need to be turned.

A Walthers Grand Trunk Western wood sheathed, offset cupola caboose was used as the starting point for a kit bash.

First, I corrected the well known issue of the trucks hitting the end steps while swivelling even the slightest amount.  This was accomplished by cutting the bolsters from the under frame slightly inward of the bolster.  Then turning them 180 degrees before reattaching them.

I cut the roof in three parts and moved the cupola opening to the centre.  The pieces were glued back together in a jig to keep the new roof square.  The cupola had the windows muttons removed all around. New muttons were constructed from strip styrene for the front and rear.  The cupola side window muttons were created using Tichy muttons from one of their work car window sets.

I removed the sides using my milling machine and made new ones from V-groove styrene sheet.

Tichy work car windows were spot on replacements for the side and end windows.  Openings were cut in the ends and the new sides to accommodate them, by first drilling holes and using my nibbler tool to finish up.

The sides were attached and the roof fitted.  The roof was sheathed in 0.005" styrene to cover up the grooves of the kit roof.  The prototype was covered in some sort of roofing material.

The end ladders also looked bulky so I fashioned replacements from strip styrene and phosphor bronze wire. The wire grabs from the Walthers kit were reused and mounting holes drilled where needed.  A Stove stack from Custom Finishing was fitted.

RPO Part 4

Trucks

The Branchline under frame is designed to work with the kit supplied 3 axle trucks.  ACF built these RPO cars with short wheel base, 2 axle trucks.  The Walters 8'6" passenger car truck was selected as the closest to the prototype.  In order to mount these trucks, the under frame was modified in the following manner.

1. Mill off the bolster even with the surounding material.

2. Install a block of styrene for the truck to rest on, that provides for the correct coupler height.

3. Drill the truck mounting screw on center and the correct distance from the car end.  To ensure the screw is centered, I coloured the block with some pencil graphite and then used my dividers to scribe two arcs using the moulded holes near the end of the car, on either side of the coupler.

4. The smaller piece of styrene helps to keep the Branchline swinging coupler box wiskers,  flat against the under frame, improving the coupler mounting box angle.

5. The openings were filled with sheet styrene from the inside.

The trucks were modified by adding a small washer to fill in the large hole to size it for a 2-56 screw.  These were glued using ACC.

 
The underframe was detailed the best I could figure from my reference photos and a photo supplied by one of the blogs readers, of his Bethlehem Car Works kit of this car.

 
The Sill steps were formed from Details Associates flat stock in a simple wood jig and soldered together.

 
The roof was sanded of all detail including the panel lines, as they were in the wrong location for this car.  The panel lines were recreated, by first priming the roof, then masking off the half of the panels, followed by adding 4 more coats of primer.  The masking tape was removed shortly after the last coat, while the paint was still soft, so that it would not chip.

The roof was detailed with Custom Finishing Vents, brass bar stock for the drip rails above the doors and a brass wire with mounts for the Gas Lighting Pipe.

In the next installment I will show the final car so Stay tuned.....

Grand Trunk Tool Car part 2

I made good progress on the Grand Trunk Tool car this week.  Its now painted and the decals are done.  I used True Colour CN Freight Car Red.  The decals are pieced together from and old Steam Shack Kit for a Central Vermont Single Sheathed Boxcar, which also had GTW decals included - the rest are cobbled together from a Microscale lettering set.  In my previous post I forgot to mention I removed the sill from the window to the right of the door to better simulate the flush frame as on the prototype.  The car needs weathering and brake line hoses, but I will hold off on the weathering until I get the MoW train complete as I plan to weather them all at the same time.
 

The Picture was taken in my new Photo Box.  My son and I put this together last weekend.   Its based on an article found in the April 2017 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine.  Basically it's a cardboard box with cut outs and tissue paper applied. The light fixtures are clamp on units from the hardware section at Lowes.  For bulbs I used LED's.  I can't remember what Kelvin, but I purchased them to match a White Balance setting available in my Camera.  Total cost was around $50.  I took these blog pictures with my iphone.  I've taken a bunch with my camera but couldn't remember where the cord was last night to download them to my computer.  The photo box really helps in taking higher quality photos.  My son loves taking photos and he spent a hour or two doing just that on the weekend.  I'll share some of his work in a future post, when I track down that cord..........

Canadian Style Youngstown Doors

  A couple of months ago I started on five Postwar 40'  boxcars.  3 CN, 1 CP and 1 TH&B.  The base model I used was Intermountain Railway's 10'6" AAR Cars with 6' door openings.  These kits come with 5/5 Dreadnought ends or 4/4 Improved Dreadnaught ends and Murphy Raised Panels Roofs.

  The cars I wanted to model either had PS-1 style or diagonal panel roofs and NSC 3 style ends, save for the TH&B car which required the 4/4 IDE end.  I ordered some PS-1 car kits from Intermountain and stole the roofs from them for the CN cars.  The other three needed diagonal panel roofs so I ordered Branchline parts from Atlas.

  As for the NSC3 ends - I could have used Sylvan Scale models NSC3 ends, but I have never been happy with the pattern work, as its missing the rivets and weld lines between the panels and the shape of the ribs don't seam right.  To my eye they look like a compromise based on the available styrene shapes used to make the patterns. 
  
  So I designed my own 3D models and had the ends printed on a 3D printer.  I took measurements and pictures from an actual NSC built 40' boxcar,  at the West Coast Railway Museum in BC, a few years ago.  One of the models has Sylvan ends on it.  I had a set, so I decided to use them up.

  I added Archer weld beads to define the separate stamped panels that the prototype ends are built up from.  Archer rivets needed to be added on the sides of the part because, the 3D printer puts  support material on the side of the part to print rivets sticking out - this messes up the face when the support material is removed.   I elected not to put them in the 3D model.  The support material leaves a different texture on the part that would show up after painting.  The rest of the rivets are in the print, but do to the colour of the plastic they don't show up in pictures.

The project stopped when I got to the point where I needed to add the doors.  The kits come with Youngstown doors with early roller fixtures. Youngstown doors with late style fixtures are available, but they do not have the correct rib pattern and the panels are not riveted in the valleys between the ribs - as on the Canadian version of the Youngstown door.

 These are available form Sylvan Scale Models but the moulds are old and need to be redone, so the parts don't come out very good anymore.

 The solution was to cut and spice two of the American version of the door into a Canadian version. Add Archer rivets, then make a Silicone RTV mould.  Something I have never tried.

  I made a trip out to Sculpture Supply Canada in Etobicoke with Doug Currie and the nice folks there helped us select the products I needed to make the mould and cast some parts.  Here's what they recommended.  The mould release is an extra thin version, which works better for highly detailed parts, The Smooth Cast 320 is an off white colour that they said would tint easier. 

I glued the new door into a Styrene box and followed the instructions to make the Silicone Mould.  Doug came over to help out with the poor etc, and having an extra set of hands was very helpful.

  The silicone I used is a platinum cure type that mixes 1 to 1, and doesn't require degassing.  The mould turned out great. It has a few air bubbles on the back side but nothing on the part face.  It cures quick also, 30 minutes per the instructions.  I left it a bit longer just to be safe. 

   Casting took some practice.  I managed to make 8 good doors in about 14 attempts.  I poked the air bubbles out using a toothpick and slid a backer plate onto the back of the mould, but on top of a sheet of thin slippery plastic - rather than dropping it face on.   Using these tricks I had good parts coming out of the mould.  I ended up not using the tint. It was much easier to find air bubbles in the clear resin.  The resin turns off white as it cures.  I only needed 8 parts as the TH&B car will use the earlier style door included in the kit.

Here's what everything looks like.

I actually glued on the kit doors and let this project sit, while I came to the eventual realisation, that I would not be happy with the wrong doors on these cars.  I managed to get them off with little damage.

  In the end this project was pretty easy to do and a lot of fun, I should have just got on with it from the beginning.

At this point I have no interest in laying out a whack of Cash for Vacuum pots/pumps or pressure vessels to make full car bodies etc. 

Now I can get back to finishing these cars.  More to come....