The Slow Modeling Movement

 

One of my favorite modeling projects ever*, a NYC 50-foot box car with end door... very illustrative of slow modeling, given the out of the box Proto 2000 car as the alternative

Apologies to the slow food movement (you can read more about that movement in the obituary of Skye Gyngell, one of its pioneers who died last year,) which isn't a direct analog to what I am saying here, but is close enough for my uses... and since I am (I think) inventing the "slow modeling movement," I will grant myself license. Over the last two decades of North American model railroading, we have been inundated with no shortage of quick and relatively easy ways to amass high quality freight cars, passenger equipment, locomotives, track, details, etc. The upside is fairly obvious: we have highly detailed replicas of more things than our predecessors could have dreamed, except those who were Darnaby-esque in their ability to construct freight cars, tune brass locomotives, and build prototype-specific scenes and structures.

Another of my favorite "slow modeling" efforts. This model replicates a prototype that essentially put a 1932 ARA box car body on top of a flat car, just like the NC&StL did. Atlas car body with Details West ends and Tichy flat car for the underframe, all prototypically accurate. Details in Prototype Railroad Modeling, Volume Five

To me, the downsides are troubling. First is cost. At $360+ for DCC locomotives, $55-60+ for RTR freight cars, extremely expensive track and turnouts, and the cost of layout materials, it can be expensive to assemble a large fleet of freight cars, a modest number of locomotives plus the stuff to make a layout. Second, even with effective weathering, there is a homogenous quality if everyone has the same RTR equipment. Third, all of this RTR buying makes it far easier to push actual modeling to the side, unless you are actually building a layout.

Replicating details like this take a lot of time to create and then incorporate into a model, but the results can be incredibly satisfying when it all comes together

What's a modeler to do? Well, for this guy, I decided to slow things down and focus on quality over quantity.** I already had qualms about spending $60 on freight cars that I knew had accuracy issues and styrene details that are oversized and/or more prone to damage. I know that for me (and others) the joy and pleasure in the hobby is building models, not buying models. So, why not focus on that aspect of the hobby over accumulation of more stuff that underwhelms me and looks the same as the stuff on other layouts? I don't mind at all spending 30-45 minutes making a set of ladders that have individual rungs that actually look like rungs. For me, the juice of slower modeling is worth that squeeze.

IMWX 1937 AAR box car with etched metal ladders and rungs, scratchbuilt placard and route card boards, Yarmouth etched sill steps, new door tracks, etched trust plates, Kadee bracket grabs and National Scale Car decals, among other details. Read about it via this link

How can you start? You can find resin freight car kits by Westerfield and Funaro & Camerlengo at quite reasonable prices on ebay and at swap meets and sometimes steals on Sunshine and Speedwitch (shameless plug!) kits, as well. Try a Bethlehem Car Works passenger car kit. Ditto for structure kits, especially some older gems that are basic in appearance, but can be detailed and kitbashed to represent exquisite models. The large-run brass models of the 70s and 80s can now be had via the same outlets at prices in the mid-$100s to under $400, providing good foundations for redetailing and hours of modeling enjoyment. Perhaps pool resources with friends and purchase "communal" tracklaying jigs from outfits like FastTracks and Oak Hill to handlay your own track and turnouts.

Another very slow modeling movement effort is this Sunshine Models PRR X41B with scratchbuilt underframe (the kit's underframe is incorrect on many levels.) I also created ladders, sill steps, bracket grabs, and other details to closely replicate the prototype. Again, for me, I am motivated by the model rather than getting something done to just quickly fill out a roster spot.

This slow modeling movement means I will have fewer cars, locomotives, etc., than I might have otherwise. My track will all be handlaid with full details, such as plates, spikes, cast and fully detailed frogs, etc., taking longer than prebuilt turnouts and flex track. Structures will be scratchbuilt, bashed or limited run kits. The upside is that I have a plan (and space now) to make a modest-sized shelf layout detailed to the standards that appeal to me that will feed my desire to model things rather than take them out of boxes. Join me in the slow movement... the food tastes better and the models look great!

*this NYC box car project, profiled in Prototype Railroad Modeling, Volume Four, was incredibly satisfying. I started the kitbash (end from a Proto 2000 aut ocar grafted on to the rest of a Proto 2000 box car) and was completely dissatisfied with the result. After 10-15 years, my modeling skills caught up to my ambitions and I plowed through to complete the model

**I fully recognize that what I am laying out here might not be feasible for a large basement-filling layout requiring lots of motive power and rolling stock... but that's the beauty of the hobby; you can channel your efforts to what you enjoy most

Coming over the horizon, metaphorically

 

If you market just about anything these days, you are only as good or relevant as your last offering. With the Milwaukee car in production, I have been transitioning to the next car to be released, the PRR G28 mill gondola*. Now that I am casting parts, too, that is a natural part of the thought and design process as well as a source of potential angst! This car is one where I was worried about how I would be able to cast the body. The person who cast most of my kits in the past did not view it as a huge obstacle. However, given that the sides and floor are 0.020" thick, getting resin to flow through that thin a profile over a fifty+ foot car body made me nervous. Turns out, it is actually proving to be far easier to cast than the Milwaukee auto car bodies have been. Thus far, I have cast several bodies, with little in the way of issues. I can also report that they look really good, too. I am very excited to build up the pilot model for this one. It should be a lot easier than the previous few builds, but be no less attractive a model when finished. Coming soon!

*the G28 was a 52'6" drop end mill gondola, similar in concept (but not design!) to the other prevalent mill gons of the era, including the Erie/Greenville design (think Proto 2000,) the LV/Bethlehem design (Tangent Scale Models) plus the Pennsy's "other" one, the G27 class. The G28 class was 1,900 cars built in 1940-1941 (car nos. 342600-344499.) It had a trait common to many PRR-design gons, with side structural members of two different sizes, with some being markedly "beefier" than the others. It also featured a welded underframe with some unusual crossties, making it an extremely cool modeling opportunity (for those of us who care about underframes.) 

Some cars were equipped with racks for auto frame loading, like shown above and a small group also received roofs, making them covered gondolas. Jack Consoli covered the making of the these roofs in The Keystone Modeler issue 57.

We have also made a spectacular (we may be biased) replica of the Universal lever style power hand brake shown here, including an amazing etched lever that is as gorgeous as it is durable.

Milwaukee Road 50' Single Sheathed Automobile Car

This model is based upon a group of 500 cars delivered to the Milwaukee in 1929 by Pullman Car & Manufacturing Co. The cars were placed in series 271500-271999 (note there is a similar, but different group of fifty-foot cars in series 271000-271499 that are not covered by this kit.) Features of these cars included Youngstown corrugated steel doors, Dreadnaught steel ends (with a small lumber door in the A end,) Hutchins Dry Lading roofs, Dalman one-level trucks, and unusually for cars of this type in this era, an underframe without fishbelly center sill sections.

The kit incorporates all of these details. I made the side and end patterns many years ago and created the underframe pattern and modified my existing Hutchins roof a couple years ago. The trucks (included in the kit) were developed and 3D printed by Plate C based upon prototype drawings. The kit includes one-piece cast resin body, other resin parts, etchings for many of the details, decals printed by Cartograf, and other parts. This is the first one-piece body offering that I have cast myself, so it's a bit of a milestone.

The A end, including the lumber door

The car shown is the pilot model built to create instructions (I will add the link to that file to the kit page in a few days once review is complete.) With construction complete, I blasted the model using 600 grit aluminum oxide powder (source for that can be found in this post.) I primed the car with Stynylres from Badger. The model was painted with MiG Ammo ATOM Rotbraun RAL 8012 (ATOM-20046.) I chose this color because it has a red hue, similar to what I have seen in many Milwaukee single sheathed box, auto, and stock cars photos of the Transition Era. It airbrushes beautifully. I did thin it a little bit extra using the manufacturers thinner (thank you to George Toman for the sample and recommendation!)

I weathered the model with a combination of oils and powders. I applied a very light wash of white oil paint diluted with mineral spirits over the entire model. I added additional washes of Payne's Grey and Burnt Umber, with additional applications to the roof and along the side sills. I also added PanPastel powders (Payne's Grey and Burnt Umber) in specific areas to complement the washes. 

Prior to each step where I applied decals, I airbrushed a coat of Future to create a gloss surface. Some chalkmarks were applied at the time of the bulk of the decaling (prior to weathering) and others were added after weathering, at the same time as the reweigh, repack, and brake test stencils. For the fresh paint patches of the reweigh, repack, and brake test stencils, I airbrushed plain decal stock with the color used on the car body plus a coat of Future and then cut and applied rectangle decals as needed. The clear flat coats are Mr. Hobby clear flat thinned with Mr. Hobby self leveling thinner; these were applied several times during the decaling and weathering processes, as well as the final overcoat on the model.

Note the hand brake rod, with the small segment at the bell crank and the longer segment above it, spanning to the chain, accurately replicating the arrangement of the prototype. Another notable detail is that on the prototype, the angles formed by the stiles of the ladders were oriented in an opposite fashion from most cars, with the angle of the stiles "open" to the "outside" of the ladder; that arrangement is also faithfully replicated on the model

URTX Postwar Reefers and a Teaser

 

This is one of the first group of cars with the Dartnot end. GATC photo, Bob's Photo

Like the other major refrigerated car fleet operators, Union Refrigerator Transit bolstered its fleet in the postwar years through the addition of new equipment. URTX was owned by General American so naturally the cars were constructed at the company's East Chicago plant. The 1,000 cars were forty-foot steel cars with some interesting details. 

The deep crossbearers and some of the brake arrangement is visible in this excellent image. Bob's Photo

As can be seen, they had horizontal steel sheathing, with two sheets per half of the side (one overlapping the other at the edges) riveted to U-section flanged ("hat" section) structural steel members. The cars were also equipped with the Duryea Cushion underframe. The last group incorporated an unusual roof with two "flat" panels adjacent to the end panels with the hatches (most cars had one such flat panel.) All had air circulating fans, as well. General American seemed to have a preference for the Barber S-2 truck design and these were equipped with that type of truck.

Sept. 16, 1949, Vancouver, BC, Walter E. Frost, City of Vancouver Public Library

The ends were also either Dartnot (no smaller intermediate corrugations in the end panels; see image at top of page for a good view) or a combination of Dartnot/Improved Dreadnaught designs. The photo of URTX 37754 below illustrates this second "hybrid" type.

This car, URTX 37754, was equipped with the hybrid end as described in the text. Bob's Photo

Photos seem to indicate that as built all of these cars were leased to the Milwaukee Road, although in the absence of conflicting/supporting photos or information, I cannot state that definitively.

This car in service to Iowa Beef Packers, ca. late 60s, illustrates the full length side sill reinforcement applied to many cars in the 1960s

In later years, the side sills were augmented by full length support sections instead of the tabbed sections as built. Many were also leased to meat packers and emblazoned with large colorful schemes, although some remained decorated with the tilted Milwaukee emblem. There was an article in the September, 1999, Mainline Modeler by Loren Martens that included drawings of the second group of cars.

The teaser: years ago, George Toman created sides and one of the end styles used on these cars and Ryan Mendell created the parts for the Duryea underframe. I contributed with the other end and the roof with two flat panels at each end. Next year, I will be offering kits for both designs incorporating all these cool parts. Watch for the announcement. Thanks to George and Ryan for their usual phenomenal work!

Side with horizontal steel sheathing panels

Center of side with accurate door hinges

Duryea underframe components

Dartnot type end

"Hybrid" end

Roof with two flat panel sections at each end

Bill Welch

 

It's hard to fathom that it's been five years since Bill departed. While it's a blur in one sense, as always a lot has transpired in that time. I still think about Bill several times each day, either what he would have said or thought about something, how excited this thing or that would have made him, and the things I would love to have shown or shared with him. I am sure Bill is reveling in the success of the Dodgers! Rest in peace, my friend

Model this scene! Cedar Rapids, Iowa

 

"Untitled photo, possibly related to: Grain elevators and flour mill, freight yards. Cedar Rapids, Iowa," September, 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, FSA/OWI Collection, The Library of Congress, negative LC-USF34-090050-D

These images were recorded by Marion Post Wolcott in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in September, 1941. She was one of many professional photographers of the era who were contracted by the government to record facets of industry, culture, daily life, etc., under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration that morphed into the Office of War Information. They were mostly medium format, so the negatives are generally high quality, and the photographers were generally free to choose their subject matter. As they were recorded under government contract, there were (and are) no copyright restrictions on their use [note that people do download these images and sell prints of them; if you buy such an image you are generally paying for that which you could acquire for free with a little sleuthing.]

"Grain elevators and flour mill, freight yards. Cedar Rapids, Iowa," September, 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, FSA/OWI Collection, The Library of Congress, negative LC-USF34-090049-D

Back to these images... these three images illustrate (to me, at least) what would make an exceptional switching layout opportunity. I presume that these images were recorded over a relatively short period of time, yet you can see in the images the activity level. This entire scene could be recreated in a walkaround island four to six feet wide, depending upon your space and eight to twelve feet long, incorporating some or all of the industries and tracks shown or it could be narrowed to include fewer tracks and perhaps flats instead of full structures on one side and run along a wall. 

"Grain elevators and flour mill, freight yards. Cedar Rapids, Iowa," September, 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, FSA/OWI Collection, The Library of Congress, negative LC-USF34-090051-D

In these images you can see four (!) locos switching these tracks. There are plenty of operating opportunities here. There is also an interesting mix of cars, including the usual box cars plus automobile cars, stock car, reefers (including a dry ice refrigerator car,) tank cars, and coal gondolas. The Sanborn maps for this location can likely be located and there are probably resources about Cedar Rapids in historical society publications. If you're an aprtment dweller or have a small to modest-sized room available for your layout, you could do worse than to recreate this scene.

Pennsylvania Railroad X32A model photos

 

This post picks up the finishing of the pilot model for the Speedwitch X32A parts set (or with Shadow Keystone; note: if you want to peruse the instructions for these sets, the linked file can be found via the two previous links.) The model was painted using Polly Scale light freight car red, followed by Polly Scale zinc chromate primer. I lettered the model with National Scale Car's set for the PRR X31/32/33. Weathering included some streaking using artists' oils, dilute washes and more artists' oils (especially on the roof to simulate pooling of sooty/dirty water, etc.,) plus application of PanPastels in select places. The chalk marks are also from National Scale Car. The placards on the doors are images of actual placards that I had printed on decal paper. The route cards are from Owl Mountain.

I found the base color I airbrushed to be a little too dark for the prototype so instead of repainting the entire model, I sprayed the center of the panels on the sides and roof with a lighter color, resulting in a shaded outcome that was appealing (to me, at least)

I added oils to simulate the spray from the wheels of adjacent cars

The underframe was one of the impetuses for this entire project