Pennsylvania Railroad X41B - Brake Equipment

Siding near Maclay St., Harrisburg, PA, Oct. 19, 1947, Bob Charles Collection, NMRA

While it has been mostly a few minutes here and there as opposed to a long productive session, I have managed to add the AB brake equipment to the Sunshine Models X41B box car that I updated several weeks ago. The location of the equipment was based primarily upon photos from the sides of cars, as I didn't have a brake arrangement (and while it is available from the Pennsylvania State Archives, I did not feel it necessary as I could obtain the majority of what I needed from photos.) 

I included the photo above to illustrate a couple points. The waviness of the welded panels is rendered extremely well in this photo. The other interesting detail is that this car was not equipped with a Royal Type F brake regulator. From this, I would assume that some groups of cars received them and others did not. Note that this car is assigned to grain service.

To simulate the equipment, I used the following:

• Tichy AB brake set
• Tichy phosphor bronze wire (0.010", 0.012", 0.015", and 0.020")
• Royal Type F brake regulator from Shapeways (no longer available through Shapeways given its demise; Kadee has a nice part from their PS-1 underframe)
• Pipe "tee" from Tom Madden part
• mounting brackets, etc., created from excess etched metal "frets"
• A-Line 40 links/inch chain

I have included more photos than is probably necessary, but I wanted to provide plenty of different views to so the details are visible from many angles to help those following along

The bracket for the cylinder was created from spare fret material from a sheet of etchings

The mounting brackets for the reservoirs are from the same fret material, trimmed and bent as shown. For all of these, I used Barge cement thinned with MEK as the main adhesive, followed by some ACC to firm things

The main brake components were also installed with the Barge cement mix followed by ACC, except for the Royal Type F brake regulator, which was attached with only ACC.

The pipes between the brake components were simulated with 0.012" wire, except for the pipe between the dirt collector and trainline tee, which is 0.015" wire. All the parts were pre-drilled prior to installation on the underframe, to accept the wire

The photos tell most of the story. The clevises and brake levers are etched parts that are actually held together with a piece of 0.010" wire that passes through holes in each, simulating the prototype. There are still some rivets and nut-bolt-washer castings that will be added after the model has been gritblasted to prep for painting. One detail I omitted (that could have been added fairly easily but would now be extremely difficult) is the "handle" that should be on the brake lever in the Royal adjuster, extending out to the right in the photo directly above. The photo below (from a different prototype and oriented as if inside a car body looking down) illustrates how the "handle" would appear.

Up next are the ladders, grabs, steps, and end details....