Something a Little (maybe not so little) Different

 

Al Armitage photo, Ron Morse Collection

One of the nice things about Springfield is catching up with friends.  I had a chance to see Scott Kritzky and Terry Van Winkle. Awhile back, I had offered mostly encouragement, but also a bit of prototype reference material to Scott for one of his projects. He shared the fruits of his labor with me at Springfield. He and Terry have produced a beautiful set of O scale ends for the Southern's 'SU' thirty-six foot truss rod box cars. Having them eliminates the most difficult obstacle to modeling one of these numerous cars. Well done and I can't wait to see what they conjure up next, perhaps even in a smaller size... maybe 1:87.1?!

Some of these cars also enjoyed a renaissance on the Lancaster & Chester in the postwar years

All blemishes, smudges, scratches, etc., are my fault entirely and not a reflection of the quality of these parts!

Frisco Double Sheathed Auto Cars

"Heading Down Winding Stair," Frisco 1332 pulling a 35-car freight train down the south side of Winding Stair Mountain near Talihina, Oklahoma, June, 1948, George Preston photo posted February 8, 2025 by Richard Crabtree on the Facebook group: Frisco Rails Across Oklahoma. Note that the car side appears smooth, but there are no notations of steel-sided cars in this group, meaning this would be double sheathed siding

By the Transition Era, double sheathed auto cars were very much a rarity, with the Rio Grande's 50-footers being the most obvious exception. Another interesting example making it into the Transition Era was the Frisco's 40-foot prototype built by American Car & Foundry before World War One and improved over the years. I saw the photo included above on the Facebook group, Frisco Rails Across Oklahoma, and was immediately curious about the first car behind the tender, as it was clearly not a standard forty-foot auto car. I recalled some chatter about Frisco auto cars on the groups.io Steam Era Freight Cars list (search "SLSF 152203 DS auto car" in messages) from a few years back and searched the archives. I have synthesized and augmented that information below.

Two AC&F builder's photos from Westerfield AC&F CD containing lot listings and builder's photos

"Amphibious DUKW cargo truck being unloaded from one of the hundreds of thousands of freight cars which carried victory cargo to San Francisco Port of Embarkation" from the book Gateway to Victory profiled by John Barry at his blog

Around 1937, the cars were rebuilt to incorporate Dreadnaught steel ends (4/5 square corner on the B end and 3/5 end doors on the A end,) Youngstown corrugated steel doors with Union Duplex fixtures, and "Hutchins Dry Lading Riveted" (trade name for the Murphy rectangular panel roof used on these cars, not to be confused with a Hutchins "Dry Lading" roof, very common in the 1920s.) Also, note that the height was increased by the addition of a side plate section above the existing car side, of undetermined shape, although likely zee bar. This section was further bolstered by diagonal shapes with a triangular opening "inside" the angle formed by the two surfaces they supported. These improvements are shown in the image above.

There were a little over 200 cars still in service in late 1951, at which point they were rapidly retired, with only 96 cars listed in the January, 1953 edition of the Official Railway Equipment Register.

West Bottoms, Kansas City, circa late 1940s

detail from previous photo, showing two of the cars in question

Circling back to my original thought: double sheathed auto cars were rarities in the Transition Era. Modeling such cars in HO scale presents an opportunity to include something different in the fleet. I am at work on completing the effort begun by Bill Welch to create patterns for the 50-foot Rio Grande cars, so that box is nearly checked. These Frisco cars would be a compelling "scratchbash" candidate and a complement to the Rio Grande cars. There are parts out there to address many of the components, although there are issues with most. The roof is easy as there are many options. The side plate and braces (or whatever ids actually is can be scratchbuilt.) The ends are a little more difficult, but can be kitbashed from a variety of sources, but the 3/5 end door A end would require "surgery" of an existing part, either the resin end from Yarmouth or a bash from a Proto2000 car. The doors are also a challenge as Union Duplex fixtures are still not offered for many Youngstown configurations/sizes. The sides could easily be scratchbuilt from Everegreen siding. The underframe would be a complete mystery absent drawings, but who would know what's right and wrong on a model? The center sills are straight, making things a little easier. It would be a fun and very challenging project....

Much of the story was compiled by Eric Lombard and shared on the groups.io list referenced above. There are still gaps in information so any solid leads, photos, etc., that can be shared can be added to this post.

Refrigerator Car Roof Surfaces

Collection of the late J. P. Barger

Having crews work on "bare" roof surfaces presented a seemingly risky endeavor, especially when the surfaces were smooth and wet, such as those on steel-roofed, ice-cooled refrigerator cars. One means to make things a little less perilous was to apply something rough and/or textured mixed with the paint applied to the roof. A common additive was crushed slate granules. This added (and noticeable) texture provided a more sure-footed surface for crews. These two photos illustrate that to good effect. The photo above is the roof of a PFE R-40-20. The texture is quite evident (click on the image to see a larger, more detailed view.) Contrast the surface texture of the roof and most of the hatch cover with the more smooth rectagular-shaped surface in the middle of the Equipco hatch cover (the stencil notes that, "THIS HATCH COVER MAY BE LOCKED FROM INSIDE OF CAR.")

The roof and hatch covers on Santa Fe rebuilt refrigerator car 9161 from class RR-43 are similarly textured.

Santa Fe photo, courtesy of the late Richard Hendrickson

While it may be difficult to effectively capture in HO scale, it is definitely noticeable compared to the other surfaces on the car. Happy modeling!

Coupler boxes, draft gear or whatever you choose to call them

My in progress PRR X41B has been equipped with the new prototype-sized draft gear

Yes, it's been awhile since I last posted, due to a variety of factors including illness, the holidays, work, moving stuff upstate, fostering an elderly pit bull and myriad other things. That doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything, although truth be told, I haven't done as much as I'd like. However, a little over a year ago, I made a pattern for a new scale-sized coupler box. Aren't there many of those already, one might ask? Yes, but none has satisfied my want for something a lot narrower than what the market has offered. [click on any photo to view in a larger format]

Note how narrow the opening is. These will operate down to "small" radius curves, especially if easements are used to form the curves. P.S. - I messed up on my X41B - the stringers should be 2 scale inches closer to the respective side sills; I (mis)located them too close to the center sills and they are "crowding" the middle section of the underframe!

I made a pattern that is essentially the narrowest box that I could create to accommodate the Kadee 158 whisker coupler and still have it be reasonably easy to duplicate via resin casting (and operate, of course!) At least for my wants and needs, I believe I have succeeded. The parts fit inside the boxes of the other scale and semi-scale coupler boxes. The caveat: these are not intended for hands-free magnetic uncoupling. I cannot state that they won't work with magnetic uncoupling tools, but my focus is for operators who use manual uncoupling tools, such as skewers or other similar tools. They do pivot easily and if assembled properly and not overtightened, will self center reliably.

The assembly is held in place with a single 00-80 screw

The draft gear installed on the (in progress) pilot model for the upcoming ATSF Bx-34 box car conversion parts including Duryea underframe

The draft gear for the Duryea underframe extends prototypically far (compared to standard draft gear) beyond the end sills

A third view on the Bx-34 pilot model

These will be available directly from Speedwitch in one dozen pair packs in the near future and if demand warrants, five pair packs, too. Pricing will be announced when these parts are available