Part One of the T&NO Emergency Gondola Model

 

Awhile back I posted some prototype info about the Texas & New Orleans Emergency design gondolas. I have done a little work on the model and want to share that info here. I haven't done a ton so if you're inclined to join, it should be easy to catch up.

I mentioned that my plan is/was to use the Improved Dreadnaught ends from Detail Associates to model one of the later cars equipped with Scullin L-V trucks, to afford an opportunity to use the trucks offered by Plate C. Here is where things are at with the model. 

To my eye, the area where the corner of the ends overlaps the sides would lack a little depth if I simply glued the ends to the sides. I compensated by adding 0.020" styrene strip, as shown in the two photos above. I believe it's 0.020" x 0.040", although I honestly can't recall for certain.

I then tacked the two resin sides back -to-back using ACC in a few spots, taking care to align them. I used a NorthWest Short Line True Sander to remove material and in the process making the sides exactly the same length and squaring up the edges. After that, I carefully popped the sides apart and glued one side to one end and repeating for the other side/end pair, as shown in the photo directly above.

Next, I glued the two remaining side/end joints and laid the assembled body upside down on my work surface to ensure that everything remained square and that I had not introduced any unintended bowing or torque into the body.

I again used the NorthWest Short Line True Sander to square the ends of the floor casting, removing material, as well, until the casting fit snugly inside the car body, end-to-end. I did add 0.010" styrene strip to both sides of the casting as it was slightly too narrow when test-fitted into the car body. Once everything was square and the fit inside the car body was tight, but not overly so, I tacked everything in place with ACC. I followed this by carefully dripping more ACC inside the car body at the floor/side and floor/end joints and then tilting the car body to allow the ACC to "run" and fill in the joints completely. In the view above, you will note that the crossmembers do not extend all the way to meet the bottom of the car sides. I will add some strip to rectify this. Below are a couple additional photos illustrating the application of the Detail Associates styrene ends to the resin body. More in the coming weeks...

Texas & New Orleans Emergency Design Gondolas

 

Merrilees Collection, National Archives of Canada, Neg. no. PA204100

From 1944 to 1951, the Texas & New Orleans added 3,100 gondolas that were based upon the Emergency de- sign 50-ton gondola, substituting wood in place of steel to conserve precious plate steel during the war. However, the T&NO continued to purchase gons that were of composite design even after the restrictions on plate steel were lifted. The cars were assigned to four classes. The data is presented in the accompanying table. 

In 1959, the T&NO began to replace the wood sheathing with plate steel. About half of the cars were converted. When so modified, the class number was amended to include an ‘A’ after the original class number, e.g. G-50-19 became G-50-19-A.

For more information, consult Southern Pacific Freight Cars, Volume 1: Gondolas and Stock Cars, by Anthony W. Thompson, Signature Press, 2002.

Bob's Photo

Jim Gerstley

Why am I presenting this information, beyond its prototype importance? As an SP modeler, I am a T&NO modeler to a certain degree, as well. This is a ubiquitous gon, T&NO or not and Funaro & Camerlengo has produced a nice resin kit for the Emergency gon. Therefore, it's a good fit for me. That said, I intend to modify the kit to accept Detail Associates ends, which are an appropriate end for many of the prototypes, plus use the Scullin L-V trucks from Plate C that were used on T&NO nos. 46300-46549 (250 cars, G-50-21) and 48000-48499 (500 cars, G-50-24) and the National Scale Car decals. The next post will begin chronicling the build. Stay tuned

USAX (ex-US Quartermaster's) USG-A 'Emergency' Tank Cars - Part 2

Ft. Bragg, NC, March 27, 1959, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo

In the first post about the USAX (ex-US Quartermaster's) USG-A 'Emergency' Tank Cars, I touched upon the prototype and the first steps in using the Tichy tank car kit to replicate them in HO scale. Here is an update on my progress.

Unlike the SHPX USG-A Emergency cars, these cars built for the US Quartermaster had welded center sills, similar to an AAR underframe, with two zee sections welded along an adjacent edge. The tank anchor was riveted directly to the "face" of the center sill sections. See the detailed photo for reference. Now, I could lie and say that I figured this all out right from the start... but that's not the case. At first, I assumed that there was a cutout in the top cover plate of the center sill to accommodate the tank anchor. Closer examination of this image and the ones in the Mainline Modeler article (Thornton Waite, January, 2006) revealed otherwise. Also, AAR underframes don't generally have top cover plates. So I reacted midstream.

What follows is a mostly blow-by-blow of my steps, including several errors! I removed the part of what are essentially "rests" from the bottom of the tank. These are shown in red in the photo above. I have included the after view, as well. Neatness isn't paramount as these are well-hidden by the tank. 

Before, bottom and after, top

I also modified the tank saddles by filing them to create a more sloped outward facing surface where I will add styrene to connect to the body bolsters. That even included removing part of the outermost wood block on each side of the saddle. However, only a very keen observer will notice that on the finished model. See photo

The tank also had sheet reinforcements at the saddles that were welded to the bottom tank sheet (see prototype closeup at the top of the series of photos above.) I replicated these with 0.005" styrene, 0.40" wide and sized to run essentially from one side of the tank to the other, between the saddles. Lightly bend these pieces of styrene to create a "curl" that matches the bottom tank sheet (I didn't and wish I had; profit from my error!) I taped the center sill/end sill to the tank at the location it would be when finally secured. I then carefully slid the 0.005" styrene between the bottom of the tank and the saddles and moved one into the "perfect" position before carefully tacking it in place with liquid styrene cement (make sure to only tack in place and don't glue the saddles in place; just glue these sheet reinforcements in place.) After the first is tacked in place, repeat the process for the second. Let these set for a little bit (~15 minutes) and then remove the center sill/end sill and apply more liquid cement to secure the styrene and ensure it follows the contours of the bottom tank shell. Note: the rectangular piece in the center of the tank in the photo directly above is/was part of the anchor/center sill cover plate in the kit. It was not used in the model.

I attached the center sill/end sills assembly to the tank, as shown above. First, I glued the saddles to the styrene tank reinforcements. Next, I wanted to add something between the top of the center sill and the bottom of the tank, knowing it would be hidden by the actual anchors once they are added. The purpose is two-fold: add another point where the tank is attached to the underframe and maintain the spacing between the tank and the center sills. I chose to use strip styrene and through trial and error arrived at a piece of styrene 0.045" x 0.080" created from 0.080" strips of 0.015" and 0.030" glued together. Why so precise? If the strip isn't the right size, the center sills will appear to bow or curve up or down (closer or further from the bottom sheet of the tank) which would look highly unrealistic. The strip is highlighted by the yellow arrow in the upper of the two photos directly above. The significance of the red arrows? To highlight my biggest faux pas (so far) on this project. In the upper photo, the red arrows point to the flanges on the top portion of the center sills, which should not be present on a car with zee section center sills. After realizing my error, I carefully removed most of the flanges by scoring and snapping and a little cleanup. Look closely in the lower photo and you will see there are small amounts remaining. These are where the running board supports meet the center sills. I will clean that area up after the supports are added.

Next, I added the tank anchor and center sill flanges. The anchor was fashioned from two pieces of strip created from 0.005" styrene. The one attached to the "face" of the center sills is 10 scale inches wide. The curved cutouts at the end were simulated by using the male portion of a punch and die tapped at an angle, although careful use of a hobby knife could yield similar results. The long portion that abuts the bottom of the tank is seven scale feet long. The upper photo of the two directly above shows the model with the 10-inch strip added. Next, I added a three-inch wide strip, again from 0.005" styrene, abutting the 10-inch strip but attached to the surface of the tank. Note that I angled the corners, common on the flanges attached to the bottom tank sheet. I added 1x6 styrene strips to the center sills to complete the lower legs of the zee sections. Also of note are the areas on the underside of the running boards where I removed strip material. The photo directly above illustrates these details including callouts (the dotted line was added for effect.) That's where the model stands as I type this. More to come in a subsequent installment...

USAX (ex-US Quartermaster's) USG-A 'Emergency' Tank Cars

 

In 1942-3, American Car & Foundry built Emergency-design, designation USG-A tank cars for SHPX leasing services as well as for the US War Department, Office of the Chief of Transportation (US Quartermaster) under USQX reporting marks, series 11168-11178, 11200-11309, and 11311-11475 (four cars in 11168-11178 had two domes/two compartments). The cars used contemporary underframes with World War One era tank designs. The late Richard Hendrickson authored an article about the cars in the October, 1990, RailModel Journal, available online via this link.

Modelers are fortunate to have excellent HO scale versions of the tanks from Tichy (originally Gould.) Many (if not all) of the SHPX tanks were scrapped/recycled in the postwar era, with the underframes being re-used, but the USQX cars soldiered on under USAX reporting marks (there were also Canadian prototypes, profiled by Russ Pinchbeck, including modeling, in the July, 2002, Railroad Model Craftsman.) There was also an article about the USAX cars by Thornton Waite in the January, 2006, Mainline Modeler. That is the inspiration for this project.

I have a seemingly great number of freight car projects nearing completion, so in between those painting, decaling, and weathering duties, I have dabbled a little in this project. I started with a Tichy tank car kit with a 54-inch dome width. There are several modifications to arrive at a USAX prototype, including modification of:

• the location of the safety valves (I added other details, too)
• the tank anchor
• the tank bolsters
• the underframe

Thus far, I have made changes to the dome. The overlap of the tank shell on the dome is quite simple, to the point that it seems to be almost missing. I removed the rivets and added a strip of 0.005 thousand styrene, blending it into the face of the dome at left, and leaving a sharp edge at right, as shown in the photo directly above. I will (re)apply rivets to the dome in the appropriate locations.

I also removed the safety valve locations, reserving the "center" of the valve locations. I puttied and sanded the old locations and then added discs to the top of the dome for the new locations, as shown. I then added the valve "centers" that had been salvaged, being careful to orient them so the top was "level" as these had gently sloped (actually curved) bottoms so that the top would be level. Somewhere in all of this, I added the dome to the tank and secured it with solvent cement.

Next up in this series: the tank anchors and body bolsters. I have been working on artwork for USAX/US Army Transportation Corps lettering...