A few things from St. Louis

New York Central System Historical Society

I brought home a few things from the St. Louis RPM. The first is a Sunshine Models kit of a Northern Pacific fifty-foot heavy insulation refrigerator car. I missed these when originally offered and managed to find one at the Resourced Rails table at the meet. The prototypes were built by the Despatch Shops in East Rochester, New York in 1946. At the time they were unusual for their length as well as the extra insulation for frozen food shipments. The kit looks like a fun project. I will create my own decals with NYC-style typeface stenciling to match that of the prototype. PS - you can order high res scans for $5 each of these cars at the NYCSHS site (links here and here) A more thorough post about these prototypes will follow at some point.

The next of the loot is a Monon container gondola offered by Forbes Train Models (Doug Forbes.) It's a 3D print of the prototype. Doug also offers a few other versions of the cars. The modeler adds the details such as grabs, wire, trucks, couplers, etc. The first page of the instructions, including Doug's email is included below. These are well-rendered straightforward kits, but are designed to allow varying levels of detailing, from basic up to completely tricked out. The images above are the 3D-printed body with a shot of Tamiya fine surface primer (aerosol can.)

From Dave Hussey's PBase gallery... link below

Last and out of era for me is the Cannon & Company kit for the Northern Pacific's 5300-series combination door waffle cars from Pacific Car & Foundry, kit FC-5015. I know it's too modern for me. However, I have always liked the premise of these kits (as well as the Modeler's Choice line) and relish the challenge of building one up someday. Link to Dave Hussey's PBase image gallery for the prototype and model.

Frisco USRA-design Composite Gondolas

 

There are certain freight car prototypes that just appeal to me, whatever the reason. The Frisco's USRA-design composite gondolas are one such car. When they were built, composite gondolas were commonplace, but by the early 50s, all steel gons were by far the majority. Perhaps that whiff of obsolescence is what draws me. Regardless, I find them interesting and have wanted to model one for years. 

Before discussing modeling options, I will provide what I know about the prototypes. The Frisco had a large number of these cars and seemed to refurbish and rebuild them into an incalculable number of flavors. There was a group of true USRA composite gondolas, built in 1919 by Standard Steel Car Co., in series 85000-85999 (782 cars in the Official Railway Equipment Register, October, 1951.) These were rebuilt into a number of different configurations:

• largely as built, but with wood floors and no drop doors and either original Perfection lever-type hand brake or Ajax power hand brake and AB brakes with 1712 cu. ft. capacity, like 85825 shown below (389 cars, Official Railway Equipment Register, October, 1951)
• rebuilt in 1934, 1935 and 1937 with paneled steel sides, wood floors and no drop doors, new side steel structural members, and either 1842 or 1862 cu. ft. capacity (4 and 138 cars, respectively)
• rebuilt in 1936, 1937 and 1938 with paneled steel sides including three side doors per side, wood floors and no drop doors, Dreadnaught ends, new side steel structural members, and 1856 cu. ft. capacity, like 85012 shown below (151 cars)
• rebuilt in 1940, retaining composite sides, but adding three doors per side, Dreadnaught ends, wood floors and no drop doors, Ajax power hand brakes, and 1726 cu. ft. capacity, like 85885 shown below (100 cars)

There was also a large group of cars in the series 50000-50398 (359 cars,) 50399-51927 (838,) 52000-52499 (495,) 52500-53099 (533,) 53100-53647 (491) and 53650-54349 (682) for a total of 3,398 cars. All had solid wood floors and (like the USRA cars) 1712 cu. ft. capacity. They were built by Pullman Car Manufacturing Co. in 1925 and 1930 and refurbished as needed, most notably with Dreadnaught ends. These were like 53395 shown directly above. The number series and data are from the Official Railway Equipment Register, October, 1951 issue.

Modeling the cars was relatively easy as Sunshine offered several different versions of them. Sadly, I did not ever manage to pick up a kit and now they do not appear on the secondhand market as much as other Sunshine kits seem to. However, I believe my modeling skills to be sharp enough to find a way to scratch the itch by modifying an Intermountain USRA composite gondola. 

Martin Lofton wrote "Frisco's rebuilt USRA gondolas," Railroad Model Craftsman, October 1990. This article covered many of the variations, as well as how Martin modeled them in HO scale. His article predated the Intermountain and Walthers (ex-Proto1000) USRA-design composite gondolas

The image above is of the side of Sunshine kit 92.6. These were part of the re-release of Frisco USRA-design gons. I assume that the patterns were Martin's work as no one is credited for them in the Sunshine PDS (Prototype Data Sheet) and Martin did do occasional pattern work, especially for his "pet" roads, of which the Frisco was one. The cars included detail on the interior, as well, including "cutouts" for the side discharge doors, wood boards, and detail on the inside of the Dreadnaught ends.

NOTE: Where I have info on the prototype images, I have begun to embed/watermark that in the image, along with my last name rather prominently in the car body. I hate to take this step, but I have grown increasingly angry at the proliferation of internet and social media "experts" downloading images and then reposting them elsewhere with no information about the date, location or photographer or where they pirated the images from in the first place. Yes, it detracts from the images, but it also deters the pirates from wanton theft without attribution.

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....

Some Sunshine pics

 

Many years ago (over 20!!!) when I created, ran, updated, and managed the Steam Era Freight Cars site, I would receive notices from manufacturers and add that info to the site. Times being what they were, I uploaded relatively tiny images along with the text. I was recently searching for something on an old hard drive and came across some very high resolution scans that I had made of dupe slides that were sent to me by Martin Lofton of Sunshine Models. They were shot by him on what I believe was a photo module. Regardless, good images of completed Sunshine kits can be rare, so I thought it might be good to share those here in a higher resolution format than years ago. You can click on any image for a larger view. Note that some of these cars have been re-released by Resin Car Works (although may be out of production at the moment, but can be found via the secondhand markets, either in their Sunshine or RCW iterations.) Enjoy!

Pennsylvania X41B Underframe

 

The (mostly) finished underframe, as described in the following text with photos

In my last post, I discussed my recent clinic for the Philadelphia Chapter of the PRRT&HS. Part of that presentation was about modeling PRR welded box and auto cars and specifically, the work begun on a Sunshine X41B. This post continues that. The focus of this post is the underframe, which is scratchbuilt and relies heavily upon etchings. The images herein provide a mostly step-by-step look at how I replicated the X41B underframe, continuing what had been presented in the clinic. Note that the X41C underframe, shown via photograph in the clinic file, was quite similar, with the difference being that the X41C substituted pressed steel crossties (which can be seen herein and will be noted as such) in place of the two center crossbearers located under the door posts on the X41B, meaning the B had four crossbearers while the C had two.

The image above (all images can be seen in a larger format by clicking on them) was recorded after all the stringers between the bolsters and the four main pairs crossbearers were added. The flanges of the center sills, 0.010" x 0.060" strip styrene were also attached, completing the center sill sections between the bolsters. Note that the crossbearer sections that are located where there are separate side sill support tabs extend past the edge of the floor. This is because these will tie directly into the channel shape of the etched tab sections.

These two images provide other views at the same stage as the photo referenced previously. One interesting (and cool to this freight car geek) thing is the difference in "height" of the stringers between the crossbearers (five scale inches) versus the stringers between the crossbearers and bolsters (three scale inches.) The difference is quite pronounced and shown to good advantage in the photo below. Note that the floor had not been glued into the body (yet!) at the time of these photos.

The floor had a slight bow to it from end to end. In addition, it was necessary to tack the floor into the body, yet leave the areas away from the center of the car "free" in order to ensure proper orientation of the crossbearers and their corresponding side sill support tabs. I carefully secured the center portion of the floor into the carbody with ACC, in the area highlighted in the graphic shown above. This served to secure the floor into the body, yet allowed some "play" to adjust the alignment of the floor relative to the carbody when securing the outer crossbearers and their tab segments.

The preceding three images illustrate how the crossbearers and the tab side sill support sections are integrated and attached. The beauty of the etchings is that they are thin enough in profile to accurately mimic the prototype and yet are still quite durable. Again, note that the ends of these crossbearers extend past the bottom of the side to nest into the channel of the tab.

The crossties were created by drawing the basic shapes with fold lines in the appropriate spots for etching. These came out exactly as planned, nesting into the center sill flanges and clearing the stringers. The ones between the side sill support section in the center of the car required some shortening to fit. The ones at the tab sections nest into the channel "behind" the tab sections. The photos above and below illustrate the crossties.

The side sill support tabs that have been replaced with etched parts are visible in this side view of the model

The lower bolster cover plates feature "knockouts" in the exact shape of the prototype. They were bent slightly to match the shape of the scratchbuilt bolsters.

The image above shows the underframe after the addition of the bottom bolster cover plates, as highlighted in the previous photo

The two preceding photos highlight the addition of the bottom crossbearer cover plates. While I etched pieces for the segments that span the center sills, I opted to use 0.005" styrene as I found it generally easier to work with and the shape is a rectangle, as opposed to the complex shape of the outer portions of these unusual plates, where etching made the work of matching the shape far easier.

The channel section crossties had a small rectangular steel brace that was welded to the crossties and the center sill. This is simulated with an etched piece, as illustrated in the two photos above.

The stringers between the bolsters and end sills incorporated trapezoidal-shaped plate that was welded to the ends of the stringer and to the end sills, tightening things up a little more. These are simulated with etchings, as shown in the two accompanying photos.

While there are still a couple of things before the underframe is completed, including truck mounting and simulated bolt heads on the stringers, as well as the brake equipment, the basic structure is complete. The next post will pick up to cover brake equipment and other details. Stay tuned...