Some context for weathering of freight cars

 

Illinois Central R.R., freight cars at the South Water Street freight terminal, Chicago, Ill. The C & O and Nickel Plate Railroads lease part of this terminal from the I.C.R.R. April, 1943, Jack Delano, Call number LC-USW36-605, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information, Library of Congress

The other day, I was looking for images that I had of Erie 1932 ARA-design box cars and this one came up as part of my search. I think most of us have seen this and many of the other incredible images like them. The Jack Delano color images from the World War II era effortlessly suck me into the nuances, textures, and details of the various parts of the photos. What I realized is that my weathering and finishing efforts, in spite of my attempts to diversify my techniques of late, are still not quite up to the look of the prototype. After looking at these photos, I conclude that I can do a better job of creating variances across the surfaces of my models, both in terms of color and texture. I will be working to expand my quiver of skills and will share some of my successes and failures here. 

[note that the cars displayed in this small montage are weathered quite a bit more heavily than you might see 5-10 years later, due to the continued shift from steam to diesel power and with that a decrease in the amount of dirty gunk belched from locomotives as well as more frequent maintenance and repainting of cars in the postwar era.]

A little tool time

I recently decided to attempt to find a better alternative for cleaning my airbrush. After some simple searching, I found the Torrington Brush Works web site. I ordered nylon micro-tube brushes in several sizes, from 0.020" brush diameter through 0.080" brush diameter in 0.010" increments. I can report that they are exactly what I was seeking. The larger ones can pass through the entire length of my airbrush and the smallest can pass through the tip of the airbrush (be careful as. the opening in the tip can be easily split, even though it is metal.) If you're looking for brushes, I recommend a visit to the Torrington Brush Works site. 

Editorial content: Yes, I am certain you can find a better deal on amazon. However, my preference is to support a small business. Your mileage may vary

the "business" ends of the 0.050" and 0.060" diameter brushes

Flat Car Friday - Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern 400

 

Al Armitage photo, Ron Morse Collection, ca. 1949-1950

One of the things I thought would be a fun part of this "series" on flat cars would be to highlight some of the more interesting and unusual cars that I have come across in the photos I have acquired over the years. The Spokane International car was one such example, as is the one shown herein. According to wikipedia, the Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern was organized in 1895 to build a line from Waterloo to Cedar Falls, Iowa, completed in 1897. It expanded to Waverly and Cedar Rapids and operated a modest schedule of several interurban trains per day connecting these points. It also operated a freight belt line around Waterloo.

In January, 1953, according to the Official Railway Equipment Register, the WCF&N rostered a whopping 52 freight cars, of which almost half were the 25 flat cars in the 4000-4024 series. I have had this photo on my radar since I acquired the print, thinking it would be a great project to complement one of my two Sunshine Models Farmall tractor load kits. Of note are the towing loops at the bolsters. That's a project for another day, though.

P.S. I do not know when these cars were built or by what car builder. If anyone knows those details, please fell free to share via the comments section below. Thank you!

"Collection of"

 

Hannibal, Missouri on the CB&Q, courtesy of Al Hoffman

This post is one that has been percolating for years and qualifies as a true rant. Often, I will keep my rants contained to a group of close friends. However, this is one that really sticks in my craw, so here goes...

After the dust settled on Internet 1.0 and people discovered that they could right click and save just about any image they saw online (savvy persons found that even if right click didn't work, there was always the trusty screenshot) many online pundits have been compiling rather large assemblages of images on their hard drives. No problem there. 

What has irked me is when some of these same people propagate these images as part of their own sharing and online publishing, with no credit whatsoever to the original photographer or source, let alone noting the details. I noticed this because when I digitized the images I had gathered over the years and sold the physical images on ebay, I was diligent about noting the photographer, location, date, and collection details, where they had been noted. The right click vultures gladly copied the images uploaded as part of the ebay sales (which, in and of itself, I have no problems with,) but never took the time to record the details. Now when those images are shared by the right clickers, they are often shared as, "Collection of 'John Doe' " instead of with proper credit. John Doe's voracious appetite for right clicking does not constitute a "Collection." [by the way, John Doe is used here as a general moniker, without specificity.] If you can't even take the time and effort to record the details related to a photo, even when they were right there for the copying, calling what you have a "Collection" is a true bastardization of the word.

Again, I wish to reiterate that downloading images from the internet for reference is a valuable tool. I do it as much as the next person. I also know that sometimes we fail to record the proper info (yours truly included). However, co-opting those images to feed whatever motives you might have is a no-no in my book. By my estimation, I have easily exhausted over $100,000 in my life buying photos from sellers, archives, ebay, etc., and I would not have the audacity to name what I have as a "Collection." I merely bought a lot of images. Right clickers don't qualify either. When you're sharing images, share the info, too. Remember, it's not your Collection. It's just images on your hard drive.

Dismounting from my high horse...

P.S. find the New Haven hopper in the photo above!

One Hundred Ghosts

 

At the recent RPM East Meet, in addition to the usual clinics, vendors, and model display room, I was also able to socialize with some of the usual suspects at the hotel. One of those having traveled from far(ther) afield was Blaine Hadfield of Arrowhead Models, from Wyoming. He brought along a copy of his new book, One Hundred Ghosts, which he had just received from the printer. Both Hunter Hughson and I ordered copies right then and there.

This is one of those books that combines a few of my interests and passions. My interest in things railroad is obvious given this blog, but I am also very passionate about photography as an art medium, especially landscapes, and what can loosely be described as industrial archaeology. This work has all of those in spades. [it is similar, but to me, surpasses Down By the Feed Mill, coming from that same place of affection]

The photography is exceptional, evoking not only the feeling and moods of the grain elevators and their environs, but the actual sense of them as beings. They represented the lifeblood of their pieces of the rural network. Blaine has magnificently captured the emotions wrapped up in these sentinels of the landscape.

I have barely begun to delve into this book. I look forward to reading it in stolen snippets of 10 or 15 minutes to imbibe each elevator and location. Blaine has provided a wealth of background detail, as well, to provide context to the structures and his efforts. Bravo on a job well done!

The images included herein are included for representation. They are simply examples, not any better than any others. I just wanted to illustrate Blaine's fine work. Also, the computer monitor will not do justice to the work in the book. The printing is excellent and the colors and moods of the images are faithfully rendered. 

Sunshine Models Burlington XA-14 Auto Car

 

Virl Davis photo, Scottsbluff, Nebraska, ca. 1958, courtesy of Richard Hendrickson

Many years ago, I purchased one of the Sunshine Models CB&Q XA-14D kits. I have always loved 50' single sheathed auto cars and this prototype just looks massive. However, as much as I like single sheathed cars, I equally dislike HO scale single sheathed models where the patterns were made using Evergreen scribed siding. To my eye, the grooves look all out of proportion compared to the prototype. It's a hangup that is difficult for me to overcome. Fast forward to the past few months. I pulled out the box again and took a look at things. Almost as soon as I purchased the kit, I I had assembled the basic box of sides, ends, underframe, and roof, and felt that I had done a good job of keeping things square. I decided to ignore my misgivings about the board sheathing and plow ahead. Keen observers will note that I didn't build the -D variant; the -D kit included both styles of A ends, "tight" and end door. I opted for tight ends.

East St. Louis, Illinois, Joe Collias photo, 1963

A note about the prototypes is in order. There was a fantastic article in Railway Prototype Cyclopedia 12 about the Burlington's single sheathed auto cars by "Bat" Masterson, Hol Wagner, and Al Hoffman. There were 500 members of class XA-14 in total, all built in 1937 at the road's Havelock shops. There were differences in linings, auto loading equipment, and end doors that resulted in subclasses -A through -D. I would refer those seeking additional information, including about those cars rebuilt with increased inside height to support the war effort, to consult the article.

I made numerous substitutions and changes to the kit along the way. Those are noted in the following bullet points and I will elaborate more on many of these enhancements at a future time.

• I am highly skeptical of the crossties on the model not having any sort of flanges. However, adding flanges to those crossmembers was not something I wanted to engage in
• I added a mix of AB brake parts; I did not add a train line and the pipe from the dirt collector to what would be the train line is unprototypically anchored directly into the floor
• I made all new running boards from strip styrene and also brass for the latitudinal running boards
• the brake step and brackets for the Ajax hand brake housing and pressure retaining valve were all also fashioned from brass
• the end ladder stiles were created from strip styrene
• the top and bottom door guides and tracks were created from strip styrene (unless these parts are perfectly cast in resin, they can be a bear to work with... I found it easier to just make new parts)
• the angle cock brackets are from Yarmouth and the angle cock/air hose parts are from Hi-Tech
• the sill steps are etched parts from Yarmouth
• The uncoupling rod brackets are etched brass parts from my own artwork etched by PPD. The rods are 0.010" wire
• all grabs were bent from 0.010" wire
• the right hand end grab iron bracket was created from brass
• the door handle hardware is from an old resin PRR X31 kit
• the upper side gusset plates are 0.005" styrene
• the trucks are AAR spring plankless from Tahoe and are a "close enough" truck. I am not aware of a correct HO scale truck for an AAR spring plankless design that also has Barber lateral motion devices
• the draft gear (coupler pockets) are a mix... one is a resin part from Pittsburgh Scale Models and the other is from Moloco. The reason being that I had a full set of the PSM resin parts, but managed to lose one along the way (this car was one of many that was reboxed after my disastrous basement flood back in 2011)

The next step is to blast the model to create a surface more amenable to good paint adhesion. After that I still need to add the following:

• rivets
• nut-bolt-washer castings
• the plate on the door for the "Burlington Route" emblem

I will follow up in part two with painting, lettering, and weathering

Flat Car Friday - the same prototype?

Green River, Wyoming, Keith Ardinger photo

I have this Spokane International flat car on my list of projects, likely to appear in kit form (car nos. 5001-5075, built 1951 by American Car & Foundry.) I am hopeful that the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis has drawings and am awaiting their reply to my query. In the meantime, I have been examining my collection of flat car photos for fodder for this blog. I came across the photo shown below and was struck by the similarities to the SI flat shown above (below from St. Louis - San Francisco car nos. 95800-95899, built 1951 by American Car & Foundry.) Dimensionally, the cars are identical and the overall look plus the arrangement of details, notably the type and spacing of the stake pockets, leads me to believe that they were from the same design. I have also inquired about drawings of these Frisco cars to compare, should both be available. I am keeping a keen eye out to see if ACF built other flats like these at around the same time. More about the load on the SI flat coming in the following days, too.

P.S. The SP's F-50-16 class, while similar at first blush and built by ACF, is not the same design as the cars illustrated herein.

Fayetteville, North Carolina, Dec. 23, 1951, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo