40 foot boxcar rebuild

[Gary S]

Since it was raining and I couldn't work outside, I did a little boxcar project. Since I am going to model the late 1970s, I need to update my boxcar fleet. I didn't do much research, but have read various things about roofwalks being rmoved, ladders cut down, brake wheels lowered, doors being enlarged, side sills being reinforced...

BTW: CAUTION!!!

THREE FOOT RULE IS IN EFFECT! RIVET COUNTERS NEED NOT APPLY!

Here is a photo that gives an example:

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I decided to take this SP Accurail boxcar and model it with half ladders, a larger door, straight side sills, and an open door on one side. The model has 6 foot doors which are molded into the body. I had built the car a couple of years ago, and lightly weathered it.



First, I took some styrene strip and glued it in the grove of the floor. I didn't have the right thickness, so I glued two strips in to get it above the floor height.



While the glue was drying, I took the Dremel tool and cut the doors out.



I used the Exacto knife to clean up the door openings which were widened to about 7.5 HO scale feet.



Used the hobby knife to scrape the plastic strip down so that it was level with the floor.



With a straight edge, I scored some lines in the floor to represent the boards. Didn't measure, didn't worry about making them perfect...



Then I painted the floor light gray and the lead weights black.



While the floor was drying, I glued the new door on one side. These are doors from Accurail that were purchased online. They make a pretty good assortment of doors you can buy.

continued...