doctorwayne's New Years Resolution Challenge...

[doctorwayne]

Surprisingly, I've made some progress, completing the brake gear for both the three existing X-29s and the newer one, too. The new car needs only roofwalk grabirons before it's ready to paint:




Two of the single sheathed cars also need only roofwalk grabs before painting:




These two have had their ends removed, and are soon to receive new ones. The ends, from Tichy, have been shortened by removing the top rib from the bottom panel, making them 5-5-4 ends instead of the original 5-5-5 style. In either case, the prototype for at least one of these cars used 7-8 ends. I'm not modelling the L&N, so it doesn't concern me terribly -if it did, or if I were modelling the L&N, I would've scratchbuilt the car, as this one also has the exterior bracing arranged as a Howe truss, whereas the real L&N cars used a Pratt truss. The original 1923 ARA single sheathed boxcars used a Pratt truss (diagonals pointing outward at their tops), but there was also a 1923 ARA single sheathed alternate design, employing Howe trusses (diagonals pointing inward at their tops). The Train Miniature car represents the "alternate" design.


This double sheathed car has had all of its steps and grabirons removed (they'll be replaced with metal parts) and the mould-on sidesills (a simple flat area at the lower edge of the sides, its face raised slightly above that of the scribed sheathing) have been filed flush with the car's sides, then scribed to match the siding pattern. There are a few other details to be added to the car, but its underbody has been completed.


The other one of the double sheathed cars is probably going to be the most altered, as I'm attempting to convert it into a NYC 1916 automobile car. The NYC built 9500 double sheathed cars between 1916 and 1918, in both boxcar and automobile (door-and-a-half) styles. I've been unable to determine the exact height of these cars, but they appear to be higher than the 8'7" inside height of the TM cars. I let the height of the Tichy doors which I'm using determine my model's height, and sanded-down the sidesill, as on the previous car, then added additional material below that, making it flush with the face of the car's sides (this will be scribed to match the sides). These cars also were equipped with fishbelly centre sills. I could have altered the TM frame, but had a spare Accurail floor and frame on-hand, so used it instead. Since it's narrower than the TM car's interior, I had room to use strips of .060" styrene to back-up the material previously added to the car's sills, making the new sides stronger and the floor a better fit within the body shell.
Here's the car last night, after I'd added the full-height 5-5-5 Tichy ends:


...and the sides and underframe today:




The ends still need to be reinforced, and need a little touch-up, but seem to fit fairly well:


Wayne