12-02-2020, 01:52 AM
Well, I finally got the last three of the TH&B hoppers that I have on-hand, painted, lettered, and clear coated.
Here's the 1082, still with its split-K brake system and still riding on archbar trucks (I don't think these cars were ever used in interchange service, so even after the banning of archbars in interchange, they were perfectly legal on their home-road rails
I call this one the Four Aces, but it's just another hopper, with a non-powered stem-winder handbrake, outmoded brake gear and archbar trucks. It's still capable of carrying 65 tons, though, not bad for a car built 25 years earlier...
I numbered this one as the Ten-Oh-Five, in a nod to the USWA Steelworkers Local to which I belonged when I worked for a living...
Here's an end-view (the exposure slightly adjusted to show a little more of the brake system under the slope sheet). The last four cars, yet to be done, will be similar in style to these three...
Also note the top-mounted support brackets for the brakeman's platform. I was initially at a loss for representing them, but a punch, intended for making holes in sheet metal, came to the rescue. I used it to punch 17/64" holes in .030" black sheet styrene, then made boxed cuts around the hole, saving one arc from each corner of the box cut around the hole. It's still not a totally correct match to the real ones, but possibly the closest rendition of it in HO....well, that's my hope, anyway.
Weathering will be next, but I've got a couple other projects in progress, too. I haven't kept up with photos, but will likely add a few here when I have something presentable.
Wayne
Here's the 1082, still with its split-K brake system and still riding on archbar trucks (I don't think these cars were ever used in interchange service, so even after the banning of archbars in interchange, they were perfectly legal on their home-road rails
I call this one the Four Aces, but it's just another hopper, with a non-powered stem-winder handbrake, outmoded brake gear and archbar trucks. It's still capable of carrying 65 tons, though, not bad for a car built 25 years earlier...
I numbered this one as the Ten-Oh-Five, in a nod to the USWA Steelworkers Local to which I belonged when I worked for a living...
Here's an end-view (the exposure slightly adjusted to show a little more of the brake system under the slope sheet). The last four cars, yet to be done, will be similar in style to these three...
Also note the top-mounted support brackets for the brakeman's platform. I was initially at a loss for representing them, but a punch, intended for making holes in sheet metal, came to the rescue. I used it to punch 17/64" holes in .030" black sheet styrene, then made boxed cuts around the hole, saving one arc from each corner of the box cut around the hole. It's still not a totally correct match to the real ones, but possibly the closest rendition of it in HO....well, that's my hope, anyway.
Weathering will be next, but I've got a couple other projects in progress, too. I haven't kept up with photos, but will likely add a few here when I have something presentable.
Wayne