Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge

[TMo]

That's a great shot, Charlie! It'll come in very handy when I start to weather.

[TMo]

Progress.  Got on Bowser's website and bought a new set of handrails (you can't just buy the front corners unfortunately, even those fall out most often - gonna glue those in place when I get Humpty back together again at the end of this project), a new left-side air tank, a Cal Scale detail kit for the C628/C630, and a Cal Scale 3-chime horn.  

With installation of the detail kit which includes a bunch of grab irons, lift eyes, windshield wipers, hoses and some other tiny pieces that will probably lead to the demise of my sanity, I've now created a bunch more work for myself.

You know, sometimes spending a little money is all that it takes to get the motivation up. 

I was talking about rain gutters last night.  The internet concensus on material to use for simulating the Reading rain gutters on the cab roof was to use 0.010"-diameter copper rod, and I voiced my thought that maybe I could squash the rod flat to better mimic the 1" angle iron of the prototype.  So, I had some green floral stem wire in my workshop.  It's 22-gauge wire, so a lot more beefy (about 2 and a half times larger) than suggested, but I took it over to my vise and pounded some flat with a hammer just to see what I'd get out of that....

Here's a shot of the original (unbashed wire)...

   
 
And here it is bashed with the flat end of a claw hammer...

   

And here's the same piece in rough position if I wanted to use it as gutter material...

   

Too chunky, yes....  but the idea's there.  If I procure the right diameter material, it's a quick trip to the vise to get something that doesn't look round.

[TMo]

Tichy 0.010"-diameter wire has been ordered - hope to flatten a few pieces to provide the profile I'm seeking for the rain gutters.

Until all of this material arrives for the locomotive, I thought I'd work on the patch out paint and road numbers.  I thought about adding (and then patching out) a "Bee Line" logo on the long hood, and then did a little research.  Turns out the Reading bought their C630's in two batches.  The first 7 locos were painted without the "Bee Line" logo, and (most importantly) were not shipped with Hi Ad trucks.  The second 5 had the Bee Line logo and the Hi Ad trucks.  My Stewart Hobbies C630 does not have Hi Ad trucks, just the standard C-C truck arrangement, so it's more appropriate to model mine as the earlier batch - which is probably why Stewart didn't represent this one with the Bee Line Logo.  I'm betting that Bowser probably has Hi Ad trucks as an option these days on their website, but I didn't think to look for them last night.

So, simple patchouts of the diamonds (front, rear and cab sides) and the large road number on the back of the long hoods as well as replacement of the numbers on the number boards are all that's going to be required.  It turns out (and Charlie probably already figured this out) that Conrail 6757 was once Reading 5304, and since (thanks to Charlie) I have photos from both sides of the locomotive in beautiful grime, it's fate - the road number for this locomotive is going to be 6757.

To get ready to paint the black patches, I first got out my blue painter's tape and masked off the areas of the locomotive I'll patch (I'll brush on the black paint and won't even attempt to achieve neat or complete coverage).  As a matter of fact, if I can get just a hint of the Reading logos leaking through, I think that'll be a plus.  Many of the CR patchouts looked like minimal efforts by the painting crews - probably sent out with a roller and some black paint on miserable days in the yards.

       

[tompm]

Looks like things are off to a good start.

I had never noticed the Reading rain gutters before you mentioned them. What unit types were they on? Or did all units have them after a certain date?

[Schraddel]

Hello TMo,

i am really curious what you will do with this model.

Lutz

[TMo]

Not sure of the history of the Reading rain gutters, but they were on Reading diesel locos (other than their F units) for a long, long time.  Some of the EMD units had a straight (or slightly bent) gutter, but the Chevron shape of them is present on lots of stuff back through the transition era.  Here's an example:

rdg470.jpg (1279×720) (railfan.net)

Not sure if they were added after the units arrived in the Reading shops or if they were requested from the manufacturer.  Can't recall seeing them on any other livery other than the Reading, but don't quote me on that.

Very few HO scale models have this feature - the recent Bowser Executive Line C630 and C430 being a notable exception.  

I'm hoping modeling them may be relatively easy.  The plan is to draw the profile on each side of the roof and then I'll score along that line with a hobby knife against a straight edge to give the glue something to grip.  I'll then paint my flattened wire, bend it to the profile and then put a touch of superglue on the back side, hold and hope.  I'll then trim the ends at the edge of the cab with a pair of cutters.  As I write this, I remember that I have a couple of spare Alco cab assemblies from two undecorated models, and I think one of those cabs is going to be a proving ground for trying out this technique.

If this works, I have an SD45, a GP30, a GP39-2 that I might do in the future.  The SD45 has window awnings on it right now, so I'll have to consider sawing those off if I do install the gutters.

[TMo]

As the black patch-out paint was drying, I decided to attack the number boards.  I recently had great success generating these using my inkjet printer on top of CD-label stickers.  However, that was for white boards.  These are black with white letters.  However, I figured if I printed white letters on a black background using Microsof Powerpoint, printed them out, cut them to the same size as the boards and then glued them over the existing boards, that would look a heck of a lot nicer than me trying to do something like rub individual numbers from a dry transfer.  Although I've done that in the past, the numbers never have the right spacing and linear look.

To fit the Alco number boards, I used Arial 6-pt as my font, cut them to size and glued them on with Aleene's tacky glue.  

   

Hypothetically, the Stewart number boards can get pushed out of the headlight holes, but that's only IF the previous owner hasn't put a little superglue on the assemblies.  My front headlight assembly came out just fine, but in the rear I ended up breaking off the number boards from the clear headlight assembly.  They didn't shatter or chip, so I was able to reinstall them with some patience and a small screwdriver.  Popped the front board back in the model, and here we are:

       

The tight shots on the paintouts show a bit of overpaint over the diamonds and at the edges of the cab, and I'd be distressed about that on other projects and would attempt to clean up those lines, but on this project?  Perfect!  I'm looking for shoddy paint work for a change!

[TMo]

And there you go....

I was visting Bowser's website this morning to see if maybe they had an S-1 geared axle for Charlie (shot in the dark), and no, I didn't find one). However, I did encounter part number 190-615.... Reading drip edge (or as I call it, the rain gutter). Wish I would have seen that before placing my previous order (slaps head) to avoid yet another shipping fee. I'm still going to try my idea with the flattened wire, and if I can't make that work, I know I can buy the part (actually, they probably sell them in pairs). For those Reading modelers out there, it's a good plug and play option.

[tompm]

I just got a couple of Atlas Master Reading U30C's. I will have to take a look at them to see if they have anything.

[TMo]

They have that part listed for a C630, but I think with a little alteration, should fit just about any cab. Definitely saw the rain gutters on a U30C picture.

[TMo]

As I would have predicted, with decent weather this weekend, I was outside working the property set of spring taskings (it was a 3-load mulch-in-pickup-truck weekend and the weekly grass cutting of my 4 acres) and had almost no time for spending time down here in the office with my model railroad.  

However, the sun went down tonight and I had some energy left.  Turns out my order from Bowser is waiting in my mailbox and the wire is supposed to be delivered tomorrow as well, so if the weather turns sour again, I'll have lots to work on.

In anticipation of those deliveries, I started looking at airhorn brackets.  Reading had their horns mounted above the right side of the cab and they protruded way out in front of the cab.  It made me curious about how they supported those horns.  Strolled the internet and found a nice tight shot of a Reading C630 cab from the Reading Railroad Historical Society, but it took some blowing up of the photo to determine how the horn is mounted.

Quality is crappy, but here's the blow up around the horn mount:

   

I believe the bracket is the standard horn mounting bracket that I've sometimes seen placed above the top headlight, and I thought maybe I had a leftover extra from one of my Alco builds.  Alas, no.  I do like the option of gluing a bracket to the cab to mount the horn, so I may have to build me a bracket like the one in the photo and paint it to match the Reading yellow on my unit.  I'll be digging through leftover parts from other builds to try to find something appropriate (size, shape and ability to mount).

[TMo]

A little more to report.

I've received all of my detail parts.  I had an issue with the 3-chime horn I bought - the two long horns were bent at about 60 degrees from horizontal.  I could try to re-bend them, but I'm thinking they're gonna either snap or have at least two bends in them before I get done.  Bowser's going to send me a replacement that should be here early next week.

   

One of the easy taskings was to insert a third air tank (a single one of the left side of the locomotive).  The one I received was gray, so I painted it flat black, and while I was at it, hit the trucks, tanks and fuel tank with matte acrylic.

   

Flattened the 0.010" wire (just like I did with the larger checkout piece I did last week), and made up two rain gutters and then hit them with a base coat of green with a brush.  I'm not happy with the overall length and the base coat of paint, so I'm going to make two more and paint them up (spray paint this time for a base).  I tried scribing a placement notch in a extra sacrificial cab I had, but I hasn't happy with how it worked out - so the plan is to put just a smidge of super glue on the back side of it and tack it in place with a bit of tape until the glue sets up.

   

I also experimented with a bracket for the horn, and I think I now have something that works.  I sectioned a plastic wire keeper (see first photo below) by cutting it on a diagonal and it's pretty close to the prototype I showed in the picture.  There's also a ledge on my model near the area where I need to mount the horn bracket, so I think I'll take advantage of that to mount the bracket (second photo).

   

   

Looks like a nice weekend, so I'm guessing there won't be much progress until we get some rain again.

[tompm]

I love the details you are adding. Makes the loco that much better.

[TMo]

Thanks Tom! Makes it better.... unless I make it look worse! (of course, everything can be fixed with a little weathering...)

While I sprayed the tiny rain gutters, horns and horn bracket I also hit the Executive Line railings I ended up buying (black) with a light base coat of green spray paint. The verticals are in Reading green, the rails in yellow from the pictures I've come across. The previous owner used yellow only on everything, so just that little detail is going to make this locomotive look different.

While everything's apart, now's a good time to drill holes for the grab irons. Fortunately, even the Stewart Hobbies version of the C630 has starter locations for all of the holes built ito the plastic body, so it won't take too long to drill. There are also corner grabs in the kit which I'll add as well as lifting eyes (drill holes needed) and windshield wipers. The MU hoses and coupler release bars were already on this one, so that stuff won't need any attention. Total buy for the detail kit was $19.95. I didn't think that was too bad considering all of the pieces you get.

I believe I'm going to check each detail install for fit and then prepaint them all before final install, with paint touchups after that. No pictures until I start some assembly.

[TMo]

46 No. 79 or No. 80 holes drilled tonight.  Even though the model had the starter holes ready on the body, I found it very useful to prepare each hole with a straight pin to give the pin vise a little spot to grip.  I have a couple different bit sets, and although I thought I got a nice one from Chronos in a wooden box from Ireland with about 10 different sizes of bits with about 10 bits per size, those bits bent almost on command.  Sometimes I was just getting started on a hole and the bit would bend 90 degrees.  Abandoned those and found a packet of Chinese bits that was much better to finish up.

           

I'm debating painting the grabs before I try to install them.  I think I may be able to insert each one partially in each hole and then I can paint each one before just pushing them to mounting depth and gluing from the inside of the shell.  Then I think I'll cut the extra off on the inside.  That's the plan for another evening.