After rebuilding and painting refurbished GN. observation Johan Carlson hits the high iron, In the 2nd photo she's number 4 in the consist.
No.1897 was named after my wife's late Grandfather a wonderful old gentleman who arrived in the U.S in the early 19th century as a child.
from Sweden.
The car number signifies the year of his birth.
Now a privately owned car she roams the rails all over the western United States providing wonderful old world accommodations for her new owner's....

Nice job on that car, Empirebuilder, and a nice background story to go with it, too.

I've always liked those Roundhouse/MDC cars, and have several, including this combine. I re-built it with a steel fishbelly underframe, instead of the truss rods:


This CNR coach retained its truss rods, although I did add some more detail to the underbody:


Wayne

nicely done EB ,very nicely done! and wayne,great as always .--josh

Nice tribute.

Beautiful shots everyone---with the passage of time,many of these cars were relegated to less glamourous assignments---here's a couple of cars that Doctor Wayne transformed into Maintenance of way (MOW) equipment

A'ha I'll defintley need a pair of those stirup steps for my combine and Ihad already decided on replacing the truss rod thread with wire as i found after digging in my junk box a bunch of turnbuckles.

Very very well done. My compliments!

Empirebuilder Wrote:A'ha I'll defintley need a pair of those stirup steps for my combine and Ihad already decided on replacing the truss rod thread with wire as i found after digging in my junk box a bunch of turnbuckles.

The stirrup steps were made from Detail Associates .010"x.030" brass bar - I made a simple wooden jig with fittings for three different widths, which makes soldering them together fairly easy.

I used monofilament fishing line for truss rods - if you use the un-tinted variety, then mask-off the turnbuckle area when airbrushing, the centre of the turnbuckle will appear to be open. To keep tension on the line, I do all rods with a single length of line, looping it across the top of the floor to get to the next position. Then I cement only the two ends in place, leaving the loops simply held in place by tension. If, over time, the line stretches, I simply insert suitably thick pieces of styrene between the loops and the floor, tightening the "rods" in a somewhat similar manner as did the prototype.

Wayne

doctorwayne Wrote:

Empirebuilder Wrote:A'ha I'll defintley need a pair of those stirup steps for my combine and Ihad already decided on replacing the truss rod thread with wire as i found after digging in my junk box a bunch of turnbuckles.

The stirrup steps were made from Detail Associates .010"x.030" brass bar - I made a simple wooden jig with fittings for three different widths, which makes soldering them together fairly easy.

I used monofilament fishing line for truss rods - if you use the un-tinted variety, then mask-off the turnbuckle area when airbrushing, the centre of the turnbuckle will appear to be open. To keep tension on the line, I do all rods with a single length of line, looping it across the top of the floor to get to the next position. Then I cement only the two ends in place, leaving the loops simply held in place by tension. If, over time, the line stretches, I simply insert suitably thick pieces of styrene between the loops and the floor, tightening the "rods" in a somewhat similar manner as did the prototype.

Wayne

Ha' monofilament .....I have some of that in my tackle box, 20lb test .what size did you use?

That is some beautiful work you guys! Almost makes me want to back date the layout a few decades! My plain corrugated steel Penn Central passenger cars seem to lack a bit of style by comparison!

Ralph

Empirebuilder Wrote:Ha' monofilament .....I have some of that in my tackle box, 20lb test .what size did you use?

I couldn't even hazard a guess - as long as it fits through the turnbuckle, it should work.

Wayne

These are pretty cars. I have three of them that I started 10 years ago. I started working on interior details...but never got very far as other projects have always gotten in the way. I really like the conversions in which the body receives a steel underframe. The dimensions and styling of this car have always made me think that it ought to have a steel underframe (but it isn't essential). They are perfect for 1950s MOW cars.

Great thread!