Those cars are really coming along nicely, Steve.

Wayne

Time to add some weight... By the NMRA standards of 1oz + 1/2 oz per inch of car the cabins should weigh in at just over 3 oz.[attachment=4397]At this time they come up at a smidgen over 2 oz. So I'll add a half oz to each side of the car behind the two bunks.[attachment=4396] For one car I folded some sheet lead and glued them in place with some CA. As for the other car I used some of the balancing weights that you get when you buy a celling fan. I removed the adhesive tape from the and glued the together with some more CA.[attachment=4395]

While the CA set up I added the details to the tool boxes. I bent some grabs From some .016 brass wire and installed as per the prototype pics. I used the same wire to make the hinges also.[attachment=4398]

Awesome detailing, kudos to you

Ceiling fan weights - now there's an idea!

Galen

Ocalicreek I work as an electrician ,my shop does a fair amount of residential work so I come across the celling fan balancing weights quiet often. The circuit breaker knockouts from breaker panels work well in rolling stock that is closed in like box cars , refers, and the such.

e-paw Wrote:The circuit breaker knockouts from breaker panels work well in rolling stock that is closed in like box cars , refers, and the such.

never throw anything away!!

No matter what grief your spouse or your so-called friends may give you about those jars of bits & pieces in your garage or laundry room, it's all worth it when you can unscrew that peanut butter jar lid, fish around and find the perfect thing to fit exactly what you need when you need it without having to go to the store.

I've got a jar of assorted weights, including some copper ingots - little blueberry or grape sized lumps of copper my grandfather collected somewhere along the tracks in Radford, VA when he worked there in the yard. It was either a spill or wreck of some sort. They have been glued into assorted freight cars over the years.

Galen

Last night I put in a little more work. At this point the two cabins will start to take on slightly different appearances. # 580 fallows LNE's normal practices looking like all the others in it's class. # 582 Is the anomaly in the group. 580 has two stacks and a vent in the corner, while 582 only has one stack and no vent.[attachment=4420]

I added a second stove in line with the new stack to the interior of 580 . [attachment=4421]

You can see the standard roof configuration here.[attachment=4419] Note the difference in height of the two stacks, It's hard to see here but the one in the background is shorter. That's not a mistake, It's what I've noticed in the prototype photos and can't find a reason for this. I still will need to add the rain deflectors to the top of the stacks as they are of a different type from 582.

"Note the difference in height of the two stacks, It's hard to see here but the one in the background is shorter. That's not a mistake, It's what I've noticed in the prototype photos and can't find a reason for this. I still will need to add the rain deflectors to the top of the stacks as they are of a different type from 582."

Just a thought......I've had an understanding that wherever possible, the caboose was coupled up with the stove stack "behind" the cupola ( keeps the smoke out of the caboose )......therefore, the taller stack of the two would be the one to the "front", so the exhaust would carry above the cupola..... not necessarily fact, just "logic". :|

Nice work there Steve. It's coming along nicely. I especially like the details that you have added. Keep up the fine work.
Bob

Somehow I missed the page of this thread where you did all the interior. That turned out really good. And the whole thing looks fantastic. Great job on the brake rigging, all the grab irons and railings, and the paint.

I added the safety rail around the stoves. Two of them got rails like this.[attachment=4427] Where as #580 got an extra rail like this.[attachment=4426] I also started on the end details. Here you see the ladders in place.[attachment=4425]

I dug up an old life-like caboose and am looking at it now, using it as a visual aid as to how you made some of the changes. The Varney body and floor are slightly different than the life-like model, and the Varney caboose is probably the better starting point. Your work is very impressive!

The end details are almost complete. I've bent cut levers and installed them in place along with the crash bars. The ladders are also in, They are only glued in at the top and fitted into the holes in the end beams so that the shells can be removed easily. This will allow me access to the interior.[attachment=4444]

Now it is time to modify the trucks. Cab #582 Has coil springs in the side frames like most trucks, but 582 once again is the anomaly. All the other cabooses in the class Have a Pennsy stile truck equipped with leaf springs. So the next step was to remove the springs with a #11 blade. They will be installed under # 580[attachment=4443]