Awhile back, After having made frequent lunch-time runs over to the Mountain King Potato factory and watching the cars being switched in and out, and taking alot of photos, I decided to model the operations, the structure, and the SLC reefers that are almost always there. This is detailed in the thread:
http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic...slc#p64784 but figured to start a new thread on the builds.
I have photos of 39 of the prototype reefers which I will use as a basis to do the models. I'll do about 15 of these I think. The following are typical of the reefers:
SLC 171 is obviously ex-Milwaukee Road
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Started out with an Athearn BB 1624 Mechanical Reefer. I'm not looking for a rivet counter quality model, just a nice representation that will suffice for the 3 foot rule.
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Cut out the small doors so they can be replaced with larger doors from Accurail.
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Installed the door and ribs and door guides, removed the roofwalks and upper portions of the ladders:
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Then yesterday I was reviewing all of the proto photos, and ran across this:
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I thought "cool, this car has one of the louver panels missing, showing the refrigeration unit" and thought it would be a nice touch to model this one to set it apart from the others. Much to my surprise, as I contiuned looking at all the photos, I discovered that ALL of these cars have the refrigeration unit exposed on one side. Can't believe I have been watching and taking photos of the prototype and didn't notice this before. :?
Examples:
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So, now I am committed to do all the refrigeration units. Decided to mass produce 25 of these for future builds. I did do a bit of research on the net to find photos of the refrigeration units, but didn't come up with a whole lot, so I just made an effort to match what I could see in the photos. Built a test unit first, then mass produced all the parts:
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Started assembly:
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Finished the details and painted them:
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Cut out one of the louvers, and glued the unit in place.
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So there ya go. Still have to add a ladder back over the refrigerator unit and do a few other minor detail parts. Yeah, the car isn't a perfect match, but it will do a good job in mimicking the beat up old SLC cars, definitely to my satisfaction.
That is pretty darn schnazzy....
Are the cars used jsut around the facility for storage, or are they in some kind of dedicated fleet between facilities?
Sharp work!
FYI, Intermountain offers a range of reefers that look like a match to your prototypes, with the inset detailing.
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Looks like you're well on your way, but FYI in case it's useful.
Have you an army of elves to do this asembly work while you sleep? Absolutely incredible. Nicely done.
Oh, and Russ B. is the person to talk to about refrigeration units.
Galen
Greg, the cars routinely come and go from the facility, on almost a daily basis. The San Luis Central is in an agricultural area of colorado, so they are shipping potatos from there to Houston. I've got photos of 39 different cars of this type, and another dozen or so of ex-Santa Fe reefers that are slightly different than these (I'll be modeling them too).
Paulman Wrote:Sharp work! FYI, Intermountain offers a range of reefers that look like a match to your prototypes, with the inset detailing.
Thanks for that info, Ihad been looking around to see if anyone makes this model. The Milwaukee Road car certainly appears to be the match for the real ones - although the Intermountain model has screens over the holes for the refrigeration unit. Perhaps all the louvers have been discarded here and there through the history of these cars?
As for me getting the IM cars, that $32 MSRP is a bit steep. Plus, look at all the hobby value I am getting out of these $6 Athearn BBs!
ocalicreek Wrote:Have you an army of elves to do this asembly work while you sleep? Absolutely incredible. Nicely done.
Thanks Galen. I did stay up very late last night working on these, and finished them when I woke up today. Really, the 25 of them didn't take that long, building them in mass production style makes things move along rapidly.
The more I look, the more discrepancies I see between my model and the real thing, but I am 94% satisfied with these and am having fun doing them. Not sure just how much I'll get accomplished on the 15 cars I want, as I need to get back to the layout for now. Still, it is good to have several things going so that I can work on whatever suits my fancy at the moment.
Gary ...
... your spud reefers sure as Hades look pretty good from my house! I'm always amazed at the speed with which you work. I am a butt-draggin' slug by comparison. But adding the A/C units is an attention to detail that makes me smile!
I often like building a model as close to the prototype as I can. It can be the stuff of tearing your hair out ... it can be that frustrating!
But I also like looking at a photo of a prototype [for instance, Reading Company's NMa four-wheel caboose] and using it as a reference to build a "sorta like that" model, or models, for the LS&W RR, my Small Fleet of Very Small Cabooses are an example of that direction (... and I will be pulling them back out to complete them at the start of the new year.)
I must also tell you that I wish I could have been there with your LHS friends to operate ... it looks like they had fun!
The mass produced refrigeration units look great! I can't quite make out what you made them from. Did you cobble them together from misc. parts? Fantastic!
Ralph
Wow those refrigeration units look great, I have seen a similar reffer at an industrial site next to a recycling business.
Have you had the kits long or do you know of a shop that has a stache of kits?
I'm coming to this party a little late, but I'll throw in my 2 cents. Actually what you are modeling is not the refrigeration unit. The refrigeration unit is all electric and mounted in the top half behind the upper screens. The unit on the lower half is a generator set powered by a Detroit Diesel 2-53 series engine. The reason for the sliding screen on the side is that the gen set slides out for maintenance. It can be slid out and hang over the side of the ballast for oil changes, or it can be slid out, unplugged, and picked up with a fork lift to r&r it for more exhaustive repairs. You are probably ok even if you modeled a reefer instead of a gen set. The only thing visible when the gen set is installed is the radiator for the diesel engine. The radiator is taller and wider than the diesel, and the generator on the end of the diesel is even smaller.
Key point - the louvers aren't missing on SLC 177 and SLC 146 - someone just forgot to slide them back in place. There's a track there, like a door track, to slide them back. Since the ladder has to come off to pull the generator, and there surely is some sort of fastening system on the 'skid' itself, it's not like it's going to go anywhere.
--Randy
The ladders are removable. If I remember correctly, when I was up at Barstow working on the new style Carrier trailer units that were on the same rip tracks with the older electric reefers, the ladders had pins with cotter keys locking them in place. Before starting to work on the generators, the mechanics would cut the cotter keys, pull the pins, and set the ladders out of the way. There was also a bolt that dropped through the slider on the gen set and screwed into the slider base on the car to lock the gen set in place.
P5se Camelback Wrote:... your spud reefers sure as Hades look pretty good from my house! I'm always amazed at the speed with which you work. I am a butt-draggin' slug by comparison.
I have to admit that the overall progress I have made in 2010 has been very good. I haven't been afraid to just dive right it and "do it" as DocWyane had mentioned in the Bridge at South Wayside thread:
docWayne Wrote:Yeah, I know that he's gained experience with the earlier bridges, and it's easy to see his skills developing as we watch each new one "come to life". However, the initial one was a case of just jumping in and doing it. Each subsequent one was built on the success of the previous build, and each pushes the envelope further, and each still requires that "let's do it!" attitude. I think that lesson is equally as important as all the construction tips included in each thread, and, of course, all the demonstrative photos.
So thanks, Gary, for showing us that while the planning is important, the "doing" is even more so. And for showing all of us (not just the neophytes) that, to "get it done", we need to "do it". You may be surprised at what you achieve on your first attempt, but, on subsequent projects, that surprise will give way to a simple sense of satisfaction.
I hadn't thought about it before that, but he is right. DocWayne is very perceptive, and his advice is good for all of us. Jump in and get started, don't get bogged down in the research or details, things can always be refined later during the build.
Another wonderful thing I learned is that building from the prototype helps me get going and is a huge part of my hobby enjoyment. When freelancing, I was always dragging my heels, wondering "will this look realistic?" or "will that be prototypical?" More time is spent coming up with the ideas and plans than actually building the model. And even after the model is finished, I am still second guessing myself about whether it is appropriate. But when you have the real thing, you just build what you see.
P5se Camelback Wrote:I often like building a model as close to the prototype as I can. It can be the stuff of tearing your hair out ... it can be that frustrating!
For me, I try to keep the "Three Foot Rule" in mind. I know I got bogged down in the anal details a couple of times during the bridge builds, but for the most part, the "overall feel" was what I was shooting for.
P5se Camelback Wrote:But I also like looking at a photo of a prototype [for instance, Reading Company's NMa four-wheel caboose] and using it as a reference to build a "sorta like that" model, or models, for the LS&W RR, my Small Fleet of Very Small Cabooses are an example of that direction (... and I will be pulling them back out to complete them at the start of the new year.)
biL, I hope to see some good things being accomplished in Florida in 2011, and I hope to see all the results in photos right here on Big Blue!