Two loading projects

[modelsof1900]

First a link which I found on this very helpful website showing many, many historic scenes of NYC railroad terminals.

Click this link and look this picture showing a great idea for model railroaders! I think that this unloading scene gives a good idea for my 1930 train where I will not have big problems for realizing – giving me a nice addition to the many standard box cars of the thirties.

Getting the well fitting models was not a big problem. One older 65’ mill gondola lay in a box at me with a few small damages. And I found a cheap brass mill gondola in Ebay because I would like to use two gondolas for realizing overlang loads.



This gondola is a very old plastic kit made by Eastern Car Works and is modelled after a Pennsy G-29 gondola. Unfortunately I never found correct PRR decals so now I own a model that was sold to the CNJ, years ago already. I must add a new brake wheel including the visible parts of the hand brake gear and I added correct 70 ton Bettendorf trucks made by Tahoe Model Works. Additional parts are brake levers and brake hoses and four new stirrups – and I lowered the model for 2 millimeter so I think I have got a nice model in a very short time.



This brass gondola – a model after a Bethlehem Steel gondola - did need a few more repairs and modifications. The biggest problem was that the stirrups were mounted too near to the trucks so that the movability of trucks was very limited and the model could run only on straight track.



And that was the brake gear! Wires clamped between rips and binders were going diagonally under the frame, the brake wheel was soldered to a slant glued mounting plate, the small chain of the brake gear was soldered behind the mounting plate and the stirrups were lose – and one of side walls were broken from the frame. Ok, the model was really a bargain!





These two pictures show rebuilt brake gear and air tubes around the three-way-valve and brake cylinder. And you can see how I must solve the problem with missing movability of trucks. The new truck centers are moved 2 millimeters (around 0.08”) to center of car so that the truck frame can free passing the stirrups. I think that this will be an acceptable solution.





And now? An Erie-Lackawanna gondola as addition to my 1930 train?
Also here the same problem; shortly I did not get decal sets for lettering in a 1930/40 pattern however I received this nice set of the EL. I studied a few pictures of EL mill gondolas and so I adapted the decals to my model and I think that it will look great – also together with my 40’ cars. What you not can see with a first view – also here I lowered the Frame around 1.5 millimeters (around 0.06”) so all these models are closer to the original cars.

Last I did need a third car for realizing the loading project with overlong bridge girders – an idler car.



I found this very short PRR F-22 flat which has a length of 30’ only. This is a very new and very nice brass model however with a very big problem, it did run extremely bad! Three such models in a train and I will need a helper!
More about modifying this model and about my second loading project will follow, I think tomorrow.