Latest project....

[doctorwayne]

....well, more like one of many, but this one's the one on which I'm currently working.

Some years ago (September, 2002 to be exact), I read an interesting article in RMC, showing how to convert an Accurail 2-bay USRA hopper into a reasonable representation of the TH&B's channel-side hoppers.  It was written by a fellow Hamiltonian whom I knew by-name, but had never met.
I thought his starting point using the USRA hopper to be rather unusual, as Stewart (now Bowser) already offered a channel-side hopper, so I promptly bought a pair of them. 
I mostly followed the article (nine pages, and lots of photos of the real ones and of the models, too) and when they were done, I took one to a hobbyshop which I frequented (as did the author), and left it for his assessment of my work.
A week-or-so later, I returned to the store, and learned that he had pronounced it to be "nicely done"....but noted that the grabiron-style ladders at the car's corners were incorrect - on the real cars, the corner ladders were done as grabirons, with the side one comprised of a drop-type grabiron on the bottom, and 4 straight ones above that.  On the adjacent end, the counterpart of the drop-grab on the side was the car's endsill, while the next two steps were drop-style grabs, and then two straight ones at the top.
I had used the proper corresponding styles on my version, but had installed them with the mounting points level with those on the side of the car, whereas, to be correct, the step portions of the grabirons were to be at the same level as those on the side.
Half-embarrassed by my mistake, and half-pleased that it otherwise was "nicely done", I rushed home to correct the errors.
A couple or three weeks ago, I happened onto the same issue of RMC, and as I read and re-read the how-to and pored over the photos, I realised that there were still other mistakes which needed to be addressed...well, they bugged me enough that I decided that they should be corrected.

Here's one of the two originals after its initial update...

   

   

I first went to work correcting further mistakes on the two originals, but neglected to take in-progress photos.  In the meantime, I purchased another six cars, two of them r-t-r in TH&B paint and lettering (albeit both with the same car number), and four undecorated ones.
Furthermore, on re-reading the write-up in RMC, I learned that the original real cars were built in 1914 (at National Steel Car, a Hamilton, Ontario company), and extensively re-built in in the early 1930s with new sides (a prototype photo shows one with slope sheets and hoppers intact, but no sides or ends).
Then, in 1943, the railroad started a project to convert all 150 cars to AB brakes.  That program finished in August of 1945.
When I built the first two cars all those years ago, I wasn't too concerned with the re-weigh dates, which were in the '40s, but when I backdated my layout to the "late '30s-era", the dates became more of an issue.
That resulted in the rebuilt cars being somewhat out-of-whack with the rest of the layout. 

I don't really want to move the layout into the '40s, but I am re-building the hoppers as if they represent the real ones in the period between 1943-45.  Therefore, some will have AB-type brakes (the two re-done originals, plus the two r-t-r ones lettered for TH&B - one with its number changed, along with one of the undecorated cars.

The remaining three undecorated cars are being modified to represent cars not-yet with AB brakes, so they'll have the original K-type brakes (split, somewhat similar to Westinghouse K-D type brakes...but basically created using regular K-C brakes, which had the cylinder, reservoir, and AB valve all in a single unit) and older style grabiron ladders, along with stem-winder brake gear. 

There are another four undecorated cars to be done, too, but they're currently trapped south of the border, where a good friend has them for safekeeping.  As I make the parts for the ones on-hand, I also set aside copies for those other four cars, lest I forget how I made the parts when I finally have those cars here.  They'll be re-done to represent cars not yet updated with AB brakes.

Here are some in-progress photos, showing one of the two r-t-r cars -

   

   

   

...the porcupine-look, with the styrene rod sticking out all over the place, was used to plug holes where grabirons had been removed or where I had drilled holes in the wrong places - the rod is .020" in diameter, so I drilled-out the smaller holes to about .016", then dipped the end of the rod material into MEK for a few seconds, to soften the plastic, then forced it into the smaller hole.  I had to do a lot of such plugging, as lots of holes were in the wrong places originally.

The photos below are of one of the two original cars (the end sill is mounted slightly higher than on the newer cars, as Bowser modified the newer ones slightly)- the two originals were the most difficult to correct, and will have to remain somewhat different from the other 10, although they're at least closer to "correct" than they've ever been...


Here's the A-end...

   

...B-end...

   

...and a side view...

   

This is the A-end of one of the two r-t-r cars, with the end sill more like it should be...

   

...and the B-end...

   

...and a side view...

   

Here's the A-end of the undecorated car that will have the AB-type brakes, too...

   

...the B-end...

   

...and a side view...

   

I'm guessing that I'm about to exceed the attachment limit, so will continue in the next post...

[doctorwayne]

...continued...

Here's the A-end of one of the undecorated cars which will represent the ones not yet upgraded to AB brakes....

   

...and the B-end...

   

...and a side view...

   


Note how on these older-style cars, the end ladders made from grabirons are the same for both ends, while the updated cars in the previous post have similar ladders on their A-ends, but different ones on the B-ends.

There's still a lot of detail work to be done on all of these cars, as none have fully-completed brake gear yet, and there are gusset plates which need to be added to four points on the sides of each car.   At the B-ends of all cars, the brake-release rods will be mounted through those gusset plates on both sides of each car. 
All cars will get some added rivet detail, too, mostly on those white gusset plates on the top of the structural steel on the car ends, which hold the slope sheets in place. 
I've already added cut-out sheet lead on the top face of the cars' slope sheets, as the cars with plastic trucks and stock steel weights weigh only a couple of ounces.  When loaded (live loads), they should be around 8oz. each, which will require doubleheading any trains travelling to the upper level.

All of the cars not updated with AB brakes rode on archbar trucks (I'll need to get some for those four other cars), but did get cast steel ones when upgraded.  Some of these 1914-built cars were still in revenue service in 1966, and some were later modified for company service.  I should also note that these were 65 ton-capacity cars when built.

I'll add more to this thread as I accomplish it (don't hold your breath, though, as I've been recruited to build another work desk for one of my daughters).

Wayne

[JaBear]

A fine example of "The Slippery Slope" in action!!!
 
Cheers, the Bear

[Schraddel]

Wayne,

yes you did it

Sometimes certain, seemingly finished, projects awake to a new life. A couple of years these pretendently terminated pieces are resting, rolling on your layout and then: boom! New references, new skills , new aquired skills or other will trigger a revival activity with this object.
Wayne you are not the only one which has expierenced this, but i adore you for your skills and your persistence to get the things at least right.


Lutz

[cn nutbar]

Wayne---I have always been amazed at your attention to detail---these cars as well as all your other works of art belong in the "Model Railroad Hall of Fame".

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.  I hope that the finished cars will live up to my expectations.

Wayne

[cn nutbar]

Doc---there's always room on the Leetown Division for any "rejects"

[doctorwayne]

I appreciate the offer, Ed, but I do question how much room is really available - after all, hopper cars on the roofs of structures, or filling the turntable pit, or even worse, at Christopher's Landing, alongside the Anne Marie in the water, aren't going to look all-that-prototypical.

Wayne

[Charlie B]

Now I see what you are doing. I know there are more to come.   Great but tedious work.
Charlie

[ngauger]

They look great!!!  Your detail work is always fascinating to look at. 

[Tyson Rayles]

   

[tompm]

The detail is always amazing.

[doctorwayne]

Thanks again, guys.

It's probably not all that interesting for viewers, as there's a lot of duplication, but I'm hoping that the photos will become slightly more interesting once all of the details have been added.

Of course, once the cars are painted and lettered, most of the details will be unnoticeable, due to the black paint. 

Part of my reason for starting this thread is because of my connections to the TH&B.  The first six years of my life were spent with the TH&B (along with part-owners CPR and NYC) trains passing right by our front porch on an elevated right-of-way close to downtown Hamilton, Ontario.  There was a steel water tower just down the street, and the TH&B's main station and headquarters were on the next block west.
 
After that, we moved to the city's east end, where the TH&B was not visible, but still only a block away.  After that, we moved to the west "Mountain" (actual a continuation of the Niagara Escarpment, but it's been known as "the Mountain" in Hamilton pretty-much forever).  There, the TH&B wasn't visible, but a 5 minute bike ride would take us to the edge of the Escarpment, where there was a clear view of the TH&B's Aberdeen Yard.  We often took along a telescope, and that's where and how I learned that Hamilton, as Canada's most industrialised city, could host freight cars from pretty-well any common carrier railroad in North America.
Later in life, that knowledge lead to the diverse range of road names on freight cars, from all over the continent, on my layout.

After marriage, my wife and I moved down to the lower city, towards the east end, but not as far east as the previous east-end home.  There, we were only a couple of blocks from the TH&B again.

The next move was to Stoney Creek, once a town of its own, but now a part of Hamilton.  Stoney Creek is where the TH&B begins in-earnest its ascent to the top of the Escarpment, although those tracks weren't all that close-by.
We later moved out in the boondocks, on the escarpment, but probably 20 miles west of the TH&B tracks and not near any other railroads either.
That lasted only for a year or so, and the next move was to rural Grimsby, atop the Escarpment, but not overlooking it.  That house was on high ground, and it was easy to see TH&B trains, having gained the Escarpment, passing in the distance on their way to Smithville and later Welland, Ontario, and then on to Buffalo, New York.

We later moved down the "Mountain" into the town of Grimsby...no where near the TH&B, but pretty close (a couple of blocks north) of the CNR line which runs between Niagara Falls and Hamilton. 
Several years later, we moved to our current location, again only two blocks from the CNR, but this time we're two blocks south of the CN line.

I can, with a drive of ten minutes-or-so, catch the TH&B as it passes through Smithville, Ontario, so, even though it's no longer known as the TH&B, it's still a part of me.

I figured that if I was going to present some boring photos, it would be only appropriate that I also include some boring background info, too.  

Wayne

[RailCop]

Wayne.................................................................you need to drink more beer!

[UP SD40-2]

Wayne, absolutely love the cars, and really loved the background parts of your life, thanks so much for sharing that   . Knowing some of the work you have done, after reading your last post it really brought things together, made a lot of sense.