GN. Observation Johan Carlson

[Empirebuilder]

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....

[doctorwayne]

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

[Bigsteel]

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

[McGillicutty]

Nice tribute.

[cn nutbar]

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

[Empirebuilder]

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.

[Herc Driver]

Very very well done. My compliments!

[doctorwayne]

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

[Empirebuilder]

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?

[Ralph]

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

[doctorwayne]

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

[nkp_174]

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!