Coulda, shoulda, woulda...

[doctorwayne]

...entered the EOY Challenge, but I didn't take any in-progress pictures. However, I did think about entering, and it prompted me to finish some small projects that had been put aside for too long.

One was to finish some vehicles that had been sitting around. Most were picked up "used", but there were a couple of kits, too.
The one on the left, below, is a pre-owned, but un-built, Wheel Works soft metal kit - it was missing one of the side stake sections, so I fabricated a new one from styrene. I didn't enjoy building this one - the fit wasn't great, but even worse, the parts were easily deformed during assembly.
The one on the right, used and pre-assembled, is of unknown origin. It came with a crude dump body, which was discarded. I fabricated a new bed and stake body, and added a gas tank and steering wheel, along with the bench "seat".


Here's the Wheel Works Model AA, picking up some washing machines from Coffield Washer:


...and the smaller Model A, loading bagged plaster at one of Wagner Lumber's sheds:


The next two are Jordan Miniatures kits, which had been sitting on my shelf for some time. The picture below shows two identical kits which had been previously built, along with the parts from the two under construction:


The tank truck cab and chassis was used to construct this small dump truck:


...and the wagon was modified to accept the truck's tank. Shown below, in its Hoffentoth Bros. livery, it's delivering kerosene at the South Cayuga station, under contract to the railroad:


This one, not yet completely painted, started life as a Roco military vehicle. I bought it used, removing the "canvas" top and military-style box, then fabricated a new styrene bed and a moving van-style body:


I also added a frame-mounted fuel tank, mirrors (leftover parts from a Sylvan truck kit), and fabricated new headlights (one of the originals was missing, and it was easier to make two new ones than try to match the existing one):


I also had some freight cars to finish. The first, a Tichy wheel car, was divvied-up, with the wheels becoming removeable (as single units) gondola loads:








Since I already have plenty of more modern-style flatcars in revenue service, I decided to convert the Tichy flatcar into a low-sided gondola, for work train service:


The new, removeable sides were made with a single styrene 2"x12" (distressed with woodgrain and knotholes), with 4"x4" stakes. To obtain a good fit in the stake pockets, yet still leave the sides removeable, shop workers cut wedges from scale 2"x2" strip styrene, then hammered them into place, securing them with solvent-type cement. Since each piece was assembled in-place, they're not necessarily interchangeable. I used dry transfer dimensional data to label each, on its inside face, with the proper location for installation:


When I went to pick up my long-desired carbon black covered hopper (currently under construction), I was fortunate to discover the load shown below. I had seen these reviewed some years ago, but they never made it to any of the local LHSs.
It's from J.J.M. Railroad Enterprises, and the kit consists of 80 styrene automobile frames, plus some info on common loading methods. These were commonly seen during the late '40s and throughout the '50s, and, at least on my layout, in the late '30s. While they can be assembled in piles for flatcar loading, I opted for the vertical style and used the Accurail AAR 1941 gondola - its higher sides make it more suitable than the Proto or Athearn versions, although the shorter car can accommodate only 70 frames. (They also fit into the Intermountain composite drop-bottom gondola.) I built the load to be removeable as a unit, with the scratchbuilt A-frame support and the floor blocking as a separate, but also removeable, unit.

Here's the load:


...and the A-frame and styrene floor blocking (the upper part of the A-frame still needs to be airbrushed - I brush painted the lower section and the interior, as the structural shapes leave lots of areas that an airbrush might miss):


...and the loaded car:


I also built a second A-frame, to use for an empty car:


Because this is an excess height load, it's very restricted on the layout, and will move only as a through (interchange) car from the as-yet-unbuilt second level to the south end staging yard. It won't fit through the Speed River area tunnel (preventing its use at all on Erie Northshore trackage), nor under the bridge over the wye at Airline Junction.

Another project was to alter the track layout at the Erie Northshore's Lowbanks shops. The original set-up had a #2.5 wye turnout to split the tracks entering the main building. Access to this was off the turntable (out of the frame, to the bottom, in the photo below), as I originally felt it would give a better appearance to the flow of the track. However, the sharp reverse curve in the right-hand track resulted in it being un-useable for all but handcar storage, as shown below:


I removed all of the locos and removeable details, then sprayed the area with "wet" water, saturating the "cinder" ground cover. I didn't think to take in-progress photos, but a scraper easily removed the softened material. The rail joints and feeder wires were then unsoldered, and the wye turnout and adjoining track were lifted, with the aid of the scraper.
I cut some flex track to roughly fit, using Atlas rail joiners (cut in half, making two shorter ones) and track spikes to affix everything in place. The ends overhanging the turntable pit were then trimmed to length with a cut-off disc. After soldering the rail joiners and adding any needed feeder wires, I applied new groundcover (Woodland Scenics "Cinders"), using dilute white glue to hold it in place:


The new arrangement allows all of my locos, even the larger ones, to negotiate that track, although only Moguls or Ten Wheelers will fit into that stall due to a staircase at the far end of the track.

I may be adding more to this thread, at least until the Challenge deadline arrives.

Wayne

[e-paw]

Beautiful work as always . I find that track improvements are a constant on going process, no matter how much planning goes into a track plan, you always find a spot that can be tweaked a little.

[MasonJar]

Wayne,

That's a very nice lot of work you got done there!

Any one of those would have made a good EOY project. I'd suggest that the vehicle kits are probably eligible... although then I'd have to get on and do mine as per my own EOY attempt.

Andrew

[P5se Camelback]

A pair of dividers/calipers, a well-used pin vise, a re-purposed Testors liquid model cement bottle with applicator in the lid (also well-used to the point of paint being worn off,) an AB brake system air reservoir being plumbed, the ever-present, constantly used micro drill stand, the all-important NMRA Clearance Gauge and a lovely little Durango Press hand car taking a well-deserved break from all the action and turmoil around its neighborhood around the turntable …

… I’ve gotten to where I enjoy the bits in the background almost as much as the “stars” up front in the spotlight! There’s so much to look at, it takes me forever to take it all in before I can move on to the next image!

Did anyone else notice that the Hoffentoth Brothers use a Clydesdale as their preferred draught horse? Why am I not surprised?

Thanks, doctorwayne, for the enjoyable hunt for all the “hidden” cool stuff!

[rrinker]

Auto frames were also carried stacked flat on flat cars. Then they won't be oversized loads. We have a whole train of them on the RCT&HS modular layout, since one end of the layout is the Dana/Parrish frame plant that used to be in Reading.

--Randy

[nachoman]

Nice work on those enginehouse leads. Is that Code83 rail on those? On one layout I took the code 83 track, and cut the ties apart, removed about 1/4 of them, and then re-spaced the ties. I used the modified track for yard and industrial tracks, and thought the results were worth it. Of course, code 70 or 55 rail would have looked better.

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.
BiL, there are actually two horses in that picture (count the legs) but Jordan seemingly cast all eight (for the Budweiser wagon) exactly the same.


While I painted some as Clydesdales, others became dapple grey Percherons - the smaller horse, below, is from another Jordan wagon similar to the one used for the tank wagon. When I was a kid, the dairy that delivered our milk used dapple greys on all their wagons.


Randy, the instructions for the auto frames showed tie-down methods for flatcar loads, too, but the ones I saw in the '50s were all loaded vertically in gondolas. Since I'm not modelling either the frame plant or the auto assembly end of things, this load makes a good "through" load to bulk-out trains. The under-construction carbon black car will be in the same category. I also have a lot of automobile boxcars in service - some will be "just passing through", but many will be moving machinery, appliances, and other bulky, but relatively light, merchandise.

Kevin, yeah, that's just Atlas code 83 track, the same as the rest of the layout. When I re-ballasted the area, I covered over the ends of the ties to provide a more level surface for the LPBs, but I'm not sure I like it. I've since added some oil spills alongside the tracks, too, and am waiting for it to look acceptable.
I'm toying with the thought of using Central Valley tie strips for the second level of the layout, especially for turnouts - this would allow me to make the frog, points, and closure rails as complete units, giving the benefits of hand-laid with the detail of r-t-r. It would still be in code 83, although I've got some code 70 that I'll try for sidings. Their branchline tie strips offer wider spacing and irregular ends, too.

Wayne

[Herc Driver]

Wonderful work!

The attention to detail is always amazing, and inspiring to see.

[Gary S]

It's always nice to see photos of DocWayne's layout and work, and here we have lots of 'em with lots of variety. I always enjoy the vehicles, you do such a great job on them. The horse-drawn wagon tanker is cool too. And the layout is such a great place to show off your fine models.

On the Atlas code 83 flex, I always cut out some ties and then change the spacing a bit by cutting alot of the interconnections between the ties and moving them around. On a 3 foot piece, I remove around 8 or 10 ties total. It can get prety boring after having done 20 or 30 pieces.

[cn nutbar]

Hi Doc---seeing is believing---when we were talking on the phone last week I was trying to envision all the details as you explained your current projects.At that time I could only imagine how well they turned out but these pictures really made an impact---outstanding on all fronts

[Sumpter250]

...and the wagon was modified to accept the truck's tank. Shown below, in its Hoffentoth Bros. livery, it's delivering kerosene at the South Cayuga station, under contract to the railroad:

"Spider horse, spider horse, like a spider, hauls more of course"

[Charlie B]

GERN Flux in the feed ....100% more legs.

[P5se Camelback]

Uh, Oh! So sorry, doctorwayne!

I just counted the head and figured it was typical Hoffentoth ... some kind of a mutant ... or maybe one of those rural medical experiments (commonly known as a "kit bashoptomy") carried out by the local veterinarian, rumored by many to be a distant, very closely related Hoffentoth cousin, only slightly removed (to the next room.)

I like the big dapple greys, I can visuallize them pulling the neighborhood milk wagon! Our milkman, when I was a little kid in Philadelphia, had a brown horse with a black mane and tail, wearing big black leather "blinders," that slowly walked down the block, hauling the milk wagon (which was upgraded with pneumatic rubber tires) behind him, while the milkman went back and forth, delivering fresh full bottles of milk to the doorstep and bringing the empties (set out the night before) back to the wagon and, once again filling his wire basket with fresh bottles for the next house. (In the winter, the cardstock disk bottle top would be sitting an inch above the bottle on a column of frozen cream!)

The horse always just kept going until he got to the corner. There he would stop, and wait for the milkman to get back up in the wagon and give him a "chik-chik" and a "slap on the back" with the reins ... then he'd cross the street to the next block. Every day, same thing.

Those were the days!

[doctorwayne]

Here are some more from my backlog of stuff that needed to be done. First up is the carbon black covered hopper from the Rail Shop. It still needs paint and lettering, but I'm waiting for some Kadee #178 couplers so that I can add cut levers:


...and a poorly-focused view of the "B" end:


This is a Stewart 55 ton fishbelly side-sill hopper that's been in service on the layout for some time. I never cared for the cast-on sill steps and thought the ladders were too heavy, too. I replaced the ladders with thinned ones from Tichy, then added A-Line steps and some wire grabirons.




Still to be done are the slope sheet braces, then some touch-up for the paint. I have a couple more of these that will get the same treatment and a couple of Varney hoppers, too.
Another car that was "done" and in service is this Intermountain reefer. MDT used this white paint scheme (only some cars got the sill stripes) in the '30s, then changed to a yellow/orange for a time, then back to the white in the late '40s. The earlier version had black hardware, while the later ones had hardware the same colour as the car.
Here's an earlier view:


...and after a bit of brush work. I still need to change that 1947 re-weigh date.


I have a few more odds 'n' ends to tie up, then it'll be time to catch up on painting.

Wayne

[iis612]

I love those frame racks. The PM used massive amounts of those racks.
They also loaded onto flats, but far fewer. I have been trying to scratchbuild a flatcar binder system for loading frames. Do you have more pics of the racks?

Matt