doctorwayne's New Years Resolution Challenge...

[sailormatlac]

Outstanding as usual!

"incorrect" you're too humble.

Matt

[jwb]

Dr Wayne, one detail you might want to investigate on cars marked for automobile service is the white stripes painted on the doors for cars that had racks. I've added this to several of mine:    
The racks had a more or less visible feature on their floors, pipes that held the chains when the racks were stowed:    
Cars that didn't have racks didn't have the stripes. Some 40 foot cars in particular were converted away from auto service during the Depression, so they either didn't get racks at all or had them removed. Other 50 foot cars in auto parts service had specialized wooden structures inside, but not racks, so they didn't have stripes. Some auto cars that did carry autos had wooden double-deck supports inside, but also not racks, so you more or less have to seek out each prototype. By the mid-50s, auto traffic had almost completely left the rails, so you didn't see the white stripes after that -- 50 foot cars had become popular for lumber shipments by then, anyhow. But my guess is that your SP car marked for auto service may well have had racks and thus the stripes on the doors.

I notice, inspired by your work, that I need to replace the cast on stirrups on my MKT car with A-Line and also it needs some weathering.

[Steamtrains]

Beautiful work....
Your attention to the "unseen" details really brings these cars to life....

[doctorwayne]

....one detail you might want to investigate on cars marked for automobile service is the white stripes painted on the doors for cars that had racks. I've added this to several of mine.
The racks had a more or less visible feature on their floors, pipes that held the chains when the racks were stowed....

My Espee car is a bit of a stand-in: when I did the original modifications some years ago (metal grabirons and sill steps, thinned roofwalk with homemade corner grabs on the laterals, and door 'claws' removed) it was mainly because it was the only car I had which sported the attractive SP herald. Unfortunately, that factory-painted car had been weathered with a spray can (and a heavy hand :oops: ) so I decided to also strip it down and re-paint and re-letter it. I used C-D-S dry transfers and, at the time, was not too concerned with BLT dates and other such nuances of lettering. While doing this recent make-over, I noticed that the lettering showed a BLT date of 8-50, much too new for a late '30s layout, so I used a #11 blade to change the '5' to a '3'. This made it a car design well-ahead of its time and incorrect on a number of counts.

However, your suggestion prompted me to re-examine my freight car book, and of the nine cars shown with a white stripe on the door, only two were built pre-'40s. However, one of these is an SP car (I hadn't even looked for a similar car in the book, as I was of the opinion that the car was too modern and was willing to accept it as a stand-in. The photo shows both the stripe and the pipes, and with a BLT date of late 1936, fits well into my chosen era. So, this car will be going back into the shops: in addition to door stripes and storage tubes (easy additions), I'll need to change the built date, the re-weigh date (which is currently 2-38, about a year too early), and the car numbers completely, as the number series should be 69530 to 70029 (only five digits). Actually, almost all of the lettering to the left of the doors is incorrect, too. This may take a while, and I'll have to decide which compromises are acceptable.
Thanks for the suggestion on the stripe and loader equipment - it should lead to an improved car on several counts.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

I managed to catch up with some of the other cars shown in the first post. These are old Train Miniature cars with a few added details, plus new paint and lettering.

I caught L&N 12506 on a train rolling west through Lowbanks (lettering is Champ decals):



...and coupled to it was Big Four 57626 (C-D-S dry transfers):



I had to go all the way to Dunnville to see AT&SF 122902, shown here at Airline Junction (lettered with Champ decals). Note the Dalman 2-level trucks:



...also at Dunnville was Michigan Central 61769 (C-D-S dry transfers). By the time of her next scheduled re-weighing in March of 1938, she'll have been re-built, either as a steel automobile car or as a steel boxcar, with single doors.



Just a little way down the line, and still in Dunnville, M&StL 18502 was spotted at National Grocers (Champ decals):



My train back to Lowbanks was held up in South Cayuga, waiting for a connecting train, so I had time to take a stroll south of the station to grab this shot of D&RGW 66989 (lettering is a combination of two different C-D-S sets):




Wayne

[faraway]

Beautiful brown boxcars. I like your light weathering.

[sailormatlac]

Excellent work as always. I second Faraway's statement, your light weathering is just enough to bring them to life. Those Train Miniature outside braced boxcars really stand out once upgraded.

Matt

[Tyson Rayles]

Awesome cars!

[doctorwayne]

Just to let you know that I haven't been frittering away my time for the past month, here's a photo of some of those older cars, already on the layout for some time, that needed brake gear. The details have been added and they're ready for paint:



Painted today, the cars are back on the layout - most have been seen previously, so I won't bore you with more views of them.

I've also been working on a car not included in my original Challenge plans, a tank car built around a Varney tank picked-up at a train show last Fall. The price was right (free) , so I couldn't resist. Here's the tank, along with a Tichy underframe that I'm also going to use:


The tank was too long for the frame, so I lopped-off a couple of scale feet with a razor saw:


Then, after re-assembling the pieces, I built the frame, adding the brake gear:


...and some trucks:


...and it was ready for the paint shop:


A couple of the other cars mentioned at the beginning of this thread are also in the painting stage, but I'll save photos of them until they're further along - this includes that Espee car that needed a little more work.

Up next, back-dating the eight Athearn boxcars for the EG&E.

Wayne

[modelsof1900]

...

Doc, thanks for this and all other pictures - showing one of seldem added pipe of brake system; the connecton from trainline to triple valve and inserting the dust collector. A nearby complete brake.
(Sorry, I'm missing the thin tube to retainer valve?
However this is a part modeled only by very, very crazy guys, like I will be one. Your models are excellent built also without this wire.)

[sailormatlac]

Inspiring as always. Very creative use of an old cheap car. If you were a chemist, you would be a true Lavoisier's disciple! ;-)

Matt

[Tyson Rayles]

Nice work Doc!

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

You're correct, Bernhard, no retainer line and no release handles either. I have included the retainer pipe on the ends of some boxcars, but they don't connect to anything under the car.


...likewise with this caboose, with the retainer pipe terminating at the end sill :oops: :



I did, however, include the release rods on it :



On the layout, the stuff which hangs down below the car (brake rigging) is what's most visible, and even then, I'm usually the only one who sees it. It may become more noticeable to others if I ever get around to adding that second level to the layout, but most visitors are too decrepit to easily stoop down for an eye-level view. I wouldn't even think of attempting the extraordinary level of detail which you achieve, especially as I'd have to duplicate it on 300 cars or so.

Wayne

[modelsof1900]

Doc, wunderful details at these cars again!

[doctorwayne]

Finally got the tank car finished. The paint is Floquil, while the decals are from Black Cat.



I have another three cars nearing completion, including the Espee boxcar which needed a couple of "adjustments", the Southern Su-class boxcar, and that yellow MDC old-time reefer shown in the sixth photo on page one of this thread. For some reason, I forgot to take early in-progress shots of this latter car - it may have been because, whilst removing the too-old-style board roof, I ran into a little difficulty.
The trouble was, as usual, of my own making : I cut around the edges of the roof from inside the car, using my X-Acto. This left only a thin remnant around the perimeter at the top of the car's sides and ends. Flipping the car body upside-down, I placed it atop a sheet of sandpaper, face-up on my workbench. A few passes of the car back-and-forth over the sandpaper made short work of the last bits of the roof....and the first bits of the fascia strip around the top of the sides and ends.
I carefully sanded away the rest of the fascia, then made a new one using strip styrene. Here's the reefer with the new fascia installed and the cast-on grabirons replace with metal ones. These were bent to fit, as they're wider than usual.



The new roof, built-up from sheet and strip styrene, represents a Hutchins "Dry Lading" type - basically sheet metal over wood, secured with battens. I also added hatch platforms, built-up board-by-board with pre-distressed strip styrene. The hatches are from Accurail, left over from some EG&E reefers built last year.



Here's the MDC metal underframe. I added a styrene centre sill and also used the kit-supplied queenposts. The turnbuckles are from Tichy (covered with masking tape here). I used clear monofilament fishing line for the truss rods, and installed it as a single piece. After the paint and weathering have been applied, the tape will be removed and the turnbuckles touched-up using a brush. The clear line running through them should make their centres appear to be open.



This is the top side of the car's floor. The two bits of grey sprue have the ends of the monofilament line tied around them and then glued with ca. The white bits of strip styrene are then slipped under the line where it loops over the floor to reach the next location - the loop is lifted, then the strips inserted - this puts tension on the lines beneath the car, drawing them tight. The strips are left un-glued - should the line become slack with the passage of time, it's a simple matter to take the body shell off and insert additional spacers.





This car, along with that Espee automobile boxcar and the Southern Su car, will next be seen when they're in service. I've also started on the eight Athearn boxcar rebuilds, although it's very doubtful they'll be done before the Challenge time is finished. :cry:

Wayne