01-23-2009, 07:44 PM
Most folks here know that I'm selling off some of my trains in the Buy & Sell Forum because I want to place my layout more firmly in the 1930s-era. This involves not only replacing "modern" (1940s and '50s) rolling stock with older style cars and lettering schemes, but also updating cars that are remaining on the roster.
This is true for these stockcars, two of which were purchased recently as partially-built Proto2000 kits. The previous owners had not done a very good job on assembling these cars, both giving up, I suppose, due to broken parts and sloppy workmanship. Because of this, the price was right and I quickly grabbed them. While the body shells were soaking in paint remover, I had a look at the stock cars already on the roster, and decided that they could also benefit from a little makeover. All three had previously been upgraded with metal grabirons and sill steps, but I wasn't totally happy with their appearance, so into the stripper they went, too.
The first, 1306, is a Central Valley kit. With a radial roof, this car looks different from most plastic kits and also came with free-standing plastic ladders. I felt that the ladders stood out too far from the body, though, and so shortened their mounting tabs, then made some slight modifications to the grab irons. I also changed the set-up for placing lettering on the car, as I'm attempting to follow, for the most part, Canadian practices. This included spraying the lower sides of stock cars with lime, to act as a disinfectant. Of course, this soon covered the lettering, prompting most roads to alter their cars in a manner similar to what I've done, placing the lettering higher to avoid the spray. I used .020" thick styrene strips, in various widths, for the lettering boards, distressing them before installation by dragging the teeth of a razor saw along their length. I also transferred all of these cars from the ownership of the Grand Valley to that of parent-road Elora Gorge & Eastern, as my Grand Valley lettering was intended for hopper cars and is too large to fit on the boards. :oops:
1322, a Train Miniature car, got a more extensive makeover. The doors were too thick and stuck out too far, and the cast-on letter boards were in the wrong places. In addition, the draft angle cast into the edges of the boards made the openings between them appear too small. I used a drill bit in a pin vise to drill through all of the letter boards over the areas where there should have been spaces between the boards, then various blades in my X-Acto to remove all of the excess material. I also used a #11 blade to carve away most of the draft angles on the board edges, giving the car a slightly more open look. The doors were placed back-side down on some medium-grit sandpaper, then sanded to about half their original thickness. New letter boards are on the left end, while the herald is on an original cast-on panel, scribed and distressed to look more like individual boards.
1327 is one of the "new" cars. Originally started as a doubledeck car by the previous owner, heavy application of glue had messed-up the original doors, and some of the hardware was missing, too. Luckily, I had a pair of doors in the "Parts Department" for a single deck Proto2000 car, so this one was modified accordingly.
Car 1330 is my original Proto2000 stockcar, although it pre-dates the release of the Proto2000 kits. I picked it up at my LHS, from the "used" table. It was in a clear plastic bag, unlabelled and with no instructions or identifying material, a complete kit, but undecorated and with no trucks or couplers. It wasn't until the Proto2000 kits were released about a year later that I discovered its origins, as it is exactly the same in all respects. My guess is that it was a pre-production sample. This one already had the metal steps and grabirons, so modifications were made for the lettering boards, and the car was repainted, as shown:
The final car, the other "new" one, is also a double decker. The re-build was straightforward, as the original owner hadn't gotten too far along in the construction process, so nothing had really been ruined.
My only other EG&E stock car, an Athearn model, has already had these upgrades, although I've modelled it as it would have appeared in later years. Because the sprayed lime made such a mess, the railroads began painting the lower car sides white, and my car is, well,....rather white. I'll be doing a partial re-paint to make it a little less pristine-looking, and will also be adding some further weathering.
Wayne
This is true for these stockcars, two of which were purchased recently as partially-built Proto2000 kits. The previous owners had not done a very good job on assembling these cars, both giving up, I suppose, due to broken parts and sloppy workmanship. Because of this, the price was right and I quickly grabbed them. While the body shells were soaking in paint remover, I had a look at the stock cars already on the roster, and decided that they could also benefit from a little makeover. All three had previously been upgraded with metal grabirons and sill steps, but I wasn't totally happy with their appearance, so into the stripper they went, too.
The first, 1306, is a Central Valley kit. With a radial roof, this car looks different from most plastic kits and also came with free-standing plastic ladders. I felt that the ladders stood out too far from the body, though, and so shortened their mounting tabs, then made some slight modifications to the grab irons. I also changed the set-up for placing lettering on the car, as I'm attempting to follow, for the most part, Canadian practices. This included spraying the lower sides of stock cars with lime, to act as a disinfectant. Of course, this soon covered the lettering, prompting most roads to alter their cars in a manner similar to what I've done, placing the lettering higher to avoid the spray. I used .020" thick styrene strips, in various widths, for the lettering boards, distressing them before installation by dragging the teeth of a razor saw along their length. I also transferred all of these cars from the ownership of the Grand Valley to that of parent-road Elora Gorge & Eastern, as my Grand Valley lettering was intended for hopper cars and is too large to fit on the boards. :oops:
1322, a Train Miniature car, got a more extensive makeover. The doors were too thick and stuck out too far, and the cast-on letter boards were in the wrong places. In addition, the draft angle cast into the edges of the boards made the openings between them appear too small. I used a drill bit in a pin vise to drill through all of the letter boards over the areas where there should have been spaces between the boards, then various blades in my X-Acto to remove all of the excess material. I also used a #11 blade to carve away most of the draft angles on the board edges, giving the car a slightly more open look. The doors were placed back-side down on some medium-grit sandpaper, then sanded to about half their original thickness. New letter boards are on the left end, while the herald is on an original cast-on panel, scribed and distressed to look more like individual boards.
1327 is one of the "new" cars. Originally started as a doubledeck car by the previous owner, heavy application of glue had messed-up the original doors, and some of the hardware was missing, too. Luckily, I had a pair of doors in the "Parts Department" for a single deck Proto2000 car, so this one was modified accordingly.
Car 1330 is my original Proto2000 stockcar, although it pre-dates the release of the Proto2000 kits. I picked it up at my LHS, from the "used" table. It was in a clear plastic bag, unlabelled and with no instructions or identifying material, a complete kit, but undecorated and with no trucks or couplers. It wasn't until the Proto2000 kits were released about a year later that I discovered its origins, as it is exactly the same in all respects. My guess is that it was a pre-production sample. This one already had the metal steps and grabirons, so modifications were made for the lettering boards, and the car was repainted, as shown:
The final car, the other "new" one, is also a double decker. The re-build was straightforward, as the original owner hadn't gotten too far along in the construction process, so nothing had really been ruined.
My only other EG&E stock car, an Athearn model, has already had these upgrades, although I've modelled it as it would have appeared in later years. Because the sprayed lime made such a mess, the railroads began painting the lower car sides white, and my car is, well,....rather white. I'll be doing a partial re-paint to make it a little less pristine-looking, and will also be adding some further weathering.
Wayne
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