SOME FREIGHT CAR MODIFICATIONS...

[doctorwayne]

These TH&B flatcars were done before the Fowler cars, but the photos were somehow lost.  I used the nicely-done Tichy kits, one with 10 stake pockets per side...



...and two with 12 per side...






I also need some early TH&B gondolas, but they used mostly 36' cars, in both wood and steel versions, and I didn't feel like scratchbuilding them.  They did have ten 40'-ers, apparently acquired second hand in the early '50s, and because they were built in 1918, I've decided that they'll be "good enough" for my late '30s-era layout.
 
I started with Tichy flatcars again, and worked from prototype photos.

After building the basic flatcar, I sanded-off all details on the cars' sides (the stake pockets are separate parts, saved for possible future projects)...



...then cut some .030" black styrene for the cars' sides and marked one side for the side-stake positions.   Unfortunately, I used this photo (from the Sirman Collection) as reference to lay out the positions for the side stakes.... 



After adding Plastruct 1/16" zed-bar (somewhat oversize, but the smallest I could find), the car's side looked too "busy", and I belatedly realised that the real car had been modified more than merely to add those hinged doors, as there was an extra side-stake, in the form of channel stock. 
Unpleased with the results, but undeterred, I cemented the sides to one of the four flatcars, using pieces of Evergreen .060" angle to reinforce what would have been a weak joint at the side/floor joint, if secured only by the sidestakes.  That car was set aside, and I then turned to these other photos, also purchased from Keith Sirman's photo collection, to get a more accurate layout for the remaining cars' sides...





The photo below, with the car on its side, shows that angle at the junction of the floor and the side....



...while the narrow strip of white styrene (.010"x.040" strip from Everegreen) represents the vertical portion of what will be the top chord of the car's side.  The top ends of the zed-bracing are visible, too.

Here's the horizontal portion of the angular top chord installed, cut from .010"x.100" Evergreen strip...



Here's a side view of one of the cars...I darkened the camera view a bit to better show the Z-bracing, but the black/white contrast is still too great...



During construction, I took a break to visit the Ancaster Train Show, and was fortunate to find another unbuilt Tichy flatcar kit for only ten bucks - too good to resist, so here's the four cars in their current state....



The cars still need ends (I have a method in mind for creating them, which I'll show if it's successful), and there are some details to be added to make these cars a little less-plain.

Sharp-eyed observers will note that there are five cars in the photo above, as I decided to salvage the car from my first (failed) attempt.  I opted to make it into a cinder car for my own EG&E, but I'll try to follow the TH&B's general construction for the dump-doors and other details...





Naturally, since that fifth car will be totally freelanced, it will match exactly its real-world prototype, right down to the plastic construction and Kadee couplers.

Wayne