Workshop Wednesday

Worked on my underframe more:


Added A-line stirrups, though I got some crooked. I threaded Tichy turnbuckles onto monofilament fishing line for the trussrods (not for the faint of heart or vision).
Correct size wood as stiffener (former bamboo window blind) and lead weights:



Now I just have to wait for the weather to warm up before I can paint the underframe:

 

Can't stop. Built two more old time kits. Threaded monofilament and added turnbuckles.

Put some scrap sprue under the line to tighten it up a bit:

Tried Kadee 148s:

Reefer Madness!

 

Gary:

OH... and about those MDC OT cars... they're addictive, too! Or have you discovered that already? After inventory, my MDC section read thus:

* 7 NIB reefers.

* 1 NIB cattle car

*8 Reefers weathered and RTR

* 21 frames w/trucks, beams, and trussrods installed.

* 11 Undec Boxcar shells. No doors on many. Have good supply of MDC doors in parts drawers.

* 3 Various reefer shells

* 6 Frames w/scratcbuilt gondola bodies. Lettered and weathered. Need plastic wheels replaced w/steel.

* 4 Frames w/scratchbuilt gondola bodies. Undec. Need paint/decals/weathered and plastic wheels replaced w/steel.

* 3 Shortened cabeese lettered for BM&N. If insufficient sentimental value, could possibly be re-purposed via repainted/re-lettered.

Seeing as I will be modeling the late 1880s (but I COULD move that to 1890 or so), I have on hand all the MDC OT rolling stock I'll need.

Truss Rods:

Either using the thread provided or monofiliment:

I use a strip of Scotch tape to hold the original end, then using one long piece, I thread the string/mono. I've learned to NOT put the thread/mono atop the queen posts during this process. Let the thread/mono lay alongside at the base of the queen posts, keeping out the slack as you go. Once threaded and pulled taut, I secure the end piece with a strip of Scotch tape. If I'm satisfied with the tension on the underside (doesn't have to be ultra taut, just nicely snug), I secure from the topside (floor) with ACC at each truss frame hole. When the ACC's dry, on the underside I use tweezers to lift the thread/mono and place it atop each queen post. The result will be the thread/mono will be tight as Dick's hat band. If I've used turnbuckles, I center them, and touch them with ACC to hold in place.

Just about took longer to type that than it does to install the truss thread/mono using this method.

All fer now!

Andre

 

Speaking of MDC OT stuff...

Here's a pic of a couple of those scratch-bashed gons I mentioned in my above post:



And some chopped down MDC OT cabeese:




All of the above was made over 30 years ago when I was developing my Black Mountain & Eastern proto/free lanced theme. The BM&N theme never got a stick of rail laid for it. I always wienie'd out and stayed with my diesel layouts. (With my new dual-era concept, now I can enjoy both era's!)

Note that the BM&N gon above has led a rough life. (Some bent hand grabs, etc.) Also note on the SLSF gon that I saved some time by using sections of MDC ladder... a time saving move I didn't repeat. Just doesn't look as good as the individual grabs. I also note that my knowledge base has increased since my Frisco gon was created. I know now that to better reflect my era choice, that Frisco gon should have reporting marks that read: St.L&SF, not SL SF.

Haven't decided the fate of the BM&N cabeese. Don't know whether I'll strip 'em and repaint into my new Ozark(s) & Southern proto/free lance theme, or just save them for sentimental reasons and eventually build new ones for the O&S.

All fer now!

Andre

 

Those are nice looking Andre.

 

Well, thankee, Steve!

The BM&N stuff I modeled was more aimed at the early 1900s, thus being products of the late 1880s or early 1890s, they're in a bit more "used" condition to reflect 1900-something. You can see from the closer pic of that BM&N gon that I modeled it as quite used:



Since my BM&N years of modeling (the mid-late 1980s into the early 1990s), my appreciation for TOC19 has migrated further back, and now I will be modeling the late 1880s. Thus, I may not even be able to use my BM&N stuff, for it would be too weathered and beat up to represent what should be "new" 36' equipment in the late 1880s.

All fer now!

Andre

 

Indeed, great work Andre. Those gondolas would look right at home on the Crawford and Cherokee. Let me know if they ever need a home....even temporarily. You may have seen Jim's work make appearances, as well as that of Keith Robinson. Hey, I would even give them back if you wanted.

-Bob T.

 

Andre I am a fan of "used" and "quite used"!

 

Thanks Jim.

Bob:

Thanks for the compliments. I don't know if I could part with my old stuff... there are some very good memories attached to them. Ironically, I have four unpainted gons like the above... but I think I've already distressed the side boards to reflect wear and hard use for as I recall they were "ready for paint". That reminds me, once I post this I think I'll go out and check those unpainted gons, but I'm almost certain I'm remembering correctly.

Steve:

Yeah... I've noticed that! And an excellent job you do at it, too!

Andre

 

Yup...

The side boards on the unpainted gons are already distressed. Darn. There's a lot of work in those. Oh, and the previously white styrene has yellowed with age!! Upside: The cheap ACC I used to assemble the styrene to the cast metal MDC underframes is still holding strong!

Oh well. It's not like I don't have enough MDC 36' frames (21 of 'em!) if I decide I want to build some "new" looking gons!

Andre

 

Today I bought a pack of trees and three bags of ballast, two buff color and one bag of medium brown. Will use them on my diorama and layout.

Joe

 

Hi Joe:

What company made the trees?

Andre

 

Andre, the trees are from JTT Scenery Products and their website is...

www.sceneryproducts.com

The box is marked...

Wood Edge Trees, Fall Mix,
Nine pack, 3 to 3 1/2 inches.

I bought them from Hobby Lobby, be sure to check out discount coupons. The one I had was 50% off.

Joe

 

Thanks Joe. I'll have to try to swing by Hobby Lobby in Fort Smith and check all this out!

Andre

 

Hobby Lobby has three types of trees,

1. Green
2. Fall Mix
3. Winter (no leaves)

Joe

 

Yes.

Thanks for the tips. I used tape on my scratchbuilt one, but didn't ACC it down. I did pull it snug and then lift onto the queenposts. For the others, I followed doctorwayne's tips here, but I think your way is better. I'll try it--I was working on even more old time kits tonight...

 

E's hooked! 'E's HOOKED I tell 'ye!

As for me, I just learned tonight via a TOC19 forum I frequent, that in the prototype world, there basically weren't any 36' cars to speak of in the late 1880s. The general prototypes for the MDC cars are more from the mid-1890s into the early 1900s. HMMmmmmm. Now don't that knock yer hat in the creek.

Andre

 

There is a gentleman named Dave Husman who frequently posts on some other forums that I visit, and I believe he is modeling 1905. He is very knowledgeable about railroading in the TOC19 period, including Timetable/Train Order, motive power, and rolling stock. He posts a couple of times in this thread about TOC19 rolling stock:

For example the MDC/Roundhouse 36 ft boxcar is the defacto "old time boxcar" probably because the model has been in production since the 1960's. The irony is ithat the 36 ft car is more of an 1890's-1910 car (prior to that the 34 ft car was standard and after that the 40 ft car took over) and the MDC model is actually a 1900 era car that has been rebuilt in the 1920's. The grab irons date it as post 1906 (having grabs on both the sides and ends, note the Bitter Creek models only have grabs on the sides, not on the ends) and the brace on the door is a WW1 era addition.
​

That said, I don't have the time,money, and skills to build craftsman kits to backdate to 1905. 1920s/30s is close enough for me.

 

Hi Gary!

Yes, I see "David Husman" postings often over at the MRH forums. He does seem knowledgeable.

I hear 'ya on the time/money/skills to build time consuming craftsman kits. I will likely build a few later, but not now. My staple has been train set cars I've converted to "good 'enuf" cars for my use. Below is a comparison pic from a several months ago. (FWIW: I've since gone to the smaller 148 couplers w/o the "air hose" to reduce the size of the non-link n' pin couplers.) The converted car is on the left, the stock Bachmann train set car on the right:



And here's a Mantua trainset boxcar I've lowered the roof, and a Mehano/IHC train set stock car on the right I've converted:



Since coming to the understanding that the MDC car is more applicable to post 1900, I'm making peace with not using them en mass. Perhaps a handful of 36' "high cube" cars for barrel and/or furniture loading will be about it. (Such 36'-37' cars were used for such in the late 1880s.)

Some mighty strange contraptions were used to haul barrels! Here's a 1900's picture of a specialty car the Williams Cooperage plant in Leslie, AR used:



EDIT: Forgot the HD Williams car pic!

Andre