Thats a nice job Steve. Some here won't like it. That is their problem. There are none so blind, as those who will not see. Please carry on my friend.
Happy Workshop Halloween, Back to @gna (Gary's) questions: Bob, couple of questions: Is that a Tichy SS USRA Car? Do you have a Miner lever on it? Any pics of the Accurail 4300s you've modified? The Tichy SS USRA boxcar I started with was sent in a pile from Tim Moran. It was without decals, and I thought that I might give it a 150XXX Frisco number. There are a couple of details that are not correct: Gary is right, it does not come with the "Miner Ideal WHMCo" brake detail, but I might swap that out with something representative. The other is that it has grabs rather than ladders. A third is that I think the door is 8ft vs 6ft. I will probably not change that on this car, but am building one and have purchased ladders from Kadee. Here are a few photos for discussion: Diagram from Freight Car Diagrams that can be found on this site: And what I am guessing is the USRA single sheath (ss) car from Tichy with initial application of decals (still need to get these to lay down with some solvaset, etc.). This car came in a box with a jumble of cars not in the original boxes. This is a nice car, and I might just change the number on this one and the Tichy build to a nonsensical Frisco number for the sake of having a fun car for operations. Maybe 15XXXX outside of a real Frisco prototype. Here is an Accurail car that I have been modding with Gary's method of using 1/8'' C channel from Evergreen to make the straight frame: Underside, using the Accurail brake detail that you can adapt from their online store---they come in a 3-pack. (Needs some brake lines). Again, door is too wide, but with the the frame mod, and possibly changing the stirrups to square versions, not too bad for an "operations" car. Really, that is the goal here....get another 8-10 boxcars that are home-road and can be used without worrying about wrecking a resin car model. Take Care All, -Bob T.
Part 2 of Halloween Post: I mentioned also working on some 160XXX series cars as part of the operations fleet. These are also modified using Gary's method describe above. They are based again on our car diagrams book: Again, the sides are not quite correct (bracing missing at ends) and the door width is 8ft vs 6ft (I think). There is a resin kit for this car from sunshine. Here are the more accurate sides: Still, the Accurail cars are a good stand-in. I hope the purists are not too enraged with this approach. Going to work on decals and maybe some weathering this weekend. I have a number of the Accurail 8-panel cars that I will also decal up for other road names....more to come. Edit: Forgot to mention that I ordered a couple of packs of these Kadee air hose details. Going to try them out on some of these Accurail cars. OK, really. That's it. Take Care All, -Bob T.
Thanks Steve, I haven't felt good for a bit, getting better, not gonna dwell on that. I have a project that will be "cringe worthy" for a few I am sure.
Steve: Really like the weathering on the Reading box and the covered hopper. Shame about the road name on the hopper.
Thanks Tom. Hope you are feeling better soon. I have a couple of QA&P cars on the assembly line, BTW.
A little more progress on the taco caboose. I got the roof stretched out to match the car now. Paint is getting close as well.
Steve, See, there are very many, much more worthy subjects for your talents, skills and time. Looking forward to this one finishing up. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Wednesday again already. First off thanks vets! Next and less important is a few pics of my latest project for myself. A while back we had a picture shared here with a boxcar hauling grain with the doors taped, plus I wanted something Mark might like. I have wanted to try that since so here it is. Just a cheap Accurail car but it is decent enough for me. Enjoy, Steve
Nice one Steve! Waiting for the sun to leave my garage windows for a few photos this week. Stand by, please.....
Happy Workshop Armistice Day All, I have been working on this El Paso and Southwestern Car, using a recently-released K-4 Decals set: The car pairs well with some other Texas cars Steve prepared: I tried those Kadee air-hoses on a couple of cars, including this one: They are nice with three mounting options, depending upon the car's end style. I have also been working on these home-road cars, getting some light weathering done on them. I think I will touch these up and the EP-SW car with some weathering pencils. A few more of these coming, including the 8-panel versions, 15XXXX cars. Hope all are doing well. Take Care. Steve, looking forward to that VO....will post pictures and maybe a movie when it comes. -Bob T.