Tag Archives: details

End sill details

Details, Models, Techniques, ,
These freight cars have three different couplers installed. At the far right are Kadee #5 with Kadee #58 on the middle two cars. The trip pin has been snipped on the C&O box car. The hopper at left has Accurail Proto:HO couplers installed without the trip pin.
These freight cars have three different couplers installed. At the far right is a Kadee #5 with Kadee #58 on the middle two cars. The trip pin has been snipped on the C&O box car. The hopper at left has Accurail Proto:HO couplers installed without the trip pin.

Blog manager Eric Hansmann steps in with some thoughts about details on the end of freight cars.

To snip or not to snip, that is the question. I’ve been installing couplers without trip pins for about a decade. Many modelers notice the missing trip pins and ask why would I do such a thing. In 2005, I realized I was not going to have a layout using magnetic uncoupling and the club layout where much of my equipment was in service also did not use magnetic uncoupling. Building models without trip pins was an easy personal choice. Click on any image here to review a larger size.

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GATX Type 30 tank car project

Tank Cars, Techniques, ,

Frank Hodina has been busy bashing some parts to build a new tank car. Here are his tips and techniques.

General American built thousands of tank cars used on US railroads. The GATX Type 30 tank cars were built in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The frame was a design improvement that developed in the late 1920s and became known as the Type 30 frame. Tanks followed typical construction and could vary in size by gallon capacity or if it was an insulated tank. Some older tanks were also used on newer frames. For this model, I’m working towards a Type 30 frame with a newer tank and GATX straps and tank anchoring typical of the early 1930s.

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Milwaukee Rib Side box car upgrade

Models, Techniques, Upgrades, , ,

George Toman made a few upgrades to an HO scale Milwaukee ribbed-side box car kit. Click on any image here to review a larger size. Here’s George with his work.

Like many readers, I’ve been inspired by Bill Welch’s work here on the RCW blog and have rolled up my shirt sleeves to upgrade a plastic model. I worked to correct the side channel height and to increase the height for the sides of a Milwaukee ribbed-side box car. The model also features Stan Rydarowicz resin replacement roof, hatches and decals.

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Paint failure

Details, Techniques, Weathering,
Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Collection 12002-14

Just before Christmas, discussion on the Steam Era Freight Cars YahooGroup was focused on box car roof paint failure. Many felt the overall effect was interesting, but far less common in the steam era due to more accumulation of soot on freight cars. Nonetheless, paint does fail, most noticeably on galvanized metal roofs. The above image is a portion of a 1943 Jack Delano photograph of the Milwaukee Railroad freight house in Galewood, IL. Of the nine box cars in the edited image, three of the roofs show signs of paint failure. The most apparent example can be seen on a car in the second row and second from the left. The two cars in the front row on the right side also show some paint failure.

We invited modelers to share images and techniques to inspire others to add this detail to a few of their freight cars.

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