Tag Archives: models

Upgrading Accurail – 1

Models, Techniques, Upgrades,
An upgraded Accurail box car in service on the CI&W.
An upgraded Accurail box car in service on the C&IW.

One of the benefits of freelancing is being able to use available equipment to build up a roster quickly. This is an Accurail plastic box car model, what they have labeled as a 6-Panel Outside Braced Boxcar with Dreadnaught Ends. Click on any image here to review a larger size.

I replaced the fish belly center sill on the underframe with a straight center sill to reflect a more typical ARA boxcar underframe from the late 1920’s. A few strips of styrene makes for a quick conversion. The AB brake system components were installed following common prototype practices. Some wire and styrene parts are added to the kit provided brake hardware.

The modified underframe.

I left the cast-on ladders in place but the grabs and brake gear on the end was replaced. The running boards were thinned for a more prototypical appearance.

ciw_4766_xm_end

 

Standard C&IW practice is to use black car cement on the roof, which has just about completely worn off except around the car lines and the roof edge. Weathering was applied using washes, Pan Pastels and dry-brushing.

ciw_4766_xm_side

 

A few simple upgrades to common freight car kits can add to the look of your fleet.

Frank

 

How to Determine Rung Spacing When Scratch Building Ladders

Details, Scratchbuilding, Techniques, ,

 

Scratchbuilt ladders upgrade a model on Bill's workbench.
Scratchbuilt ladders upgrade a model on Bill’s workbench.

Bill Welch steps in for a post on a recent technique that moved a project along. Click on any image here to review a larger size. Enjoy his story.

Because so many Steam Era House Cars were not of a standard design, or were ad hoc standard designs, the ladder rung spacing on Box, Auto, and Refrigerator cars would have varied meaning for a modeler that the commercial ladders often available to us are not exactly correct. Having become fanatical about the proper shape of Sill Steps, it was only a matter of time before I became obsessed about ladders. For models I spend a lot of time on I have been scratch-building ladders. Initially and luckily I could do this using an HO scale ruler but then I encountered a situation that required a different way to calculate the rung spacing and was wondering how to do this. I floated an email to members of my Modeling Posse and Pierre Oliver remembered a solution from his High School Drafting class and what he described worked perfectly and is ridiculously easy. Here goes.

ladder_web

First off knowing where the location of the top and bottom ladder rungs and the distance between them is necessary and often there is a feature on the side of the car that helps us determine those two spots. From there we calculate the distance between them. Draw a straight line longer than you need and mark the line with two spots that correspond to the scale distance between the top and bottom ladder rungs. At each of those two spots draw a line at the same angle so that you have two parallel lines. I use 30° because it is easy but the angle really does no matter as long as both angles are the same. Okay, say you need an 8-rung ladder: Using either a compass or a ruler mark off 8 spaces on each parallel line. All marks must be equal distances. Then with a straight edge connect each set of dots or marks and like magic you have positions for each of the other six ladder rungs.

Rung spacing calculator.
Rung spacing calculator.

The task ended up Easy Peasey with the help of this drawing. The model isn’t quite done, but the ladders are complete and the build moves forward.

MILW_6505_web

Bill Welch

Illinois Central Twin Hoppers

Models, ,
In-process Illinois Central hopper.
In-process Illinois Central hopper.

There was some recent discussion on the STMFC YahooGroups list concerning the likes and dislikes of cast on grab irons on resin freight car kits. The March 2015 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist mentioned in their news section that one of the future kits being considered by Resin Car Works (RCW) is an Illinois Central Twin Hopper with cast on grabs. One of my goals with RCW is to simplify the construction of resin freight cars to lower the cost and to make it possible for large fleets of such cars to be constructed. There are many freight car prototypes that won’t be made in plastic as the sales aren’t enough to recoup the cost of development and production. The only other economical means to produce such cars is with low production, low development cost, rubber molds and resin castings.

Illinois Central prototype hopper image.
Illinois Central prototype hopper image.

One of these cars is the Enterprise offset side twin hopper that was owned in large numbers by the Illinois Central. As a mid-fifties modeler whose layout is set in Central Illinois I need dozens of these IC hoppers for operations. I also have several friends that need dozens of these cars. My operations are based on coal mines around Taylorville with the coal being moved to dumpers at Havana Illinois. Click on any image here to review a large size.

CI&M rail-river transfer facility.
CI&M rail-river transfer facility.

These dumpers had a capacity larger then what the home road could supply so coal in other roads hoppers would be seen at this site. The two largest numbers of foreign road cars were from the New York Central and IC. If you look closely at the second photo you’ll notice a long string of NYC hoppers.

CI&M transfer yard.
CI&M transfer yard.

To have a large number of IC hoppers on any layout, the construction had to be simplified which the cast on grabs has done. As RCW is a basement type businesses very short on available time, the choice was been made to issue only one kit with the cast on grabs. Those modelers who only desire one or two of these kits can easily remove the grabs just like on a plastic kit.

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