The WW&F railway museum has this caboose which is a new build from old plans. I need one for my line too!
I started the project with a drawing then built a frame.
I make my own metal work. the truss rods are copper house wire (12 gauge I think) threaded for the turn buckles etc. the truss queen posts are made from a rail. I slot the head with my mini table saw then slice off short bits and solder them to pads so I can nail them to the frame.
this is the bolster area as seen from the bottom.
The deck is make from spruce with a half lap just like the real deal. having a selection of table saws help…the big (Delta Contractors saw) one to slice up 2x construction grade lumber, the smaller (micro mark) one to add the half lap. the mini one will get used later.
I painted the deck then sanded it to represent wear.
The car sides are plywood. I grooved them with my mini saw with a 0.016" wide blade…these a really thin grooves.
I used the same plywood to build the seat and cupola bases.
the table saws all get used to make the siding lumber. it is scale (ish) bead board made from pine scrap from the WW&F Car barn siding.