You read that correctly. Bachmann 1/29 standard gauge caboose.

I know, they never made one. But I’m gonna.

I’ve had this junk B-mann narrow gauge caboose just sitting around waiting for a rainy day project (or a good fire). Well, it’s been raining a lot here in the northeast, lately. So, what the heck. It’s too wet for me to get out and finish the railroad, anyway.

I downloaded some plans from GR magazine that show a standard gauge bobber from the Ma and Pa RR in 1/29. As it turns out, the dimensions of the B-mann caboose are not that far off. It’s just a bit too tall.

I’m not into the Ma and Pa, but some internet research on the New York Central Historical Society’s website does show that the NYC did have some similar bobbers when they acquired various lines around the turn of the century.

https://nycshs.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/caboose-classics3.pdf

Well there you have it. What better reason do I need?

Now, where’s our victim…

Here it is…

Pretty, No?

Well, if you think it’s ugly now, what 'til I run it through the saw (insert Mr. Bill sounds… "Oh, NOOOOOooooooooo).

Hey look… A low rider caboose. Welcome to the 'hood.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with the window mullions. One of the pictures from the NYCHS shows what appears to be a split upper/lower window. I’m going for that (for now, anyway).

When I cut down the caboose, I also cut the bottom of the doors. It looked bad. So, the quick fix was to glue a very thin gauge piece of wire to complete the missing piece.

I think that a little paint will help this blend nicely.

The doors on the prototype are a bit different and they include some windows. I’m not sure how crazy I want to get with this bucket of bolts. But, for now, this isn’t a bad start.

Keep those umbrellas handy and I’ll see you after the next deluge.

-Kevin.

Oh the carnage!

Oh the sacrilege!

Oh the creativity!

Neat . . . . (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

Off to a really cool start!..

Ah the lowly ubiquitous bobber caboose. How many have gone under the saw and given up their average lives to help us create something really cool?

We all look forward to see what you come up with Dieseldude, Be sure to check out the video of my bobber butcher job right here under the rolling stock forum.

Thanks for the encouragement. The forecast calls for more rain in the near future.

-Kevin.

It rained. Again. Got some minor work done on the caboose.

The prototype had less windows on the cupola than the B-mann.

I used some scrap scribed siding (say that three times fast) to fill in the side middle window.

A little primer, and…

I’m a lousy photographer!

I also filled in some of the forward and rearward facing windows with clear plastic…

A little squadron putty and some sanding and priming, and…

Once again, I’m a lousy photographer. To quote Millie Vanilli- I blame it on the rain.

That’s all for now.

-Kevin.

Looks fine to me…

We had a little rain. I did a little work… very little.

Filled in some old holes. Primed. Drilled some new holes. Added some grab rails made from copper house wire.

-Kevin.

Rainy days and Mondays (hey… what’s today?)

Well, last weeks big rain storm left me with a wet layout and some time on my hands. So, while no work was done out on the muddy Iron Island Railroad, I did move ahead on the caboose.

At the beginning of this rainstorm of a brainstorm project, I thought I’d just keep it simple and not sweat the details. After all, it will be moving too quickly for anyone to notice anyway. After cutting the car down I figured I would just fix the door bottom, slap some paint on it and not worry about all the other items- you know, like the fact the window style was completely wrong (mullions, really?) and that it should have safety bars on the windows like the prototype. Oh… and the door style wasn’t even close… and the door really should have a window in it… a split window…and… and…

And, it got the best of me. So, after my simple door fix- remember this…

I looked back at the prototype…

And ended up doing this…

It needs some grab rails below the windows. I’ll let that storm in my head for a while and then give in and add them. For right now…Close enough for me.

'Til next time.

-Kevin.

Looking good! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

So did you just sheet over the old door or cut it out and build the new door Dieseldude(Obviously, A Fictitious Name ) (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

dieseldude . said:

Rainy days and Mondays (hey… what’s today?)

Well, last weeks big rain storm left me with a wet layout and some time on my hands. So, while no work was done out on the muddy Iron Island Railroad, I did move ahead on the caboose.

At the beginning of this rainstorm of a brainstorm project, I thought I’d just keep it simple and not sweat the details. After all, it will be moving too quickly for anyone to notice anyway. After cutting the car down I figured I would just fix the door bottom, slap some paint on it and not worry about all the other items- you know, like the fact the window style was completely wrong (mullions, really?) and that it should have safety bars on the windows like the prototype. Oh… and the door style wasn’t even close… and the door really should have a window in it… a split window…and… and…

And, it got the best of me. So, after my simple door fix- remember this…

I looked back at the prototype…

And ended up doing this…

It needs some grab rails below the windows. I’ll let that storm in my head for a while and then give in and add them. For right now…Close enough for me.

'Til next time.

-Kevin.

Oh yea, that looks so much better.

David Marconi, FOGWH said:

So did you just sheet over the old door or cut it out and build the new door Dieseldude(Obviously, A Fictitious Name ) (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Dave- I actually just left the old door. I used the existing door details as a guide to cut out the windows and the raised panels below the windows. Then, I shaved off those old details with a blade. Afterwords, I glued a piece of plastic behind the lower half of the door and glued in some scrap plastic to represent the raised panels. Hopefully, it looks a bit more like the prototype than what I started with. -Kevin.

That’s what I thought but wanted to verify(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

i like this

looks great!

Thanks, John. It’s moving along slowly but surely. At this rate, I might have to call it a snowy day project rather than a rainy day project.

-Kevin.

A drizzle of progress…

The brake detail on the B-mann is cheesy at best. How much worse could I possibly make it? Lets find out…

Here’s the prototype…

A side view of our victim when it arrived at the beginning of this thread. The right hand side cheesy brake shoe had already been neutered…

Some bit and pieces from my favorite hobby source (junk)…

Added another bit or two of junk and… the new brake details…

Needs paint.

-Kevin.

Looks good; and, actually, that’s not brake details, it is an equalizer for the suspension. If for example wheel at one end gets bumped up the lever will force other wheel down a bit to help keep it on rail.

Forrest Scott Wood said:

Looks good; and, actually, that’s not brake details, it is an equalizer for the suspension. If for example wheel at one end gets bumped up the lever will force other wheel down a bit to help keep it on rail.

Right you are! I guess I got a bit ahead of myself. So yes, I cut off the old brake detail and replaced it with the suspension detail. Thanks for the info on how the suspension works. Very cool. -Kevin