Howdy, Troops!
Well… this won’t be all inclusive by any means, but for Newbies like me it’ll give you an idea about what to expect… and that’s the unexpected. I just got Lesson #1 when the postal person came today.
First off… The EBAY definitions of “Mint” and “Perfect” condition sometimes have to be taken with a little pinch of salt if the cars you desire are used items. DO NOT expect something that you can take out of the box and use immediately.
I got a package from one seller today containing three Bachmann cars; a Pennsylvania cattle car, a Pensy wooden box car, and a Geo. H. Hammond & Co. leased reefer.
Superficially, not bad; the box car had a broken door track, but I’ll be chariable on that one and attribute it to shipping (tho I must say the cars were well packed). In addition, the box car is missing a brake wheel, and one foot rail iron on a corner is broken, but easily repairable with methyacrylate glue. Anybody know where brake wheels can be had?
The reefer is in good shape… but apparently somebody did some painting in the immediate vicinity, either with a roller or spray gun, and then the wind shifted! The roof caught a good number of tiny white speckles.
It’s easy to tell if your used cars were on an indoor or outdoor railroad… these were outdoor. Corrosion on metal wheels, gummy couplers, and dried out lawn clippings inside of box cars! <>
Next… be advised to use caution when taking apart cars for the old hot, soapy water treatement. I hadn’t stopped to consider that hornets like to build thier nests inside of boxcars, and that black widow spiders take up residence in the truck gussets and air tank moldings of the truss bar assembly!!!
The hornets were long gone (Thank Gawd it’s winter!), but the spiders weren’t. They didn’t much care for hot, soapy water, but fortunately they also can’t swim worth a damn! <>
Most of the rooftop paint speckles came off during the cleanup process. An SOS pad applied to the treads and flanges of the wheels took care of the problems there.
BTW… shiny wheels can be made to look a lot more prototypical very easily.
From my gun cabinet I grabbed a bottle of Uncle Mike’s Blueing Touch Up Fluid. The stuff is used to take care of minor scratches in the blue or black finishes used on firearms. I found out that it works GREAT on steel wheels… at least the ones I’ve got here. The effect is, to my eye, very realistic.
Use care with this stuff tho; it contains selenium, a rather nasty poison. Good ventilation and hand washing afterwards is a MUST.
In the end… there are two couplers that need replacing (broken off centering springs). The rest were made to operate in a reasonably satisfactory manner by dousing them with Singer Sewing Machine Oil, and rinsing it out again with Ronson Lighter Fluid.
Besides the couplers and brake wheel, I’ve gotta locate some more steel wheels; I cheated a bit and stole 4 axles worth that were swapped for the plastic ones on my loco’s tender.
Mr. T.
In the process of learning the Art of G Gauge
