A Tale of Two Tank Cars

[Boomer_K_MOGWAI]

Getting ready for my next project. After working on the triple dome and the pickle car it seems like things with tanks are in order. I had not intended to do a two dome but I have discovered some parts in my junk box. Cost wise it would be very cheap to do. The decision is how and what to make.

This is mostly what I want.

A two dome narrow gauge car. Not this exact car mind you but something similar. It will be a non-revenue fuel hauler used to service the lumber camp with kerosene for cooking, heating and lamps and bunker fuel No. 6 for the donkeys. Part of the MOW fleet as it could serve right of way maintenance as well. I have the parts to do it using donors from either Bmann or Accucraft. But it is not quite that simple of a choice.

Here are the Bmann parts. Two Big Hauler tanks and a spectrum flatcar. Since I want it to look like a shop built item the different size tanks would set it apart from both my accucraft tankers and Spectrum framed car fleets.

I also have parts from Accucraft. Two tanks and a flat. This has the advantage of the chocks and tension rods already installed.

The Zerolene was picked up on E-bay for $50. As much as I would like to have a Zerolene for collection purposes this one is crapped up with someone’s attempt at a repaint. Including the bear logo and car number. I think it is craft paint and looks like something a kid would do.

The Conoco was given to me by a friend in Albuquerque and could be brought back to life with a tankectomy. It is also a car I would like to have for my collection. This would add another item to my list of projects and it would still be kind of a kit bash since I can’t fix the flimsy handrails to Accucraft style.

I could come up with something close. That would look like the original.

So there you have it my friends. Feel free to add your comments, thoughts and ideas. I will of course ignore your sage advice and meaningful insights and do whatever involves the most rivet hole drilling because there is nothing more fun than that.

[capecodtodd (Todd Haskins)]

Decisions decisions but I’m sure whatever you build it will be great.

I would use the Accucraft pieces.

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

@Boomer_K_MOGWAI

do whatever involves the most rivet hole drilling

My wife Marilyn does Mandala Dot Painting. She has tools that make tiny dots of acrylic paint. They would probably pass as believable rivets. I don’t have anything riveted in the pipeline, but when I do I know where to find Rosy the Riveter

[Boomer_K_MOGWAI]

My first focus is to rebuild the Conoco car. I don’t have one and this seems like an easy thing. I removed the Zerolene tank and sized up the job.

The car itself looks like it will be the easiest part.

Remove the old lettering
Reverse mask the new lettering - “CONX 36”
Paint flat black

The tank is going to be more involved.

Remove the original broken handrail stanchions
Replace stanchions and handrail
Repair the vent on the dome
Repair and reattach the bands
Touch-up the paint as needed

I am starting with the tank since if I mess it up the rest of the car is still usable for another project.

First I removed the old stanchion pieces. These are thin plastic and surprisingly poorly done for Accucraft. They are glued in just above the alignment pin, so had to be shaved off with an Exacto knife. A little tricky since I had to preserve the paint job. Despite my best efforts some touch up will be required.

With them gone I was left with the factory holes. To small for the Ozark parts so they were drilled out and the new stanchions glued in.

To make sure the holes were aligned I ran a length of stem wire through each side. The ones on the ends will be glued in once the new rails are formed.

The floral stem wire is not long enough to go all the way around from center stanchion to center stanchion. I will have to do it in four sections. The two ends and the two center lengths. The ends of every section will join inside the stanchion head.
I could order long brass lengths and do them in two sections but I don’t think it would prove dramatically stronger. Plus, I have a lifetime supply of the stem wire.

The wire is measured and bent to fit.

Once the ends are done the center sections are measured and installed. They span the center three stanchions to help give them strength and stability.

With all the pieces in place every joint now gets a drop of superglue.

This was the hardest part of the tank. I was not sure how the wire would work out. Looks good and is much stronger and more durable than the original. Just need to let the glue cure before handling it anymore. While it sets I will get started on the car body.

[Boomer_K_MOGWAI]

While the tank glue is curing I am working on the flatcar. I got the old lettering stripped off. A base coat of pure white where the new markings will go was applied. Once it was dry I placed the vinyl letters.

Black spray paint applied. Masking letters removed. The side of the car has a well defined wood grain that allowed some bleed-under on the lettering. It will need to be touched up with a brush. Since the spray paint goes on a bit heavy there is a lip to help guide the touch-up effort.

Here we go. The car body is all done. No spray cans were harmed in the making of this update and no new curse words were invented.

Back to the tank.

[Rooster]

@Boomer_K_MOGWAI

No spray cans were harmed in the making of this update and no new curse words were invented.

How many paper bags were misused?

[Boomer_K_MOGWAI]

Other than painting there are two items to address before the tank can be reassembled.

The first is the retaining bands. I thought I would have to use the ones from the Zerolene tank but turns out in my boxes of much junk I found the bands for the Conoco tank. These are made of cast resin epoxy and are very fragile. Usually when these are removed they break. But occasionally the ends pull out in one piece. Luckily that is what happened. All I will have to do is push them back in place and secure with a little dot of glue.

The other thing is the vent. It looks like it was factory painted so it must have been damaged at the time of manufacture. I drilled a hole in the top to give the epoxy putty a good place to grip. Next a ball of Milliput was applied. I roughly shaped it to the top of the vent. When dry it was sanded to fit. A pinhead was attached to the top.

Ready for cleanup and paint.