Another slow caboose project - D&RGW standard gauge short caboose #01108

[Matt_Hutson]

Hi guys,
This post is prompted by the “Finish what you started!” post over in the General Discussion area.

A couple of years ago I learned that the Grande owned some standard gauge short cabooses, not unlike the narrow gauge ones that are so well known. I found a pic of one of them taken in 1951 in the Leadville, Colorado yard:

On further research I found three more decent pics of this same caboose. To my surprise, I also found out that it survives on a ranch within an hour of my house. I contacted the owner and he was more than happy to let me visit the caboose and take lots of pictures and dimensions.

I then drew up plans in AutoCAD. My son drew up the unique steps and I printed a set on our 3D printer. Last spring I began the car body but then summer came along and I set the project aside until last month. Here’s how it looked when work resumed - I am getting the water-soaked basswood to conform to the curvature of the roof:

The caboose will be finished up this weekend, more to come.

Cheers,
Matt Hutson
Nathrop, CO

[rmccown-admin (Bob McCown (Admin))]

Nice. Love the steps! My long-term plan is to have a couple SG gondolas on a short section of track at a coal transfer point somewhere on my layout.

[Matt_Hutson]

Thanks Bob. Three of the four steps on the prototype have different lettering on them…I did NOT model that!
Sometime last month I discovered that I had cut the window openings for the glass area, rather than the framing area. I had to go around and cut two scale inches from the tops and sides and three scale inches from the bottoms of all of the window openings - no fun!
The B end coupler is an AAR Type E from Burl Rice - they look great and work fine with Kadee 820 couplers. Trucks are from an MDC short caboose:

Cheers,
Matt

[Joe_Zullo]

Looking very good Matt!

[Matt_Hutson]

Thank you Joe. Up next the caboose got its window framing and grabirons. The end railings, ladders, and curved grabirons were all made from K&S 1/16" round brass tube; the curved grabirons were attached with HO scale track nails. Other brass parts are from Precision Scale.

Doors were cut from 1/32" bassswood:

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt_Hutson]

Okay, here’s a little more. The body was painted with Red Oxide primer from Ace:

The windows were masked to protect the institutional green interior - for some reason the Grande was fond of this color for caboose and locomotive cabs. Railings were brush painted with Testors Metallic Silver. The whole thing was then sprayed with Rust-Oleum Gloss Clear to allow the custom dry transfer lettering to adhere:

Roofing is 3M Wetordry 220 sandpaper cut to 3’ scale width.

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt_Hutson]

Okay, last round. Once lettered, the caboose body was sprayed with Dullcote. I then gave the body a spray wash of alcohol and india ink; the alcohol and Dullcote give the paint an oxidized look, and the ink brings out some of the details when it settles. Most of the windows were then glazed with microscope slide cover glass, with the larger ones glazed with microscope slides.
Here’s the caboose when I finished it last Saturday morning:

The marker lights are 3D printed, and the lenses are Gallery Glass stained glass paint.
I found exactly one picture of this caboose with the classic round herald, taken during the Depression; there’s no trace of it in later pics. As a result, I decided to letter the other side with a dilapidated version of the round herald. I couldn’t find any pics with a raincap on the stove vent, so it’s modeled open. The guy on the platform is 3D printed from Shapeways, the lantern he’s holding is 3D printed from Miniprints:

My other project for last Saturday was to buld a new 10’ radius loop. Here’s the caboose bringing up the rear of the first train over the new loop that afternoon:

This was a fun and interesting project. Special thanks to John Bovaird!

Cheers,
Matt

[Joe_Zullo]

Great work Matt!

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

That came out really nice. Great job!

[Matt_Hutson]

Thanks guys! I finished my new south loop this afternoon and said caboose was on the first train around the new line:

Cheers,
Matt

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

Wow. That’s the best backdrop paint I’ve ever seen!!! Looks so real

[Eric_Mueller]

Matt,

I am a huge fan of your work. I hope to incorporate your scribed basswood technique into a “micro project” later this year!

Aloha,
Eric

[Cliff_Jennings]

Gorgeous work, Matt. I really like your steps and brasswork, and, well, everything else.

[Matt_Hutson]

Thank you all for your nice comments, much appreciated.
A funny thing happened during the build. As mentioned above, I was fortunate enough to visit the actual caboose and get lots of pictures and dimensions. While adding the ladders to the ends of the model, I noticed something: the ladders today are located outside the end railings:

But while in service, they were located INSIDE the end railings:

It looks like the current owner had the end beams replaced at some point. Whoever did that work put the ladders back on, but outside the end railings.
Having noticed this (very) late, my model has the ladders outside the end railings on one end and inside the railings on the other. Even when lucky enough to have the prototype around, one can never be too sure about its accuracy!

Cheers,
Matt

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

@Matt_Hutson

Even when lucky enough to have the prototype around, one can never be too sure about its accuracy!

Reminds me of a story Dr. Lee Rainey told during an East Broad Top tour many years ago. We were standing outside the recently refurbished shed for M3. Lee pointed out a small patch on the wall. His comment went something like ‘if your are modeling July 1954, you would include this patch, but by September that same year, it was gone!’ The point being if you are obsessed with prototype accuracy you must pick an exact date and time to model because things are always changing.