Large Scale Central

Composite Boxcar - A new prototype

Modeling
#1

Bruce Chandler did a wonderful job of creating a what-if composite box car using the cast ends that Bob McCown made. You can see all the details of Bruce’s car in This Article. Bruce roughly based his car on a Lehigh Valley prototype that lives at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strassburg, PA. It’s a nice prototype, but I found another at the Danbury Railway Museum and photographed it in detail 6 years ago and then forgot about it. I ran across these pictures tonight… [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-01-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-02-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-03-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-04-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-05-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-06-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-07-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-08-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/RutlandBoxcar-09-1024.jpg]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] PHOTO NOTE: I tried a new method for resizing photos. If you think my ‘small’ versions are too big, let me know and I’ll make them a bit smaller. Anyway, I bought a set of Bob’s end castings when he offered them a few years ago with plans to build the composite car someday…

[color=blue]Bruce Chandler Photo[/color] I had completely forgotten the Rutland car lived in Danbury when I ordered the ends. The project has been on the back burner since then because I’m not confident in my ability to scratch build the car foundation. Then along came Andre` Schofield’s acrylic car kits and another inspirational Chandler build…

[color=blue]Bruce Chandler Photo - Full article here[/color] I immediately realized that putting Bob’s ends on Andres car kit was a way for me to get to a semi-scratch built car without the hassle of working out the foundation details. I asked Bruce to test fit Bob's end's on the acrylic car kit and he reported that with some minor re-shaping of the roof line that it was a go. I immediately ordered a kit from Andre. Now that I have the inspiration from Bruce, the Kit from Andre` and a good prototype living 1 mile from work. I’m running out of excuses for why I haven’t built this car :smiley: I need to find some Welder and get started.

#2

Looks like a good Christmas Project.

Christmas Project = a project to allow a certain amount of sanity by staying out of the way of all the undesirable celebration that you have chosen to not be part of. It doesn’t mean that you are anti-social, but there needs to be down time for recharging and then there are other times that it is just best that you stay out of the way. However, these type of projects need to be quite small and compartmentalized, as you need to be able to glue one piece and then let it sit for awhile as you head off to one more Aunt’s or Cousin’s house.

#3

Jon,

Very nice set of detail photos. That’ll make a great prototype to model.

#4

I’m looking forward to seeing how well that end actually fits.

What’s the next step? :wink:

#5

Thanks guys.

Ric - Christmas is pretty quiet in these parts. The older branches of the family have left us, and the younger ones are too far away except my two kids and my BIL’s family, so it’s usually just a few hours of mandatory entertaining / entertainment:D

The Bruce said:
What's the next step? ;)
Perhaps test fitting the car kit tonight and determining if I am trimming the acrylic, or the resin casting to fix the roof line.

Procuring some glue for acrylic. I’m going to look at the LHS and Home Depot today. If no luck I’ll order some welder on-line. I don’t think my skill level is up to the water thin stuff yet.

Also trying to come up with an idea for the tin roof. If I could find something thin enough an actual metal roof could be fun.

#6
Richard Smith said:
Jon,

Very nice set of detail photos. That’ll make a great prototype to model.


Like Bruce’s composite boxcar, it will be loosely based on the prototype. For starters, as far as any of us have been able to determine, no-one had a composite box car in narrow gauge with metal ends. Next the ends are already wrong, so I’m not worrying about that.

For the poling pockets I’m not sure if I will use the castings coming from Rodney Edington or Ozark’s. Rodney’s go around the corner like the EBT pockets do. Ozark’s sit flat on the end beam, similar to this prototype.

I’ll probably base my door pretty close to this prototype, but haven’t decided on grabs. I like the look of grabs Vs. a ladder. I might try my hand at bending them. I don’t have a drill press so I might need to give up the nut/bolt on bent wire grabs.

I like the size of the siding so I’ll try and get close to that. I’ve got half a mind to model the rot at the board ends and on the door :smiley: My excuse is that my theme is a RR Museum in fairly modern times, so this would be a very old car and possible just a cosmetic restore to run in a photo freight.

#7
Jon Radder said:
I'm running out of excuses for why I haven't built this car :D

I need to find some Welder and get started.


Yes you are. :wink:

Yes you do. :smiley:

Look forward to seeing how you get along.

#8

Just start with a slice of the ear Jon and go from there

#9

Standard question…When will it be done?
:slight_smile:

#10

Jon,

For the roof material, you can anneal some soda cans in the gas grill to take the temper out of them. They will cut with a standard scissors and will look pretty good also. I would glue it down with good ole fashion silicone caulking spread thin.

Bob C.

#11

Thanks Bob. I’ve also got some thin aluminum sheet I got from Yogi years ago to use with a crimper. That may be thin enough. Really would prefer tin though so I can get real rust. Anybody got any beer cans from the 50’s they want to unload :smiley:

#12
Jon Radder said:
Anybody got any beer cans from the 50's they want to unload :D
That would be antique material for me!
#13

Jon,

Another thought crossed my mind after I wrote the other post, look in www.mcmaster.com and search ‘shimstock’. I found a multitude of materials in as thin as .001.

Bob C.

#14

Thanks Bob - That’s interesting and not too expensive.

No joy at the LHS or Lowes looking for acrylic adhesive. I’ll have to order some from TAP Plastics.

I got the acrylic kit test fit using masking tape to see how the parts go together. Had to call tech support because my brain just couldn’t see how the parts nested together. Got the answer, in English, at 9:30 at night :smiley:

After I got that figured out I spent some time test fitting Bob’s casting on the acrylic body. I think its going to end up trimming the casting to fit inside the wood sheathing. Not quite the way it should look, but there is not enough casting width to cover the end of the sheathing. Maybe I can do some kind of corner wrap with some rivets to make it look better.

#15

Hey Jon,

Are you making this car for narrow gauge? Looking at Andre’s car kit, couldn’t you sand the end pieces down and make the car’s width smaller to fit the end castings?

BTW, are these end castings still available? I would love a few for some cars I’d like to build.

Chuck

#16
Chuck Inlow said:
Hey Jon,

Are you making this car for narrow gauge? Looking at Andre’s car kit, couldn’t you sand the end pieces down and make the car’s width smaller to fit the end castings?

BTW, are these end castings still available? I would love a few for some cars I’d like to build.

Chuck


Good idea. I just need to ask Santa for a belt or stationary disk sander :slight_smile:

#17

[u]MAJOR SETBACK[/u]

The tank that the WV&K Shops has been working on for what seems forever just arrived back at the CVSRY. Attention will be turned to mating the tank with the flat car the CVSRy shops built last winter as a replica of EBT 102.

Details of that on-going project will be posted in Building the EBT’s Tank 102

I hope to have pictures on the tank being test fit on the flat later tonight.

#18

You still have time to complete it before the first anniversary of your original post. :wink:

#19

Bruce Chandler said:
You still have time to complete it before the first anniversary of your original post. :wink:

Yup. I noticed that Bart came through in just under a year :smiley: It was worth the wait though. Stop by that thread to Check out the test fit pictures. In the mean time, I did some test fitting of the composite ends on the acrylic ends… [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_001-1200.JPG]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_001-720.JPG)

[/url][color=blue]I used roof supports show the side thickness - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_002-1200.JPG]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_002-720.JPG)

[/url][color=blue]The acrylic ends & sides are just about the same width as the casting - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_003-1200.JPG]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_003-720.JPG)

[/url][color=blue]Roofline won’t be too difficult to match - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_004-1200.JPG]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompEnd_004-720.JPG)

[/url][color=blue]Macro Close-Up of size difference - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] And while I was at it I decided to see how an Accucraft coupler using the Kadee 831 draft gear would fit inside the draft gear casting… [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompCoupler_001-1200.JPG]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompCoupler_001-720.JPG)

[/url][color=blue]Top view - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompCoupler_002-1200.JPG]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/CompositeBoxcar/CompCoupler_002-720.JPG)

[/url][color=blue]Bottom view - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Since I don’t have any of the nice Accucraft draft gear that you use, the casting will do the job to simulate it and the Kadeee 831 draft gear is almost a perfect fit.

#20

Jon, I’m not sure of your plans - I’d sure take a look at the 1/32" siding from NorthEastern. It almost looks like it would fit. Another option would be to take some .020" strips of styrene, emboss them with some rivets, and glue them to the sides of the casting. You could feather the edge of the strip and get it to look like part of the end. When I did mine, I just used the stock Accucraft coupler.

(http://www.jbrr.com/assets/images/IMG_0874w.jpg)