The Consolidated & Southern has embarked on a building project to increase the coaching stock on the line. New cars will have closed vestibule ends. I opted for a door on the vestibule endwall. A similar car will be built with a slightly longer ‘B’ end, plus another will have a combination of open vestibule at one end, with a closed vestibule at the other as a ‘transition’ car.
Jeez Tim You have been on busy man lately! All of it looks fantastic. Might have to increase the track footage for all that rolling stock. 
A Maine prototype this time. My version of Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes #553, backdated. The current car has no roofwalks/end ladders and the upper crown light windows have been sheeted over. Based on a single photograph, much has been left to the imagination, based on other Sandy River cabeese. The car has obvious inaccuracies, with the cupola incorrect and the long car side between the combine door and the last window edge in the passenger compartment (this wall should be almost non-existent). The endwall doors may be modified to reflect the prototype (no centre strip in the window cutout in the door - single square opening). Basically, the standard B’mann combine body was extended to accommodate the cupola, then the body was shortened to fit a standard B’mann underframe. Ideally, I should have reduced the body length further and shortened the underframe to suit. Roof is composed of three laminated sheets of 0.030" styrene. Single step end platforms were removed from a B’mann centre cupola caboose kit and fitted to the B’mann underframe. Lionel end railings and ladder will be fitted, along with roofwalkways. Interior will have longituduinal bench seating taken from a B’mann centre cupola caboose kit (will actually need the benches from two kits). The Sandy River cabeese only had cupola seating on one side only, so the end compartment has a blank wall on one side, where the cupola seating is fitted and a window on the opposite wall. I will also build Edaville #12 combine and a 15-window Sandy River coach to run with the caboose. This will give my LGB Sandy River Forneys something to pull, other than the ‘repainted’ LGB Pennsylvania coaches that LGB decided to release.
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/tim_brien/_forumfiles/lscsra.JPG)
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/tim_brien/_forumfiles/lscsrb.JPG)
That’s cool
End railing and rooftop walkways fitted.
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/tim_brien/_forumfiles/lscsrc.JPG)
Now that is really nice.
Tony,
after taking the photograph, I fitted a set of small B’mann wheels (24.5mm). It brings the car down low and squat, making it look more narrower gauge. I would love to take a hacksaw to the cupola and lower it around 3mm, but, unfortunately, too late now.
The smaller wheel conversion sounds interesting. May have to try it on a few items around here.
Garrett,
definately worth a try. I have even fitted the smaller wheels to the Newqida ‘TB’ coaches and the LGB #3X7X series ‘DB’ (Harz) coaches. The B’mann coupler pin still clears the railhead by around 1mm, or more.
In case any should think of doing a similar conversion, then my model is vastly different to the prototype #553. Unlike the #556 caboose, the non-passenger end of the car is relatively long, with the cupola centred between the rear edge of the combine door and the front edge of the rear window opening. The rear window is actually a toilet window, with the cupola seating just forward of it on the same side of the car. I still have not found a photograph of the opposite side of the car to determine if a window exists on that side.
I have completed the interior of my car, based on previous ‘lack of knowlege’, with the cuploa seating on the ‘blind’ side of the car. As luck would have it (after basically finishing major construction work on my car), I was perusing the internet and located a On30 site that manufactures kits to fit B’mann On30 items, including many Sandy River based models. There of cause was Sandy River #553 with very little likeness to my model. I can live with compromise.
Tim -
If you letter it for your railroad, no one can ever tell you it’s wrong. Just say it was built in our railroad shops after seeing a similar car on the SR&RL. Lot’s of railroads did that - copy an idea, but not make an exact duplicate.
I really like the concept and think it will be a fine addition to your RR.
I agree with Jon. That’s a great looking caboose. There was many a drover’s caboose with very similar lines.
