Hollywood would be proud my friend!
He would have probably called me several times about this thread by now. I would say I know old man you told me the last time you called! He would say: well I’m telling ya’ again anyway with that (northern draw) cause he was a wanna be Southerner!
Pretty sure about (101%) that the Ma & PA RR hauled pickles. The old man loved that line between York and Baltimore!
Just saying…
I miss the hell outta him!
Put those cool murals on the side of one of your buildings.
Especially the bottom “Pickels” one.
I love those!
Once I got to looking at the car body I decided it needed one more change. I partially covered the open ends. I could not find a picture of this on any of the prototype cars but it is fairly common on other models.
I cut some Popsicle sticks to length using an Easy-Cut tool. First time I have used it. Worked great on the soft craft wood. Its a Boomer build, you knew Popsicle sticks were going to be involved at some point. Glued the pieces on the inside frame and sanded the ends smooth.
While the glue dried I sorted and prepared the metal details for the ends. I think these are Ozark miniatures but I have had them so long I cannot be sure where they came from. Some measurements and marks were made on both ends of the car.
A lot of pin-vise drilling to get the holes ready. Finally the pieces were glued in place using Locktite super glue. I am not crazy about the pewter castings for the grab irons. I will have to tweek them to get them straight. Not sure how well they will hold up either. It takes very little pressure to bend them. May have to replace them with brass rod.
I will hit the end with some clear acrylic to blend in where the super glue bled out. Now onto the sides.
It’s nice to see you using a pencil for reference marks instead of a crayon for once.
Looking great, Boomer. Nice Ozark bling!
I like those easy-cutters too, perfect for thin stock.
Time to do some soldering. I am using brass stock for the tension rods. These will be similar to the ones shown on the Hyman car.
These extend from the center diagonally up and through the end cross member of the frame. They are tightened using a turnbuckle in the middle of the rod.
Three holes are drilled in the brass stock. That end is cut off at 3/4 of an inch. Brass rod 1/16th is soldered to it. The turnbuckles have to be drilled out as the ends are solid cast. They are then slid on and glued in place. In real life these would be threaded holding two separate rod sections together. I am going to paint the center section of the rod black to hide it. Keeping it in one section will make it stronger and straighter.
The car sides are all marked and holes drilled.
The tension rods go on first. They are inserted into the holes on the backside of the NBW plates on the end.
All the carriage bolts (HO track spikes) are glued in. Most of these had to be cut in half so they did not protrude out the other side.
Finally the stirrup steps and grab irons are added.
I am still not sold on the grab irons but I am going to go with them. I did try drilling out the ends for possible use with track spikes. It went okay but the leftover NBW was hard to file smooth. It’s just to much work for the result.
I was able to gently pick the car up from the table without them breaking off. Guess that will do.
Looks like the car body is ready for paint.
These last couple of days have been all about the roof.
First to go was a 1/4" off each end. Several of the prototype pictures show the roof being shorter than the body. I guess because the supporting cross members sit a few inches inboard from the end sills and it would make climbing on the roof difficult. I shortened the walkway to match.
After marking it up for the hatch positions I started cutting the hole for the one operating hatch. A little patient hacksaw work did the job.
Frames and doors added. After some finish sanding I was ready for the hardware. These are dollhouse items. Cabinet butt hinges and window handles. The bolts are straight pins. They have a slightly smaller head than the HO track spikes and I am hoping it will make them look like smaller bolts. More drilling fun. 110. Not as bad as the triple dome but It was a lot of small work.
At first I tried to mark and drill the holes, then add glue and insert the pins. Way to fussy for caveman fingers. I found it was easier to glue the brass parts on then drill the holes through the openings. A lot of tiny work with needle nose pliers to get those pins in place. Once they were ready I dropped a little more super glue on top to hold them firm.
My operating hatch had to be babied to keep glue out of the hinge area. Now I can look at my pickles at will. And I will look at my pickles. Because they are my pickles. No one can stop me! NO ONE I SAY!MWAHAHAHAHA!
A little clean up and it will be ready for paint.
Seeing the dollhouse hardware reminds me of Hollywoods block of stores from his Baltimore childhood.
He was so proud of them he took them with him to see his mother one day at the home.
She said: I didn’t know you were building doll houses these days, thought you were into trains.
He was pretty upset with mom and called his buddy rooster who talked the fireman off the bridge.
Clearly there was a need for these cars until the 1960s. What was the cause of their demise? Were any of these cars preserved in museums?
He put so much work into that. I’ve seen the block twice; and it’s still (probably) in Dave Jr’s shop. It’s a huge model, and wonderfully detailed. It’s hard for me to understand how this model could and should be best dispositioned.
Rooster, if you have any ideas to that, I’ll be happy to back you up. For my part, I don’t have any great notions. Wish I had an indoor layout to accept it.
Trucks were probably more efficient by then.
Back when I was scratching up buildings and rolling stock, dollhouse parts were used quite often.
Pickle tank finally has enough varnish in it and no bubbles.
Since I will masking the primary markings using vinyl letters a black background is painted on. Once dry the letters are applies.
The wind cooperates and the car gets it’s white color. The roof goes burgundy to match the reefer and the wheels get a base coat of rust primer.
Next I will apply the reporting marks (decals) and then do some touch-up on the painted lettering. Details need some painting and light weathering.
For now I am going to let it cure out over the weekend while company visits. Next week should wrap this project up with final reassembly.
Great method on the lettering. All’s looking excellent.
Decals applied, modest weathering complete, ready for reassembly.
Pickles are ready to go.
The tanks are held in place by a screw from underneath. The roof is glued on with Elmer’s white glue in-case I ever have to remove it. Right now the opening hatch is still popping up a little. I figure it will lay flat with a little use.
The car is surprisingly heavy. Not sure why.
This is as close as I have come to a full scratch build. I don’t see myself making another car body. Gonna stick to kit-bashing.
All in all it is a cool car. Glad I finally finished it.
Wonder what else is sitting in my dreadknot closet waiting to be completed…
Probably you raised really heavy pickles. Maybe high in iron.
Momma Martin would be proud, Boomer! Fantastic-looking car!
When does it go outside?
We had a thread on here once about unfinished projects. I know I have a bunch, one being a MIK build flat that I have been actively using the pencil layout on PVC as an industry on my indoor both in CT and here.
Your pickle car looks awesome.
https://largescalecentral.com/t/the-dread-knot-project/86052
The Dread Knot project. Although there are probably others.
