Oh, you say that to all the guys!
BTW …these are transfer cars as well. I transferred them from my truck to Kens RR that day.
1 Like
Yay, painting is done, and I’m happy with how it turned out. I suck at painting, but am trying to improve!
Cool, slap on some kadees with barber S-2 trucks, a steel plate top and some red TTX decals on the sides then call it done!
impossible!
that would not leave him enough leeway for planning.
Fine with me, I thought you were going to mention ditch lights.
Korm, it’s a kit… 
so what?
doesn’t a kit give you enough room for planning some jigs?
So far they’ve done all the thinking for me, which lets me overthink other projects.
1 Like
My apologies for delays on this project, I’m dying to get back into it.
It so happened that unforeseen events (surrounding a basement makeover) took precedent, because the holiday time off presented itself as the best opportunity to get a handle on things.
I will certainly return to this wonderful kit when the holiday period is concluded.
With my basement project and Mik model done, I’m getting back into the transfar car kit. Next steps have involved a lot of part prep, such as casting drilling and rod bending, and pre-gluing.
It’s been fun to start installing parts, with the current set being the truss rods (using clamped boards to hold them in their saddles while gluing).
The instructions, drawings and templates are excellent.
When I saw the iron parts being restored at NSRM in 2019, the body bolsters really impressed me.
So it’s cool being able to assemble them now.
From the NSRM pics, I now realize that I’m following a different painting approach. Same colors, but different coverage. At NSRM, they pre-painted the body bolsters, using them not being installed on the car to their advantage. And I don’t blame them! But a couple months ago, after asking around the V&T historian group, I decided to mask and paint per the following “rule”: painting went as far as the workers were able and inclined to reach under there. So, I’m only painting beneath the side sills, and details there. All else will be treated with Jax.
Got more done on the undercarriage. The coupler drawbars actually work. The castings will get blackened in place.
It was then time to start the trucks, and here are most of their parts. Most pieces are (highly detailed) white metal castings, with very little cleanup required.
These are all sub-assemblies, each with tiny holes to drill. The wood parts on the bolster & brake beams were pre-lasered from solid wood (vs. plywood), which is great for authentic looking grain.
I’ll touch up the bolsters & etc. later, but I wanted to get all the main blackening done before assembling the trucks. I’d pre-assembled those and the brake beams, and first “blackened” the wood with 100% india ink. Then rinsed them in IPA, swiched them in Jax Pewter Black for a half minute, rinsed in water and set to dry.
This shows brake beams after inking & IPA-rinsing (bottom), and after Jaxing & water-rinsing (top). It was cool that the ink didn’t take to the castings, and the Jax didn’t take to the wood, so both rinsed away from where not needed. What neither of them liked was where I overdid it with the CA, so there’ll be plenty of touching up.
The steel wheelsets needed a different approach. After rinsing / cleaning in IPA, I let them soak in Jax Steel / Iron / Nickel Blackener, then rinsed in water. I did that a couple more times, wiping off rust (mostly) until they were gray-black. Then masked the treads and sprayed with flat clearcoat.
I’ll do the clearcoat on other parts after they’ve been assembled and touched up.
BTW I’m “painting” the trucks (vs. the carbody underside) black, because from what I can tell NSRM did that.
Cliff
4 Likes
I am so glad to see you are not slipping into the world of Underachieving.
I think the nugget car way qualified, haha! And for this car, I’m not showing all the parts I’ve broken… 
IPA…Sorry, in my world that’s a heady beverage perfect for the tropics. What us IPA in this context?
Neat build, by the way. Thanks for taking the time to capture photos of all the components!
Eric
Thanks Eric, it’s also great here, where it’s in the single digits! 
But for the model, it’s just Isopropyl Alcohol. 
Got the trucks done this morning.
Underside:
These are swing motion trucks, which have self-centering lateral play between truck bolster and frame. There are also leaf springs between the bolster and bottom plate. Everything works, which is kinda cool.
3 Likes
This weekend I’ve been putting on remaining details, such as brake rigging, trucks, and deck, and also been doing touchup painting.
And the money shot, with Joe posing… 
On November 19, 2025, the Joe Douglass and Engine Transfer Car were reunited, and are on display together at NSRM. This from Railfan & Railroad Magazine:
My version is three months late… and I still need to do the lettering, but I think I’ll call this done.
There are differences between the kit and NSRM car, because both were being “created” at roughly the same time. In 2019, restoration began, as did David Frey’s research, involving numerous trips to NSRM and endless measurements & photos taken. Many discussions were had. But in the end, NSRM appears to have rebuilt the car for the period before the U.S. Safety Appliance Acts kicked in, while the kit shows some resultant upgrades such as steps, grab rails and SAM’s couplers.
This car build has been challenging and fun. Its quality and parts are on a whole new level of detail for me. All parts are referred to with proper terminology, so I learned tons.
David Frey did a masterful job in research and managing the development; Al Pomeroy did fantastic work with the CAD design, 3d master prints for the casting molds, and drawings. Don Niday of Iron Creek Shops handled all the castings, and will be offering this and other craftsman kits.
Cliff
5 Likes
Looks wonderful. Looked like you enjoyed the kit as well.
What’s up with your red pilot vs the black on the prototype? Was that just a different paint scheme/time frame?
Thanks Craig, and yes I did.
Funny you should ask. The Joe has been on display for many years with the red pilot, and I styled mine after that. But when they “cosmetically restored” him in recent months, and changed to black, I didn’t get the memo… 
I will take some credit in starting the discussion with the powers that be (or were) a couple years ago, on the Joe needing a rear pilot, based on the builder’s specs, a newspaper clipping, and a shadow of it in the only existing photo. All of which I forwarded as arguments in favor of the rear pilot. Low and behold, in the (very) recent cosmetic restoration, Joe sprouted said rear pilot!
2 Likes