I am in the process of building four of these cars, based on elaborate prototype drawings from John White’s “American Railroad Freight Car.” Here’s the first of my batch of four on shop trucks for coupler height measurement. Brake system installation comes next.
These were inspired by similar cars on Irv Schultz’s St Clair Northern. I have never seen a commercial model to this or his design, so I eventually decided to scratch build these.
The load is silicon wood putty, covering the weight. A rock load will go on top after painting.
Not much room on the bottom to clear the hopper doors (which are pretty rudimentary- I don’t worry much about things the viewer can’t see), so the brake cylinder will be hung from the side sill. The drawings I have predated air brakes, so I am adapting the design of the brake hardware from some NG&SLG drawings of the famous Quincy & Torch Lake rock cars.
Very nice craftsmanship! Irv Schultz and John White’s exhaustive work are among my favorite “go-to” sources of inspiration too. I’ll look forward to updates on your project. [:D]
Jim
Thanks- that’s very kind of you, particularly since I find myself ruefully noting the truth of John Allen’s assertion that the camera is a merciless detector of minor flaws!
Very nice and careful workmanship. I have always been interested in those old wood ore cars. There is a detailed drawing by J Harold Geissel in the June 1978 MR page 93 of a similar car, and a great article by Gib Kennedy about scratchbuilding a Canadian Pacific 30 ton timber ore car (with drawing) in the February 1966 issue of MR. That article has two prototype photos that you might find of interest.
Dave Nelson
Haven’t seen the Geissel drawing, but very familiar with the Kennedy piece which I consulted before starting these. Because I am not in his league as a craftsman, I bulit my cars up at the sill level first, then framing the top of the car. I attached the top and bottom with the corner posts, then fitting the slope sheets, then filling in the trussing. If I were going to make a master for resin casting, I would definitely prefer his method of building up the sides and then assembling them- I just didn’t think I could get the components to come together as perfectly as his technique required, four times running.
Gib Kennedy was a true master craftsman, I downloaded all his articles as soon as I got a subscription to the archive. My first scratchbuilding project was a CPR obs from one of his articles (wimped out on the segmented transom windows, but his instructions were letter-perfect on everything).
Midland Pacific:
Very nice work!
Yes, the camera does expose minor flaws, but don’t beat yourself up over them. If something really bugs you then by all means do it over, but remember that people viewing them on your layout won’t usually be looking through a camera lens.
Also, take heart in that your next scratch building projects will benefit from your experience and they will be that much better for it.
All the best,
Dave
Midland Pacific, I’m struggling with two things, is it wood you’re using, and where exactly are the errors???
Very nice,[bow]
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
Yes, Northeastern strip woo, most of it in scale sizes (6x10 for the side and center sills, 4x6 for the trussing and framing). Amazing how easy the antique drawings were to work from- they included virtually every dimensional detail in the draft. There are about 100 separate pieces of wood in each car, to say nothing of MBWs, wire, castings, etc.
So here’s the completed, unpainted model, with brake system installed. I had planned to model the brake rigging under the car, but it just got to be too much - I was concerned it would obstruct the free movement of the trucks, so I left it off. What you can see is the brake cylinder and air reservoir, with connecting piping:I had to do some fairly fine soldering work to get a hook onto the end of the brake piston and the small brass strip that secures the free end of the brake chain.
Sorry - hope you guys can see that, not sure why can’t post pictures, here are some links:
http://s167.photobucket.com/user/MPRailway/media/image.jpg2_1.jpg.html?sort=2&o=10
http://s167.photobucket.com/user/MPRailway/media/image.jpg1_1.jpg.html?sort=2&o=9
http://s167.photobucket.com/user/MPRailway/media/image.jpg3_1.jpg.html?sort=2&o=8
Take 2:
Another angle
From the B end:
Very Nice!!![bow][bow]
Cheers, the Bear.
Very nice ore car.
Painted version, with Tichy arch bar trucks and Kadee #714 couplers installed. The Tichy trucks are fairly heavy duty, and a prototypical 5’ 6", so they work well. The 714s are meant for narrow gauge cars, but manufacturers like Rio Grande Models and BTS have recommended them for standard gauge cars for years; they are slightly smaller than 58s, so they don’t look overwhelming. All paint is Scalecoat I red oxide.
