This is where we post pictures of items completed, under construction, or old pictures that we would like to share with the rest of the forum members.
I managed to complete a couple of cars this week.
Intermountain 1937 Mod. AAR 40’ Boxcar Kit, with A-Line Sill Steps, painted with Scalecoat II Boxcar Red and lettered with Speedwitch Media Decals. Car was built in 1944, and repainted in 1950 as the herald without the black background would indicate. Car was used in Auto Parts service in the Detroit area.
Branchline Trains, 1944 AAR Boxcar kit, A-Line Sill Steps, removed the roofwalk, painted with Scalecoat II Boxcar Red Paint and lettered with Highball Graphics decals. Car was built in 1950 by Bethlehem Steel, and rebuilt in 1972, removing the roofwalk and shortening all but the Brakewheel end ladders. Car was used for flour loading out of Jersey City, NJ.
Rick, Handsome cars that bring back memories of discovery. The NYC held little mystery about where it went, but where the heck was the Lehgh Valley? Being from the Midwest and living in the West as a kid, my personal geographic knowledge was a little challanged at times.
My gouged thumb is still recovering, but I managed to get a start on a project I’ve long anticipated, one of the fabled kit builds I missed in my youth. I was gifter with a cuple of these 2-in-1 Westwood Sumpter Valey passenger car kits. This is the real thing, lots of stuff you have to cut and fit.
It’s well thought out and well organized, probably a step or two ahead of many other kits of thew7 late 1960s.
The construction is pretty straightforward. I spent a ittle time getting organized, because I am custom hacking one of the two cars here into a short coach better suited to my mountain RR. This is the backside/inside of the coach side.
The Lehigh Valley, ran from Jersey City in New Jersey to Buffalo, NY via the Lehigh River Valley in the Allentown, PA area to Sayre, PA and on to Bufallo. They were heavily into anthracite coal business, hence the black diamond on their logo. They were also heavily into the cement business with a large fleet of covered hoppers. After the EL merger they became the NKP’s connection at Bufallo with the New York City area, as the NKP lost their connection with the Lackawanna.
By the way, nice work on that passenger car, I think I’ll send you my Labelle passenger cars to build.
Rick … … Your 40’s boxcars are great models and remind me of the 1950’s when long freight trains had nothing but 40’ boxcars in boxcar red with various railroad logos.
Mike L … Good start with the passenger car kits. When I had my 1900 era layout, I made some passenger cars from kits with mostly wood pieces.
Terry (TX) … Nice detail in your engine house, and the welder’s torch adds realism.
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Below are a couple of photos of my playing “What if?” … The GN Empire Builder always had EMD power, but what if they had Alco locomotives instead? … I ran my Empire Builder with Alco freight units and included a steam generator car at the head end.
While I am running GN trains, here is a freight trains with GP7’s.
I know some modelers on this list like having planes on their layout. Here is a complete scratch HO Beaver a member of the MFM club Three Rivers Quebec is flying. This is not a kit it is 3D printed out of drawing he made. He also programmed the Arduino board to match the starting engine sound he recorded on the plane he flew last summer. This is a replica of that plane including position light, decals and paint. A unique projet.
Rick: I love forty foot boxcars, and they look so “right” in Scalecoat boxcar red. Nothing beats a classic.
Mike: I have a similar passenger car kit, I think it is by Ambroid, in my “someday” box. Yours looks great.
Terry: I love the little welder guy. Nice touch.
Garry: The Alco’s look good on the Empire Builder. I don’t see anything wrong with this at all.
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I finished another Turtle Creek Creek Central boxcar this week. This is my fourth, and most modern (for 1954) TCC car. I think this will be the last one.
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Please keep the pictures coming along… HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND!
Rick, Thanks for opening the WPF with your fabulous forty footers and their history. I especially like the 70s modified Lehigh, makes me wonder how many such forties saw service into the mid-80s.
At one time the Pennsy owned 51% of the stock in the LVRR and I believe I read somewhere that LVRR passenger trains had access to Penn Station in New York with trackage rights from their parent company.
The Lackawanna seemed like a natural merger partner for the NKP but the latter wasn’t interested in absorbing the Lackawanna debt, much of it due to it’s unprofitable passenger service, this despite the Lackawanna owning a sizeable share of NKP stock. The NKP instead merged with the Norfolk and Western. The Lackawanna was turned down by the Lehigh Valley and the Delaware and Hudson before finally finding a merger partner in the Erie.
Good stuff here gents and love that Dashing Turtle Route boxcar. I also did one a while back and she is painted red. I shall need to find her and post a pic of it.
Anyway, here is a recent completion of mine for the Mt Hood RR club, a TM reefer with Champ decals. Gosh, how I miss Champ.[:'(]
A sturdy workhorse SD40-2 hauls a string of oil cans through Wind River Canyon.
I apologize for the shiny new unweathered rolling stock and the minimally scenicked terrain, but I’ve been wanting to contribute something to this thread for quite a while and I couldn’t wait any longer.
First, thanks for all the kind comments. I’ll probably cover the whole build here in some fashion. The SV cars are somewhat like the Ambroid, but I suspect the Ambroid are really more like LaBelle. Both are mostly wood, so you build the windows up with sticks.
Westwood did all the windows as plastic castings, saving time, keeping these delicate parts smooth without sanding, and keeping section thickness limited. Tabs extend top and bottom to tie into the wood parts of the model that you build around it. It was a bold step, but I don’t think anyone else used the design since. I may be wrong and would particularly like to find parts to build up Colorado style cars. Now that Grandt is almost done, I guess not if it hasn’t already been done. [%-)]
Could be there were problems with long term effects of differential expansion and contraction of the different materials and adhesives used in this syetem. I used Goo for bonding plastic to wood and CA for the all wood connections. I’ve been thinking about placing a dab of styrene cement between the foot of each casting to further bond them. The whole group of window castings its framed by wood when you finish, but I want to be certain it’s all held together well.
Wait until we get to the roofs, They are very interesting.
Happy to see your pic. Please show us more if you’d like. No need to worry. This thread isn’t just about what has been done, but to inspire people to start building somerhing and to discuss the process of building. Everyone chooses their own comfort level so when they feel they’re ready to show, that’s what’s most important, though.
Kevin … I like the Triutle Creek box car and the steam locomtove. Thanks for commenting on my photos.
Peter … Here comes Peter Cottontail … LOL … Cever photo.
Tankertoad … Nice refrigerator car.
Robert … Very nice … I’m gad to see somebody is modeling Wind River Canyon.
Mike L … Thanks for telling about Westwood kits. The windows must make construction easier. … I built both Ambroid and LaBelle kits when I was modleing 1900 era. LaBelle kits were better than Ambroid because the roofs were hollow inside instead of solid wood.
The Bear and Mrs Bear spent Easter off the grid, Brilliant!!![ip]
So, I’m just catching up on the doings of WPF and, as usual, am buoyed up looking at everyone’s efforts, but I must say that scratch built Beaver with the proper sound effects takes the cake! C’est magnifique! When you next see the builder Jack, please give him a big pat on the back from me.
Thanks to everyone for sharing your really Good Stuff,[tup]
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
I’ll second that motion by Ja Bear.A wonderful model, I only wished it took off, but maybe in the next version, huh? Thanks to Jack for posting it, as the link was much appreciated.
Flying noises have to be created by the pilot on my model. My Beaver is set up on bush tires, as there’s not much opportunity for float use in the San Juans.
I forgot to say anything earlier, because this weekend was so fragmented, saw that Beaver and then didn’t get a chance to comment again until a day later and, well, it was an exciting weekend for not much happening and I’d lost track of what I was going to say, other than Bravo!
