This started off as an Athearn undec which I bought over at Hartmann’s in Intervale NH, back when Athearn announced they were discontinuing the blue box line. I figured I oughta stock up before they all disappeared.
This is the undercarriage after I added some brake rigging. The train line pipe is 0.040 brass wire and the brake rods are 0.020 wire, the smallest I have. I am pleased with the bit of chain connecting the hand brake rod to the airt cylinder. I didn’t bother with air piping between the triple valve and the air reservoir. Maybe next time.
The couplers are real Kadee’s. It came with Bachmann EZ-mates. But, to change out a failed EZ-mate requires taking the frame apart and destroying the brake rigging. So I put in Kadees to reduce the chances of failure. I also drilled the coupler boxes for a 2-56 screw. Should a coupler need replacing, I can saw the coupler box lid loose from the frame, and preserve the brake rigging.
Red paint is Krylon “Fusion for Plastic” gloss #2328 “Red pepper/ Safety Red” over a coat of red auto primer. The undec plastic is dark black and I figured the red needed some help from a primer to cover well. The black undercarriage is painted in Rustoleum #2089 Dark Gray Auto Primer. The trucks are painted with Red Auto Primer. All paint is hardware store rattle cans, I don’t have an air brush. Decals are Walthers D38 Tank Car dated 1993. They were hard to find. After much Googling I found a small one person dealer who had some left. The wh
