Bicentennial Freedom Train flatcars with wagons

That is great!  I was talking to another forum member about making these cars and was (still) looking at the Atlas 89' foot flatcars.  We were also looking at containers, but undersized ones from Lionel and MTH, and gluing a thin sheet of plastic on the outside to give it the smooth look of the AFT equipment.  I like how you sanded the braces down but would need to buy the sander and make time for it (maybe I'll stay with the plastic sheets).

Waiting to see your finished cars.

Here are some pictures of the first wagon box.  It turned out very well.  The decals provided by Accumen Media are very good quality and easy to apply.  I had to do some more sanding on the box once I primed it since the ribs were still showing thru.  This is where the detail sander worked its magic.  It looks like a small clothes iron and shakes like crazy!

The under carriage is a work in progress with lots of small fiddly bits and not much to go on from pictures.  This one will have a towing yolk like in the pictures on the Freedomtrain.org site.

The first flat is nearly done and I will post some pictures of the wagon on the flat next week.

Rolland

Rolland,

Looking good!  Two questions:

1)  I cannot find Accumen Media.  Is it spelled right?  I noticed Microscale has decals for the Freedom Train, but no the AFT, and only in N and HO.

2)  Did you get decals for all the wagons?  How about the vehicles?

Thanks.

Ron;

First, it is Accuen Media, my mistake.  Their store is at http://www.themetrains.com/theme-trains-store.htm

Second, they do not advertise decals in O scale, but were very gracious about making them for me.  I don't remember what they cost but they were not cheap.  I bought the decals in 2014.

I bought decals for the three flats, all of the wagons (10 total wagons), the Chevy Blazer, the fork lift (several sizes were sent to fit what ever fork lift I could find), the Step Van and the GMC utility truck.  Also included was a small scale plan view of the wagon tow bar.  Additional information was included on placement and sizing.

I am very pleased with the quality and they were sent well packaged to prevent damage. 

Rolland

May I ask what did you start with for the forklift model?

According to the info on the freedomtrain.org website the forklift was a Clark IT-40 type G.  I have been doing some searching but have not found anything yet.

Rolland

Here are a few pictures of the first flat complete with the first wagon box on it.  Since the cars are 68' long I will only be able to carry 3 wagons on each flat but that is all right with me.  I am trying to convey the idea of how the Freedom Train was composed, not produce an accurate scale model of it in every detail.  That said the car looks great to me.  The weather here has taken a turn for the nasty and I cannot paint during the day (too hot, long experience with this) but it is supposed to be cooler later next week.  I was hoping to have all 3 flats done by the 4th to display at the local club but that looks unlikely now. 

The under carriages are not coming along as well as I had hoped.  Looks like I will be adding them later once I get an assembly I am satisfied with. 

Rolland

Over that last few days I have been able to finish the three flat cars and five of the wagon boxes.  I have not made any progress on the under carriages and am waiting on a new order of wheel sets ( the first ones were too large.)  I think the flats look terrific and the wagon boxes turned out great.  I have to wait for the wheels and working out the under carriage before I finish the souvenir wagons since they had a deep skirt which will require some modifications to the basic box.

Here are some pictures of progress to date.

Rolland

For 1:48 scale wheels look at don mills models.  He has several types of wheels/rims and is on ebay.

I picked up the latest wheel sets today at my LHS and built up the first undercarriage.  Here are some pictures of the undercarriage under a wagon box on one of the flats.  Next I will be making up the towing bar and that will finish the first wagon.  Only 9 more to go!

Rolland

I was really busy most of July and August.  Just got back to working on the wagons today.  Built the undercarriages for two more wagons along with the tow yoke.  Here they are on the flat car.  As I said before I can only carry 3 wagons per flat, but I think it looks really nice.  Will be finishing up in the next few weeks.  I have to figure out how to tie the wagons down.  This was done with turn buckles and chains on the real train.

Comparing these to the pictures at https://www.freedomtrain.org/a...onsist-012-wagon.htm I think they turned out real well.

Rolland

Found a panel van that matches the one used on the Freedom Train at Diecast Direct.  I added the decals supplied by Todd and it turned out real well.  I still have to find the Chevy Blazer, a usable forklift and finish the last 5 wagons. 

Rolland

@RLaHaie posted:

I got bit hard by the Freedom Train bug in 2014 and began to collect all that was available at that time.  I also found the freedomtrain.org website which led me to Accumen Media and their HO decals for all of the cars.  I contacted them to see if they could supply decals for the cars which were not manufactured and they sold me decals for the flats, the wagons and the Freedom Train Promo car #200 Splendid Spirit.

Rolland

Rolland

Do you have any contact info for Accumen Media?   I could not find them on a web search.   I did find a dead link to AccumenDisplay.com    I hope they are still in business.  I would like to get a set of these decals.

Beautiful work on the cars and wagons, by the way.

Bob

Bob;

As I pointed out above, the actual name of the company was Accuen Media.  I talked to the proprietor a few months ago and he was no longer printing decals.  He was a member of this forum but I cannot find any of his posts now, so it looks like he even left this forum.  The Freedom Train websites are down as well, which is really unfortunate.

Rolland

Thanks Rolland

I found his website (when spelled correctly!) and I sent him an email.

The Freedomtrain.org website was down yesterday, but fortunately, it's back up today.

Did you finish your other 9 wagons?   Your work is excellent.   I would love to see more pictures and/or video of your train.

Bob

Bob;

Unfortunately I have had some health issues the last year or so that stopped that project after finishing 5 wagons.  I intend to get back to it this year and perhaps run the entire train over the summer.  I will post pictures and video as I make more progress on the project.

Rolland

@RLaHaie posted:

Bob;

Unfortunately I have had some health issues the last year or so that stopped that project after finishing 5 wagons.  I intend to get back to it this year and perhaps run the entire train over the summer.  I will post pictures and video as I make more progress on the project.

Rolland

Rolland,

I am sorry to hear about your health issues.  I'm working though some myself.  Hope you get well fast.

Your work is great!  After seeing your post I ordered the decals but have not done anything with them yet; too many other projects.  I have three Atlas 89' flatcars for my train, although they are a bit longer than the 85' flatcars on the actual AFT.  I also have a GGD HW combine that will become the tool car.  If I can complete those four cars I will have 24 of the 26 cars of the train.

Rolland, I wish you continued recovery.  

Ron, I wish I had ordered decals when you did.  Hopefully, I will be able to acquire a set.  I just acquired the MTH AFT baggage car (in a 2-pack with the generic MTH passenger car) and an extra shell, which can be converted into #20/33 or #200.   I was looking for a car to convert to the tool car.  Is the GGD HW combine an 80' car?  

Still not sure about a donor for the boxcar #33/34.  Have you found anything?

Bob