After over two months of off and on work I finally finished assembling my Atlas Troop Kitchen car. Here are a few pictures.pictures.
I added some more roof vents and vents on the side of the car. The Southern Division of the NYC modified this war surplus troop kitchens for MOW use. Cooking equipment was added in order to increase the capacity needed to feed the hungry crews out working on remote right of ways. I also replaced the stirrups that came with the troop kitchen. I used the steps from a junker Weaver troop sleeper on my kitchen car.
If you take on one of these undecorated Atlas troop cars projects make sure you have an assembled Troop car to use for a reference, because there are absolutely no instructions. One lesson I learned was that the steam pipe on the under frame should be removed before you assemble the brake equipment . The little plastic lines on the break tanks and cylinders that have to be attached to the triple valve break easily You must go under the steam pipe, and most of mine broke off trying to be slid under the steam Line. I had to use brass wire to replace the brake plumbing. Knowing this will make rebuilding my three replacement frames for my weaver cars a lot easier.
The holes for mounting the grill detail on the roof were drilled about 1/8 of an inch to far in. the mounting legs on the brass grill detail part would not line up with the pre drilled holes in the roof. My Dremmel tool took care of that problem. Reattaching the wire to the pick up roller was a real challenge for my big fingers. A strong magnetic screw driver helped get that tiny screw and wire lug lined up in order to reattach the roller pickup to the truck.
The Crew Kitchen was the last car I wanted to add to my NYC MOW train. Here is a picture and two short videos of the completed train. I still have to fix my Z Stuff switch springs in order for the crane car to run on my layout.
The NYC MOW troop sleeper and crew kitchen car only existed in my imitation, but they do make up a good looking MOW train.
Have a great week,
Richard