Built Up Vintage Kits - Rolling Stock

Nice work - neat prototype!

Very nice 

I bought this old Lobough kit was partially done and finished it painted printed up decals and weathered it. I think it makes a fine model  

Thanks for posting.  That is one burly looking tank car. There have to be scores of old All Nation, Reynolds, Ambroid, Gloor, Lobough, etal. models that have been/are being built that the rest of us would like to see.  Next up for me is an Ambroid composite hopper.  It's got a way to go, but when finished I'll post.

I have several All Nation, lobaugh, etc. and vintage brass freight cars that I have bought already built up. They are excellent.

Nice work guys.

I love the wood kits. Built a couple Mainline Models 50' REX reefers. Have a pile of Ambroid  X23 boxcar kits to do plus a flanger.

Labelle coach:

Here's the bones of a Picard Novelty kit:

With a little work:

I have a Westbrook 50 Ton steel box car, Burlington.... Zephyr, waiting  construction, I think there are some parts missing, and the instructions are slime. Has any one built one, some pics would be great!!    cTr....( Choose the Right )

Stephen, there is a Westbrook kit currently on ebay. The pictures may help, though not much is shown.  What do you think is missing?  One of the old manufacturers sold "body kits".  I believe the box ends were so marked.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272344...e=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Jim

mwb posted:

Here's the bones of a Picard Novelty kit:

With a little work:

Martin that's impressive 

box of sticks for sure

Erik C Lindgren posted:

Here's the bones of a Picard Novelty kit:

 

 

Martin that's impressive 

box of sticks for sure

Thanks.  Everything after the 6 "bones" was added by me including the scribed siding...

I should do more of these projects - some serious fun value.

But I'm putting model train building on hold and going back to working on furniture projects and other restoration efforts.

Back at an Ambroid composite hopper I had started a few years ago then put aside. The basic body structure had gone together quite well. Last night the lower hopper sides were added.  The paper patterns on the plans weren't right, so the pieces needed reshaping to fit.  The metal hopper doors were also too large; they were filed down. 

I'm discovering these old kits are a combination of good engineering and time saving and bad engineering and time consuming.  Overall, though, they really do make for pleasant builds.  They'll accept as much effort as you're willing to expend.  One of these hopper kits is currently on ebay for $10.00 buy it now.  Lots of enjoyment for the money.

Jim

T

That Scale-craft reefer looks great! I have a bunch of those that I have picked up over time, some in decent shape and others in bad shape.  I notice on several of mine that while they are scribed on the sides, the actual surface is very rough, seemingly to the extent that a light sanding to smooth them out would completely remove the scribing.  I'm just curious, did you have to re-scribe your reefer?  These old cars started my semi interest in 2 rail scale and have been tempting me to complete a two rail loop on my layout... maybe someday lol

Man, Dennis, I would happily send you a hunk of track!  Those would look better just on a tabletop.  They are stunning models, though.  I really like well done Scale Craft.

Thanks Bob, They were all just picked up off fleabay over time for a few bucks a piece with a sprinkle of patience and timing luck.  As you can also guess, these were already built probably a long time ago.  I sure wouldn't tear these up!

Dennis, my reefer body was built but unpainted.  It required a few minor repairs of dents and dings.  I sanded then primed.  The scribing was quite good. It did take some passes with the back of an xacto blade to clean up a few of the lines.  Jim

Hopper is moving along.  I've taken significant liberties from scale in mounting the brake gear and piping.  The kit provides the typical 3 castings found in box car kits, and the instructions provide no hints in how to mount the castings in the end.  So I've just made up some simple brackets to get the parts in the approximate correct spaces.

The body corners call for 1/16 bass "L" shapes.  This seemed way too weak; brass "L" was used instead.  The other ends of the ladder supports call for 1/16 x 1/32 bass.  I'll use brass strip instead. 

Jim

Finished up the grab irons and supports.  These all need to be individually bent from straight wire.  It's a lot of fussy work and difficult to do uniformly.  Brake staff and platform installed.  Yet to do are the stirrup steps.  I ordered a set of dry transfers from CDS; these need to come from Canada.  The kit decals are Walthers.  They're OK to use but very thick.

Jim

Very nice!  I should have you do all my grab irons.

Fussy indeed! Great work!

The Nickel Plate hopper is finished.  Overall, it was a very nice kit to build.  Its shortcomings were, in my view, the 1/16 wood angles for the corner posts (which I replaced) and the lack of information on the brake rigging.  I actually would have preferred the earlier markings included in the kit, but the CDS dry transfers made for a neater job. The trucks are Atlas Andrews.  The hand grabs are .022" brass wire.  Next time I'll try something a bit finer.

This car will be a shelf sitter.  I don't have a layout and have decided not to attempt weathering.  Apologies for the derailment in one  of the pictures.

Next up is a Labelle Omaha Reefer.  It's started, and so far I'm not very impressed.  I had built one of their box cars and a flat car in HO back in the 1970s; seemed OK then. Compared to the Ambroid kit the Labelle instructions are poor and the basic box construction is not very scale-like.  More to follow.

Very nice!

Ye she's a beauty.     cTr...( Choose the Right )

Thanks for the comments.  On to the Labelle CStPM&O vegetable car kit.

The prototype was patented in 1908 by Charles Moore.  It comprised a center ice chamber hanging down from the roof, six roof hatches for filling, and an oil heater centered below the floor.  Internal passages allowed for air circulation.  Ice for cold; heat for warm depending on the season. The patent is available on line; I could find no pictures other than the one Labelle included in its instructions.

Because of the upper ice chamber the car was higher than the normal car of the time. The Labelle kit does not duplicate this. Labelle's car body construction is also simplified and in some ways crude.  The side top facia boards are represented by the subroof edges - too narrow vertically and protruding too far out. The supplied roof sheeting is .072" or 3 1/2" scale thickness.  The door are just scribed into the side sheeting. I decided to modify the construction to give some finer details and to provide more visual interest.

I also don't know what safety features would have been required in 1908.  Labelle shows neither ladder nor steps to brake wheel. The Labelle decals provide no hint of the construction date of the car or any in service dates. So, with apologies to the purists, it ends up being a free-lanced car.

Great pics!   I am hoping to pick up a couple kits at the Indy meet.  I used to build the HO scale craftsman kits when I was younger and could see better.  Need to start building a few kits to use on my planned shelf layout.   Mike

Dodger, by all means post some pictures if you build a kit.  I am progressing on the Labelle reefer.  It has evolved into sort of a free lance model because I've deviated quite a bit from the Labelle construction.

The Omaha reefer is now in primer.  After some final corrections it will be ready for paint - gray sides with boxcar red ends and roof.

With the completion of the reefer in the not too distance future, I have revisited a kit purchased from P&D in 2003.  It must have been one of the last All Nation tank cars made before the business ceased.  It was started in 2003, then put aside after I gave up on it.

I'm speculating that it has a "welded" tank because AN ran out of the brass tubes and riveted wrappers and wanted to unload the remainder of their tank car parts.  The tank is just a semi-formed flat sheet insufficient in circumference to make a complete tube.  There's a gap of about 3/8" at the bottom.  Fastening the tank to the frame did nothing to close the gap. My attempt to gain a tubular shape consisted of some turned plywood discs epoxied to the inside.  The epoxy to brass joint failed shortly and I was left with a "C" shaped tank.

Now it's 2016 and I've brought out the blacksmith tools.  My solution was to sweat solder the tank edges to an internal filler strip 3/4" wide and the length of the tank.  The ply discs went back in to hold the circular shape.  About 6 wire bands were twisted around the tank to pull it into the circular shape.  It sorta worked; it looks terrible; and I hope most of the mess will be hidden by the central frame member.  So, it remains to be seen what I am able to make of this.

Current work in progress:

That's coming along well.  Is it a Labelle baggage, or did Ambroid do one in O scale as well as HO?

I'm awaiting some box car red Scalecoat I paint for the ends of the Omaha reefer.  In the meantime the All Nation tank car is moving forward.

The soldered tank bottom got some bondo to cover the defects.  I substituted full length running boards for the kit-supplied shorter ones.  A little detail has been added to the ends.

I think you have done well on that tank.  All Nation took over the Thomas line, and they were the same except die cast domes.  That gap in the bottom is normal - glad you filled it.

I considered them nice, but flimzoid - so I stuck brass rings inside, as you did with wood.  I used the brass as anchor points for screws - truck screws, dome screws, and mounting screws.  They turned out ok, but I much prefer the prewar Lobaugh tank kits.  Look for one of those next - they are identifiable by a ring of rivets at each end, pressed into the brass tube.  You can make them better with a skirt under the dome - see my photos on a different forum.

jjscott posted:

The body corners call for 1/16 bass "L" shapes.  This seemed way too weak; brass "L" was used instead.  The other ends of the ladder supports call for 1/16 x 1/32 bass.  I'll use brass strip instead. 

Jim

I have a Quality Craft N&W Hopper and I need to do the same thing with the body corners.

The side frames on the QC car don't extend out like yours, so most of what I have to do will be finished in brass from the bolster plate to the end.  Should provide a solid foundation.

I need to get the brass though, every time I go to the LHS they're closed!

Stupid question but i have to know. Can these cars run on 3 rail track? If they can i might just start buying and building some. 

feet posted:

Stupid question but i have to know. Can these cars run on 3 rail track? If they can i might just start buying and building some. 

Most can; depends on the truck being used and clearance with the car underbody

Bob, the brass I used for the corners was 1/8 x .015 thick.  I think 3/32 may have been better, but the 1/8 is what I had. 

mwb posted:

feet posted:

Stupid question but i have to know. Can these cars run on 3 rail track? If they can i might just start buying and building some. 

Most can; depends on the truck being used and clearance with the car underbody

Thanks MWB. What trucks would you recommend ? I would like to use friction bearing trucks with Lionel style couplers.

LaBelle baggage car:

That's nice work.