I wanted an N5 Crew Express Cabin Car to bring up the rear of my Mail Train. Nobody makes one for the era I am modeling (1955-1956), so I decided to modify a Lionel N5b.
This is what I started with:
And this is what I ended up with:
I used a lot of references for this project: In addition to the Keystone article, I used several online photos of the non express cabin cars. The two that helped me the most are these:
Finding period correct photos is a challenge. First of all, no one photographed the rear of the train. Second, its tough to find a photo that does not depict the cabin after it has been subject to both improvements and regulatory modifications
My special thanks to Bill Nesbitt for some advice and guidance on this project. As Bill says “I used to work in one of those things” so he knows what he is talking about. Any errors are strictly my own.
I used 143 brass pieces for this project. Only 27 were prefabricated (grab irons, brake wheel, chain, etc. The rest were made from brass stock of various shapes. These brass pieces were soldered together in sub assemblies. Several sub assemblies required four parts or more be soldered together. The largest has 19 separate parts. This was my first attempt at this sort of thing. So I learned a lot of skills. Not to mention the need for high quality (and expensive) swiss cut files, resistance soldering, many types of locking tweezers, heat sinks, and above all, some serious magnifying optics.
Here is a photo of the shell with most, but not all, of the brass temporarily applied:
For the handrails, I wanted to replicate the look of the real thing- namely a bent 1” diameter tube whose ends are welded into separate feet which are then bolted to the body. The Lionel supplied handrails, although made of brass, are too thick by over 50%, and have no end detail. I ended up making the handrails from four pieces. The feet are Precision Scale #5623 grab irons. I cut the PSC bars cut off, drilled a .021” diameter hole where the bar was, and soldered a pre-formed .020” phosphor bronze wire in place. A jig (first drawn with Microsoft Power Point, and then transferred to a piece of MDF) and a resistance soldering unit are essential for these steps:
The mid span foot is made from an O Scale America (Des Plaines Hobbies) 1002 grab iron. Note it is smaller than the end feet. Obviously, the handrail is held in place at the ends by the bent wire, but visually it looks like it is held in place by the feet.
By the way, the cast in Lionel feet are not needed, or wanted, with this design. I shaved them off with one of those nifty detail removers from Micro Mark. I also had to move the lower holes on the sides…the Lionel ones were too close to the ends. This wrecks the arc of the curved handrail. What Lionel did was to jut the handrail outward past the end of the car, and then curve it down. I could not find a prototype N5 or N5b with handrails configured that way. (I could find an N5c though). At any rate, I plugged the errant hole by inserting a .032” diameter styrene rod, wicking Tenax 7R around the rod, and then cutting the rod flush with a razor blade.
Here is a photo of the completed end of the cabin:
The cut lever and chain operate, and the collision posts go below the floor (a feature not usually modeled). They also angle inward below the platform.
And here is the view from the other angle:
Note the brake handle on the collision post, with the collapsible handle dangling down. Also note the bracket that holds the air hose. This is made from five pieces.
Other highlights of the construction include:
- The car was stripped with alcohol (a trick I learned from David Friedlander). The body stripped easily, but the diecast roof and cupola were reluctant to give up their paint
- I painted the car with a 50/50 mix of Poly Scale Zinc Chromate Primer/Special Oxide Red, cut 50/50 with clear flat, and a drop of Dawn. Apply in thin coats, and follow with a hairdryer after each coat.
- I followed with a coat of Testors 2936 High Gloss Clear Top Coat. I have extolled the virtues of this as a surface for applying decals before, so I won’t repeat them here. But look at the following photo. You can clearly see the track reflected in the shell:
- The decals were from Mt Vernon Shops. I think they are still available
- I weathered the shell (after the requisite application of DullCote) with Vallejo Dark Brown weathering wash. Apply it in thin, uneven, vertical coats with a 3/8” wide brush.
- I installed the handrails, and anything else painted chrome yellow after the weathering. I held the handrails in place with JB Kwik Weld. That did a good job plugging up the gap between Lionel handrail holes, which are .032” diameter, and the .020" diameter wire I used. I then touched up the JB with the body color.
- I used microscope cover slips for the windows, held in place with Goo. They are easy to cut and very thin, so they look right. As an added bonus, and much to my amazement, Lionel recessed the inside of the shell where the main windows go. So you are not looking at a thick window frame. I coated the outside surface of the windows with a very light coat of Testors Semi Gloss. This gave a prototypical “clean enough to see out of, but noticeably dirty” look
- I painted the interior walls a correct tan color. Other than that I did nothing to the interior. Interiors are for contest models, and mine is being towed around by a mail train
- I took out the interior lights, but kept the marker lights. I moved them outward to get rid of that cross eyed look. I also added a 15 kohm resistor to dim the lights, and a capacitor to keep the lights lit in the highly likely event that it encounters dirty track.
- I built a new roof walk, roof platform, and end platform from scale 2 x 8 lumber. I mounted the roof planks on .080 styrene strips, and added nail holes with a pounce wheel. I added inverted Grandt Line NBW castings at the end of the strips, so I was able to get the roof walk off the roof, for a more prototypical “see under the roof walk” look
- I fabricated full width body bolsters from styrene, but maintained the threaded Lionel mounting hole.
- The trucks are Yoder caboose trucks which are close enough to the elliptical spring 2A-F4 trucks of this era. I had to add pickups to the trucks for the marker lights. I have no experience with tread mounted pickup wipers, but as mounting them here is easy, and any other place else difficult, I though I’d give it a try:
- The Lionel underframe is very highly detailed, so I did nothing there. But it is made of diecast metal. Which means it conducts electricity, which means the truck pickups have to be isolated. As can be seen above.
- The Couplers are Protocraft, chosen as much for their looks as for the fact that they fit between the collision posts. I could not use the Lionel provided mounting holes, as they are for a transverse screw pattern, and the Protocraft are longitudinal. So I made my own mounting pads.
- The Lionel figures are in the main body of the car, sitting down and facing each other over a table. It looks like they are playing checkers. So I put one of them to work and placed him in the cupoloa. I had to cut off both his and the chair’s legs. As supplied, the Lionel figures are too bland. So I gave them a shower in Dullcote followed with a light application of Vallejo weathering wash. (Pick a color that contrasts with the clothes and faces). I am going to do this on all my figures. (Yes, I know I did a sloppy job on the legs on the dude in green. Next time I’ll pay more attention.)
Well, that’s about it. I learned a lot, and it took awhile. But I am done. I doubt I’ll do another one, as I do have a layout to build, and this was a major detour. But I did learn a lot of skills, and I have a new appreciation for people who routinely do this stuff (e.g. Malcolm, Martin, and others). In the meantime, here it is in it's rightful spot at the end of my mail train:
I trust we'll see this cabin car at the PRRT&HS Annual Meeting in May? It should win something!
