Freight car projects

[up148]

That makes it even more interesting and challenging. The edges of the boards look so sharp I thought it was a plastic kit. Is it built from wood or plastic? Either way, a lot of time and love went into that car. Great build!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

That makes it even more interesting and challenging. The edges of the boards look so sharp I thought it was a plastic kit. Is it built from wood or plastic? Either way, a lot of time and love went into that car. Great build!

All wood; mostly brass or styrene details. Thanks!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

2nd gondola in the series....

[R.K. Maroon]

OK, I'll say it -- This is just marvelous work. Yes, most everything Martin posts is of the same level of craftsmanship, but for some reason I find this particularly well done. In my estimation, Martin is to wood freight (and passenger) cars what Malcom Byrd is to cabooses. By this I mean that nobody is surprised anymore to see one great model after another.

Jim

[up148]

Well said. So Martin, if we don't comment it's not because we don't like and appreciate your work, its "great" modeling, we/I run out of things to say. So, don't stop posting, it's really enjoyed.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Thank you both for your kind comments.

Should have a 3rd gondola in a few days or early next week. Nothing like triple digit heat to keep one busy in the nice cool basement,

[Rufus T. Firefly]

3rd gon in the series

[up148]

They are all equally amazing models and built excellently. I really like your removable load!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

They are all equally amazing models and built excellently.

Thanks!

I really like your removable load!

As one might imagine, these gons are rather light so a load is needed to bring them up to useful running weight. They are all generally coal gons, but that's sort of boring and then I had 4 small boxes of "junk". A marriage was arranged, bu tI wanted these to be removable, so everything is glued down on to some black painted cardboard with a bit of surgical silk through them to make them removable.

Also, the painting for some of these stated that the floors were left unpainted. If the load is removable, then that unpainted floor can be revealed.

The 4th in the series should be done in a week or so......then it's off to build a 60' truss-rod "furniture car" - the decals are hard to resist,

[Rufus T. Firefly]

A couple of projects into the future; just scoping out a kit coming off the shelf...older resin kit.....



sides are not too bad; some holes to fill. Ends are going to take some work,



Floor is nicely warped; hot water and weights with some brass box stock reinforcement fitting is in the immediate future,



Roof halves are a lost cause; warped in two dimensions, I don't see these parts as salvageable. But fortunate it's these parts since making new roof parts from styrene seems approachable,

[healey36]

The Western Maryland first used gondolas to haul coal, and they unloaded through the bottom. I've never seen a model of one of those, but it would be interesting.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The Western Maryland first used gondolas to haul coal, and they unloaded through the bottom. I've never seen a model of one of those, but it would be interesting.

Lots of railroads had drop bottom gons. Des Plains used to make a kit for one of the PRR gons.

[up148]

15-20 years ago I bought a resin kit of a UP flatcar. I've never done one of these and I'll be paying attention to problems and solutions. Not even sure which glue to use.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

15-20 years ago I bought a resin kit of a UP flatcar. I've never done one of these and I'll be paying attention to problems and solutions. Not even sure which glue to use.

Biggest issue on almost all resin kits is warping. Most can be addressed with submerging in hot water and weights between perfectly flat surfaces... and then usually some metal reinforcement to discourage that warp returning. That's how I'll address the floor casting of that caboose. Problems that are very hard to address are warps in large thick parts like the roof sections above - drawing that warp out is probably not going to succeed. Fortunately it's really just 2 flat pieces that can be replaced.

Glue....good CA sometimes mixed with Goo, clamps and weights, and then interior corner bracing to reinforce all of the seams....could use an epoxy for the latter.

[bob turner]

Would serious heat - say, a hairdryer or heat shrinker - do any good, or would it just melt it?