HO scale car plans

[Anonymous]

My 9 yo son and I are modeling the 50's and 60's in HO scale. We want to try our hands at making some cars but are not quite sure where to start are far as plans. I've heard about the old MR magaszines that had the $1 plans but can't find any of the articles. Is there anyone that can help us or give us some good advise?
my E-mail address is [e-mail].

Jim and Noah Schultz

[GN-Rick]

With the many kinds of kits available now-not to mention ready-to-run, my
best advice would be to try your hand(s) at a kit. You can some times find
plans of cars printed in the various magazines. I presume from your post
that you and your son are just starting, so I reiterate my advice to begin
with kits. Plans (instructions) are included with them. and, by the way,
[#welcome]to our little corner of the hobby. You will find much knowledge
here and good people willing to share it with you.

[dehusman]

Most of the old dollar cars were older cars.

My suggestion is to pick a wooden car and build it, such as a USRA Double sheathed boxcar.

Another approach is to try "kitbashing" where you combine different parts or kits to build a model. A simple one is to cut the top off a Athearn tank car dome and then remove the dome itself, then make a new taller dome to replace it (you can recycle the dome top). Another Athearn kitbash is to take an Athearn 40' boxcar, shave off the top rib on the ends and shorten the sides by 6" to make a 10' interior height car (circa 1930's) as opposed to a 10'6' car (circa 1940's).

The challenge of making cars from the 50's is that many of them were riveted and making all those rivets can be a pain. Try your hand at kitbashing. Its about the same amount of work to do it right and it can save you a lot of rivet making.

Dave H.

PS : Kalmbach gathered up a bunch of those "dollar car" articles into one softcover book on building cars. I can't remember the exact name, but that would be the place to start if you did want to scratch a car from those plans.

Another cool resource is the PRR T&HS. Their magazine is on the web. They have GREAT articles on modeling PRR equipment. Fortunately the PRR was so big that any railroad can stand to have some PRR equipment on it.

http://www.prrths.com/Keystone%20Modeler/Keystone_Modeler.htm

[Anonymous]

The dollar car kits refered to the cost of the materials to build the car from basic materials like strip wood or styrene sheet and shapes. Today the cost is a little bit more since trucks and couplers alone will be more than a buck.
That being said, there is an excellent reason to build your own car or cars, there is a likelyhood that would be unique to you and your son. The Pennsylvania Rail Road Technical & Historical Society referenced above has a series of articles on building gondolas that wold be prototypical for the Pennsy as well as a number of other railroads. Those might be a place to start for a "Dollar" kit to pass on a legacy to your son.
Good luck in your pursuit of your modeling, you and your son will enjoy sharing the journey. Welcome to the the hobby and the forum.
Will

[IRONROOSTER]

The dollar car models had less detail and made substitutions in order to keep costs down. One suggestion was using track spikes as door guides. Another was to use a piece of bent wire for the handle. Most modelers today want a higher level of detail.

I would suggest you build a craftsman kit such as from Labelle Woodworking or Ye Olde Huff and Puff.
http://www.labellemodels.com/ and http://www.yeoldehuffnpuff.com/
This will serve as a good introduction to scratch building.

Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

"Easy-to-build Model Railroad Freight Cars" dates back to a 1953 MR series and was published as a paperback by Kalmbach in the early 1970's. I built a couple of cars back then, but as other posters have pointed out, by today's standards they are pretty crude. If you can find a copy, I'd still buy it because it can give you some good info on scratchbuilding techniques and you can apply that to kitbashing, as well.

John Timm

[Jetrock]

And remember, a lot of those "dollar model" articles came out when you could still get a Coke for a nickel!