Has anyone tried to change the roof on an HO Scale MDC/Roundhouse Harriman to a standard heavyweight clerestory roof. I am debating changing my Harrimans to visually represent a "shorty" heavyweight passenger car. I think that athearn roofs could be cut, or the roofs for Walthers 60' passengers cars could be used.
-Alex
My Layout Photos- http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/ajwarshal/library/
Well, if you wanted to change the roof, MDC/Roundhouse/Athearn/Horizon do (or did) offer the roofs for what were originally MDC's 56' "Overland" wood passenger cars. These were separate clerestory roofs, although you'd need to splice a piece into one to get the proper length. Five stock roofs should yield four lengthened ones.If you're making them into true heavyweights, though, you'll need to add the fishbelly underframe. I recall reading more than once that the Harriman cars were the first of the so-called lightweights - I can only guess that that was because of the lack of the fishbelly frame used on most steel cars or that time. While the real ones were listed as being 60' long, that didn't include the vestibules, so the MDC car is a bit short. There were longer arch-roof cars built after the Harriman cars, but they weren't Harrimans.
Here's a slightly modified MDC car with a simple scratchbuilt fishbelly underframe - I figured it was allowable, as we didn't have Harrimans in Canada.
Wayne
One one hand you COULD change the roofs, the ex-MDC, now Athearn tooling has the roof seperate. The old MDC versions can be picked up relatively cheaply via online auctions or at swap meets. However, as mentioned above, the "Harriman" car has other details that make it differ from a classic "heavyweight". By the time you acquire the cars, the parts and do the changes (every manufacturer's roof seems to not fit anybody elses' cars) you could run out and find a set of the Rivarossi 60' heavyweights. Some were marketed via Walthers for a while, and some were sold in Rivarossi boxes. They are nice cars with good detail and they generally look "right". A number of real RR's had passenger cars in the 60-65' range. I THINK Con-Cor also did some shorty heavyweights, I know that they DID make some 70-72-foot streamliners.
Hello Alex ---
Try Bethlehem Car Works:
http://www.bethlehemcarworks.com/Products/index.html
Look under Car sides, ends, doors, roofs, & windows and you'll find part 27, Clerestory roof with lavatory vents, 70 foot, $5.95 each. It is likely to be too long, which probably means you'll have to cut a piece out of the middle to make it fit. I would buy one first to try it, and then buy more once you've seen that it works out all right. I don't know about the contour of the arch above the end doors. You might need to use some body putty to make it fit.
Walthers used to make a similar part many years ago when they made passenger car kits with metal sides. Back then the original roofs were milled wood. You had to cut & file & sand to create the end curves. Then they changed to preformed plastic roofs. J-C Silver Sides was another manufacturer who made similar cars with wood roofs back then.
Tom
Thank you all for your replies, I factored the cost, time, and work effort compared to the result and it wouldn't be worth it. I'm gonna just stick to my fictional Harriman set, I have now.
Alex