Dave, I thought about it, but I'm not going to light anything. The cab interior won't be detailed, as it has a stack of weights inside.
For those tiny markers on the cab, I'm going to drill them out just a little, paint the inside red, and fill the hole with canapy glue. That will give a decent looking "fake" light, with a lens.
I also don't run anything at night. Nothing is lit up on my lay out except the locomotive head lights, although I do have red lights on the end of a passenger train I run, along with the EOT flashers (Ring Eng.) I have on freight cars.
Mike.
My You Tube
Dave, (Nelson) did you add some to your earlier post that I missed? There seems to be a lot more info than what I remember after reading your post the first time.
Anyway, thanks! It's great info!
dknelson those tenders carried 10,000 gallons of water and 16 tons of coal so these were heavier cabooses than the earlier ones.
OK, that would explain the "dropped" area, under the caboose, and all of the extra steel!
dknelsonIt says the hand brakes, among the few new parts purchased from the outside, were Equipco.
That's what the hand wheel look likes, so I was able to order some Equipco hand wheels from Kadee.
dknelsonThe main thing he says is to get the soldering of the railings correct and neat.
Yea, well, , I don't think they turned out TOO bad, The only soldering so far, are the two sided hand rails on each end of the running boards, as they have 3 legs, so the 3rd (middle one) was soldered. First time I tried the paste, that Frank uses. I'll let the macro lens and you guys be the judge . WARNING, I don't have the skills that Frank (Zstripe) has at this, just for a heads up.
dknelsonroofwalk platforms from an Atlas O scale extended vision caboose which he said are ideal.
I'm using Plano apex style grating.
dknelsonWell I can't retype the entire book here
Ah come'on! Just kidding
Thanks again Dave! Excellent stuff!
I'm about ready to paint the cab, and finish detailing, so the cab itself, is totally complete, then I can get to work on all of the other hand rails that are part of the chassis/frame/base.
More to come!
The scratch build is looking great so far Mike.
I don't feel it's appropriate to say to another guy.... Hey! Nice Caboose.... So I won't
Keep up the good work
TF
Back with more, one thing about a rainy WI. spring, it extends my "model railroad season".
Cab is painted with Floquil MILW. orange. I had to thin a lot, and I gave the cab 3 light coats.
Photobucket is down to a slow crawl today, this post is going to take a while!
Next I painted the roof, and started to work out the hand rails on the chassis.
"I know what your thinkin' " The roof looks strange, like it doesn't overhang the sides, or even go to the sides?
ALL of the prototype photos I've found, that the way the roofs are on these cars. The drawing/floor plan I posted early shows how the wall sections were made in panels, steel plate, inside and out, with 3.5 "Z" shaped steel studs.
The roofs must have been made in the same fashion, at least, that's the way it appears. My prototype has the same roof, with that 3" edge showing all the way around.
Next I installed the running boards.
Then I did the hand rails for the running boards.
Next I filed and sanded my solder joints, and put on the first coat of white paint, added the stove vent and the toilet vent, and glazing in the windows, which pretty much completes the cab, for now.
Who invented the macro lense? Looks like I have some more sanding to do to get rid of all the little "bumps".
Not a clear picture, sorry. I'll put the cab aside now, and get back to the hand rails on the frame/chassis, as there is a lot to do!
I'll be back. Thanks for tagging along!
Wow, that’s really starting to look good! That MILW color is really good, adds a whole new level of realism to the caboose. I really can’t wait to see it finished!
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
Thanks SP.
Should have more progress to show tomorrow.
Looking good Mike. She's really starting to take shape
Very nice!
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
Thanks TF and Chuck! Been working on it today. Working on the railings, I'll have more to show tomorrow.
I'm getting to the end of this project. This is my first actual scratch build of a rail car, not counting the things I used to do to old Tyco and Life Like cars back in the 80's and 90's to turn them into something I might have seen on a train. Lots of hacking.
Buildings, no problem, many of the buildings on my lay out are scratch / kit bashed. I didn't have to pay strict attention to dimensions, just make it fit the space I had, and make it believable.
This little caboose! a whole different story. I have dimensions I have to follow, from a drawing, from the engineering office of the MILW.
Anyway, continuing on, the inside railings have been painted, and I have started the outside railings, and brake wheel stand.
I couldn't find a stand that looked like my prototype, so I made my own.
My first attempt and the end frames didn't look right.
So ripped it all off and tried again, and again, and I finally settled with this. Not quite as "chunky".
I then added the coupler cut levers on both ends.
I gave them all a coat of paint, and then realized I forgot some air piping and a valve.
Now I have the missing air piping in place, and ready for paint.
Everything in place, and painted.
I placed the cab on the frame, and glued it in place, now ready for the last of the railing work.
I'll be back with the finish-up. It's nice and sunny out today, and I have some out side stuff to catch up on.
Thanks for looking!
That caboose it looking great! Just a few more handrail details, trucks, couplers, decals, and some weathering and you’ll have an excellent piece of proundly sractchbuilt rolling stock!
It is very discouraging reading this forum. Everyone seems to have an affliction, a relative with an issue, a dying pet, a poopy job, a crappy boss, and so forth.
And now you tell me your caboose is terminal?
I know, I probably should've put this in the diner, where such things are discussed at length.
I don't know Mike. Since this is your first scratch build of a rail car, I think you have more than just a little to be proud of here.
Lookin good kid TF
maxman It is very discouraging reading this forum. Everyone seems to have an affliction, a relative with an issue, a dying pet, a poopy job, a crappy boss, and so forth. And now you tell me your caboose is terminal?
Ok, I think that was supposed to be a joke. Because its a Terminal caboose? Haha. Good one. I liked it. Anyway...
Excellent work Mike! Even if I could never produce results like that, its still fun to see others pull it off. I should buy more styrene, actually...
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
Thanks guy!
The MILW. called these terminal cabooses from the start. Most know them as transfer caboose, because they were used when moving trains from yard to yard.
The MILW. had yards all over the metro Milwaukee area. Articles I've read about the railroad, talk about 100 car trains going from one yard to another.
The decals have been ordered. I got lucky and one of my favorite suppliers had 1 sheet of decal for the MILW steel caboose from 1950 - 1980.
I'm decaling it from what prototype photos I can find, of my series. It changed numbers as it went from one road to another, as talked about in a great post in here from Dave Nelson. Thanks again Dave for all the info you provided.
I will weather it as I see fit, going off of photos. I've already started that by weathering the under frame and brake gear, as I've shown in previous pictures, and the diamond plate deck has been painted and weathered.
Thanks again for the comments!
I'll show some finished photos, except for decals and weathering, and then at some point, I'll show the fully completed car.
Now I can clean up my work area. A complete mess. Next project? I have many in the works to choose from.
Excellent progress Mike!
Your painting skills are impressive especially since I believe you are using a brush. My hands shake too much to get anywhere close to the straight edges that you have achieved.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Great lookin' results, Mike!
Wayne
It's looking great Mike. Glad I could be of whatever help I was. I remember those terminal cabooses - and the Fairbanks Morse switchers that usually accompanied them. Those frames from tenders made them strong enough to be part of very heavy shoves up the grade that gets to Burnham St Yard.
Dave Nelson
Thanks a lot guys! I'm humbled.
Mid morning rain here in SE. WI., has given me a chance to do a little finish-up on the caboose project.
I added the trucks, couplers, and painted the newly added hand rails, and put it on the track for a test.
It's a little light, at 2.5 oz, NMRA suggest it should weigh 3.5 oz, but I think it will work fine. Later today, I'll hook it a string of cars, and take it for a ride.
I'll have the decals next week, do a little fading and weathering, and call it a done deal!
It's got some flaws, and I made some compromising, but I'm happy, for my first, and that's what counts!
Maybe I'll stick with buildings
I'll post a couple of pictures at that time, to finish this off.
Thanks for looking, and tagging along!
Great job, Mike!
I especially like the way you captured the extremely "solid" looking underframe. One can spot at a glance that there's a former tender underframe there.
Everything about your model exudes "character".
Thanks for posting the progress,
Ed
Looks great! I didn’t realize how small that caboose is compared to that boxcar you put it next to. It really is quite small!
Looks like a nice 1st scratchbuild for you roster, and certainly something unique and different!
Thanks Ed, that means a bunch, coming from you!
SPSOT fanI didn’t realize how small that caboose is compared to that boxcar
The prototype was 34' 3" from pulling face to pulling face on the couplers. Mine turned out the same, and If I would have used short shank couplers, I'd be right on. I used what I had, #148 whiskers, medium shank.
Of all the couplers I've put on my cars, during the last 9 years? converting to Kadees and metal wheel sets, this is the first time I've noticed how much the #148's are out of scale, and perhaps the #158's would look better.
I like the performance of the #148's, so I'll stick with them.
I think that you did a terrific job on the caboose, Mike, especially for your first time at scratch building. Are you going to release it as RTR or a kit?
Russ
Modeling the early '50s Erie in Paterson, NJ. Here's the link to my railroad postcard collection: https://railroadpostcards.blogspot.com/
Hi Mike,
You have done a great job, especially considering that it is your first rolling stock scratchbuild! Regardless of the tiny imperfections that the camera shows, it just looks 'right'. The decals and weathering will add a lot to it.
One last time!
I put on the decals, the way the prototype did it on some of their cabs, and did some light weathering.
I was just trying to fade the orange slightly, along with the roof, and add a little corrosion to the vent stacks. I also gave it a shot of dull coat before I started with the weathering.
That's it! Done. At some point, I might patch it for my short line.
Thanks for all the comments, and the views.
A nice final segment to this project, I have been following it earnestly for the past few weeks and am impressed buy the final result! A very close representation of the prototype!
mbinsewi At some point, I might patch it for my short line.
At some point, I might patch it for my short line.
I would eventually if it was my railroad, more plausible, and the prototype you used was bought by a shortline after all! It looks a bit strange in old MILW paint next to your moder boxcars and locomotive. When you do patch it I’d give it a heavier weathering job, if it were to still in MILW in the modern era.
You could also keep it in MILW paint and say your short line did it up as a heritage paint. I’ve heard of the real thing doing that, I recall an blerb in Trains a bit back were CSX painted a caboose in Chessie System colors.
For now I hope you can at least enjoy it in the scheme of a famous fallen flag!
That Caboose looks outstanding Mike, I really like it. Really, the thing looks Factory.
Great job. No one would ever know that was your first build if you hadn't told them
Wow, having KD's on a car like that really puts the oversize into perspective!!!
I wonder if I can 3d print my own scale couplers...?
My whole fleet is KD'd right now. Horrid bad for rivet counting snobs.