Brake Wheel & Stirrup Steps To Use On Rolling Stock?

[CBQ_Guy]

Hi all,

I have a slew of plastic rolling stock kits to build, and want to take my modeling up a step this time around. The kits are mostly Athearn "Blue Box", though all brands are represented.

I bought some Kadee brake wheels recently. The two types I bought are the Ajax and Miner types, and I see they have a bunch of other types, as well. How does one know which type to use with what car -- based on the prototype and/or the kit manufacturer? I haven't looked yet, but I am ASSuming one needs to fill the hole on the carbody since it's probably over sized to fit the larger-than-life brake wheel suppled with the kits.

Also, I want to replace the stirrups with something more realistically sized and durable than the thick ones which are part of the body in these kits. I'm thinking metal, but the ones I saw at my LHS looked like they were possibly "engineering plastic", which I thought there was a problem with glue and paint adhering to without going through some special mumbo-jumbo ritual first. Again, what criteria is used for the type to use on a particular car, and also, how does one determine what brand of part -- A-Line, DA, Cal-Scale, et al to use?

Or doesn't any of this matter much, as I'm not a stickler for 100% accuracy and fidelity, being more of a "good enougher" than a pure "RPM guy?

Thanks for any thoughts and answers on this.

[orsonroy]

If you look hard enough, you can find Builder's photos, car order information, and railroad roster data for basically every single freight car ever built since about 1900. Realistically, good luck. The data's out there, but mostly in printed form (not online), and widely scattered across the country in museums, historical societies, boxes buried in attics, and locked away in university collections. Lots of railroad historians have SOME of this information, but no one man or institution has ALL of it.

Your best bet, if you care at ALL about prototype accuracy, is to go to where the experts and information is online, to start your research. Join the NEB&W website and several of the proto-oriented online discussion groups, dig through the proto photo collections online, and dig around on the old freight car list archives for information. There's a LOT of information out there, including possibly the exact information you'll need, but you'll most likely be able to spot trends (which RRs preferred which hardware manufacturers, that sort of thing).

And if you can't find what you're looking for and decide to ask the people in the know, be sure NOT to ask: "I'm upgrading some Athearn boxcars for the UP. What should I do?". Their answer will be to throw away the Athearn car and start with something better! Instead, look up the car class, road number, and figure out approximately WHAT the car's really supposed to be, and ask something like, "For the UP's Bx-14a class of 40' boxes, built in 1939, numbers 190000-190800, what brakewheels did they come with? How about roof walks: wood or steel?" Asking the same question but in a better (more logical and less dopey) way will yield real answers.

As for stirrup steps, I generally lay in a stock of everything A-Line makes (metal steps anyway) and use them. They're more durable than any of the plastic ones and glue better than the Delrin ones. Again, check the RR photo resources for guidance.