Like their gon, Ulrich's stock and outside-braced box both had wood sides under the cast metal bracing. I take that to mean that I can heavily weather one, and easily remove a few boards, as appropriate.
The Ulrich twin hoppers had opening doors. The triple had a linkage that would open all three doors when the car hit a trip pin.
I think the triple was patterned after a B&LE 90 ton car, and that the trucks had outside brake hangers.
Funny how what looks crude now didn't look crude 60 years ago.
Ed
Frank
Ulrich....you bet, I have over 100 built-ups of two and three bay hoppers, regular gondolas, and drop bottom gondolas. Although by today's standards, possibly crude...never the less, quite excellent and can be easily upgraded if necessary. They are mostly die cast metal and the gondolas had wood floors. I have found that plastic, brass, die cast, and wood rolling stock each have a unique look. For me, to simulate a metal car is with a metal model. My almost 2000 wood kit/scratch built cars are mostly of wood prototypes. My wood built-ups of metal box cars, passenger, and hoppers have been heavily sanded and sealed to simulate wood, and do so fairly well, but still maintain the look of a wood car, which is what I love so much.
Again, certainly not gospel...only my taste.
HZ
They also had wood boxcars and others, the passenger cars were shorties like some of the MDC ones and are identical to Laconias's I beleive. When you get into building old wood cars you will notice they get more detailed as time moved on and the more detailed ones lived on as companys changed, like Campbell "Campbell aquired parts of True Scale"or went under like Loconia.
Rip TrackDuring my last trip to my LHS, I noticed a few Ulrich kits. Anyone have experience with them?
Ulrich all-metal kits were at the top end of my budget when I got into model railroading in the mid-'50s, but I did manage to scrape up enough for this drop-bottom gondola...
It had working drop-doors (only the four mid-car ones actually opened), but I cemented them shut, as I prefer "live" (loose) loads for my open cars, and the doors would sometimes open of their own accord. I should also upgrade the brake gear, by the looks of it.
Ulrich also offered offset side hoppers with working outlet gates, and I recall seeing some very nice old-time shortie passenger cars, with open platforms. I wouldn't mind getting a couple more gondolas like the one in the photo, and perhaps one or two of those passenger cars, too.
...perhaps I should update the details a bit, and use it regardless.
Wayne
BRAKIE While we are discussing the "woodies" we have built I will throw in my two wood kits both was Silver Streaks B&O I-5 cabooses that look pretty darn good with my Athearn/Hobbytown GP7s. Guys,I dunno but,some times I miss that era.
While we are discussing the "woodies" we have built I will throw in my two wood kits both was Silver Streaks B&O I-5 cabooses that look pretty darn good with my Athearn/Hobbytown GP7s.
Guys,I dunno but,some times I miss that era.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I have a Quality Craft Northeast caboose in my stash, waiting to be built. I'd get another, if I come across them, if only to get more cabees that AREN'T the P2K ones. Gets boring just changing numbers all the time. Funny thing is, the WOOD kit is for the STEEL version of the caboose.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Crystalriver1I would encourage you to build one of the Labelle kits. I love older wood coaches, etc., so I ordered one of their Chapel Car kits, since I don't have many passengers on my short line. I survived rounding the roof ends very well, and had a very good time assembling the kit. It is awesome!! Steve
Hi Steve:
Thanks for the encouragement!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
andychandler I think wood kits offer great learning tool for scratch building.
My thinking exactly. A few wood kit's under my belt and the next thing you know, POOF, A two story building was on my workbench. I built it out of scale 2 X 4 's and built a complete interior for it.
( I kinda "cheated" on two of the wall's . I used a sheet of scribed siding.... then I figured out I could make it myself, board by board..... then I figured out ... that was too slow ! So I went back to the scribed siding. )
Rust...... It's a good thing !
I personally would rather fix someone elses work and add extra detail as long as you have a good base to work off of. Finding Z mouldings in the right size to match old kits can be near impossible sometimes.
First wood kit I built was a Cliff Line caboose. I have been packing to move and consolidated all the unbuilt wood kits into one box. There are enough to keep me busy for the rest of my life. This time, I plan to finish those I started and start and finish the rest. If you look at all the untouched kits on eBay, it makes you think there are more unbuilt than built.
Ken Vandevoort
I have a car I got used around 1960. It has a wood floor. It's an ice bunker reefer (Pabst Blue Ribbon) with thin metal sides. It's been brought up to modern standards with Intermountain wheelsets and Kadee couplers.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I think you’re onto something. When I started reading MR in the ‘70s, a lot of people (Olson, Allen, Furlow, McClelland, Hegge, Moore) were building every component of comparatively small layouts. They made their own scenery, scratchbuilt cars or heavily modified kits and RTR equipment. Whatever the other merits of their efforts, the result was a layout that had a higher degree of artistic unity: everything reflected the skills, techniques and vision of the builder. It was just as easy to pick out the bones of the Mantua kit underneath, but when I look back at that era- even when the models were cruder- that sense of everything somehow fitting together is my strongest impression Of some of my favorite modelers.
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Hi, Dave,
I would encourage you to build one of the Labelle kits. I love older wood coaches, etc., so I ordered one of their Chapel Car kits, since I don't have many passengers on my short line. I survived rounding the roof ends very well, and had a very good time assembling the kit. It is awesome!!
Steve
What we have in the model train world with the new RTR super detailed stuff is the very best "for now" models as far as exact models that most could acheve. But unless your other skills are up to the task you end up with exact scale models running through a less than an exact small world, for many this is fine but some like the talents to be more equal. This is where wood car kits shine " untill we get cheap RTR whole layouts". They also shine in a world for those that like a compleated project, lets face it, a layout is never done but a kit can be.
I started in 2005 or so with a LaBelle kit, and glad I did: I thought, “if I can do this, I can scratchbuild.” I never expected to enjoy building cars quite so much, but there it is.
Definitely a niche thing, though: seems to me like a lot of today’s Wood kit builders are modeling the wood car era. But we’re keeping the price of those unbuilt Labelle, Ambroid, and Central Valley kits up On eBay. For anyone who’s never tried one, btw, the CV old-timer kits are a unique experience: those painted and silk-screened sides must be the world’s thinnest pieces of plywood! You can wear out an Exacto blade on a single kit, but if you’re willing to put in the time, the elaborate lettering really does give you a period-appropriate car.
Are wood rolling stock kits dead?
So it appears the answer to the above question is no, not dead, but they have a small and limited following, mainly among modelers interested in the era when wooden rollling stock was still running in revenue service.
Maybe it's fair to say wood rolling stock kits are a niche genre now.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Four of my favourite pieces of rolling stock are stock cars made from Star Line kits. I can't take credit for building them though. I bought them from eBay a few years ago. They were in pretty good shape damage wise for being 70+ years old, but what really enthralled me was the quality of assembly. Every board was placed perfectly. There was no excess glue anywhere. They were obviously the work of a very talented craftsman and I respect his abilities. I am honoured to run them.
I had a lot of fun rebuilding them but I have to admit to using a few styrene strips to replace some broken boards. Howard, you can slap my hand!
I have built a couple of wood caboose kits and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I have two LaBelle passenger car kits unstarted. I have opened the boxes several times but never have had the courage to start them. I'm sure the time will come.
If you're willing to haunt some model railroad flea markets and have a bit of patience, old school wood kits are still floating around out there.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
doctorwayne Howard Zane ...I still enjoy building these and sometimes I'll build them with just what is supplied in the box....other times I'll add many updated details. Either way for me is quite enjoyable and then some. And that, to me, is the whole point, whether you're working in wood or plastic, or even something else. A great hobby, no matter how you do it! Wayne
Howard Zane ...I still enjoy building these and sometimes I'll build them with just what is supplied in the box....other times I'll add many updated details. Either way for me is quite enjoyable and then some.
And that, to me, is the whole point, whether you're working in wood or plastic, or even something else. A great hobby, no matter how you do it!
I agree. I just love working with wood. But I can see how others would prefer plastic, or brass, or even card stock.
Paul
Howard Zane Dave, I have built several AMB laser cut ACL and Seaboard caboose kits and found them to be quite excellent in all aspects. My thread is about the appearance of a wood kit built car vs. the plastic counterpart. The assembly of these kits is of course different from the older wood kits, but still enjoyable to build. I seem to remember that they did not supply decals or transfers with their kits. I found this quite annoying as it took awhile to locate proper decals even with their suggestions. In my collection of wood kits are models dating back to the beginning of HO wood kits....late 30's. I still run several Megow cars and older Walthers passenger cars and reefer built-ups. I still enjoy building these and sometimes I'll build them with just what is supplied in the box....other times I'll add many updated details. Either way for me is quite enjoyable and then some. There is an old saying about travel....."getting there is half of the fun" I see building a craftsman kit in a similar light. I can also see why kit-building could be going the way of the phone booth....when was the last time it was fun to travel? HZ
Dave,
I have built several AMB laser cut ACL and Seaboard caboose kits and found them to be quite excellent in all aspects. My thread is about the appearance of a wood kit built car vs. the plastic counterpart. The assembly of these kits is of course different from the older wood kits, but still enjoyable to build. I seem to remember that they did not supply decals or transfers with their kits. I found this quite annoying as it took awhile to locate proper decals even with their suggestions.
In my collection of wood kits are models dating back to the beginning of HO wood kits....late 30's. I still run several Megow cars and older Walthers passenger cars and reefer built-ups. I still enjoy building these and sometimes I'll build them with just what is supplied in the box....other times I'll add many updated details. Either way for me is quite enjoyable and then some.
There is an old saying about travel....."getting there is half of the fun" I see building a craftsman kit in a similar light. I can also see why kit-building could be going the way of the phone booth....when was the last time it was fun to travel?
Howard Zane...I still enjoy building these and sometimes I'll build them with just what is supplied in the box....other times I'll add many updated details. Either way for me is quite enjoyable and then some.
I think of the laser cut wood kits as being a whole 'nother animal from the wood kits of the past that I suspect HZ is referring to.
I think many folks would enjoy building one of the Silver Streak wood kits for double sheathed wood boxcars. Cast metal ends, doors, and frame/center sill; sheet metal roof ribs. Back in the day they were billed as "easy to build" - by the time they were discontinued they were marketed as craft kits! Sic transit gloria mundi.
I have a few unbuilt Picard boxcar bodies, all wood -- two in HO, one in O. Anyone here old enough to remember them?
Dave Nelson
7j43kAre wood rolling stock kits dead?" Around here, they are.
Around here they died after the introduction of plastic car kits back in the day and with today's quality detailed cars I suspect the market for old wooden car kits may be very limited.
Now-a-days, building wood car kits is certainly a minority interest in the hobby, likely impacted by two trends:
1) The dominance of RTR and high quality plastic kits; and the migration of craftsman modelers to resin kits.
2) Most modeling now is either modern era, or steam-to-diesel transition era, both favored steel cars. Yes there are wood kits for steel cars, but very few of us would go that route unless it was a unique model, along the line of craftsman structure kits.
For me, modeling the early 1900's, while plastic fills out the roster - it's really all about wood cars!
Jim